Hikaru Nakamura wins 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz
At the end of another thrilling day of chess, Hikaru Nakamura was crowned the champion of the 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. The American speed demon demonstrated impressive form throughout the event and will take home $37,500.00 for his efforts. This marks Hikaru’s second victory at the Saint Rapid in Blitz since the tournament’s inception in 2017. His previous victory was in 2018. Fabiano Caruana narrowly edged out Richard Rapport to capture clear 2nd place and a nice paycheck of $25,000.00. Coming into the final day of blitz chess, Hikaru Nakamura had three goals: Win the tournament Maintain his no-loss streak Maintain his #1 spot in the world blitz ratings. Nakamura accomplished the first goal without a hitch. He clinched clear first place with 3 rounds to spare. Such a feat is incredibly impressive on its own, given the strength of the field. The second goal was a bit more challenging. Throughout the day, Hikaru found himself hanging on for dear life, especially in his games against Sam Shankland and Leinier Dominguez. However, Nakamura demonstrated amazing precision and resourcefulness to save difficult positions and stay undefeated. After nine rapid games and 18 blitz games over the course of 5 days, Nakamura did not lose a single one. Unfortunately, the final goal of keeping the top blitz rating in the world was just out of reach. Given a large number of draws, Nakamura slipped just below Magnus Carlsen in the world blitz rankings. Magnus had this to say to Hikaru on Twitter: “Congrats to world #2 rated rapid and blitz player @GMHikaru for winning the #STLRapidBlitz with a dominating, unbeaten performance!” The fight for the top places in the overall Grand Chess Tour standings is still very hotly contested. With a 4th place finish in this event, Wesley So earned 7 GCT points and leapfrogged Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to become the new tour leader with 28.3 GCT points. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov earned 4 GCT points in this event, boosting his overall score to 22.5 GCT points, barely eclipsing MVL, who now stands in third place with 22 GCT points. With the Sinquefield Cup starting on Tuesday, August 17, there are still several players who are in contention for the title of 2021 Grand Chess Tour Champion. A report from the final day of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz would not be complete without giving huge kudos to GM Liem Le. He produced another excellent performance in the blitz portion and scored 5.5/9 on the final day. Over the last two days of blitz, Le gained 84.4 points on the live blitz rating list and now stands at #14 in the world. Despite standing in the last place after the rapid portion, Le’s epic recovery landed him in 5th place, earning a $12,500.00 paycheck. The coverage of the 2021 Sinquefield Cup will begin Tuesday, August 17 at 2:50 PM CDT with live commentaries by GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramirez, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org. Watch all the action live on grandchesstour.org and Kasparovchess.com Text: IM Eric Rosen Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com
Decisions of 2021 2nd FIDE Council Meeting
List of FIDE Council Decisions 2021 2nd meeting 2 August 2021 CM2-2021/01 To note President’s report. CM2-2021/02 To note financial report. CM2-2021/03 To approve that the 2021 FIDE Congress be organized in the 2nd half of December 2021 (the format of the Congress -online or in person meeting — will be determined later) and to entrust the President with the right to agree on the venue with the potential organizers (if the Congress will be held in the form of an in-person meeting). CM2-2021/04 To note the report on the FIDE Handbook update. CM2-2021/05 To forward the letter from the Romanian Chess Federation regarding the Mission and Role of FIDE and Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions to the respective Commissions and request their feedback. CM2-2021/06 To welcome the intention of a creation of a Chess Federation of Benin and to follow-up its proper application for FIDE membership in due course. CM2-2021/07 To approve the preparation of bidding procedures for all major FIDE events for 2022-2023. Instruct the GSC to prepare the regulations of the relevant tournaments and submit them for approval by the Council. CM2-2021/08 To open a bidding procedure for the 2026 Chess Olympiad in December 2021. CM2-2021/09 To approve changes in the FIDE Online Chess Regulations as per Annex 5.2a. CM2-2021/10 To note the General Strategy Commission’s report. CM2-2021/11 To note the Arbiters’ Commission’s report. CM2-2021/12 To approve the recommendations of the Arbiters’ Commission on Seminars, Classification upgrades, Amendments to the FIDE lecturer list, FA norms and titles. CM2-2021/13 To note the Chess in Education Commission’s report. CM2-2021/14 To note the Events Commission’s report. CM2-2021/15 To approve the recommendations of the Events Commission on titles. CM2-2021/16 To consult with FISU when deciding on the format and dates for the proposed World Universities Championship 2022 in Paris. CM2-2021/17 To note the Commission’s for the Disabled report. CM2-2021/18 To note the first draft of the Ethics and Disciplinary Code, to collect comments of the FIDE Council members and to send draft to the National Federations for their input not later than September 15, 2021. To organize the work so that all the relevant suggestions would be collected and integrated prior to General Assembly Meeting 2021. CM2-2021/19 To approve Ms. See Swee Sie (MAS) as a new member of the EDC Fact-finding Committee. CM2-2021/20 To note the Fair Play Commission’s report. CM2-2021/21 To conceptually approve the Fair Play Commission’s proposal establishing the “fast track” principle in disciplinary fair-play penalties; to request Messrs. Rivello and Strydom to suggest an optimal implementation model in order to minimize the necessary changes in the FIDE Charter and provide proper division of powers; to prepare the necessary changes in the FIDE Charter (if any) and other regulations accordingly; to request the Athletes’ Commission’s opinion about new rules. CM2-2021/22 To note the Medical Commission’s report. CM2-2021/23 To note the Planning and Development Commission’s report and principally to support Commission’s initiatives. CM2-2021/24 To note the Rules Commission’s report. CM2-2021/25 To send the proposed changes for the FIDE Laws of Chess presented by the Rules Commission, to the Arbiters’ and Athletes’ Commissions and request their feedback. CM2-2021/26 To approve the recommendations of the Qualification Commission on titles. CM2-2021/27 To approve the Qualification Commission’s proposal in respect of amendments for the Rating and Licensing Regulations regarding rights of the Affiliated Organisations for the FIDE Ratings and Participation in the FIDE Events. CM2-2021/28 To reject appeal from Praveen Balakrishnan (USA) against the Qualification Commission’s decision in respect of his GM title application. CM2-2021/29 To note the Social Commission’s report. CM2-2021/30 To consult the Qualification Commission in respect of FIDE IDs for refugees. CM2-2021/31 To note the Systems of Pairings and Programs Commission’s report. CM2-2021/32 To note the Technical Commission’s report. CM2-2021/33 To note the Technical Commission’s proposal in respect of changes in “C.02. Standards of Chess Equipment venue for FIDE Tournaments, rate of play and tie-break regulations” and to request the Arbiters, GSC, Rules, Events, SPP and Qualification Commissions to provide their feedback. CM2-2021/34 To note the Trainers’ Commission’s report. CM2-2021/35 To approve the recommendations of the Trainers’ Commission on titles and Academies. CM2-2021/36 To approve the proposal of the Trainers’ Commission in respect of adding a clause about financial obligations to the existing regulations. CM2-2021/37 To note the Commission’s for Women’s Chess report and to study further the Commission’s proposal for year 2022 (Women in chess year). CM2-2021/38 To note the Historical Committee’s report and to start preparations in line with the proposed roadmap. CM2-2021/39 To note Continental reports. CM2-2021/40 To approve contract with World Chess in respect of FIDE Online Arena. CM2-2021/41 To approve a draft resolution in support of Ms. A. Sorokina. CM2-2021/42 To note the letter from the Polish Chess Federation in respect of Grand Chess Tour in Warsaw. CM2-2021/43 To organize the next FIDE Council meeting online at the end of October 2021.
FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2022 – Call for bids
1.1 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) will hold the Women’s Candidates Tournament in the first part of 2022 (see the Tournament Regulations). 1.2 FIDE is opening a bidding procedure to invite any federation member of FIDE or any organiser approved by the national federation to host the event. 1.3 Any Applicant shall fill in the Bidding Form. A signed copy shall be submitted as e-mail messages to the FIDE Secretariat to office@fide.com from 16 August to 15 September 2021 by 23:59 Lausanne time (FIDE has a right to extend this deadline ). All the documents shall be submitted in English. Additional documents may be requested by the FIDE General Strategy Commission (GSC) for further evaluation. 1.4 Bid Evaluation Report shall be presented by GSC for approval of the FIDE Council. 1.5 Once the Organiser is granted the right to host the event, a relevant announcement shall be made on the FIDE website. FIDE Technical Delegate (FIDE TD) may be appointed at the same time to supervise the event on behalf of FIDE in consultation with GSC.
2021 STL Rapid & Blitz: Nakamura extends his lead
The first day of blitz was a roller-coaster day for many players, but the clear storyline was the dominance of Hikaru Nakamura. After nine blitz games, he now sits with 18 total points and remains at the top of the leaderboard. The race for second place has been hotly contested between Fabiano Caruana and Richard Rapport. The two grandmasters were neck and neck throughout the day, but it was Caruana who narrowly edged out Rapport to claim clear second place with a total of 15.5 points. Tomorrow will feature the nine final blitz games where anything can still happen. Hikaru Nakamura The five-time US Champion has yet to lose a game in this event. Nakamura had an ultra-solid performance with three wins and six draws. Although he did lose his 2900 rating on the live-rating list, he remains tied with Magnus Carlsen for the top blitz player in the world with a live rating of 2892. When asked if he cares about keeping his top blitz ranking, Nakamura responded: “It doesn’t matter at all… If I was really worried about the rating, I wouldn’t play the event.” Going into tomorrow, Nakamura has a comfortable 2.5-point lead over Caruana. He is getting all the more closer to the sweet $37,500 first-place prize, which is surely more rewarding than any sort of blitz rating. The Comeback of Liem Le Liem Le was clearly out of form in the first three days of rapid chess and found himself in clear last place after day 3. Today, he completely turned things around and reminded everyone why he is a former world blitz champion. In the first six rounds of blitz, Le scored an astonishing 5 out of 6 points. In the final round of today, he was incredibly close to taking down Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces but couldn’t quite navigate his way through the tactical chaos. Ultimately, Hikaru won in a messy time scramble finale and slowed down Le’s momentum. However, the Vietnamese grandmaster still boasts an impressive 6/9 score for the day and moves up to 8th place in the standings. He also gained nearly 50 rating points on the live blitz rating list and jumped to #29 in the world. Tragedies and Triumphs Fabiano Caruana had the most topsy-turvy day out of any player. He scored an abysmal 1 point out of the first five rounds but finished strongly with 3.5 points in the final 4 rounds. In his final blitz game against Richard Rapport, he had forced mate but was unable to find the right sequence amid time pressure. The game ultimately ended in a draw. Many more blunders and missed opportunities were seen throughout the day, leaving commentators bedazzled. In one game, Sam Shankland brilliantly defeated Wesley So in an absolute masterclass. In another, Shankland allowed a one-move knight fork against Jeffery Xiong, resulting in an instant loss. Peter Svidler lost a couple of miniatures after opening preparation went terribly wrong. Multiple players (including Svidler) lost on time in positions that still had life. No amount of words can truly reflect the drama and intensity that took place yesterday. For those reading this sentence, we highly encourage you to watch today’s commentary to relive the excitement. The 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz coverage continues on Sunday, August 15, at 2:50 PM CDT, with live commentaries by GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramirez, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org. Watch all the action live on grandchesstour.org and Kasparovchess.com Text: IM Eric Rosen Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad opens in Shenzhen
On August 13, 2021, the Online Chess Olympiad 2021 was opened in Shenzhen MSU-BIT University in Shenzhen, China. More than 1500 players from 155 teams will compete in rapid chess from August 20 to September 15. The opening ceremony was attended by Ye Jiangchuan, FIDE Vice President and Chairman of the Chinese Chess Association; Wang Zhiqiang, Deputy Inspector of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports; Li Hezhang, Rector of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University and other officials. In his welcome speech, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich stressed the importance of this tournament for the players and the global chess community. “Warm welcome on behalf of FIDE to all the participants and organizers of the second FIDE Online Olympiad! We are happy to have it for the second year in the row following the success of the last year when more than 160 teams participated in the event. Today we have almost the same number, and this is another confirmation that people love it – both chess players and spectators. We are happy to be joined by Chess.com, and we are specifically grateful to our Chinese partners – their support is enormous and very much welcome at FIDE and the whole chess community. Best of luck! Stay cool and play chess!” he said. The second edition of the Online Olympiad is supported and sponsored by the Shenzhen authorities, including the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen Chess Academy, Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club. Simaland, the Russian wholesale online store and proud sponsor of the Candidates tournament 2020-21 is also a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021. China will have two teams participating in the event – the Chinese National Chess Team seeded directly to Top Division, and the host Shenzhen team, composed of players representing Shenzhen (GMs Zeng Chongsheng, Yu Ruiyuan, and Zhao Xue, WIM Xu Tong, Xue Haowen and WFM Li Xinyu). They also made an appearance at the opening ceremony. The division stage will kick off on August 20. Top Division, featuring 25 seeded teams and 15 qualified teams, will begin on September 08. The decisive play-off stage is scheduled for September 13-15. Like a year ago, each team will consist of six players, including at least two women, at least one player U-20 (born in 2001 or later), and at least one female U-20 (born in 2001 or later). The time control is 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.
2021 STL Rapid & Blitz: Nakamura in the lead after rapid
At the end of a dramatic final day of rapid chess, Hikaru Nakamura has emerged as the new tournament leader. With excellent opening preparation, tactical precision, and clever resourcefulness, the American grandmaster remains the only competitor to have not lost a single game thus far. Fabiano Caruana and Richard Rapport trail close behind in 2nd place. With 18 blitz games to come over the next two days, anything can happen. However, Hikaru has proven that he is the man to beat. Round 7 The first round of the day kicked off with fireworks. Jeffery Xiong scored his first win of the event by absolutely pummeling GM Liem Le from the black side of a Caro Kann. Xiong seized the initiative early with a strong central pawn break and did not stop making threats until winning material. The game ended in just 20 moves. Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura convincingly defeated Leinier Dominguez from the white side of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. After misplaying the opening, Dominguez found himself in a horrendous position with his pieces lacking coordination, and his king stuck in the center. Although Dominguez managed to survive longer than expected, it was not enough to escape the powerful claws of Hikaru. The most shocking result of the round took place between Fabiano Caruana and Richard Rapport. The game began with Caruana completely eviscerating Richard Rapport’s Sicilian Defense with a kingside pawn storm that looked almost as sinister as the thunderstorm that hit St. Louis yesterday evening. When it looked like the American would cruise his way to victory, Rapport resisted. He used Caruana’s g7-pawn as an umbrella for his king and defended valiantly in severe time pressure. It was then Caruana who stumbled and found his own king in a mating net. In an unexpected twist, Caruana got mated on the board and lost what should have been an easily winning game. Round 8The second round of the day produced even more drama. The first game to finish was Richard Rapport’s convincing victory over Jeffery Xiong. The Hungarian grandmaster achieved a clear advantage from a King’s Indian Attack and maintained full control through the entire game. His winning technique was nearly as colourful as his vibrant shirt. Many of the other games were decided deep in time pressure situations. Peter Svidler demonstrated a brilliant tactical endgame sequence with less than a minute left to take down Leinier Dominguez. Caruana rebounded from his disappointing loss in round 7 by beautifully outplaying Mamedyarov. He showed how truly overpowering the bishop pair can be in the endgame and Mamedyarov could not tame the diagonal-moving beasts. Sam Shankland gave Liem Le his second loss of the day in a long endgame grind-down. After losing a pawn in the early middlegame, the Vietnamese grandmaster showed great resilience and reached a drawn rook endgame. However, one tragic blunder was enough to let the draw slip away and give Shankland the victory. The only draw of the round was seen in Wesley So versus Hikaru Nakamura. Although Hikaru was under pressure for much of the game, he demonstrated computer-like precision to fend off Wesley’s attack and maintain his no-loss streak. Round 9In the final round of rapid chess, all attention was on the marquee matchup between Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. The American superstars entered a deep theoretical variation of the Ruy Lopez, with Nakamura showing superior opening preparation. Consequently, Nakamura acquired a massive advantage as the position transitioned into an endgame. Caruana’s position was highly unpleasant to defend and quickly crumbled as a result. Nakamura demonstrated stellar technique to cruise his way to victory and leapfrog Caruana in the standings. The only other decisive outcome of the round was seen in the game Jeffery Xiong versus Sam Shankland. In what should have been a drawn position, Shankland made an atrocious blunder in time pressure allowing Jeffery a simple and aesthetic winning tactic. Xiong pounced on the opportunity, and Shankland immediately resigned. If this foreshadows anything, we can expect a lot more blunders and decisive games as the time control will shorten to 5+2 for the remaining two days. The 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz coverage continues on Saturday, August 14, at 2:50 PM CDT, with live commentaries by GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramirez, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org. Watch all the action live on grandchesstour.org and Kasparovchess.com Text: IM Eric Rosen Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com
ATTN: Participants of 2021 FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women’s World Cup
Dear participants of the recently concluded 2021 FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women’s World Cup: Our financial department needs to know your actual, up-to-date banking information in order to pay your prize money by bank transfer. If you have not yet communicated your banking details, please make sure to send the following information to office@fide.com: Recipient full name. Recipient address. Recipient bank name, address, SWIFT code. Recipient bank account number (IBAN). If you have already communicated this information, no further actions are required – you will receive your prize money within two weeks from the conclusion of the tournaments as stipulated in the players’ contracts.
2021 STL Rapid & Blitz Day 2: Caruana shoots ahead
After another exciting day of chess, Fabiano Caruana has emerged as the sole leader. Despite losing his Round 4 game to Sam Shankland, Caruana came roaring back. He defeated compatriots Leinier Dominguez and Wesley So and now sits atop the leaderboard with 9 points. Hikaru Nakamura claims clear second place with 7 points. The best performance of the day came from Sam Shankland who scored dazzling victories over Caruana and Mamedyarov, and drew Nakamura. Although Shankland started the day at the bottom of the standings due to a rough result on day 1, he now sits in a tie for third place with So, Rapport, Mamedyarov, and Dominguez. Round 4 Forty-five minutes into the first round of the day, GM Maurice Ashley jubilantly exclaimed, “All the games are on FIRE!” This wasn’t far from an exaggeration. Every single board featured extremely intense struggles, with the clock times dwindling for many of the players. It wasn’t clear how any game would end or even which game the commentators should focus on. Remarkably, the round produced just one decisive outcome, with Shankland taking down Fabiano Caruana in a fiery tactical finale. In other games, opportunities were missed. Dominguez achieved a dominating position against Wesley So, but let his advantage slip in time pressure. Xiong had a clearly better position against Mamedyarov but settled for a draw when he could have pushed for more. Perhaps the youngster gave his veteran opponent a little bit too much respect. Liem Le demonstrated incredibly strong and deep preparation in the Classical Variation of the Nimzo Indian against Hikaru Nakamura. This put Hikaru on the back foot from early on, but he defended valiantly to equalize in the endgame and secure a draw. The intriguing battle between Richard Rapport and Peter Svidler featured an incredibly obscure opening and that resulted in a complex tactical slugfest. Rapport pushed for a kingside attack, but after a series of trades, the fire of the position died down and perpetual check was delivered. Round 5 The excitement of the day certainly continued into the 5th round. In the marquee matchup, Caruana defeated co-leader Dominguez in a one-sided positional squeeze to claim the sole lead. Peter Svidler managed to win his first game of the event by taking down Liem Le in an incredibly messy debacle. For any brave soul that wants to check the Stockfish analysis of this game, you’ll see a computer graph that’s more volatile than Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Sam Shankland unleashed his Semislav Chessable course preparation against Mamedyarov, who clearly didn’t do his homework. The American won with the black pieces in just 25 moves. The commentators praised Shankland’s play and dubbed his victory one of the best games of the competition thus far. In another fascinating game, Jeffery Xiong (pictured above) brilliantly outplayed Nakamura from the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation. Clearly, Xiong was seeking revenge for falling victim to Hikaru’s Bongcloud in last year’s online STL Rapid & Blitz Event. However, Nakamura displayed his masterful survival skills once again and managed to fight his way to draw from a completely losing position. Round 6 The final round of the day also produced some notable highlights. Wesley So committed a one-move blunder that was more characteristic of an amateur rather than a super-grandmaster. Caruana snagged a free knight, prompting So to resign immediately. In the post-game interview, Caruana half-joked that many of the players were having a hard time seeing the pieces because the masks were causing their glasses to fog up. In the only other decisive game of the round, Dominguez stumbled against Mamedyarov. Yasser Seirawan was deeply disgusted by the placement of Dominguez’s rook, calling it the worst rook he had ever seen. The final position featured complete paralysis of the white pieces, allowing Mamedyarov to score a key victory and catch up to Dominguez in the standings. The 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz coverage continues today, August 13, at 2:50 PM CDT, with live commentaries by GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramirez, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org. Watch all the action live on grandchesstour.org and Kasparovchess.com Text: IM Eric Rosen Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com
Berlin wins popular vote; will host the Grand Prix Series and other events in 2022
August 12, 2021 — Berlin, the capital of Germany, will be the main host of the 2022 Grand Prix Series. The Series, a part of the World Chess Championship circuit, will run from February to April in a bespoke-designed chess arena. The city was chosen by World Chess, the gaming company that organizes the Series in partnership with FIDE, as well as by chess fans from around the world. In a survey conducted over two weeks, chess players, organizers and federations were asked to suggest a city to host the prestigious series, and Berlin emerged as a clear favourite with 16 percent of the total votes. The runners-up were Sao Paulo and London. In total, over 4000 people took part in the survey. Throughout the two weeks, chess lovers got the chance to cast a vote for their favourite chess city. According to the organizers, such an enthusiastic response was a little unexpected but is in line with the growing popularity of chess both online and offline. The popular vote marks an important point in chess history because, for the first time, the global chess community was actively involved in the process of deciding on a new chess capital, and Berlin is indeed a worthy choice. The sport is very popular in the city: according to a YouGov study, 23% of the population plays chess regularly. Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess says “Chess in Berlin has a lot of history and Berlin has a lot of love for the game, and we are looking forward not only to bringing 3 months of top-level chess here but also to establishing a permanent home for one of the most popular games”. Arkady Dvorkovich, the FIDE President, says: “FIDE continues to support and bring top-level chess to the world’s cities. Chess in Berlin is a part of the culture, and we are thrilled that the city and the whole of Europe will have an opportunity not only to follow the games online but also the see them life, even in these challenging times”. Ullrich Krause, President of the German Chess Federation: “We are pleased that the organizers are bringing the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 to Germany! And as we know from the 2018 Candidates Tournament, Berlin is the perfect city for a world-class event of this kind: a chess-loving international audience meets excellent and interesting venues. The German Chess Federation and World Chess will make these 45 days of Grand Prix a true chess festival with activities throughout the city”. The Series will feature 24 players, each of whom will compete in two out of three tournaments. Each event will consist of a group stage and then a knockout round. In the group stage, each group will play a round-robin six-round tournament. The system has been improved based on feedback from the chess community regarding the number of classical games: there are six classical games in the first round of each competition. This further reduces the chance of random results and ensures that players with consistently high scores advance to the next stage. The prize fund for each event is EUR 150,000 , which is a EUR 20,000 increase from 2019. The design theme of the Series will be ‘Time to Say Berlin’. The slogan is a play on the now-famous tweet by World Champion Magnus Carlsen’ Time to Say Dubai’ once he learned the name of his challenger in the FIDE World Chess Championship which is due to take place in Dubai in November. The Berlin Grand Prix Series marks the beginning of a new cycle. The design of the Series represents the main characters and archetypes of Berlin and is supplemented by the chessboard and graffiti-style bespoke typeface. The Series consists of three events, each featuring 16 players. Each event consists of a group stage and a knockout. The events are planned to take place in Berlin. However, FIDE may propose a supplementary city with excellent transportation links with Berlin for one out of three events. The FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 is supported by the following leading global companies: Algorand as the Official Blockchain Partner Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner For further questions, please contact: media@worldchess.com Official website: https://worldchess.com/news/ 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. About Algorand: Algorand is building the technology to power the Future of Finance (FutureFi), the convergence of traditional and decentralized models into a unified system that is inclusive, frictionless, and secure. Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographerSilvio Micali, Algorand developed a blockchain infrastructure that offers the interoperability and capacity to handle the volume of transactions needed for defi, financial institutions and governments to smoothly transition into FutureFi. The technology of choice for more than 700 global organizations, Algorand is enabling the simple creation of next generation financial products, protocols and exchange of value. For more information, visit www.algorand.com. About Kaspersky: Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. 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2021 STL Rapid & Blitz: Day 1 Recap
The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off with an exciting mix of blunders, brilliancies, and plenty of decisive outcomes. After three rounds, American grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez lead the field with 5 out of 6 points. Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura trail close behind with 4 points. In the rapid portion, a win is worth 2 points, a draw is 1 point, and a loss is 0. Round 1 The first round of the tournament began with two victories as Richard Rapport (pictured below) and Leinier Dominguez made quick work of their opponents. Rapport reached a winning position after just 14 moves against GM Sam Shankland after the American grandmaster made a costly tactical oversight. Rapport pounced on the opportunity to sacrifice a piece for the overwhelming initiative. The final position featured a rare material imbalance in which Rapport’s 5 extra pawns completely overpowered Shankland’s minor piece. Meanwhile, Dominguez played an immaculate positional game against Jeffery Xiong. Although the game featured a relatively mild-looking Italian Opening with an early queen trade, Dominguez acquired a dominant grip on Black’s queenside weaknesses, causing Xiong’s position to crumble quite rapidly. Round 2 The second round featured another two decisive results, with grandmasters Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana (pictured below) joining the top of the standings. For those chess fans who truly despise the London Opening (known for it’s extremely solid and annoying nature), here is some good news: Fabiano completely dismantled Liem Le‘s London is a highly instructive game. The American number 1 unleashed some hypnotic knight manoeuvres leading to a clear middlegame edge. By move 21, Caruana achieved a strong outpost in white’s territory and gradually transformed his advantage into a winning endgame. For the staunch London Opening supporters (including yours truly), we will have to dig hard to find some improvement against Caruana’s super-grandmaster preparation. The matchup between Peter Svidler and Mamedyarov produced the most shocking twist of the day. For much of the game, the Russian grandmaster displayed extraordinary tactical vision in a complex position to achieve a decisive advantage. According to Maurice Ashley, Svidler was playing “BOSS CHESS.” However, in an unexpected turn of events, Svidler froze up in time trouble and ended up flagging to give Mamedyarov the victory. Check out a short clip of the game’s climax on the Grand Chess Tour’s Twitter feed. Round 3 In the final round of the day, all heck broke loose… decisive outcomes EVERYWHERE! Hikaru Nakamura (pictured above), wearing his iconic pineapple shirt, earned his first victory of the event by beating Svidler while he was still down. Jeffery Xiong committed a one-move blunder in the early middlegame to give his compatriot Caruana another victory. Mamedyarov got wiped off the board in just 23 moves with white after his off-beat opening completely backfired against Le. Wesley So outclassed Sam Shankland’s Slav in a one-sided beatdown. In the last game to end, Leinier Dominguez (pictured below) displayed exceptional technique against Rapport to secure another victory and join Caruana for the lead. The 2021 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz coverage continues today, August 12 at 2:50 PM CDT, with live commentaries by GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramirez, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org. Watch all the action live on grandchesstour.org and Kasparovchess.com Text: IM Eric Rosen Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios. Credits available on Flickr. Further Information: Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com