Second leg of FIDE Grand Prix starts in Belgrade on February 28
The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix is around the corner. The competition hosted by Belgrade (Serbia) runs from February 28 to March 14 and features 16 elite chess grandmasters vying for a prize fund of €150,000 and the last two spots in the Candidates Tournament. Previously the capital of the mighty chess nation, it has been decades since the region has been home to major chess events involving many of the world’s strongest players. The leaders after the first leg, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian are not playing in Belgrade; on the other hand, several top grandmasters start their Grand Prix campaign in the capital of Serbia. GP points after the first leg: 1. Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2736 — 13 points2. Levon Aronian (USA), 2772 — 10 points3. Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2752 — 7 points4. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 — 7 points5. Wesley So (USA), 2772 — 4 points6. Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland), 2686 — 4 points7. Andrey Esipenko (Russia), 2714 — 4 points8. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727 — 3 points9. Daniil Dubov (Russia), 2720 — 3 points10. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764 — 2 points11. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704 — 2 points12. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2717 — 2 points Just like in the first leg, sixteen players were allocated to four different pools through a randomized selection, with the final pairings to be determined at the opening ceremony: Pool A: Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724Sam Shankland (USA), 2708Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 Pool B: Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2772Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 2726Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2719Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 Pool C: Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704 Pool D: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2767Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761Yu Yangyi (China), 2713Alexandr Predke (Russia), 2682 Photo: ihg.com The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in Belgrade’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. All the rounds start at 3 PM CET. The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com: https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13605 For further questions, please contact media@worldchess.com. About FIDE Grand Prix 2022: The competition consists of three legs that span over three months and two cities: First leg: February 3 — 17, Berlin, GermanySecond leg: February 28 — March 14, Belgrade, SerbiaThird leg: March 21 — April 4, Berlin, Germany The FIDE Grand Prix will feature 24 players, with each player competing in two out of three events. Each 16-player event will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final. At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of 2 regular time limit games, plus tiebreaks if needed. Players receive Grand Prix points according to their finishing position in each tournament: Round Grand Prix points Winner 13 Runner-Up 10 Semi-final loser 7 2nd in pool 4 3rd in pool 2 4th in pool 0 Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 (pdf) About World Chess: World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi play out epic 2-2 draw
Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi played out an epic see-saw encounter on day 1 of the Airthings Masters final that leaves the event on a knife-edge. The match started with Carlsen having earlier tweeted “peace is cool” in reference to world events. That proved appropriate as, after four stunning games, there was a pleasingly peaceful resolution on the chessboard. The chess, of course, was anything but friendly. Purely in chess terms, the four epic drama-filled games were as exciting as anything seen on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – despite all being draws. Games 2 and 3 were filled with twists and turns as both Magnus and Ian took huge risks to go for the win. Then in the final game, it seemed like one player would finally get ahead going into tomorrow’s decider. Nepomniachtchi took his eye off the ball for a moment and blundered a piece. A win for Carlsen, a full rook up, looked inevitable. But incredibly, Carlsen blew it with a careless move of his own. Both players were visibly shocked as game 4 headed towards another draw. It ended a stunning encounter that belied the sombre mood among the players due to outside events. The players will resume tomorrow with four more games and tiebreaks if needed. A winner must be found. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments, contact: Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com, with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.
FIDE delegation visits Kakuma Refugee Camp
By Geir Nesheim, FIDE Social Commission On February 23, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola visited the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya to get first-hand insight into the FIDE-led chess education project. Since August 2021, some 800 learners have been introduced to the game of chess. In a parallel project, three girls’ boarding schools have been part of the “Girl Club” project, where some 100 girls have obtained chess training and interacted with experienced female chess profiles and heard their stories. The FIDE Social Commission is currently running its first big-scale project in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya together with UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Chess Kenya. The project aims to offer access to the game of chess to 1,600 schoolchildren in the Kakuma refugee camp, which is home to some 220,000 refugees and asylum-seekers. Since the project launched in August 2021, 10 refugee chess teachers and facilitators have been trained to give chess classes in Kakuma. The FIDE Trainer Commission has designed a special education package for the facilitators and conducted several training seminars. At the first stage, ten chess teachers (facilitators), who are actually refugees themselves, were trained to perform the actual chess lectures in the classrooms. The FIDE Trainer Commission designed a special education package for the facilitators and conducted several training seminars. In the project’s first phase, the facilitators engaged with 400 learners in 10 schools with the aim of bringing them from beginner level to a first command level of the game, which will allow them to participate in beginner tournaments. The first phase took place from September to December 2021 and concluded with a series of school chess tournaments. The second phase was launched in January 2022, with additional 10 schools and 400 new learners starting their chess class. At the same time, the first 400 learners were offered sustained chess training from project volunteers from the refugee community in Kakuma. In the “Girl Club” program, learners from three girls’ boarding schools in Kakuma, around 100 girls received chess training, lectures and inspirational storytelling from female chess players. The project has been specially designed to empower and inspire refugee girls. Head of sub-office Kakuma UNHCR Nicolas Kaburaburyo flanked by FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola and FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich On February 23, FIDE President visited the Kakuma refugee camp and met with partner representatives Nicolas Kaburaburyo, the Head of UNHCR Sub-Office in Kakuma, and Benard Wanjala, the President of Chess Kenya. During the visit to Kakuma, the delegation also met learners at the Angelina Jolie Girls Boarding School, where Dana Reizniece-Ozola gave them a chess training session and played with the chess trainees. The FIDE President then visited the “FIDE Project Office” in Kakuma, where the project staff, including project leader-in-camp Kong’or Deng Maketh and the facilitators, have their daily planning activities. “FIDE thanks UNHCR, LWC and Chess Kenya for their support in carrying out this very important social project. We all need goals to strive for in our life. And I hope that chess gives a meaningful scope to the lives of these displaced people. I hope to see the first refugee team being represented in the World Chess Olympiad 2022. Last year it was just an idea; today, it sounds like a plan,” FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola added: “We want to use chess for empowering those who are less fortunate. We launched this project in Kakuma and Kalobeyei with the hope that our beautiful game would give the refugee children and youth valuable life skills and also a very important sense of belonging to the chess family. A few hundred kids have already been trained, and many more are still to be engaged in chess. We are also looking forward to expanding the initiative to neighbouring countries while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the current initiatives launched.” Head Teacher of Angelina Jolie Girls Boarding School (one of three girl schools in the project) Sabella Muthoni shared her feedback: “The program has really improved the learners’ critical thinking. The girls enjoy the game as part of their curriculum activity and break classroom boredom.” Head Teacher Angelina Jolie Headmaster Sabella Muthoni with FIDE Social Commission member Geir Nesheim, who is coordinating the Kakuma project on behalf of FIDE Social Commission Nicolas Kaburaburyo, Head of UNHCR’s Sub-Office in Kakuma: “The Chess for Refugees project has proven to have a real impact on a remarkable number of refugee children and youth in Kakuma refugee camp over a very short period. We are very pleased with the investments FIDE has already made in this innovative partnership and hope that the project will help to produce some long term positive solutions for refugees and their host communities in terms of providing meaningful activities and offer psychosocial support.” Benard Wanjala, president of Chess Kenya:” Chess Kenya has considerable working experience in Refugee camps. Chess Kenya launched the first tournament for refugees in 2014 on World Refugee Day. In 2019 we organized the South Sudan players’ travelling to the Zonal tournament in Nairobi. With their help, it would potentially be possible to get the trained kids involved in regular Chess Kenya activities. The Chess for Protection project aims to bring the game of chess to refugee children and offer them the benefit of playing the game, but also develop all the positive elements that chess could offer, such as cognitive skills, problem-solving, decision making, social training, and so many other elements, to better equip them for life ahead. A special focus is on making it sustainable, ensuring that the learners’ access to chess activity continues after the first project period. This will be provided through partnership and cooperation with the Kakuma Chess Club, which was founded in 2006, and have activities close to the Project office. The Kakuma Chess Club will be supported to continue with chess activities for the trainees, the Girl Club learners and new learners coming through in the years to come. The FIDE Social Commission plans to launch similar initiatives in
44th Chess Olympiad and FIDE Congress will not take place in Russia
FIDE Council has decided that the 44th Chess Olympiad, including the competition for players with disabilities, as well as the FIDE Congress, will not take place in Russia. We will do our utmost to find another organizer for the Olympiad and, in due time, provide information on the location and dates of FIDE Congress 2022.
2022 Chess Olympiad to be moved from Moscow
The International Chess Federation has announced today its decision that the 44th Chess Olympiad, one of its flagship events, will not take place in Russia. This championship, in which teams from approximately 190 countries compete for two weeks, was supposed to take place in Moscow from July 26 July to August 8. Additionally, this year’s edition of the Chess Olympiad was supposed to include the first chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, to be played in Khanty-Mansiysk, a well-known skiing and alpine centre of global importance that annually hosts the Biathlon World Cup. Another event that will be moved away from Russia is the 93rd FIDE Congress, which was planned to take place alongside the Chess Olympiad. This year, the Congress should also include an electoral procedure, since the first term of the current FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich is coming to an end. Dvorkovich was elected in Batumi (Georgia), in September 2018.Chess in Russia remains extremely popular, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and despite the fact that Russia has not won a Chess Olympiad since Bled (Slovenia) 2002. There are tens of millions of fans, and the sport is enthusiastically supported by its institutions and also by its private sector. The country often hosts top-level chess competitions, including official ones, like the previous Candidates Tournament that took place in Yekaterinburg amidst the pandemic. However, the rapidly deteriorating geopolitical situation has forced the FIDE Council to make this difficult move. During its extraordinary meeting, held today, Friday, February 25, it was decided that all official competitions planned would be moved from Russia. FIDE is already working on finding alternative dates and locations for these events.
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi set up final
Magnus Carlsen and Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi set up a repeat of their world title battle in the Airthings Masters final on a day overshadowed by outside events. Nepo was among three Russians who had made it through to the last four of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event before their country’s invasion of Ukraine overnight. Despite the turmoil, all three expressed the desire to continue in the competition. However, it was clear world events had affected them. There was a sombre mood among all the players as Nepo finished his quarter-final against his fellow Russian, the 19-year-old Andrey Esipenko. In chess terms, he did it with a flourish, but there was little celebration. Ian, appearing from his home in Moscow, said his play was “very, very bad because I can’t think”. He added that he had to “just rely on intuition”. “Every day is a challenge, and today, yes, I would say especially.” Carlsen, meanwhile, had a dream start with two wins against Vladislav Artemiev and then secured the draw he needed to go through. Artemiev barely had a chance. Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi now face each other again after their World Championship match in Dubai, which Carlsen won. Carlsen said he’d also been following world events and described himself as a “concerned bystander”. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments, contact: Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com, with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.
FIDE PDC continental meeting held in Kampala, Uganda
The FIDE Planning and Development Commission had its second continental meeting on February 22 at Protea Hotel by Marriott, Kampala, Uganda under the competent supervisión of the Uganda Chess Federation President and PDC member, Emmanuel Mwaka. FIDE PDC was also happy to partner with Ethiopian Airlines. The event was attended by the FIDE President Mr Arkady Dvorkovich, Mr Victor Bologan (FIDE Executive Director), Mrs Dana Reizniece-Ozola (FIDE Managing Director), Mr Lewis Ncube (ACC President), Mrs Sonja Johnson (PDC Chair), Ms Tshepiso Lopang (PDC Councillor- Africa) and the representatives of 37 countries. Also, we were honoured to have the Minister of State for Sport in Uganda, Hon. Denis Hamson Obua. The objective of this continental meeting was to share insights into the funding programme over the past three years. The status of the development fund in Africa during the years 2019-2021 and the FIDE 2022 projects were presented. The participants also saw the presentation of the sponsorship proposal template as a key tool to help federations engage other partners in a bid towards sustainability. The delegates focused on improving Project proposals for funding to facilitate more efficient processing of applications; they also had productive discussions on various social projects across the region, such as Chess for Protection. The Planning and Development Commission will utilise the rich feedback and suggestions shared during the meeting to create programmes and initiatives to support the development of the federations in Africa and other continents throughout FIDE.
Statement of FIDE Council regarding official competitions and events in Russia
FIDE Council expresses its grave concern regarding the current rapidly deteriorating geopolitical situation. During its extraordinary meeting, FIDE Council will review holding all the planned FIDE official chess competitions and events in Russia. The member federations and the responsible FIDE Commissions will be consulted in order to make the most appropriate decision.
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Three Russians power into semis of Airthings Masters
Russia dominated the Airthings Masters today as three of its top stars made it through to the semi-finals, with only World Champion Magnus Carlsen now being able to break the great chess superpower’s stranglehold on the event. First through to the final four was Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi, who scored a decisive third-game point to secure a 3-1 win in his match against German prodigy Vincent Keymer. It continued Ian’s hot streak of form in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour that has seen him installed as the tournament favourite on the back of losing only twice in 19 games. Nepomniachtchi now faces fellow Russian Andrey Esipenko, who ended the dream of world number 237, a popular Canadian chess streamer Eric Hansen. Hansen, the tournament underdog, had played brilliantly to beat Carlsen and Nepo in the prelims, but there was no fairytale end against the highly-rated 19-year-old Esipenko. On the other side of the draw, Carlsen, seemingly recovered from Covid-19, made it through to the semis against Vietnam’s speed chess specialist Liem Quang Le. The World Champion won the first game against the dangerous Liem and then played out three draws for a 3-1 match score. On settling for a draw in the final game, Carlsen said: “I have not come to value the tour rating that high that I’d forgo absolute certain qualification to go for more!” In the other quarter-final, China’s Ding Liren missed several knockout blows in his match against Vladislav Artemiev and was eventually punished by the Russian. Ding played brilliantly in game 3, but Artemiev hung in there for a draw and then took the final game to win 2.5-1.5. It made it a clean sweep for the Russian competitors – but can one of them now down the world number and reigning Tour champ Magnus Carlsen? The semis start tomorrow. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments, contact: Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com, with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.