Most stylish teams to be awarded at 44th Chess Olympiad
The 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, set to start on the 29th of July, will be the most prominent chess gathering of the year. The historical participation records are updated with 189 teams registered for the Open and 162 in the Women’s section. With your help, we’re looking forward to making this Olympiad not only the biggest in numbers but also the most elegant. We are happy to announce that the most stylish teams wearing the best uniforms will get special awards. With hundreds of players from all over the Globe, Chess Olympiads are a celebration of diversity and friendship, putting FIDE’s motto “Gens Una Sumus” (“We are one family”) in the spotlight. Every Olympiad has plenty of media attention, with photographers’ shutters heavy at work every day – the perfect setup to showcase your national colours and cultural features. At the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the athletes’ uniforms have long become an eye-catcher, with state-of-the-art outfits for teams created by the likes of Ralph Lauren and Armani, along with sportswear giants. Recent Chess Olympiads have also boasted of attention-grabbing team uniforms and individual outfits, and we hope that Chennai will reinforce this forming tradition. We are also glad to announce that we will install a special photocall in Playing Hall 1, near the entrance to the VIP zone. We expect all teams and players to pass by it and have a professional headshot taken. These headshots will be used for the FIDE ID profiles, so we recommend not to miss this opportunity! Photo: David Llada and Alina L’Ami
Loïc Travadon scores double at 8th International Francophone Chess Meetings
IM Loïc Travalon (France), representing the French Île de France league, won a double championship at the 8th International Francophone Chess Meetings (RIDEF). RIDEF is the Francophone Chess Association’s (AIDEF) major event that has been growing since 2013. This chess forum enables all AIDEF’s to compete for the Francophone titles and share moments of conviviality conducive to developing north-south mutual aid. The first seven editions were held in Marrakech (Morocco), Beirut (Lebanon), Montreal (Canada-Quebec), Menton (France), Yasmine Hammamet (Tunisia), Tirana (Albania) and Paris (France). Morocco has hosted this event for the second time. This eighth edition, which was initially scheduled for December 2021, had to be postponed due to Covid19, but in the unanimous opinion of the participants, it was an exceptional event. The competition that took place at the ONOMO Hotel 4* City Center Casablanca brought together a total of 125 players in the classic championship and 98 in the blitz event representing 24 different countries. The total prize fund of the event reached €12,000. The Classic Championship saw a close fight for the title, with five players tying for first place, scoring 7/9. Loïc Travalon came out on top thanks to slightly better Bucholz over his main rivals. Classic Championship final standings: 1 IM Travadon, Loic FRA 2452 7 2 GM Fawzy, Adham EGY 2471 7 3 GM Le Roux, Jean-Pierre FRA 2511 7 4 GM Flom, Gabriel FRA 2410 7 5 WGM Dornbusch, Tatiana MNC 2247 7 6 IM Milliet, Sophie FRA 2396 6½ 7 IM Boudriga, Mohamed Ali TUN 2308 6½ 8 Naoum, Spyridon GRE 2346 6½ 9 WGM Maisuradze, Nino FRA 2214 6½ 10 FM Ouakhir, Pierre Mehdi MAR 2204 6½ WGM Tatiana Dornbusch, representing Monaco, finished in fifth place and won the women’s title. The title of Senior+50 was won by IM Fred Berend of Luxembourg and that of Veteran+ 65 by Skalli Taoufic of Morocco. You can find the complete results here. The champion notched a very convincing victory in the blitz championship, netting 9.5/11. You can find the complete results of the blitz competition here. FIDE Arbiter Training Seminar, lead by Laurent Freyd, chairman of the FIDE arbiter commission, ran alongside the main competitions. It attracted 22 participants and was a great success. On July 4, participants were invited to the opening of the “Beauty of Chess” exhibition at the Gallery of the Media Library of the Hassan II Mosque Foundation. The exhibition will remain open to the public until July 20. On July 6, FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan gave a simul to the Casablanca Olympic Club playing against 20 players. It was a tough test for his opponents as Mr Bologan did not concede even a single half point! The closing ceremony took place at the Mohamed Zefzaf Cultural Complex. It was followed by a cocktail dinner and a fantastic “Chess Opera” concert by the group of musicians from the Foundation for World Cultures “Come to my Home”. A sumptuous traditional Moroccan closing gala dinner was given for the guests on the 27th floor of the 5* Kenzi Palace Casablanca hotel. A large FIDE delegation, including FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy President Bachar Kouatly, Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Treasurer Zhu Chen, Executive Director Victor Bolagan and Chairman of the Arbiter’s Commission Laurent Freyd, visited Casablanca – a clear indication of the interest for chess within the international French-speaking world in general, and AIDEF in particular. Tunisia will host the next International Francophone Chess Meetings at the end of this year. The announcement was made by Mr Nabil Doghri, President of the Tunisian Chess Federation. AIDEF also thanks Minister Driss Alaoui M’Daghri, President of the “Fondation des Cultures du Monde”, who greatly contributed to organizing the 8th International Francophone Chess Meetings. Photo: Rencontres Internationales Des Echecs Francophones
Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan to host FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad
FIDE, Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Chess Federation of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic invite all the national chess federations to participate in the FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2022, which will take place in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, from October 1-11, 2022. Each FIDE member federation has the right to send one team. Each team shall comprise 4 players and a maximum of 2 reserves. The team will have 1 captain. At least one girl must be included in the team composition in each round. All the players not have reached the age of 16 by January 1, 2022 (born 2006 or later) are entitled to participate. The competition is a 9-round Swiss tournament with the time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30. Each match between teams will be played over 4 boards. The tiebreak regulations will be announced at the Technical Meeting. FIDE member federations shall duly complete the official registration form on the competition’s official website and send it back to the contact person before the registration deadline of August 15, 2022. Incomplete and individual applications will not be accepted. The Registration fee is 100 Euro for each player, official and each accompanying person. The Registration fee is mandatory and represents a confirmation of participation. The Registration fee includes transportation from and to Nakhchivan International airport, from and to Igdir (Türkiye), from and to Culfa transition border, accreditation, identification, badges and organization costs. After the registration deadline, organizers reserve the right to refuse or decline late registrations or, in case of availability, a penalty of 100 Euro will be charged for each late registration. Prizes The best three teams receive Cups. Six (6) members of the best three teams will receive Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and memorable gifts. The best three players on the boards receive Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and memorable gifts. Visa information E-visas can be easily obtained via the following link: https://evisa.gov.az/en/ List on eligible e-visa countries is available at https://evisa.gov.az/en/countries Non-eligible countries should e-mail Organizing Committee. National federations whose players, officials and accompanying persons need a visa shall send the Organizing Committee e-mail copies of their passports (copies of pages with photographs and the necessary data) by August 29, 2022. Tournament Schedule: Date Activity Time October 1 Arrival date October 2 Technical Meeting 10:00 October 2 Opening Ceremony 12:00 October 2 Round 1 15:30 October 3 Round 2 15:00 October 4 Round 3 15:00 October 5 Round 4 1500 October 6 Round 5 15:00 October 7 Round 6 15:00 October 8 Round 7 15:00 October 9 Round 8 15:00 October 10 Round 9 10:00 October 10 Closing ceremony 18:00 October 11 Departure date Regulations for FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2022 Official web-site: http://youtholympiad.fide.com E-mail: youtholympiad@fide.com Photo: Toghrul Rahimli
12 Ukrainian players will receive help with expenses at the European Championship
The FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in cooperation with Сhess24 launched a fundraising campaign for the Ukrainian Chess Community on March 8, during the events for International Women’s Day. We thank all those who supported this fundraiser which enables us today to help 12 Ukrainian players registered for the upcoming European Women’s Chess Championship 2022 in Prague. With the funds collected and some more added by FIDE, we are able to cover most of the accommodation expenses and all registration fees for these players. Additionally, they will receive Chessable top-level coaching courses, free of charge, to help them with their tournament preparation. We are grateful to all who made this kind of support possible for our Ukrainian friends that have been greatly affected by the war in Ukraine. “Year of the Woman in Chess is not only about celebration. It is also about solidarity.” Eva Repkova Chair of FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess
Winners crowned at Trinidad and Tobago International Open 2022
The Trinidad and Tobago International Open 2022 took place at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre from July 2-7, 2022. The atmosphere in these six amazing days of chess was filled with positive vibes and all-around good camaraderie. The event attracted ten players in the Masters Category and 58 players in the Open Section. There was also a Blitz tournament on the final day with 54 participants battling it out. Dutch GM Robby Kevlishvili won the Masters Section with 8 points. FM Ryan Harper and FM Joshua Johnson made Trinidad and Tobago proud as they took 2nd and 3rd places respectively in the Masters section, both scoring 6 points each. It was quite inspiring to see the performance of local players against their higher-ranked opponents. FM Ryan Harper made a real splash winning over GMs Robby Kevlishvili Alonso Zapata from Colombia. FM Joshua Johnson also secured a victory against GM Alonso Zapata and managed a draw against GM Juan Borges Matos from Cuba. FM Isaiah Mc Intosh, who scored 5.5 points, earning him 4th place in the section, defeated GM Juan Borges from Cuba in the 5th round. FM Kevin Cupid became the top under 2200 player after finishing in 7th place. The Open Category also saw many competitive games. In the end, the top seed Patrick Terhuven of Germany raised to the occasion and netted 8 points, finishing a half-point ahead of a former National Champion, CM Ravishen Singh. There was a tie for 3rd place between Emar Edwards from Barbados and T&T’s Kishore Ramadhar, both on 7 points. The best female player prize went to Ysvett Hermoso Joel ( Rodriguez) from Venezuela, who chalked up 6 points. She was closely followed by WCM Shemilah James on 5.5 points. The 3rd place female was awarded to Amy Ali, who scored 4 points. Other females on 4 points were Denique Absolam, Kayla Martin, Kiara Brathwaite, and Celine Mohammed. The best Under 20 player was awarded to Keagan Ragobar on 5 points, followed by Amir Mahadeo and Kayla Martin, both on 4 points. The Under 16 section was a close race with three players tying for first place. Kael Samuel Bisnath came out on top thanks to better tiebreaks, followed by Brad Munroe Brown and Chandresh Prabhakar. Kiara Brathwaite is the top U-16 female player. In the Under 12 category, there was also a tie for 1st place, with Tristan Balliram and Kyan Muradali both scoring 5 points. Tristan with tiebreaks favouring the former. They were followed by Luke Gillette on 4.5 points, who was placed 3rd, and Taydan Balliram, also on 4.5 points, but 4th on tie break. The top Under 12 female was Adaya Johnson. GM Robby Kevlishvili emerged as the winner of the blitz event with a perfect score of 9/9, followed by FM Joshua Johnson (7.5/9) in second and FM Kevin Cupid (7/9) in 3rd. The top female was Jennika Lynch, who ended with 5 points, and the top junior was eleven-year-old Kyan Muradali, who scored 5.5 points. The TTCA President was grateful and elated by the success of the event and the tremendous support by all stakeholders. “All I can say is that this was just an amazing event. It exceeded all expectations, given some of our constraints leading up to the start. The level of performance by local players in both sections keeps me optimistic about the future of chess in Trinidad and Tobago! I am also so happy to be part of this venture with my executive team, who continues to provide all the support and effort needed to pull off an event at such a high standard!” she said during the closing ceremony. Special thanks go out to the Chief Arbiter IA Rohan Waithe from Barbados, Deputy Chief Arbiter NA Roderick Noel, David Martin, TTCA Secretary Sandy Razark, as well as TTCA Executive members Sadiqah Razark and Keelan Hunte. Kudos to the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, FIDE via the Open Aid package, Chess24 for the live streaming of games, all the staff at Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, all the players, parents, guardians, coaches and anyone else who helped to make the event a great success.
Bundesliga 2022: OSG Baden-Baden takes title
OSG Baden-Baden became the champions of Bundesliga 2022 for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons, winning all fifteen matches. Still, as in the previous season, it was an extremely close race for the title. Suffice it to say that the runner-up, SC Viernheim, scored more game points than the champions. The chess Bundesliga is one of the world’s top chess leagues, with 16 teams competing for the German Championship in a single round-robin format. The competition features some of the world’s best GMs, with each team fielding eight players in any match from a roster of 18. A match win earns two match points, and a draw is worth one. It all boiled down to a direct duel played on Saturday, July 9, in which the co-leaders Baden Baden and SC Viernheim clashed. For the most part, Baden-Baden did not seem to win on any board, while Viernheim’s Dennis Wagner got a decisive advantage against Arkadij Naiditsch on the eighth board. Things turned upside down in the end as Wagner allowed a perpetual in a time scramble, while Francisco Vallejo and Richard Rapport outplayed Yuriy Kryvoruchko and David Anton in drawish endings to secure the 5-3 victory for Baden Baden. A vague hope that Solingen could pull off a magic act and defeat Baden-Baden on Sunday, July 10, was gone very soon. The squad lead Fabiano Caruana won 5.5:2.5 and completed the event with a perfect team-point score. Despite losing the last match to the champions, SG Solingen comfortably took third place. Final standings: 1 OSG Baden-Baden 30 80 2 SC Viernheim 27 84 3 SG Solingen 23 76 4 Schachfreunde Deizisau 19 74 5 SK Doppelbauer Turm Kiel 17 65½ 6 SV Werder Bremen 17 63 7 SF Berlin 17 59 8 SV Mülheim Nord 16 59 9 Münchener Schachclub 1836 15 63 10 FC Bayern München 15 62 11 Hamburger SK 14 58½ 12 USV TU Dresden 9 57½ 13 Düsseldorfer SK 9 44½ 14 BCA Augsburg 8 47 15 SK König Tegel 3 32 16 Aachener SV 1 31 Photo: Paul Meyer-Dunker/German Chess Federation Official website: www.schachbundesliga.de
Jonny Hector wins Swedish Championship
Jonny Hector is a new Swedish champion. The 58-year-old native of Malmo claimed his second national title, twenty years after his first triumph back in 2002. The Swedish Chess Championship 2022 took place in Uppsala from July 1-10 and was played in several different classes – from a beginner’s tournament to the battle for the Swedish Championship gold in the Swedish Champion class, a round-robin with classical time control, featuring several Sweden’s best chess players. Hector grabbed the lead in the middle of tournament distance after stringing together three victories and was coming into the final round a full point ahead of Jung Min Seo and the defending champion Tiger Hillarp Persson with an excellent score of 6½/8. In the final round, the leader fell to GM Jonathan Westerberg with white pieces after his opponent made a brilliant breakthrough in the center and gave one of his rivals (they faced each other) a chance to catch up with him. Luckily for Hector, Hillarp Person and Seo drew their game and finished a half-point behind the new champion together with Westerberg. The tiebreaks favoured Jonathan Westerberg and Tiger Hillarp Persson, who took silver and bronze, respectively. Westerberg and Seo completed the event unbeaten. Final standings: 1 GM Hector, Jonny 2445 6½ 2 GM Westerberg, Jonathan 2485 6 3 GM Hillarp Persson, Tiger 2512 6 4 IM Seo, Jung Min 2483 6 5 GM Blomqvist, Erik 2523 5½ 6 IM Johansson, Linus 2451 4 7 GM Cramling, Pia 2458 4 8 GM Carlsson, Ludvig 2423 2½ 9 GM Smith, Axel 2421 2½ 10 FM Jogstad, Martin 2351 2 Check out full results in all categories Photo: Official website Official website: www.schack.se
Two FIDE Trainers Seminars in conjunction with 44th Chess Olympiad announced
The FIDE Trainers Commission is facilitating two FIDE Trainer Seminars in conjunction with the 44th FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, from July 27 to August 10 2022. The first one is the online seminar organized by the Asian Chess Federation in partnership with the Asia Chess Academy from July 24-26 focuses on endgame training, tactics training, strategy training, a study of classical games and opening repertoire and will be conducted by GM and FST lecturers Alexander Khalifman, Aleksey Dreev, Vladimir Malakhov, Ivan Sokolov and Artur Jussupow. The registration deadline is July 20, 2022 The second seminar, organized by the All Indian Chess Federation together with FIDE Trainers’ Commission, will be held on-site during the 44th Chess Olympiad from July 30 to August 5 (see the complete information here ) and led by TRG Chairman, FST & GM Mikhail Kobalia. The lecturer will cover many aspects of chess self-improvement, including opening preparation, tactics and endgame training, calculation, etc. The registration deadline is July 27, 2022.
Dronavalli and Tan Zhongyi progress into quarterfinals
GM Harika Dronavalli (India) convincingly outplayed WGM Deysi Cori (Peru) in their round of 16 match of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship on Thursday and reached the quarterfinals. The Indian GM was a better player in all three segments, especially in the 3+1 blitz section of the match (which she won by a score of 6-3) and deservedly punched her ticket to the next stage of the competition. The next day, GM Tan Zhongyi defeated IM Polina Shuvalova and reached the quarterfinals as well. The 31-year-old GM from China grabbed the lead in the first 5+1 segment of the match and only extended it in the 1+1 section to notch up a comfortable 17-10 victory over her young opponent. The last quarterfinal spot in the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship will be contested in the match between Hou Yifan and Carissa Yip. To follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship, watch a live broadcast of the event with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com Twitch Channel. More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.