“Chess for children with ASD” seminar announced
The International Chess Federation, together with its Chess in Education Commission, Commission for the Disabled and FIDE Social Commission, is pleased to announce the 2nd FIDE Educational Seminar “Chess for children with an autism spectrum disorder. Learn & teach”. Following the success of the 1st seminar held earlier this year, the event will take place on October 2-3, 2021 at 15:00 – 18:00 CEST. It aims to give core knowledge to potential chess teachers/coaches on opportunities for using chess in educating kids with autistic spectrum disorder, to present a special programme developed by speakers over the year 2021 and to provide the necessary training of teachers as well as support for project development. Presentation of the seminar (pdf) Teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder has a positive impaсt on their communication abilities, speech, thinking, self-esteem and confidence. Speakers of the seminar will talk about the ways of teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder and explain their methodology covering the following topics: • What is autism spectrum disorder? • How to teach chess to children with autism? • How to prepare the classroom? What else to pay attention to? Apart from the project leaders Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice-President and Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director, the list of speakers includes: Natalia Popova – WIM, FIDE Trainer, Trainer of the FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus, leader of the 2 years long project teaching chess to children with autistic spectrum disorder (Belarus); Ala Mishchanka – Special needs educational assistant, more than 15 years of experience (Canada); Dr. Anna Charchyan – researcher in Chess Research Institute at ASPU of a name Kh.Abovyan, PhD in Pedagogy, Lecturer faculty of Special and Inclusive Education at the Department of Speech Therapy and Occupational Therap (Armenia); Dr. Lilit Karapetyan – Senior researcher in Chess Research Institute at ASPU of a name Kh.Abovyan, PhD in Psychology, Lecturer at the Department of Special Pedagogy and Psychology (Armenia). Dr. Sandra Maria Guisso, Researcher with more than 15 years of experience (Brazil) and Luis Blasco de la Cruz, International Arbiter, CEO Madrid Chess Academy, Member of EDU FIDE Commission (Spain). How to register:For registration, please, please fill the form: https://cutt.ly/aWPwoHj before September 30, 2021. On October 01 all the registered participants will receive the access link to the online seminar. All participants who successfully pass a test will get a certificate of attendance. For further inquiries please contact: Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice President a.sorokina@fide.com.
Top Division: China and Russia lead
Wednesday, September 8th, 2021 – The Online Olympiad Top Division began today. For three days, forty of the best teams in the world will battle it out on the Chess.com servers, to decide who will succeed last year’s co-winners India and Russia as the 2021 Online Olympiad winner. The teams are split into four pools which will play an all-play-all format for three days. The two top teams will advance to the KO quarter-finals. Most of the players connect from their own homes spread around their countries. However, some of the best teams such as India, China and Russia have enjoyed a specific training stage and play from a club or federation premises, with strong Internet connectivity and added team spirit. Top Division – Pool A China is definitely the big favourite in this group. Averaging 2592, the team captained by Ni Hua is headed by GM Ding Liren and GM Wei Yi as main top boards, with the current Women’s World Champion GM Ju Wenjun on board three. Reserve boards include GM Yu Yangyi and GM Bu Xiangzhi. An unbelievably strong squad on all boards. Team China in Hangzhou. Photo: Liang Ziming With such a line-up, it seems highly unlikely that they will fall short of the two qualifying spots, but anything can happen here as we have seen each weak. Nonetheless, they have started the event very strongly and lead the group with undisputed wins over Indonesia, Mongolia and Australia. Tied with China for first place are Kazakhstan, also on 6/6. Three wins over Romania, Indonesia and Georgia has propelled the team headed by GM Rinat Jumabaev into an excellent position going into day two. Their rating average is 2446, lower than some of the other teams but very well spread over the boards. GM Zhansaya Abdumalik and IM Dinara Saduakassova play on main female boards three and four, and their junior female is Bibisara Assaubayeva: all three are very strong players. In third place, with 5/6 stands Iran, who dropped one match point against Romania. First board GM Parham Maghsoodloo didn’t have his day, losing both of his games, but second board GM Pouya Idani made up for him by winning all three. A fun stat is the “low” 2381 rapid rating of junior board five, GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, a very strong +2600 GM! He also won his three games! The other main contender in this group is Armenia, currently fifth in the standings. They didn’t get off to a good start, but their team has a huge potential and could easily make a comeback in future rounds. Tomorrow’s round four will be very exciting, as China and Kazakstan face-off in the first match of the day. Top Division – Pool B Hungary (6/6), one of the group favourites, took the early lead in group B thanks to wins over Shenzhen China, Slovenia and Azerbaijan,. They have a very solid team, combining strength and youth, headed by seasoned GM’s Viktor Erdos and Tamas Banusz, with top GM Benjamin Gledura as the first reserve. Nevertheless, the main favourite of the group is team India (5/6), who have also started off very strong although they did drop one match point against third-placed France. India is one of the teams that are playing all together from the luxury Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai. The team is sponsored by Microsense, which among other things, guarantees great Internet connectivity. Team India in Chennai. Photo: Amruta Mokal Chessbase India Their top board is former World Champion and chess legend GM Anand Viswanathan, but GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on board two is by no means any weaker! The female players, GM Koneru Humpy and GM Harika Dronavalli, are boards three and four, while GM Nihal Sarin defends the main junior board. All the reserve boards are also world-class players: India has come to win! In his game against Egypt’s board one Ahmed Adly, Anand is a rook up, but his king is under serious pressure. Did he calculate correctly? Of course! Black played 42…Rxg2+ 43.Ke3 Qh7! (threatening Qd3 mate) 44.Rad1 Qc2! (threatening with checkmate on f2) 45.Qf7+ Kd8 46.Kf4! and White escaped with his king and won the game. Tied for third and fourth are France and Moldova, one of the teams qualified from the previous stage. For now, France has only played with six of their twelve players, including GM’s Etienne Bacrot and Marie Sebag, and it remains to be seen if they will field the rest of the players tomorrow. Their junior player is IM Marc Andria Maurizzi: his 2186 rapid rating shouldn’t mislead: He is a GM-elect, with a standard 2488 rating! 14-years-old GM-elect Marc Andria Maurizzi This is a tough group with many players yet to get into action: teams such as Azerbaijan, Slovenia and quite a few others can easily win a couple of rounds and get back into the mix. Top Division – Pool C Group C has a clear favourite right off the bat: Russia (6/6). Co-winner (with India) of last year’s edition of the Online Olympiad, the Russian team is also playing in full from the Central Chess Club in Moscow. In the first three rounds, they have already defeated Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Germany (by a 6-0! score) and undisputedly lead the group. The Russian team in action from the Moscow Central Club Their main team includes world-class GM’s Alexander Grischuk, Danil Dubov as top two boards, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk on boards three and four and Andrey Esipenko (3/3 this afternoon) and Polina Shuvalova as junior boards. Already a team that inspires fear and awe! However, their “reserve” boards are Artemiev, Fedoseev, Lagno, Gunina…. And on it goes. A very tough squad captained by GM Alexander Motylev. The following diagram is from the game between German FM Frederik Svane and Russian GM Andrey Episenko. White is in dire straits but tried his last chance 40.Nd7 with a double attack on the rook and the c-pawn. Low on time, Episenko was still outstanding in his calculations. Andrey played 40…cxd4! 41.Nxf8 d3 42.Kf3 and now 42…g4+! After 43.Ke3 g3! the king and the knight can’t stop the two passers. Nonetheless,
Latvia stages International Children and Youth Festival «ChessYes»
The International Children and Youth Festival «ChessYes» is an official side event to the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 to be held in Riga from October 25 to November 08, 2021. The FIDE endorsed event is organized by Latvian Chess Federation, Public organization “KIS”, the non-governmental organization “Rudaga Plus” with the support of Children and Youth School of Education and Creativity “Rudaga” (Jurmala, Latvia) and chess club “KAISSA” (Riga, Latvia). The Festival consists of two separate events: online (October 09 – November 07, 2021) and offline (October 27 – November 02, 2021) tournaments. The online tournament will be played on lichess.org in four age groups: U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14. Each section will consist of two stages: the Qualifying stage, two online 9-round Swiss System tournaments held from October 09-23, 2021, and the Final stage for top players, a 16-player Knockout tournament, played from October 24 to November 07, 2021. The time control for both stages is 5 minutes + 3-second increment starting from the first move. Applications for participation are accepted until October 06, 2021 (U-8, U-10 age categories), October 13, 2021 (U-12) and October 20, 2021 (U-14). The registration is done via the official website of the tournament: https://chessyes.online/. The registration fee is €10. In addition to standard prizes, winners and medalists of the online event in the categories U-8, U10 (open & girls) will get a free online 1.5-hour group lecture by GM Dmitry Gordievsky. Top-3 finishers in the categories U-12, U-14 (open & girls) will be awarded an online 90-min group lecture by GM Boris Gelfand – FIDE World championship runner up (2012). Online tournament regulations (pdf) The offline event will be held in the Hanzas Perons Cultural Center, Hanzas iela 16A, Rīga, Latvia as a side event for the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Grand Swiss Women’s Tournament. The event will consist of 3 Swiss system 9 rounds tournaments: rapid 15′ + 10″, rapid 10′ + 5″ and blitz 5′ + 2″. The overall standings of the Festival will be calculated by summing the results of three tournaments. Photo: https://www.fold.lv/ Winners and awardees in the overall standings of Festival “ChessYes” will be determined in two age categories: Participants born in 2005 and younger; Participants born in 2009 and younger. Registration fee for participating in tournaments is €30 for Rapid 15′ + 10″, €20 for Rapid 10′ + 5″, and €10 for Blitz 5′ + 2″. Children with special needs and orphans are exempt from the fee. Participation in the tournament is confirmed by invitation sent by the Organizer, based on received applications, lists of participants and payment of the registration fee. Applications for participation are accepted until October 24, 2021 (if a visa is needed, applications are accepted until October 10, 2021). Application forms: “ChessYES” RAPID 15`+10″ https://forms.gle/AxjQ1tfZEAeBp79z8 “ChessYES” RAPID 10`+5″ https://forms.gle/4rcLtYb6BKSVrLB27 “ChessYES” BLITZ 5’ + 2” https://forms.gle/CXpurWh2JcKKftdh8 Offline tournament regulations (pdf) Tournament official website: https://chessyes.online/ Organizer’s contacts: Organizer-coordinator Inessa Testelecs +371 29236910 Festival Administrator Elena Naumovich +37126431869 (WhatsApp) Tournament Director Nadezhda Kravchuk +380 50 906 44 61 (WhatsApp)
Anton Demchenko wins European Championship
Anton Demchenko (Russia) is the new European Champion. The native of Novorossiysk scored 8½ out of 11 and secured the title after drawing the last-round game against Bogdan-Daniel Deac. The eventual champion was coming into the final round a half-point ahead of Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania), Vincent Keymer (Germany) and Alexey Sarana (Russia) who had some chance to contest for gold. The German managed to win over Daniele Vocaturo and caught up with Demchenko but had to settle for silver due to inferior tiebreaks (average rating of the opponents). Keymer also won a qualification spot for the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss as the best-ranked player under 20. Sarana and Deac made draws and tied for third. Again, the tiebreaks favoured the Russian player who took bronze. The European Individual Championship was held in Reykjavik and brought together 190 players from 36 federations. The participants of the 11-round Swiss tournament were fighting not only for titles and the prize fund of €100,000 but also for the next FIDE World Cup 23 qualifying spots. In addition to regular prizes, also the special prizes for the best-ranked Juniors, Seniors, Females and ACP players (who did not take a regular prize), were established. Two juniors, Jonas Buh Bjerre (Denmark) and Yahli Sokolovsky (Israel) scored 7 points each with the Dane coming on top thanks to better tiebreaks. Dominik Horvath (Austria) is third with 6½ points. Among senior players Lubomir Ftacnik (Slovakia), Tiger Hillarp Persson (Sweden) and Johann Hjartarson (Iceland) scored an equal amount of points (6), but tiebreaks favored the Slovakian. Hillarp Persson and Hjartarson got second and third prizes respectively. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (Russia), Tea Gueci (Italy) and Svenja Butenandt (Germany) tied for the prize of the best female player. According to tiebreaks, Maltsevskaya was first, Gueci took second prize, and Butenand came third. Final standings: 1 Demchenko Anton RUS 8½ 2 Keymer Vincent GER 8½ 3 Sarana Alexey RUS 8 4 Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 8 5 Piorun Kacper POL 7½ 6 Mamedov Rauf AZE 7½ 7 Erdos Viktor HUN 7½ 8 Huschenbeth Niclas GER 7½ 9 Navara David CZE 7½ 10 Sanal Vahap TUR 7½ 11 Bluebaum Matthias GER 7½ 12 Vocaturo Daniele ITA 7½ 13 Antipov Mikhail RUS 7½ 14 Paichadze Luka GEO 7½ 15 Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 7½ 16 Fridman Daniel GER 7½ 17 Mamedov Nidjat AZE 7½ 18 Svane Rasmus GER 7½ 19 Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 7 20 Ivic Velimir SRB 7 21 Nagy Gabor HUN 7 22 Bjerre Jonas Buhl DEN 7 23 Lagarde Maxime FRA 7,0 Official website: https://www.reykjavikopen.com/ Photo: official website and europechess.org
“Chess helped me in so many ways”: interview with ex-convict Hector Guifarro
The first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is scheduled for October 13-14, 2021, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Although the registration deadline is two weeks ahead, teams from 16 countries have already joined the event. Such an interest can be explained by the successful introduction of chess in prisons through different educative programs across the world. Hector Guifarro is one of those proving by personal example that the game has a positive impact on the lives of people who have ended up in jail after making a wrong choice. A former convict picked up chess while serving his sentence and, in his telling, it saved his life in prison and is saving it now. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola talked to Hector to find out how the game helps people to find another chance in life. – Hector, you’ve been in prison for seven years, and you have confessed that chess saved your life. What is it about chess that makes it so special to you? – Chess helped me in so many ways. It made me more patient, accountable cause in chess, you can’t blame anybody but you. It helped me to look at the points of view of other people. It became my outlet. Whenever I had a lot on my mind, I would play chess and I always felt better afterwards. But first of all, chess built my self-esteem through education. I really feel that is important. When you first go to prison, you have to take a test to see where you are education-wise. When I first took it, I scored really low. Before prison, I’ve never really taken education seriously, never did my homework. Five or four years later, in order to enter college, I had to take the same test, and my results were much higher. I am not trying to say that chess taught me math or improved my reading, but playing chess for all these years improved my memory and focus. – When in prison, did you have a coach, or you played with your fellow inmates, or read chess books? What was it like? – I didn’t have a chess coach. It was just all free will; it was just so common. At first, I was just killing time playing chess. But after a certain point, I realized that my approach was more like take-to-take; it didn’t have any strategy. So I started thinking more, seeing pieces flow together, and then it just became beautiful to me. I started reading books on chess, learning chess theory. – Did you like playing against the opponents, or reading the books and learning the theory? – All of it. I love playing, I love winning, whenever I checkmate – I smile. Whenever I lose – I couldn’t wait to play back again. For a long period of time, all I was thinking of was chess. I love everything about it, but chess theory is what made me realize how deep it was. I wanted to read all I could. There are so many openings, so many variations, inmates are in the perfect place to learn chess theory, as they have a lot of free time. – What was the first chess book that you read? – I really don’t remember its name. It was a book that I borrowed from a catalogue. It was for beginners. But now, when I came out of prison, I have more access to the theory, more videos. It all makes me a better player. I started looking at the game differently. Since the last time we spoke in May, I participated in two tournaments and, let me tell you, playing on a clock is really different. It makes my heart beat faster. – Was it a few weeks ago when you played your first tournament? – Yes. I didn’t win my session, but I won a few games and met so many new people. At the end of the day, just being in this environment, seeing other people who love chess was great. – How is your training going on now? Do you have a coach? – No, I don’t have a coach. I use apps. I am on chess.com, I am on Lichess. I use Chessable, which is a great app. It makes it easier to remember the lines, and it’s very simple. I play chess on my phone all the time. – You’ve been released almost a year ago. How is your life now? – Chess is really a part of my life now. Other than chess, I am a personal trainer. I have my day job, and then I am with the family. Other than that, I am studying or playing chess. That’s pretty much what it is. – What is your chess goal? – I love playing chess, I am participating in some tournaments, I master the theory and I know that I will get better, wherever that takes me… who knows. I like playing chess and I really like to see kids and the community involved in it. I just want everybody to play chess. It really hurts me that not so many people are playing chess in my community; I want to do something about that. I actually ended up having a meeting with Javier Martinez, recreation specialist of Waukegan Park District, south to Waukegan, Illinois. I told him the benefits of having chess in the community, and he loved the idea. They weren’t able to go forward with me due to my background, but they went forward with the program! So now we have a chess program in the community which starts at the beginning of September. Kids will be playing now, and I just hope that whoever teaches the program brings this passion to them. It is especially important with kids to make it fun for them, otherwise, it will be like any other game. I just want to thank Javier for pushing this idea through. – Are you still in contact with
Carlsen hits target to win Aimchess US Rapid
Magnus Carlsen is the Aimchess US Rapid winner after a near-faultless display against Vladislav Artemiev. The World Champion now marches into next month’s $300,000 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Final top of the leaderboard and in top form. Having secured the Aimchess US Rapid, Carlsen takes home the $30,000 first prize. He has won three of the eight Tour events he entered and racked up total earnings of more than $215,000. Carlsen had won the first match decisively yesterday and carried that advantage through to Sunday’s second match. It took just three games in the second for the Norwegian to brush aside his 23-year-old opponent. Artemiev, the world number 39, simply wasn’t given a chance. Right from the start, Carlsen was on top. He launched a swift attack in the first game and broke through to go 1-0 up. Artemiev – playing in his second Tour final – tried to resist but found himself low on time and collapsed under pressure. It left the Russian – who has been the breakout star of the Tour – needing to win at least two of the next three games just to force a tiebreak. In the second, Artemiev played powerfully and forced Carlsen onto the defensive. But his advantage evaporated when time trouble told again, and the Russian had to settle for a draw. Artemiev, with a mountain to climb, now had to win, or Carlsen would be crowned champion. Artemiev went all-out attack, but there was no way through. Carlsen maintained complete control and broke through to clinch the title in style. The match ended 2.5-0.5, and Carlsen won 2-0 overall. “It feels great,” Carlsen said afterwards. “It’s the first time, in like, ever that I’ve won one of these Tour events, and it’s been a fairly smooth ride. So it’s been good!” Asked whether his performance in this event was the best of the Tour so far, Carlsen said: “I would say so for sure.” He added: “I’m feeling good. I’m playing quicker and more confidently, so that’s good.” Artemiev has been super-impressive in the Tour played only three events, and made two finals and a semi. He also now progresses to the Tour Final as one of the top eight. Speaking of his opponent, Carlsen said his natural talent is “undeniable”. The Tour Final runs from September 25 to October 3. All games will be played in the chess24.com playzone. Coverage with full commentary is available on www.championschesstour.com or www.chess24.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Kingue Victor Ebosse and Whilema Ndjock win Cameroon Championship
FM Kingue Victor Ebosse and Whilema Ndjock are new champions of Cameroon. The Cameroon Chess Championships of the 2021/2022 season started with the regional qualifying rounds, with the best players advancing into the final. The final was split between the two largest cities (four rounds in Yaoundé and four rounds in Douala) and held in Open and Junior Under 15 categories. The eventual champion started right out of the gate and took the lead, winning four straight games. Given that he had beaten his local nemesis IM Marius Amba (who blundered right after the time control), many thought the title was in Victor’s bag. However, after the event moved to Douala the leader slowed down as he had to work hard to make draws in the games against Zebaze Martial and Meli Junior. Luckily for Victor, his main competitor IM Marius Amba stumbled, losing to Michael Tchuenbou. The champion finished strong, defeating Hassan Mouliom and Noumbo Vidal and clinched the national title (fifth in his career) with an excellent score of 7/8. Marius Amba finished clear second, a full point behind the champion; Zebaze Loïc Dylane is third with 5/8. The 2020/2021 championship was special as, for the first time, it featured a junior event (Under 15) won by Whilema Ndjock (pictured above).
Carlsen bullies Artemiev on Day 1 of final
Magnus Carlsen dominated on the first day of the Aimchess US Rapid final and is now a hot favourite to win his third Meltwater Champions Chess Tour title. The World Champion and overall Tour leader raced into a swift lead against the event’s 23-year-old breakout star. Artemiev is ranked just 39 in the world but has entered three Tour tournaments and reached the final in two of them and a semi in the other. But Carlsen, winner of the New In Chess Classic and the FTX Crypto Cup, was in no mood to welcome him into the top bracket of elite chess players and showed absolutely no mercy. Not even an unfortunate mistake in game 3 which provoked shocked reaction from Carlsen could hold him back. After calling Artemiev a “sublime” positional player yesterday, Carlsen stamped his authority by blowing him away with a positional masterpiece of his own. It was an ominous start for Artemiev. The second was worse. Artemiev was pressing for most of the game but suffered connection problems and wasn’t able to keep up on the clock. It was a hammer-blow. A blunder lost him a piece and then Carlsen started working his endgame magic. Facing a barrage of tricks, Artemiev was running out of time and resigned. Two-nil up, Carlsen just needed a draw in the third to end the match a game early. Then came the strange mistake which looked like a mouse-slip and gifted Artemiev the win. The Russian now had hope of a comeback. He still had to win the final game, however, and the turnaround was not to be as Carlsen calmly minimised Artemiev’s chances and steered it to a draw. Carlsen had won the first match 2.5-1.5 and takes a 1-0 lead into tomorrow’s decider. Carlsen said after it was “reasonably comfortable” and admitted he’d made a mistake, not a mouse-slip, in game 3. He added: “It was unfortunate because without that move, I don’t think the fourth game happens.” Artemiev said the disconnection in game 2 hampered him but facing the champion was a “good experience”. In the battle for third-place, Levon Aronian was awarded the win without a game being played as teen hotshot Alireza Firouzja pulled out of the tie due to ill health. Firouzja, who lost to Artemiev in the semis, apologised to fans on Twitter and said he would be back. Tomorrow’s deciding match starts at 17:00 CEST. All games will be played in the chess24.com playzone. Coverage with full commentary is available on www.championschesstour.com or www.chess24.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
15 qualifiers join China, India and Russia in Top Division
UPDATE: The teams of the Philippines (Pool A) and Ecuador (Pool E) will not qualify for the Top Division after the fair play team reported that they were found in breach of the rules of the tournament. As a result, Australia and Paraguay, respectively, advance to Top Division. Saturday, September 4th, 2021 – Division Two came to a close this afternoon with some very exciting last-round matches, defining the three winners of each group. Although a couple of teams (especially Colombia) dominated their groups, this stage of the event has been very closely contested. In fact, some of the qualifiers had to win their last round match to get through! Pending the Fair Play panel report, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Philippines, Shenzhen, China, Slovenia and Sweden are the fifteen lucky teams that have qualified to play in the Top Division next week, running September 8th-10th. They will be joined by the twenty-five best teams in the world, including Russia (Grischuk, Dubov, Goryachkina, Kosteniuk, Esipenko and Shuvalova as main boards), China (Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Xu Zhihang and Zhu Jiner) and India (Anand, Harikrishna, Koneru, Harika, Nihal and Vaishali). Division 2 – Pool A Pool A concluded with Indonesia, the Philippines and Shenzhen China, being the first three teams to advance to the Top Division. Indonesia and Philippines tied for first place with 16/18, but Indonesia came out on top with 40½ board points against 39½. A very close fight indeed! Indonesia did defeat the Philippines in their individual match by 4½-1½, so all in all, the final standings seem quite fair. The third qualifying spot went to the team from Shenzhen China (13/18), who won the crucial last round match against Australia (10/18) by 5-1. A big part to their success in this match went to GM Zhao Xue, who defeated WGM Julia Ryjanova. In the following diagram, White (Zhao) forced a big material gain. Can you see how? The Chinese GM played 48.Nxg5+ Kh6 49.Nf7+! and now 49…Kg6 or 49…Kh5 run into a discovered check with 50.Ne5. So her opponent went 49…Kh7 but after 50.Qh8+! Kg6 42.Ne5+! White forked the queen on d3 and forced resignation. The top scorers in this pool were two players from the Shenzhen China team, who fielded their only six main players – no reserves – during the whole tournament! WFM Li Xinyu scored a whopping undefeated 8/9 on board six while her teammate GM Zeng Chongsheng was a trustworthy board one: undefeated 7/9 score. Indonesian IM Irene Sukandar also performed well with 6½ /7 on board three and shared her joy on social media. Division 2 – Pool B Pool B was by far the most equal of the five groups, with the standings changing after each round. In the end, the group finished with Latvia, Moldova and Italy advancing to the Top Division. Latvia (14/18) and Italy (13/18) were leading the pack going into the last day of play, tied with Uzbekistan (12/18). But we did mention yesterday that anything could happen, as Moldova (14/18) and Estonia (12/18) were only one match point behind. An exciting final round determined the qualification spots. Moldova fielded their best team, headed by GM’s Victor Bologan and Viorel Iordachescu, and defeated Uzbekistan by 4½ -1½, overtaking at the same time Italy and Estonia, who tied 3-3. A very close shave for the Italians, who would have been out on their heels if they had lost! The main surprise of the group has been the relatively poor performance of Austria, one of the pre-tournament group favourites – their 2252 medium rating was very high. On board one, GM Markus Ragger (2630) couldn’t find his best game (3½ /8), but in general, most of the team underperformed this year. The best of luck to them for the future! The top scorer of this group (and the whole division!) was Latvia’s WGM Laura Rogule, who won all nine games on board three against a 1935 medium rating opposition. A huge achievement! The following diagram (Rogule plays Black) is one of her wins today. Black played 32…Nf4+! 33.gxf4 Qg4+ 34.Kh2 Qxh4+ 35.Kg2 Qg4+ 36.Kh2 Qh4+ 37.Kg2 Qg4+ 38.Kh2 and now 38…Qh5+! 39.Kg2 exf4! (threatening both …Rg5 and …f3) 40.Ne2 f3+ 41.Kg1 fxe2 and White resigned. Division 2 – Pool C A very tight last round win by 3½ -2½ decided the final standings of Pool C. Israel (17/18) was trailing Belarus (16/18) by one match point after their draw against Sri Lanka, but they left the best for the end, fielding a very strong team and overtaking their rivals at the critical moment. Israel made perfect use of their players, fielding all twelve of them during the tournament and ensuring they played between three and five games at the most: a very interesting strategy indeed! Both of these teams have displayed excellent playing skills in this division and have to be reckoned with in the Top Division next week. Sweden (13/18) won their last three matches and squeezed through, edging out Sri Lanka (12/18) by just one match point. They will join Israel and Belarus in the Top Division as well. The top scorers in this group were WFM Yana Ilyuchyk, who won all of her games for Belarus on board four (7/7). GM Pia Cramling (7½ /9) also gave a huge performance on board two for Sweden and was paramount in their qualification Division 2 – Pool D Slovenia and Argentina (both 16/18) were joint winners of Pool D, with the former team edging out the Argentineans on tiebreak: both teams scored 40½ board points, but Slovenia defeated Argentina 4-2 in their seventh-round individual match The third qualifying spot went to Brazil, who were able to score three on-demand wins – including a last-round 3½ -2½ victory over Uruguay – to stay ahead of Venezuela. These three teams have dominated the event leaving no chance for the rest of the group. One of the pre-event group favourites, Uruguay (8th), has had a very unfortunate tournament: four of their six defeats have been by the 3½ -2½ margin. It’s no wonder that they have more board points than fifth-placed Algeria. They probably deserved more, but that is chess! WIM Zala Urh on board six was Slovenia’s best player, with a very decent 7½ /9
Carlsen faces Artemiev in Aimchess US Rapid final
Magnus Carlsen has reached his fifth Meltwater Champions Chess Tour final and will face the new Russian sensation Vladislav Artemiev. The World Champion battled through a tough Aimchess US Rapid semi against Levon Aronian to win 3-1 and make tomorrow’s decider. Hoping to turn the tables on him is 23-year-old Artemiev, who was super-smooth best as he won a fascinating clash of styles against the tricky, trappy teenager Alireza Firouzja. Heaping praise on his potential opponent before the result was known, Carlsen said of Artemiev that he is, “Somebody who has just a sublime positional feeling!” And in beating Firouzja, Artemiev displayed all his talents. After a 2-2 yesterday, Artemiev and Firouzja’s second match started in a similar vein as the two – the youngest in the tournament – played out a nervy draw. But then it heated up. Firouzja was at his flashy best in the second as he unleashed a killer f3 pawn push that crushed Artemiev’s position. The win put him in the lead. But in the next game, Artemiev hit back immediately to tie the match going into the fourth game. With both players going toe-to-toe and looking for a win, the final game ended in a draw to take the match to tiebreaks. After two fighting draws in the blitz section, Artemiev finally broke through in an “Armageddon” play-off. Artemiev, who has now reached an impressive two finals in three Tour events, said the final would be “two big days for me” as he geared up for his toughest test yet. In Carlsen’s semi, the die was cast with an opening game win for the Norwegian that left Aronian needing to strike back to level the match. The 38-year-old Armenian pushed hard and had chances – but Carlsen held firm and stayed in the lead. Getting desperate, Aronian created a crazy, complicated position where there would be chances for both sides. But it was Carlsen who found the way through, and Aronian collapsed. Carlsen admitted afterwards: “The last game was so unbelievably shaky.” He added: “The first game was really the only one that I played well, and I’m happy that it was enough. It was one of those rare games where you have a plan and everything works.” Magnus said the other three games were “anything but easy”. Carlsen said it’s “very nice” to be in a final, but he needs to “step it up” to win. It was a hard-fought semi-final win for a relieved Carlsen, who reaches another final in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour final. Todays’s final starts at 17:00 CEST. All games will be played in the chess24.com playzone. Coverage with full commentary is available on www.championschesstour.com or www.chess24.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770