FIDE Athletes Commission elections to be held in Chennai
In May 2020, FIDE constituted the Athletes Commission, with a total of 15 members: 10 elected and 5 appointed by the FIDE Commission. During the first term, the elected positions were directly assigned to the 9 candidates who put themselves forward, with the remaining spots being appointed by the FIDE Council. During this period, Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan), Ju Wenjun (China), and Ahmed Adly (Egypt), were the first athletes to Chair this Commission for a period of half a year each, in a six-month rotation. As it was stipulated back then, elections will be held during the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, this time for a full term of 4 years. The elections will be held under the following rules: TEMPORARY RULES FOR 2022 ELECTIONS 1. The 2022 Athletes Commission elections will be held from 9 am CEST July 29th, 2022, to 9 am CET August 3rd, 2022. The results should be announced no later than August 5th, 2022 (23:59 CET) 2. The Candidature Nomination Form must be completed, signed by the candidate and received by the FIDE Secretariat by July 20th, 2022 (23:59 CEST). The Candidature Nomination Form must be sent by e-mail to office@fide.com. 3. Every candidate for election to the Athletes’ Commission must satisfy all of the following requirements: a) be at least 18 years old; b) Candidates must have competed in at least one of the last three FIDE World Championship Cycles, open or Women’s (namely: World Cup, Grand Prix Series, Candidates Tournament, Grand Swiss), or have qualified for the next FIDE World Championship Cycles, open or Women’s (namely: World Cup, Grand Prix Series, Candidates Tournament, Grand Swiss); c) be able to speak and understand English reasonably well; d) not to be under a FIDE EDC disqualification. For the avoidance of doubt, endorsement by a Member Federation is not required. 4. The final list of the eligible candidates will be published at the fide.com not later than July 24th, 2022 (23:59 CEST) 5. A player is eligible to vote if: – he or she is a holder of GM/WGM title; – he or she competed in at least one of the last three FIDE World Championship Cycles, open or Women’s (namely: World Cup, Grand Prix Series, Candidates Tournament, Grand Swiss), or has qualified for the next FIDE World Championship Cycles, open or Women’s (namely: World Cup, Grand Prix Series, Candidates Tournament, Grand Swiss) – he or she is the official player of the team taking part in the 44th Chess Olympiad in India, Chennai (further – Olympiad). 6. Voting shall be conducted in a hybrid format (for voters eligible according to step 3 of the art. 5 “Electoral Procedure”: – A voter may receive the ballot in the Olympiad during the period mentioned in art. 1 and vote in person. In such case, the ballot should be signed by the voter. – By e-mail in all other cases. Votes shall be sent to the e-mail of the electoral commission (to be announced later). E-mails shall be deemed as valid if previously used by voters for signing contracts and accepted by FIDE. E-mails not used before shall be deemed valid if confirmation from a national federation of a voter or of an official from such a federation is provided. FIDE reserves the right to request additional confirmation for any e-mails (regardless of whether they had been recognized previously) whenever they find it necessary. From this link, you can download the Candidature Nomination Form.
Nepomniachtchi on the verge of winning the Candidates as Ding breaks to second place
In a rollercoaster game, Ding Liren beat Fabiano Caruana after six and a half hours of play and is now alone in second place with 6.5/11. Leader Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Alireza Firouzja with black pieces and with 8/11 is 1.5 points ahead of the field It was a day of twists and turns in the Candidates. The results of this round may prove to be key for the remaining part of the tournament. The biggest fight of the day and possibly the biggest upset of the tournament was the duel between Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren. After six and half hours of play, where both sides gained and dropped advantages, it was Ding whose nerves were steadier and who defeated Caruana in a stunning game. In a popular line of Anti-Marshall in the Ruy Lopez, which has been extensively tested lately (including the World Championship match) Caruana introduced a novelty on the move 15, aiming for the f5-square with the knights. An unusual position transpired where White put his knight in the centre of the black king’s fortress, on g7! Black started his counterplay on the queenside and the centre, forcing Caruana to evacuate his knight. Following exchanges, a roughly equal position emerged on the board in which Ding overestimated his chances and then miscalculated with 30…exf4 followed by 31…g5 and 32…Qe5. Caruana immediately jumped on f5 with his knight, and it turned out that Black had to sound the retreat and switch to defence. Ding was defending very well, hanging by a thread in some lines. Then Caruana made a few imprecise moves allowing Ding to equalise, but the position was still very sharp. As the game was nearing its seventh hour, Caruana, still looking for a win, went too far. With one inaccurate move, he ran into a pin and had to give up his e7-passer and maintain defence in an inferior but still holdable position. After 63 moves, Caruana was on 15 minutes while Ding had over thirty. In a very tense exchange, Caruana finally cracked on the move 72. He allowed Black to get his rook on the second rank and knit a mating net around his king, handing Ding Liren a victory on a silver platter. Caruana’s shock and disbelief at what he had done were obvious. After resigning, he immediately rushed out of the playing hall. A remarkable game and a shocking result. Caruana, who was all this time a step behind Nepomniachtchi, has lost three of the last four games in the Candidates. With 5.5/11 he is now on fifty percent(!) and in fourth place. On the other hand, Ding Liren’s comeback is spectacular: from the bottom board in the first part of the event, written off by almost everyone, he came back guns blazing. Ding made a record: he won three games in a row (two of them with black pieces!) – which was last achieved in the Candidates in 2013. With 6.5 points, he is now alone in second place. Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi scored an important and comfortable victory with black pieces against Alireza Firouzja, the youngest participant of the Candidates and the player whom many have thought would show wonders in this tournament. As in all other games in this event, Nepomniachtchi was extremely solid and played very precisely. However, in this game, as in some others in Madrid – it was Firouzja who defeated himself: he prematurely started with an advance of his pawns on the kingside, launching an attack which not only brought him nothing but also quickly backfired. Firouzja deserves credit that he played ambitiously – as he did in every other game so far. But ambition not rooted in a fair dose of reality is destined to fail at this level of play. On plus five and with three more rounds to go, Nepomniachchi is almost impossible to catch. Hikaru Nakamura and Richard Rapport ended up drawing their game in the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian. In a complex and sharp position, the two sides were pushing and looking for chances, but they were evenly matched. The game eventually transpired into a knight and bishop endgame where White had an extra pawn, but all pieces were on the kingside, and it was an easy draw for Black. Nakamura decided to test Rapport’s endgame knowledge, so the play dragged on for quite some time, but Black comfortably held White to a draw. Nakamura has six points and still has theoretical chances to reach the top, while Rapport is on 4.5. Teimour Radjabov and Jan-Krzysztof Duda played a very steady, calm game in the English double fianchetto. There wasn’t any excitement or suspension on board as both opted for a safe route. After massive exchanges, the two moved to an even rook endgame and called it a day. It was the first game to finish. Radjabov is on five points while Duda is on 4.5. Neither have reasonable chances for any of the top places, and it seems there isn’t much to motivate them further. Here follows a closer look at the games from round eleven of the Candidates. Hikaru Nakamura vs Richard Rapport: Sharp but even Hikaru Nakamura was seen as the favourite. Rapport lost three out of the last four games as his adventurous play didn’t seem to bear much fruit. The opponents played the main line of Sveshnikov in the Sicilian and followed a beaten path up to move 17. In this position, Nakamura opted for 17.Nxe7 with the idea of taking control over the light squares in the center after 17…Qxe7 18.Nf5. However, Rapport sensibly sacrificed his d6-pawn – 18…Qd8! and after 19.Qxe7 g6 got a sufficient counterplay on the queenside. With 26…Bxb3 Black recovered a pawn he gave up earlier. The position was even. Following exchanges of light-squared bishops, the two proceeded to a rook and knight vs rook and bishop endgame. After trading the rooks, White even managed to win a pawn, but the ending did not promise much. Nakamura decided to test Rapport, but the Hungarian had no problem holding
FIDE World Senior Team Championship 2022: England wins golden double
Team England wins a golden double at the FIDE World Senior Team Championship, taking titles in both the 50+ and 65+ categories. The event brought together 43 teams from 24 federations, competing in 9-round Swiss tournaments and took place in Acqui Terme, Italy, from June 20-29. 50+ section After five rounds, two rating-favourites of the tournament, England 1 and USA, were tied for the top position winning four matches each and drawing their direct encounter in Round 4. Italy and Iceland were close behind, scoring four team victories each but losing to the leaders (the USA and England, respectively). England 1, headed by Michael Adams and Nigel Short, won all four matches in the second half of the event and deservedly clinched the title. To illustrate England’s dominance, it suffices to say that Adams, Short, Hebden and Arkell each won the gold medal for the best performance on individual boards. The USA stayed in the race for gold for the most part (the team had to close a 2-point gap of game points), but it all came to an end in Round 8 after a draw with Hungary. Still, the USA comfortably secured silver. Team Italy 1 lost to England 1 in Round 6 but then scored three straight victories and came out third. Finals standings 50+ 1 England 1 17 27½ 2 USA 16 24½ 3 Italy 1 14 25 4 Iceland 12 21½ 5 Hungary 11 22 6 England 2 11 20 7 Canada 10 19½ 8 Still active NL 10 19 9 Scotland 10 18 10 Georgia Winery Khareba 9 21 65+ section England 1, lead by John Nunn, eased through the field in the 65+ tournament and clinched the title with a round to spare. Its main rival team Germany could not keep pace with the leader and finished second. After a poor start, the rating favourite, Israel 1, bounced back and wrested bronze from Germany 2 and France after beating the champions in the final round. Final standings 65+ 1 England 1 15 24 2 Germany 1 13 20½ 3 Israel 1 12 22½ 4 Germany 2 12 21½ 5 France 12 20½ 6 Hungary 11 20½ 7 Skakklubben af 2012 10 21½ 8 SC Kreuzberg 10 18½ 9 SG Riehen 10 18 10 Israel 2 9 20 Photo: Federazione Scacchistica Italiana Facebook page, Keith Arkell facebook page and englishchess.org.uk/
2022 Candidates, Round 10: A major setback for Caruana, Nepomniachtchi pulls away
Fabiano Caruana suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who scored his first victory. With another draw, Ian Nepomniachtchi edges closer to winning the Candidates Round 10 brought a major upset as Fabiano Caruana played poorly and was defeated by the young chess star from Poland. Caruana is still in second place but is now joined by Hikaru Nakamura and Ding Liren, who both won their games. All three have 5.5 points. Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi has edged further ahead. After a comfortable draw with Teimour Radjabov, he is now on 7/10. With four more games to play and a point and a half ahead of Caruana, Nakamura and Ding, Nepomniachtchi seems almost unstoppable. In a very solid game in the Catalan, Ian Nepomniachtchi secured an edge against Teimour Radjabov, putting pressure on an isolated c4 pawn, potentially leading to a b-file runner for White. Nepomniachtchi opted to simplify things and brought the game to a draw. At no point was he in any serious trouble. Nepomniachtchi continues to play confidently – he is the only player in the Candidates without a loss and he is playing very solidly, edging closer to taking this event for a consecutive second time. Hikaru Nakamura scored an important victory as White against Alireza Firouzja. In the Najdorf line of the Sicilian Firouzja, playing with black pieces introduced a dubious novelty: he captured on f6 with his g-pawn, leading to a weaker pawn structure and, ultimately, to his demise. The young French superstar, who finally won his first game in the previous round, completely broke in the duel with Nakamura. After choosing a path which got him into an inferior position, he then opted to open the centre weakening the light d5 square, which Nakamura used to take over control and then organize an attack on the black king to which Firouzja had no defence. Just as it seemed that after the last round’s victory over Rapport, Firouzja’s creativity was finally ascending, he came down crashing. After the game, Nakamura said that he thinks Firouzja was under a lot of pressure and that it was a mistake for him to lose his momentum and stop playing for nine months in preparation for the Candidates. Nakamura, on the other hand, achieved a crucial victory as he is now in shared second place with Caruana and with Ding Liren. The biggest surprise of the day is Fabiano Caruana’s loss to Jan-Krzysztof Duda. His ambitions to stay in the race for the first place and catch up with Nepomniachtchi if he stumbles have now suffered a crushing blow. Playing as White, Duda opted for the Italian Game – an opening Caruana is considered to be a leading expert in. From early on, Caruana was playing aggressively. He obviously thought that his best chances are against Duda, who entered round ten as the only player without a victory in the tournament so far. Caruana was overly optimistic: he overstretched himself on the kingside, organizing an attack on the white king, but – on the contrary – ended up creating more weaknesses in his own camp. As it turned out, not only was Duda’s king secure, but White ended up opening the g-file, and he was the one attacking the (black) king. Caruana was in a significantly worse position and desperately in time trouble, but this is where Duda stepped in. He couldn’t find the right path to victory and allowed Caruana breathing space. Still, Black’s position was so dire that even Duda’s unprecise play did not help him to get away. In the end, Caruana had to come to terms with the inevitable and admit defeat. A shocking loss by Caruana (which now throws his ambitions completely off balance) and an important victory for Duda, who needed his confidence lifted, having suffered three defeats in the previous four rounds. Richard Rapport finally lost steam as he suffered a second loss in a row. In the Ruy Lopez a very sharp position developed on the board. Ding managed to get out of the opening as slightly better but his uncastled king was a potential weakness. Rapport gave up a pawn on the queenside in an attempt to open the position and get to Black’s king. True to his aggressive style, Rapport did not hesitate to sacrifice a knight to complicate matters even more, but he was first to buckle under pressure. The opponents ended up in an endgame substantially better for Black despite being down an exchange. Ding demonstrated good technique and scored a full point. Rapport is down, while Ding – after a slow start, has now stepped further up, sharing second place. Here follows a closer look at the games from round ten of the Candidates. Richard Rapport vs Ding Liren: Fire vs fire It was a sharp game where two players did not shy from trying their luck. In the Ruy Lopez with 4.d3, Rapport avoided the main lines, and by move 12, the opponents stepped into uncharted territory. Ding aggressively advanced his pawns on the kingside, but his king remained in the centre which suggested a very sharp play. Rapport pushed on the queenside with 16.b4 and 17.Bb3, centralized his light-squared bishop and then offered a very interesting pawn sacrifice to engineer some activity on the kingside. Ding grabbed the pawn – 21…Rxc3 and proceeded to consolidate his position. Still with his king in the centre, Black could not feel safe. White opened the f-file maintaining pressure but without real threats in sight. 28…Qd6 29.Qf1 was played and here Ding made an inaccuracy – 29…Bd4, and after 30.Bf7+! it was even. In the subsequent complications, Rapport added some fuel to the fire on the board, with an impressive knight sacrifice. Rapport bravely played 33.Nc4!? Although computers recommend 33.Ba2 and 33.Bf7, Rapport deserves full credit for his panache. The position was very sharp and Rapport went for the black king. However, he was the first to buckle under pressure. Rapport played a natural but wrong move 42.Rc3 (much better was 42.Be7 with a roughly equal position),
FIDE adopts a new system for Women’s Candidates 2022-23
The FIDE Council has approved a new set of regulations for the Women’s Candidates Tournament, adopting a knock-out system with 8 players to be played between 2022 and 2023. The first two stages of this knock-out will be played as 4-game matches (plus a possible tie-break), with the final being played over the distance of 6 games. The total prize fund will stand at a record 250,000€. The field includes GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, the runner-up at the FIDE World Championship Match 2020. GMs Humpy Koneru and Kateryna Lagno as the best players in the overall standings of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2019-20. Three players qualified for the FIDE World Cup 2021: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, GM Tan Zhongyi, and GM Anna Muzychuk. GM Lei Tingjie gets the seventh spot as the winner of the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament 2021. GM Mariya Muzychuk got the 8th and final slot as the highest-rated player in the FIDE January 2022 rating list. The first stage of the event, consisting of Quarter Finals and Semi-Finals, will be held in October-November and will last for two weeks. Players were divided into pools based on the rating principle and matched accordingly: Pool A Koneru – A.MuzychukLei Tingjie – M. Muzychuk Pool B Goryachkina – KosteniukLagno – Tan Zhonqyi The exact locations and dates for the respective pool will be announced by FIDE in July 2022. The second stage will take place in Q1′ 2023. It shall consist of a 6-game match between the two finalists of the pools. The winner of the final match becomes the Challenger to the Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun. The Women’s World Championship Match is scheduled for summer 2023. Several cities have already expressed a firm interest in hosting the Women’s Candidates. FIDE thanks all the organizers and federations willing to support women’s chess – and will confirm the venue for October pools in a short while. Parties interested to host the Final Match of the Women’s Candidates are welcome to address gsc@fide.com and office@fide.com. The complete regulations for the event can be found in the FIDE Handbook.
IX IBCA World Team Championship kicks off in Ohrid, North Macedonia
The IX IBCA World Team Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired takes place in Ohrid, North Macedonia, from June 27 to July 08, 2022. The competition follows the “trademark” IBCA format that combines round robin and double knockout, similar to some high-level football tournaments. According to the results of the 2021 IBCA Olympiad, the sixteen strongest teams are seeded into two groups of eight teams each to play seven-round round-robins. Then, the semifinal and final brackets are built based on these group standings. (The complete Regulations can be found on the FIDE Calendar page). Players use specialized Braille chess boards, talking clocks, and voice recording equipment. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected many areas of life, including chess. Tournaments were cancelled or postponed; other ones were held in the online format. It is great to return to joyful face-to-face meetings after the pandemic. The IX IBCA World Team Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired is organized by the National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia in cooperation with the Chess Federation of the North Macedonia, Chief Organizer Gjorgji Minovski (MKD). Its venue, the Metropol Luxury Resort Ohrid, is a familiar and pleasant location for many players from Europe and all over the world who attended prestigious ECU and FIDE events there in the past. This championship is a joint effort of IBCA, local organizers, Macedonian regional and municipal authorities that made sure players can meet in person while ensuring all the extra accessibility measures. President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr Stevo Pendarovski sent his warm greetings to the participants. The opening ceremony on June 28 featured Mr Naum Jamandiev, Mayor of the Ohrid municipality; Dr Charudatta Jadhav (IND), the IBCA President; Ms Diana Tsypina (CAN), the IBCA 2nd Vice-President; Mr. Blagoj Mishevski, President, National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia; Mr Zarko Selkovski, President, Braille Chess Association of North Macedonia; Mr Agim Shemshiu, Vice-President, Chess Federation of North Macedonia; Mr Zoran Stojcevski, member of the Board, Chess Federation of North Macedonia. The ceremony started with an emotional live rendition of the national anthem by prominent local singers. Then, Mayor Naum Jamandiev welcomed the participants to the Ohrid municipality and reminded them that Ohrid has a unique distinction of being one of only 28 locations in the world that are classified by UNESCO simultaneously as a Cultural World Heritage Site and the Natural World Heritage Site. He emphasized excellent collaboration between the IBCA, the organizers and local authorities, making it possible for over one hundred participants to meet in Ohrid in person and enjoy chess. Before declaring the Championship open, the IBCA President, Dr Charudatta Jadhav, touched on the important themes of cohesiveness and solidarity of the global Braille community. He asked for a minute of silence in memory of Dr Ludwig Beutelhoff, the longest-serving past IBCA President (2005-2017), who passed away at the age of 74. As philosopher and promoter of Braille chess, publisher of Marburger Schachzeitung, and disability officer of the Deutscher Schachbund, Dr Beutelhoff enjoyed universal respect and admiration both the Braille fraternity and among the global chess community. His spirit and his ideas continue to inspire the next generations of Braille players. President Jadhav warmly welcomed players from war-torn Ukraine who faced numerous obstacles to their participation but overcame them all with the help of the worldwide Braille chess family that organized a successful fundraising effort and ensured players’ safe passage. National Braille associations of Sweden, Germany, Canada, North Macedonia, France, Italy, as well as the IBCA itself, generously contributed enough money to enable the participation of Team Ukraine in the Championship in Ohrid and Ukraine’s best female Braille player, Liubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko in the upcoming IBCA World Women’s Championship in France. It is a great example of solidarity that transcends borders! The IBCA President’s speech was frequently interrupted by applause from the audience. Mr Blagoj Mishevski, President, National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia, and Mr Zarko Selkovski, President, Braille Chess Association of North Macedonia, stressed the efforts that the government and local authorities in North Macedonia take to ensure integration and full participation of disabled people into broader society, and remarked on Braille chess as an excellent way to reach these goals. Chief Arbiter Vadim Tsypin (CAN) guided the dignitaries to make the first symbolic moves in matches for each of the two groups, Romania – France and India – North Macedonia. The participants of the Championship are competing for the titles, medals and board prizes. There is a rest day between the end of group stage play and the semifinals when the organizers kindly offer a free excursion to some of the world’s oldest monasteries. Information and photos provided by the IBCA and the National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia About IBCA The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) is the supreme body responsible for chess for the blind and visually impaired. The IBCA is part of the International Blind Sports Federation and an Affiliated Member of FIDE. Founded in 1958, the IBCA has grown to more than sixty countries on four continents. Its major competitions include the Blind Chess Olympiad and the Blind World Chess Championships.
WSCC 2022: Valentina Gunina cruises into quarterfinals
GM Valentina Gunina crushed IM Elisabeth Paehtz in their Round of 16 match of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. Playing from Madrid, Gunina dominated all three segments of the duel and basically sealed the deal by the end of the 3+1 portion, stretching her lead to 15 points. The final score tells it all. Elizabeth had some chances here and there, but Valentina’s victory was never in doubt as he demonstrated her best qualities and excellent opening preparation. “I am so happy. It was my day and not the day for Lizzy,” Gunina said humbly in a short interview after the match. The next round of 16 match, GM Nana Dzagnidze vs. GM Humpy Koneru, begins on Wednesday, July 6, at 5 a.m. Pacific / 14:00 Central European. 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.
Romania to stage FIDE World Youth Chess Championships
FIDE is happy to announce that Romania will host the World Youth Chess Championships U14, U16, and U18 from September 05-17, 2022. The 11-round Swiss System tournaments, organized by International Chess Federation and Romanian Chess Federation together with Chess Club Universul and Chess Club Juniorul Constanta, will be held in Constanta Exhibition Centre. Every National Federation can register one official player in each category (under 14, 16, 18 years old, open and girls). This total of six official players plus one accompanying official (captain/trainer with a valid FIDE Trainer license) from the national federation are invited by the Organizers. The top 3 finishers in the previous U14, U16, and U18 World Youth Championships, and the respective Champions of the last Continental Youth Championships, shall have the personal right to participate in the World Youth Championships of the corresponding age category or a higher age category if the age requirement is met. Such players shall also be classified as Official Players and have to be registered by the national federation. Time control: 90 minutes for each player plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move one. Each player (official or additional) and each accompanying person/official must pay the Organizers the amount of €100 at the moment of their registration running up to July 20, 2022. This registration fee is compulsory and serves as a confirmation of participation; otherwise, registration will be invalid and will not be accepted. Entries must be submitted through the registration form by July 20, 2022. After this date, organizers reserve the right to refuse or decline late registrations or, if there is the availability of a spot, to charge a penalty of €80 for each late registration. Only member Federations of FIDE (not suspended, not in arrears) are entitled to submit registration forms. For more information, see the Regulations for World Youth Chess Championships (pdf)
Malta to host FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships
FIDE has announced the World Amateur Championships 2022 to be held in Malta from October 20-30 in the 4-star conference hotel “Paradise Bay Resort”. It will be one more major international event hosted by Malta recently, after the successful European Small Nations Team Championship in December 2021. In total, six championship titles in three categories of the World Amateur Championships will be awarded (categories for FIDE ratings under 2300, under 2000 and under 1700): Open & Women u-1700, Open & Women u-2000, Open & Women u-2300. With the cooperation of FIDE, the Malta Chess Federation and the appointed organiser, the event (initially planned for April 2021) has overcome all the obstacles of the Covid-19 crisis. The prize fund has also been increased to €15,000 – from €10,000 last year. The deadline for registration is September 5, 2022. For full details of the event’s regulations, including registration procedure, participation costs, detailed prize fund and travel instructions, download the official information package from the FIDE calendar at https://fide.com/calendar/51221. The tournament’s website will also be launched soon. For direct enquiries, you can also contact the Organising Committee by sending your messages to: malta2022@chess.travel. See you in sunny Malta!
2022 Candidates, Round 9: Firouzja, Radjabov and Ding score first victories
Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi drew with direct challenger for first place Fabiano Caruana, while all three other games ended with a decisive result Ian Nepomniachtchi remains in the lead on 6.5/9, a full point ahead of Fabiano Caruana. A step behind, on 4.5, is Hikaru Nakamura joined by Ding Liren, who gradually made progress and has now scored his first win, having had a very poor start to the tournament. Following their first victories in the tournament, Teimour Radjabov and Alireza Firouzja are on four points, where they join Richard Rapport, who lost today. On three points out of nine, Jan-Krzysztof Duda is alone on the bottom of the board. It was a day of big upsets, and decisive outcomes in Madrid as three out of four ended with a victory, while there was just one draw. The derby of the round was between Fabiano Caruana, who had to win against tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi if he wanted to equalise for first place. The two drew their first game in Round 2. Following a difficult day in Round 8, where he lost after seven hours of play, Caruana had a challenging task as White in today’s game. The American came out with excellent home preparation in the Petrov and got an edge straight out of the opening. However, Nepomniachtchi managed to overcome the complications, showing resourcefulness in defence and equalising with a sequence of only moves as Caruana lacked precision in keeping things tense. A draw was obviously a satisfactory result for the leader of the event and somewhat a disappointment for Caruana. This game was a direct duel for first place. With this draw, Nepomniachtchi secured that he enters the remaining stage of the tournament with a full point ahead of his runner-up Caruana, his most serious contender for winning the Candidates. The events of the day also played into Nepomniachtchi’s hand as the only two other players who stood reasonable chances of making their way to the top – Hikaru Nakamura and Richard Rapport – lost their games. With a day of rest ahead, Nepomniachtchi is in a very comfortable position. Richard Rapport lost as Black to Alireza Firouzja in what was the first win for the youngest player of the event. In the Berlin defence, White captured the initiative early on. While Firouzja didn’t play in the most precise way and even allowed Black chances to turn the tables, in the critical moment of the game, Rapport made an error after which he could no longer recover. With a weak pawn structure, exposed king in the centre and undeveloped rook on h8, Rapport stood no chance to defend from Firouzja’s attack, and he resigned after 41 moves. Rapport is again back in the red, while Firouzja has finally broken the spell and scored his first victory in his first Candidates ever. The 19-year-old’s biggest challenge is fighting his own nerves. With this victory, Firouzja has shown that he has the strength to pull through difficult times. This will hopefully help boost his confidence and stability. Teimour Radjabov also has reasons to celebrate as he scored not only his first victory in this tournament but a first win since 2019. Playing with white pieces, he surprised Hikaru Nakamura in the Berlin and gained initiative early in the game. Nakamura offered a repetition of moves twice, but Radjabov refused. This was already an early sign of things to come. The position transpired to an endgame where White had two unopposed runners on the queenside. Nakamura tried to create some complications but without any success. Radjabov’s last victory was on 2nd October 2019, in the World Cup against Ding Liren. Today’s success is a great boost for his self-confidence and, hopefully, an opener for his creativity and innate dynamism, which, blended with his newfound solidity, make him an extremely difficult opponent to face, regardless of where he is on the scoreboard. After this defeat, Nakamura is back to 50 percent, a point behind Caruana and two points behind Nepomniachtchi. Had the game gone a different way and Black ended up winning, Nakamura would be sharing second place. It will be interesting to see how and if Nakamura recovers. The last game of the day to finish was between Ding Liren and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Following an even position in the neo-Catalan, White transpired into a slightly better endgame in which Duda did not demonstrate necessary accuracy. Ding managed to preserve his a-passer, which eventually decided the game. To make things worse for Duda, White put his rook on c7, threatening to take the pawn on f7 and completely cut off black’s king while assisting the advance of his a-runner. Duda was struggling, but Ding was confident and, in the end, got his king to help provide support for the pawn on the a-file. With all options exhausted, Black accepted defeat after more than five hours of play. Duda has clearly crashed and seems he cannot recover from the defeat in round six to Nepomniachtchi. In the last four games, he won just half a point. Ding, on the other hand – finally won a game and did so in a convincing fashion. With 4.5/9, he is now in the middle on 50 percent, the same as Nakamura. While it is unlikely he will manage to achieve much in this tournament, this victory could help Ding get back into his element and score some more points in the remaining five rounds. Here follows a closer look at the games from round nine of the Candidates. Alireza Firouzja vs Richard Rapport: The spell is broken Rapport tested the Berlin defence against Firouzja and as early as move five Alireza started spending considerable time – an ominous sign based on the previous games. However, after 5.0-0 Black responded by putting a knight on d4 and going for the exchange and soon after, the position was even. Despite burning time on the clock, Firouzja was happy with the outcome of the opening. ‘I was