Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are strongly standing against all types of discrimination”
FIDE President took part in the 2021 Sport Integrity Week with a keynote speech, “Chess: an Enabler of the Social Development Goals”. The Sport Integrity Week™ is aimed at promoting the implementation of the highest integrity standards at all levels and across all areas of Sport. Bringing together relevant industry leaders, decision-makers and top experts, the Sport Integrity Week™ offers a unique, powerful platform to raise awareness about the most critical challenges facing sport and the wider industry, facilitate collective action and pave the way to the necessary reforms. In his speech, FIDE President presented some key benefits that chess can provide to society: “Chess can be instrumental in improving the intellectual capacity of people, especially the young. Chess teaches us how to respect our opponent. Chess teaches us how to take wins and losses with honour and pride. How to analyse your mistakes, improve strategical thinking and memory.” He also elaborated on the role of FIDE: “FIDE is not just about official tournaments or world championships, it is about promoting education among youth, gender equality, fair play values. In chess, we are strongly standing against all types of discrimination. We also do our best to support players with disabilities to be involved in chess activities.” The organisation is facing some challenges and President did not shy away from them: “FIDE must change itself, improve its management capacity and be even more intensive and have better interaction with all its constituencies.” Answering the question about prevention and fight against unscrupulous behaviours that affect the sports industry, including chess, Arkady Dvorkovich described the institutional framework FIDE was putting together, stressed the importance of transparency for the entire organisation and castigated computer cheating: “It is absolutely intolerable from our perspective. We sent a very clear message that we are not going to tolerate it; we are going to fight… We do have means, but we need support from the legal community to establish this [using AI for detecting cheaters] as a streamline process and use it widely in chess.” Full keynote and fireside chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuWSpOBEY70 More about the event: https://siga-sport.com/siga-sport-integrity-week-2021/
FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2021: Preview
At the end of the month, on September 26, the FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2021 starts in Sitges, the coastal town in Spain’s Catalonia region famous for eight editions of a popular chess open, “Sunway Chess”. The first Women’s World Team Chess Championship was held in Yekaterinburg back in 2007. This city in Central Russia, now famous for the latest Candidates tournament, was a centre of attraction for female chess players at that time as it held a series of top-class round-robin tournaments for women, called “North Urals Cup”. China convincingly won that first-ever championship, crushing eventual silver-medalists Russia 4-0 in one of the early rounds. The victory in Yekaterinburg started a hat trick as the squad led by Hou Yifan claimed gold at the home championship in Ningbo-2009 and the next one in Mardin-2011. The years of Chinese domination ended with the Ukrainian team triumph in Astana-2013 and Georgian victory in Chengdu-2015. At the home championship in Khanty-Mansiysk-2017, one of the permanent favourites and medalists of all previous editions, Russia finally managed to win their first gold. At the latest Astana-2019, China reclaimed the top spot and won their fourth gold, leaving Russia second and Georgia third. 2021 marks the 8th edition of the championship, and this year it is held in a new, more spectator-friendly format. Instead of the usual round-robin, the twelve teams shall be divided into two pools of approximately the same strength. Four top teams from each pool (round-robin event of five rounds) qualify for the knockout playoff. In the knockout, each duel consist of two matches and the tie is broken by blitz matches, much like at the recently concluded Online Olympiad. The time control will be shorter than usual, too, — 45 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 10 seconds per move. The pandemic put most of the over-the-board events on hold in 2020, but luckily that was the year leapfrogged by a bi-annual schedule of the team championship, so there will be no gap in the calendar. However, not so fortunate is that the pandemic restrictions still impact our world significantly and not all the favourites will manage to take part. Most notably, we will not see China and the USA, two top teams of the Asian and American continents. In the absence of China, CFR Team stands as a firm favourite, headed by the world’s #2 Aleksandra Goryachkina (pictured above) and with an excellent lineup of Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Polina Shuvalova, and Alina Kashlinskaya as a reserve player. This is Russia’s best possible roster by standard FIDE rating, showcasing their determination to bring home another gold this autumn, following the triumphal win at the Online Olympiad. Russia’s permanent rival, Georgia, also brings the optimum lineup: Nana Dzagnidze, Nino Batsiashvili (pictured below), Salome Melia, Lela Javakhishvili, and Meri Arabidze. Curiously, when Georgia took gold in Chengdu-2015, four out of five players were the same, and the fifth one was Melia instead of Dzagnidze. Will they be able to repeat their feat six years later? Another regular favourite, Ukraine, is nothing short of top players too. But unlike Russia or Georgia, they’ve got a little more creative approach to the board order, putting Iulija Osmak on a reserve board, behind slightly lower rated Nataliya Buksa. The first two boards naturally belong to powerhouses Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, and team captain Michael Brodsky chose Anna to lead the team. Third board is occupied by Anna Ushenina. These three teams stand out rating-wise and have tremendous experience and a history of medals at the world team championships, so they will likely become top contenders for gold. Traditionally solid Armenia (led by current European Women’s Champion Elina Danielian), Poland (with Zawadzka and Cyfka on top boards), Germany (headed by unchallenged leader Elisabeth Paehtz) and Azerbaijan (led by 21-year-old Gibraltar WGP discovery Gunay Mammadzada) will interfere with the medal distribution and fight for a place on a pedestal. Local heroines led by Ana Matnadze have a very balanced lineup. There is no place like home, so perhaps familiar walls will lead the Spanish team to success. Apart from this rather usual distribution of forces, two teams this year deserve special attention – India and Kazakhstan. It has been a while since India played with their best lineup and the fans’ dream was about to come true in Sitges, but unfortunately, at the last moment, Humpy Koneru was replaced by Mary Ann Gomes. Without the world’s #3 female player, India’s position as one of the tournament’s favourites is shaken and the quest for gold becomes all the more difficult. Harika Dronavalli (pictured below) will have to put on the shoes of a team leader and inspire Vaishali R, Tania Sachdev, and Bhakti Kulkarni to their best performance. “Humpy is one of our best, but we have others who are equally capable of doing well. We are sure our team will notch up a good show in Spain”, said AICF secretary, Bharat Singh Chauhan, to the Times of India that reported on the news. It’s great to see young stars claiming their place next to the recognized masters. 20-year-old CFR’s Polina Shuvalova, 20-year-old Indian Vaishali R, 21-year-old Gunay Mammadzada are here to stay. But the generational shift is especially evident with the team of Kazakhstan – an apparent underdog capable of delivering any surprises. Team leader 21-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik (pictured below) just crushed Gibraltar WGP this summer, and the third board, 17-year-old Bibisara Assaubayeva, had a fantastic run at the Women’s World Cup. Add to the mix experienced and stable Dinara Saduakassova, Gulmira Dauletova, and one more promising teenager, 16-year-old Meruert Kamalidenova, to complete the picture. It won’t be an easy walk for the teams of France and FIDE Americas, competing with such heavyweights, so advancing from the group stage could definitely be considered a success. In the absence of the USA, FIDE Americas is a mixed team with the players from the continent, nominated by the FIDE President: Deysi Cori (Peru), Carolina Lujan (Argentina), Maritza Arribas (Cuba), Maili-Jade Quellet
Magnus Carlsen wins Norway Chess 2021
Magnus Carlsen came out as the winner of the Norway Chess 2021. It is his third straight title in his home tournament and fourth overall. The 6-player double round-robin took place at the Clarion Hotel Energy in Stavanger, Norway, from September 7-17. Each round consisted of a classical game where a win was worth 3 points and a loss – 0. In case of a draw, the players played an Armageddon game, where the winner scored 1½ points, and the loser got just 1 point. The World Champion had a slow start but picked up steam in the second part of the event and, after scoring three victories in a row, grabbed the lead in the penultimate round. On the last day, Magnus beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon and clinched the title. Alireza Firouzja turned in a very solid performance (+16 rating points) and finished second. Despite losing to Carlsen, he won three micro-matches, and after beating Richard Rapport in a sharp final-round battle, he leapfrogged him in the final standings. Richard Rapport was in the lead for most of the tournament distance but ended on a low note and had to settle for third place. Nevertheless, the Hungarian put up a strong showing and earned 10 rating points along the way. Final standings: 1 Magnus Carlsen 2855 19½ 2 Alireza Firouzja 2754 18 3 Richard Rapport 2760 16½ 4 Ian Nepomniachtchi 2792 12 5 Sergey Karjakin 2758 10 6 Aryan Tari 2642 7 Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess Official website: norwaychess.no
Pilot project FIDE/UNCHR Girls Club “Chess for protection” Kakuma 2021/2022 launched
September 18, 2021 – a pilot project of FIDE/UNCHR, Girls Club “Chess for protection”, Kakuma 2021/2022, has been launched today. Kenya is one of the biggest refugee-hosting countries in Africa and the world, hosting over 508,000 refugees mainly from the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region. Over 40% of all refugees reside in Kakuma refugee camp. The majority of the refugee population in Kakuma and Kalobeyei consists of children and youth. During the opening ceremony, FIDE Vice-President, the leader of Girls Club “Chess for protection”, Anastasia Sorokina, welcomed all the participants and expressed her hope that it would be a life-changing experience for the girls taking part. The project started in Angelina Jolie primary school with an attendance of 40 students. During the first session, the lecturers, WGM Anastasiya Karlovich (UKR) and IM Salome Melia (GEO), introduced themselves to the players and had a nice conversation with the girls, who showed their great interest in learning the game. Chess lessons will be held twice a week: once a week 1-hour lesson with titled coaches from FIDE WGM Anastasia Karlovich (UKR) and IM Salome Melia (GEO), and once a week lesson with a local tutor. Project Goals – To learn what is chess and how to play chess, and improve personal chess skills – Creative development Besides chess, monthly book club meetings will engage girls in reading. Participants will be offered a list of literature: modern, classic, professional, etc. At the meeting, they will discuss the books they have read to exchange opinions, impressions and gain a deeper understanding of what they have read. – Meeting and communicating with successful women In addition to professionalism and unconditional talent, a personal example is very important in chess. Through live communication, the project participants will have a chance to improve their chess skills and develop personally. Inspirational examples are the things that can inspire us and give us a lot of ideas. They will talk about their life’s work and where they get inspiration. – Achieving personal goals Only the fulfilment of our goals makes us truly happy. At the beginning of the project, each participant will write a letter to her future self, which she will receive exactly one year later. Thus, each participant will see her progress. Final tournament A final 1-2 day online tournament will be held at the end of the year with official guests invited. During the tournament, the results of the entire pilot project will also be summed up. At FIDE, we’re grateful to the team involved in the project, devoting their time with passion and hope for change, and would like to seize an opportunity to thank them: Project leader – FIDE Vice President Anastasia Sorokina Project supervisor – FIDE Managing Director, Dana Reizniece-Ozola FIDE project coordinator – Member of FIDE Social commission Geir Nesheim Project coordinator in Kakuma – Peter Diing
FIDE World Women’s Team Championship: lineups announced
At the end of the month, on September 26, the FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2021 starts in Sitges, a coastal town in Spain’s Catalonia region famous for eight editions of a popular chess open, “Sunway Chess”. Now, the first time, Sitges is hosting an official FIDE event. The 8th edition of the FIDE World Women’s Team Championship will run from September 26 to October 3 in a new, more spectator-friendly format. Instead of the usual round-robin, the twelve teams will be divided into two pools of approximately equal strength. Four top teams from each pool (round-robin event of five rounds) qualify to the knockout playoff. In the knockout, each duel consists of two matches and the tie is broken by blitz matches, just like at the recent Online Olympiad. The time control will be shorter than usual, too,—45 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from the first move. Team lineups: ARMENIA 1 Elina Danielian 2358 2 Anna Sargsyan 2283 3 Lilit Mkrtchian 2306 4 Susanna Gaboyan 2083 5 Siranush Ghukasyan 2168* CAP Zaven Andriasyan FRANCE 1 Marie Sebag 2401 2 Natacha Benmesbah 2193 3 Silvia Alexieva 2277 4 Andrea Navrotescu 2220 5 Christine Flear 2128 CAP Christine Flear INDIA 1 Harika Dronavalli 2515 2 Vaishali R 2393 3 Tania Sachdev 2392 4 Kulkarni Bhakti 2391 5 Mary Ann Gomes 2305 CAP Kunte Abhijit CFR TEAM 1 Aleksandra Goryachkina 2520 2 Kateryna Lagno 2521 3 Alexandra Kosteniuk 2517 4 Polina Shuvalova 2383 5 Alina Kashlinskaya 2367 CAP Sergei Rublevsky AZERBAIJAN 1 Gunay Mammadzada 2280 2 Gulnar Mammadova 2406 3 Turkan Mamedjarova 2243 4 Zeinab Mamedjarova 2198 5 Ulviyya Fataliyeva 2310 GEORGIA 1 Nana Dzagnidze 2455 2 Nino Batsiashvili 2371 3 Salome Melia 2271 4 Lela Javakhishvili 2364 5 Meri Arabidze 2434 CAP Davit Jojua KAZAKHSTAN 1 Zhansaya Abdumalik 2444 2 Dinara Saduakassova 2429 3 Bibisara Assaubayeva 2369 4 Gulmira Dauletova 2184 5 Meruert Kamalidenova 1984 CAP Pavel Kotsur SPAIN 1 Ana Matnadze 2349 2 Sabrina Vega Gutierrez 2214 3 Marta Garcia Martin 2097 4 Monica Calzetta Ruiz 2103 5 Maria Eizaguerri Floris 1811 CAP David Martinez Martin FIDE AMERICAS 1 Deysi Cori 2340 2 Carolina Luján 2375 3 Maritza Arribas 2261 4 Maili-Jade Ouellet 2113 5 Jeniffer Pérez 2150 CAP Claudia Amura GERMANY 1 Elisabeth Paehtz 2371 2 Josephine Heinemann 2177 3 Hanna Marie Klek 2331* 4 Jana Schneider 2138 5 Melanie Lubbe 2300* POLAND 1 Jolanta Zawadzka 2403 2 Karina Cyfka 2417 3 Monika Socko 2393 4 Klaudia Kulon 2363 5 Julia Antolak 2340 CAP Marcin Dziuba UKRAINE 1 Anna Muzychuk 2537 2 Mariya Muzychuk 2496 3 Anna Ushenina 2418 4 Nataliya Buksa 2184 5 Iulija Osmak 2302 CAP Michail Brodsky * – player doesn’t have a rapid rating, classical one used instead Official website: worldwomensteams.fide.com/
Portuguese Championship: André Sousa clinches third title
IM André Sousa won the Portuguese Championship, a 10-player round-robin that took place at Teatro Garcia de Resende, in Évora city from September 7-15. It is his third national title over six years. Sousa secured the first prize with a round to spare after defeating Jose Padeiro in the penultimate round. The champion turned in an excellent performance 7 out of 9 (five wins and four draws) and picked up 17 rating points. The rating-favourite Jorge Ferreira finished second a full point behind the champion (he has yet to win his first title); the young FM Bruno Martins came clear third, earned 24 rating points, and stamped himself as the future of Portuguese chess. The 16-time national champion and the record holder António Fernandes was looking for the 17th national title in Évora, but the tournament turned into a big disappointment for him. Final standings: 1 IM Sousa, Andre 2406 7 2 GM Ferreira, Jorge 2520 6 3 FM Martins, Bruno 2335 5½ 4 IM Dias, Paulo 2335 4½ 5 IM Rocha, Sergio 2344 4½ 6 NM Fidalgo, Andre 2263 4½ 7 FM Veiga, Jose 2369 4½ 8 FM Santos, Jose 2344 4 9 FM Padeiro, Jose 2235 3 10 GM Fernandes, Antonio 2343 1½ In the women’s tournament, Filipa Pipiras won the title in a close competition with Sara Monteiro whom she beat in the winner-takes-it-all final-round clash. This defeat relegated Monteiro to the third position while Camila Avelino took silver. Photo: Official website Official website: fpx.pt
Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners: Last call to register
The first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners will take place from 13-14 October 2021. Organized as a part of the Chess for Freedom program, it aims at introducing chess as a tool for education and social inclusion in prisons of different countries. Registration for participation is open here until September 21. So far, prisons and correctional facilities from 23 countries have ready registered for the competition. Inmates from India, Italy, England, Armenia, Argentina, Spain, Palestine, Iran, Lybia, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Columbia, Philippines, Australia, Norway, Ecuador, Uruguay, Mongolia, Ukraine, USA are getting ready for the October event. Teams comprised of four players with an unlimited number of substitutes each will first compete in a round-robin chess tournament on Wednesday, October 13. The top teams will be battling it out in the finals on Thursday, October 14. “The Intercontinental Chess Championship among the Prisoners is a bridge for freedom for hundreds of men and women across all continents that can be used as an efficient tool for re-integration of prisoners to the normal life”, says the Cook County Jail chess instructor Mikhail Korenman, whose team won the silver medal of the “Chess for Freedom” online tournament held earlier this year. “We got new members of the team after May event. There is a competition to be part of our team; the tournament definitely raised the interest of the inmates in chess. We have weekly chess lessons, and before the championship, we plan to have four days of practice with the computers on Chess.com”. Mikhail Korenman conducts chess classes at the Cook County Jail. Photo by Phil Velasquez (Chicago Tribune) Team of Uruguay has also registered for the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. The Director of Youth and Adult Education, Marisa Grosso said the team was looking forward to the coming tournament and stressed that the results of teaching chess in detention centers are very positive. “We have chess teachers in various prisons of the country, and we noticed that inmates are playing chess with great enthusiasm. Chess is not just a game; it improves strategic thinking and shows the importance of teamwork. Prisoners play in teams and help each other, so there they also learn to respect other people, their time and efforts”, he explains. Free and open to players representing any correctional facility without specification by age and gender of prisoners, the tournament will be played online and live-streamed on Chess TV and FIDE’s Youtube channel. In parallel with the championship, the live broadcast will feature guests discussing various topics and sharing their experience in teaching chess in prisons. Regulations for Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners (pdf) Chess for Freedom Presentation (pdf)
FIDE signs MoU with International School Sport Federation
The International Chess Federation has signed the memorandum of understanding with the International School Sport Federation (ISF), the governing body for school sport, which comprises children between the ages of 13 to 18, on ensuring the development and promotion of chess through school sport. The document was signed by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and ISF President Laurent Petrynka within the framework of the School Sport Forum held in Belgrade, Serbia. Specifically, the partnership will encourage and support youth education through chess sport and culture, contribute to the social and intellectual development of youngsters, and promote chess sport and chess in education on a local and international level. Arkady Dvorkovich said that joint efforts of both federations in organizing school chess events and promoting chess among youngsters across the world is a win-win opportunity for FIDE and ISF. “This memorandum will give a pass to our expanded collaboration in the developing of school sports and chess in particular. We support integrating chess in multi-sport events. We do it all the time, but being at the school level is a special thing for us. It’s our great pleasure to work with your team to bring chess and other sports to countries and regions that are in high demand for educational and sports activities in schools and also creating good examples of sportsmanship and fair play. Looking forward to new ideas and projects! FIDE will be an active part of your school movement. Thanks a lot for your trust, and we will respond the same way!” he stated. “Chess is inside ISF, as the smartness, the intelligence of chess, the fact that chess is the link between people – all these values are the values of school sports as well” – added ISF President Laurent Petrynka. Based in Belgium, the ISF has been organizing international competitions to encourage education through sport and student-athletes since its foundation in 1972. ISF was recognized by the IOC in 1995, and it currently has 113 members competing in 45 different sports disciplines. Many of these sports have their own World Schools Championships every two years, while others are part of the bi-annual Gymnasiade.
Russia takes gold in the 2021 Online Chess Olympiad
Wednesday, September 15th, 2021 – Team Russia took home the Gold Medal in the FIDE 2021 Online Olympiad after defeating Team USA (silver) by a double 3½-2½ this afternoon on the Chess.com online playing server. As the results display, both matches were tremendously close, showing that these two teams clearly deserved to be in the final. Congratulations to semi-finalists and bronze medals China and India: both teams also played fantastic chess all week. Russia has finally managed to get off their chest last year’s result, when they were declared co-winners, after their opponent in that final – India – experienced important connectivity issues during the second match. Everything ran very smoothly on both sides this year: team Russia playing from the Central Chess Club in Moscow and team USA spread around the American continent. Team Russia in action from the Moscow Central Chess Club Immediately after the match ended, USA captain IM John Donaldson sent a polite sportsmanlike message to the organizers: “Please extend the congratulations of the American captain and players to the Russian team on a match well played”. Although the USA managed to win one game in the first match (Awonder Liang defeated Andrey Episenko in both of their encounters), Russia responded strongly with two victories. Board two Vladislav Artemiev displayed excellent technique to defeat Ray Robson in a rook ending with an extra pawn, while Aleksandra Goryachkina checkmated Irina Krush. Aleksandra Goryachkina won a key game with Black in the first match In the diagram, White has just played 36.Rxd6. Even though her position is beyond repair, Krush missed the best Russian female player’s conclusive reply. Black finished off the game in style with 36…Nf3+ 37.Kh1 Qxh3 mate. The second match was also very close, both teams making some changes in their line-ups. Having lost the first match, the USA was not OK with a 3-3 tie in the second one, and that did seem to influence the final stage of the games: the players needed to take risks for the team. Runners-up and silver medal for the United States of America The first two boards ended in a draw, although Dariusz Swiercz might have missed some chances for the USA in a double-edged middlegame against Artemiev. However, the key game, and possibly one of the best of the whole event, was Alexandra Kosteniuk’s fantastic win against Irina Krush. In the diagram, White has sacrificed a piece but launched a fierce attack. The fireworks start with 22.Ng5! sacrificing the queen and threatening mate on h7. Krush defended with 22…Qc7 (hoping to hold on with rook and two pieces for her queen) but “The Chess Queen” had another idea… 23.Qe5+! – amazing overload – 23…Rg7 and now 24.Rd8! – using overload motif again – 24…Qxd8 25.Rxh7+ Kg8 26.Qxg7 mate. A wonderful combination for a great final. Leya Garifullina sealed the deal with a nice positional win on board six against Thalia Cervantes when only a draw was needed. Pairings of the rounds, live games, PGN files and other useful information can be found on the FIDE Online Olympiad website. Please note that all results and standings remain provisional until the fair play panel submit its daily report. Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer Email: press@fide.com Photo: Eteri Kublashvili About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move time control. The full schedule can be consulted here. Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess.com as the hosting platform Partners supporting the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad: Shenzhen Longgang District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau Shenzhen MSU-BIT University Shenzhen Chess Academy Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club Shenzhen Longgang District People’s Government Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Simaland
USA and Russia square off in the final
Tuesday, September 14th, 2021 – The teams of the United States of America and Russia will battle it out tomorrow (UTC 16.30) for the gold medals in the 2021 edition of the Online Chess Olympiad. Russia was the first team to advance to the final this afternoon by defeating China in two close six-board matches, while the USA qualified by besting last year’s co-winner India in the tiebreaks, after the two regular matches ended in a win apiece. Both teams arrive in top form after nearly a month of competition, in which teams from 155 countries have played each other in a novel pool-structured system, ending in a knockout playoff. Before the Olympiad began, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a greetings letter to all the countries participating in FIDE’s most universally recognised chess event. Semi-finals I Team USA advanced to the final after defeating, not without much difficulty, team India in the tiebreaks. The achievement is outstanding: after being crushed 5-1 in the first match, they managed to regain focus and win the second match by 4-2 to prevail in the blitz tiebreaks 4½-1½. In match one, Jeffrey Xiong uncorked an interesting novelty (10…Qa3 instead of 10…Qxc2) against Vishy Anand in a fashionable line of the Caro-Kan. The engines are not impressed, but the American was doing very well until he lost his way in the ending. Meanwhile, on board two, Pentala Harikrishna, with Black, reached the following position against Dariusz Swiercz. The Indian GM played the strong 41…c3! 42.Bxa6 and now the startling 42…Ra1! winning. After 43.Bxc8 Rxb1+ 44.Kg2 Rg1+, White resigned a few moves later. However, in the second match, the Americans made a huge comeback. Xiong took his revenge against Anand in a nice positional game, while Vidit overplayed an equal position with White against Ray Robson and ended up losing. Harika levelled the score by defeating Paikidze with a strong attack, but in the key game, the USA tipped the balance in its favour when Awonder Liang took advantage of a mistake by Praggnanandhaa in the ending to win a pawn and the point. It all went down to the blitz tiebreaks. In a risky move, India decided to replace Anand with Adhiban, a very dangerous blitz player, well known for his attacking skills. Nihan Sarin came in for Praggnanandhaa, the substitution that India had been doing in every match. Meanwhile, the USA fielded the same team as the second match, and their strategy paid off, as they won 4½-1½. Prag and Nihal Sarin kibitzing with “the king” Anand – Photo: Amruta Mokal On board one, Harikrisna went all out against Xiong but fell to the young American’s sharp counterattack. On board two, Ray Robson converted the advantage of two minor pieces against a rook against Adhiban. On board three, Irina Krush defended solidly against Humpy Koneru’s two bishops and took home the point when the Indian missed a tactic and dropped her queen. On board four, Harika chalked up her third straight point but to no avail. India did have some connection problems on board six – Vaishali was clearly winning when her time ran out – but the match was lost in any case. Semi-finals II The other finalist of the day was Russia, who defeated China in both semi-final matches by 3½-2½ and then 4-2. In the first match, the three evenly-rated top boards ended in draws, but Alexandra Kosteniuk – recently crowned Women’s World Cup Champion – won the first of her two games against Ju Wenjun, who up to that moment had performed spectacularly in the event. Team Russian in action – Photo: Eteri Kublashvili – Russian Chess Federation China did miss an opportunity on board two. In the diagram, Yu Yangyi, playing Black, has a queen for a rook and a knight, but his opponent does have drawing chances. The Chinese GM played 30…Bd6 but after 31.Rh8+! Kxh8 32.Ng6+ Kg8 33.Nxe7 a draw was soon agreed. Instead, 30… Qc7 would have kept the game going. The other win for the Russian team came from the U-20 junior board Andrey Episenko who also won both of his games, first against Wang Shixu B (demonstrating great endgame technique) and then against Xu Zhihang. Andrey Esipenko – Photo: Eteri Kublashvili – Russian Chess Federation Episenko is a real find for Russia: although only 19, with his amazing standard rating of 2720, he could have easily defended any of the first two boards. In the second match, China bounced back with a win by Hou Yifan against Aleksandra Goryachkina, in the bout between the world women’s number one and two, but were unable to win the match due to Dubov’s fantastic attacking victory against Ding Liren, along with the previously mentioned victories by Kosteniuk and Episenko. Team China in action – Photo: Liang Ziming Pairings of the rounds, live games, PGN files and other useful information can be found on the FIDE Online Olympiad website. Please note that all results and standings remain provisional until the fair play panel submit its daily report. This stage of the event will run from Monday, September 13th (Quarter-finals) to Wednesday, September 15th (Final). Each duel will consist of two matches, and in the event of a tie (each team wins one of the two matches, or both matches are drawn) the tie shall be broken with one 3/2 blitz match, followed by Armageddon if need be. The games can be followed online on www.chess.com (Events) and on FIDE’s own Youtube channel. Commentators for this stage are GM Daniel Naroditsky, WGM Jen Shahade, WGM Dina Belenkaya, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM David Pruess and James Canty III. Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer Email: press@fide.com About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15