Castillo Pena wins Dominican Republic Women’s Championship
Patricia Evarista Castillo Pena. Photo: Alina L’Ami The Dominican Chess Federation has expressed its gratitude to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCYT), Dr. Franklin García Firmin, who announced during the opening of the LXIII National Championships of the Dominican Republic, that the first-prize winners will be awarded national or international scholarships, to continue expanding their knowledge and professionalism is at the highest level. “Chess, called a science game, has proven for years that it greatly benefits those who participate in this fundamental practice,” said Franklin Garcia Fermin in his speech. Photo: amicohoops.net The country’s national women’s championship, an 8-round Swiss tournament, brought together 24 female players from 13 provinces of the country. The opening ceremony was led by the President of the Dominican Chess Federation (FDA), Pedro Dominguez Preto, along with the president of the Dominican Olympic Committee (COD), Antonio Acosta, at Albergue Olímpico Dominicano. The event was a close race of three rating favourites with the third-rated Patricia Evarista Castillo Pena coming out on top, just a half-point ahead of Wilsaida Pieranlly Diaz Cesar and Doribel Munoz Santana who tied for second place. Thanks to better tiebreaks Diaz Cesar took silver whereas Doribel Munoz Santana settled for bronze. Final standings: 1. Castillo Pena Patricia Evarista – 6½2. Diaz Cesar Wilsaida Pieranlly – 6 3. Munoz Santana Doribel – 64. Moronta Ramos Dianelva – 5½5. Hazim Gonzalez Elizabeth – 56. Ramirez Luzon Franchesca – 57. Joaquin Salcedo Candida – 58. Martinez Jimenez Manyely – 59. Sanchez Jaspez Rosangel – 510. Cabreja Lora Suzette – 4½ Text: Izer Hector (amicohoops.net/)
FIDE enters partnership with Chessable and chess24
Monday, April 19th, 2021 FIDE has signed a historic global partnership agreement with Chessable, making it one of the sponsors for the World Chess Championship cycle, the Olympiad, and the World Rapid and Blitz. Sister company chess24 acquires broadcast rights for top FIDE events from 2021 until 2026. The International Chess Federation has entered into a six-year commercial agreement with Chessable, the world’s leading chess E-learning platform. By becoming a sponsor of the chess world championship cycle, Chessable strengthens its brand’s position as the preferred E-learning choice among chess fans and top players alike. The agreement covers different areas, including youth programs, professional chess, and broadcast rights for top events, but also education and social activities. Chessable CEO David Kramaley: “We see great potential in helping to realize the chess world championship cycle for the hundreds of millions of chess fans in the world. Since 2015, Chessable has communicated a love of science-backed learning, celebrating chess education and curiosity. The chess world championship cycle is the perfect fit for this concept, as it showcases the world’s best players, many of whom are already published Chessable authors, playing for the ultimate title, showing what they know.” In addition to sponsoring the chess world championship cycle, Chessable will partner with FIDE for a new chess talent development program, the FIDE Chessable Youth Development Fund, to which it will contribute $150,000 annually. The agreement is part of Chessable’s global growth strategy and another step in its mission to make chess a sustainable career choice for all. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are extremely proud to be able to create new opportunities for the chess youth of the world through this new talent development program in partnership with Chessable. We hope it will help foster many new champions and attract many new young people to the game.” “Such a long-term partnership shows a strong commitment and a shared vision between both parties. The agreement will allow FIDE to grow and plan for the future, strengthening different areas. It contributes to consolidate our top events even further, and many social projects, as well as the chess in schools programs are about to take off. Chess is a great game to learn for any child, and has a proven track record of improving children’s cognitive and educational skills.” Since launching in 2014, chess24 has demonstrated its continued commitment to promoting chess. It was the first international chess company to take chess broadcasting to a worldwide audience and it continues to innovate in this field. With this agreement, chess24 will become one of the broadcast partners for the world chess championship cycle as well as major FIDE events such as the World Rapid & Blitz, World Cup and Chess Olympiad. Chess24 CEO Gerald Tan: “Broadcasting and commentating on chess tournaments have always been core to our activities and passion at chess24. Over the last year, we have made significant strides in developing new ways to bring chess to a wider audience with our Champions Chess Tour broadcasts and are excited to apply our insights to the World Chess Championship broadcast in 2021 and beyond.” The partnership becomes effective immediately, and this means Chessable is one of the sponsors of the Candidates Tournament that resumes today in Yekaterinburg. About Chessable Chessable is the world’s leading chess E-learning platform and largest digital chess library in the world. Chessable’s mission is to make learning chess as fun and efficient as possible. It has published interactive video courses by a wide range of presenters and authors, including many of the world’s top players such as current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. The company was co-founded in 2015 by David Kramaley and International Master John Bartholomew. Chessable’s team consists of expert content creators, scientists, developers and chess grandmasters all working together to create the best chess learning platform in the world.
Press conference before the resumption of FIDE Candidates Tournament
A press conference dedicated to the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which resumes tomorrow on 19th of April in Yekaterinburg, was carried out today at the building of the Sverdlovsk union of journalists. The press conference was attended by Anatoly Karpov, 12th World Chess Champion, Deputy of Russian State Duma, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region; Leonid Rapoport, Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Sverdlovsk Region; Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director; Victor Bologan, FIDE Executive Director; Albert Stepanyan, Director of the Candidates Tournament, Executive Director of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation; and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Grandmaster, one of the leaders of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg. Leonid Rapoport, Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Sverdlovsk Region:“Generally speaking, today, we are resuming one of the largest post-pandemic international sports tournaments in this country and the whole world. In the Sverdlovsk region, chess is developing very fast, and many people play chess. One of the positive outcomes of holding the major chess competitions in the region is that over the past year, the number of people involved in chess and participating in chess tournaments has increased by 3 thousand people. I also cannot but say that today our Ural chess king, Naum Nikolaevich Rashkovsky, celebrates his 75th birthday.” Anatoly Karpov, 12th World Chess Champion, Deputy of Russian State Duma, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region:“I am glad that this wonderful day when the Candidates Tournament can be resumed has finally come. I want to remind you that we were the last to stop the offline competitions, and only the threat of air traffic closure forced us to suspend the tournament. The pause lasted more than a year – this has never happened before in the history of chess or other sports. We were always ready to resume the tournament, but there were difficulties with the arrival of the participants. The situation was not easy, there were attempts to transfer the second part of the event to another location, but thanks to the organisers’ determination, we have the opportunity to define the contender of the chess world champion here, in Yekaterinburg.” Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director:“Those who play chess know what an adjourned game is. Last year, an unexpected arbiter appeared at the tournament – the coronavirus, which forced everyone to postpone their games without informing when the games could be finished. In such a situation, the players and organisers needed strength, courage and flexibility to play this so important tournament to the end. I am grateful to them for their determination and the fact that this celebration of chess will take place after all. The FIDE Presidential Board will be held at the same time as the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg. For the first time, we will try to conduct it in a hybrid format. Our FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich will arrive soon, some of our colleagues will be here, and some will be in a remote format “. She also confirmed to the journalists that “all the players are here, not only Maxime, and they ready to fight for the chess crown.” Victor Bologan, FIDE Executive Director:“A year has passed, and the tournament is resuming. Oddly enough, this difficult year for the world turned out to be a very successful one for chess and FIDE. We all enjoyed watching the series “The Queen’s Gambit”, which popularised chess; many children, and especially girls, were drawn to the chess clubs. FIDE took advantage of the fact that chess is the only sport in which official competitions can be held online. We hosted the Chess Olympiad, the World Championship and even the Corporate World Championship. All of them were very successful. Still, playing over the board is always more interesting, so we are happy that Russia and Yekaterinburg provided us with this opportunity – to hold the first major offline tournament. We appreciate the efforts that have been taken by the organisers, FIDE, sponsors and partners to conduct this competition and to make it as safe as possible.” Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, one of the leaders of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg:“I am very glad to be here again, and I can say on behalf of all the participants of the Candidates Tournament that we were all looking forward to its resumption. We are all ready to play, and we are grateful to the organizers for putting this event together. I am ready to play and win the tournament, like the rest of the participants who are ready to fight with all their strength. We had a lot of time to prepare, so the games promise to be very interesting. A year ago, I was ready for the fact that the tournament would be stopped at any moment since the situation in the world was already tense. Although the break took much longer than expected, I used the forced break to concentrate on my preparation for the tournament.” Albert Stepanyan, Director of the Candidates Tournament, Executive Director of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation welcomed all speakers and also passed good wishes from Andrey Simanovsky, President of Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region, who could not be present at the press conference. “We are happy the tournament is going to start tomorrow and we are absolutely ready to host the event on the highest level. Our technical facilities are of the upper class and for the first time the wireless chess boards will be used during FIDE chess tournament.” Standings after Round 7: 1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2758) 4½ 2 Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789) 4½ 3 Fabiano Caruana (2820) 3½ 4 Anish Giri (2776) 3½ 5 Wang Hao (2763) 3½ 6 Alexander Grischuk (2777) 3½ 7 Ding Liren (2791) 2½ 8 Kirill Alekseenko (2696) 2½ Pairings for Round 8: Fabiano Caruana – Maxime Vachier-LagraveWang Hao – Ding LirenIan Nepomniachtchi – Anish GiriKirill Alekseenko – Alexander Grischuk Media accreditation for the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg is carried out on the official website of the tournament: https://candidates-2020.com/accreditation and tel. +7 962 385-05-61. Contact: press@fide.com Photo: Lennart
A film to watch: Glory to the Queen
This year, two Georgian superstars – Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze – are celebrating remarkable anniversaries. Nona will turn 80 on May 3 and Maia has already turned 60 on January 17. One of the early presents, not only to them but to all of us, is the documentary GLORY TO THE QUEEN, by Tatia Skhirtladze, that premiered at CineDoc Tbilisi on September 04, 2020. Leading us to Tbilisi, Georgia, the film reveals the interwoven biographies of the world chess heroes Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria, Maia Chiburdanidze and Nana Ioseliani, narrated by Serbian chess star Milunka Lazarević. As top players, they dominated the chess scene from the beginning of the 1960s to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and brought the world championship title to Georgia ten times in a row. Nona Gaprindashvili won the chess crown in 1962 and became the first woman to get the title of grandmaster. She remained world champion for 15 years and then the unexpected happened: Maia Chiburdanidze, aged only 17, dethroned her. Nana Alexandria and Nana Ioselliani were always on their heels and the four of them were practically unbeatable. Glory to the Queen gives them the monument they deserve with a film about victory and defeat on the chessboard and in life. Since the premiere, the film has been screened in a number of festivals and won the Audience Award at the Serbian FreeZone Festival. In April and May, continue touring around the world, it will be shown at five more festivals in the USA, Italy, Germany, and South Korea. You can find updates about the screenings and all the news on the official film page and the dedicated Facebook page: Glory to the Queen.
Vivendi and Garry Kasparov team up to launch online platform
Interactive Chess Community and Content Platform KASPAROVCHESS.COM Features Online Chess Lessons, Matches, Documentaries, and an Upcoming Exclusive Masterclass with Garry Kasparov. PARIS – (April 15, 2021) – Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and global media company Vivendi announced today the launch of Kasparovchess.com. The site is a new multimedia content platform for chess lovers of all skill levels launched by Vivendi, through its subsidiary Keysquare. Built to offer features for all players, whether they are enthusiasts or beginners, including thousands of chess puzzles, online matches, in-depth tutorials, articles, documentaries, and even an exclusive masterclass with Kasparov himself. The platform was built as a way for chess lovers and beginners to get immersed in the world of chess and create their own chess legacy by experiencing chess life through the lens of one of the greatest players of all time. It provides the building blocks for casual players to become more confident while also providing top tier content for the most dedicated pros looking to perfect their game. “Chess is entering a renaissance in pop culture and is becoming a fabric of the mainstream,” said Louis Germain, CEO Keysquare. “Our goal is to present Garry Kasparov’s legacy in a way that can inspire others and equip them with the tools they need to build their own legacy.” Kasparovchess offers a wealth of free content and a subscription-based platform that provides a wide breadth of content to the community of chess beginners and pros for a modest monthly fee. Subscription features include articles, documentaries, online matches against masters, lessons, puzzles, and an in-depth post-game analysis tool. There are also many free features, including an exclusive podcast series by Garry Kasparov that includes a deep dive on The Queen’s Gambit, for which Kasparov consulted, and many anecdotes from Kasparov’s own career highlights. Premium features such as the soon-to-be-released Kasparov masterclass will also be available for purchase as stand-alone content. “We are showing the world that there is so much more to chess than strategy and tactics,” said Garry Kasparov. “It is a way of life and a way of looking at the world. I hope to bring all people into this experience, even if they’ve never played before because chess can help them become everything that they want to be.” The platform is now open for early subscribers at Kasparovchess.com and will launch for the rest of the public at the end of April, 2021. About Kasparovchess is a world-class chess community and platform for beginners, enthusiasts and experts alike that offers exclusive access to chess lessons, matches, articles, in-depth videos and documentaries as well as an invaluable masterclass with the 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. The platform is designed to make chess accessible and life-changing in a way that only Garry Kasparov can—by giving audiences unparalleled access to the world of chess. Go to Kasparovchess.com to participate. Contact(s): Mark HavennerThe Pollack Group310-556-4443mark@pollackgroup.com
Chess in prisons: The Cook County case
Photo: Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune This article was originally published on the FIDE Newsletter #29 (April 12, 2021). If you want to receive this biweekly publication directly in your inbox, please subscribe here. In the coming weeks, we will share here some case studies from different parts of the world, like Anatoly Karpov’s continued support of chess in prison initiatives (for more than two decades already!), or Carl Portman’s phenomenal book “Chess Behind Bars”. For now, we will start with the case of Cook County, in Chicago. Mikhail Korenman needs no introduction for our readers in the US, where he is one of the most respected chess personalities. Originally from Voronezh, in Russia, where he graduated a Master of Science, he went to the states as a student – this time getting a degree in Philosophy. After settling in his country of adoption, he soon got engaged in chess activities, founding the Karpov School of Chess in Lindsborg, Kansas, and initiating the internationally acclaimed “Chess for Peace” program, supported by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, and chess stars like Karpov, Onischuk, Polgar, Krush and Zatonskih. Nine years ago, in 2012, he was approached by Sheriff Thomas Dart, whose kids were taking chess classes from him. “Sheriff Dart had a clear vision”, recalls Korenman, and the two agreed to start a ’chess in jail’ program together. “We see it day-in and day-out that people want instant gratification and that often individuals do not think before they act,” explained Dart when the program was first launched. “Thoughtless actions will hurt you while playing chess and hurt you more on the street.” One year later, about 600 inmates had already taken part in the jail’s chess program. “The participants are excited and this is the most rewarding program we’ve ever had,” Dart said. “This is something positive for the detainees to do and studies show it has a positive impact on people’s lives”. “The inmates seem to enjoy that ‘we are here to learn’, and always compare chess to the game of life,” Korenman says. “You explain that you have to castle to be safe, and you can see that the idea of taking measures to protect yourself and not get in trouble really gets into them”. Mikhail was already a seasoned teacher when he started the program, but he was caught by surprise by some characteristics of his new pupils. For instance, he soon realized that they would hardly agree to a draw. While they don’t care that much about losing, “for them winning is a really big deal,” he explains. “Winning by themselves, following the rules – many of them haven’t had chances to experience this before.” Either they didn’t enjoy many opportunities, or they used to cut corners; so a fair victory is something that makes them feel really good, and gives a big boost to their confidence and self-esteem. Mikhail speaks fondly about his work in the Cook County jail in general, but there is one particular activity that seems to bring him joy – and very understandably so. Once per month, they arrange that some of the inmates can play chess online with their kids. “It is not allowed for everyone. It requires clearance. We gather the children in one location and, using Skype and Chess.com, they can play with their parents in jail”. FIDE first signed a cooperation agreement with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in March 2020. However, the Covid-19 outbreak had a severe impact on prisons and their normal functioning, so many of the planned projects for last year had to wait until better times. We are very happy that we are finally able to continue where we left off and partner with Sheriff Dart and Mikhail Korenman on this project.
Parham Maghsoodloo wins Iranian Championship
The 54th edition of the Iranian Chess Championship was held in the capital of the country Teheran. The head of national chess federation Farhad Nikoshal made the first symbolic move in this marathon 16-player round-robin event with classical time control. The tournament turned into an exciting race of the rating favoгrite Parham Maghsoodloo and third-rated player Pouya Idani. After splitting a point in their first-round encounter the duo steamrolled the competition and quickly pulled away winning one game after another. A half-way through the event only one question remained: “Who out of these two is going to take gold?” Maghsoodloo conceded his opponents just two draws and clinched the title with a fantastic result 14 points out of 15. It is Parham’s third gold in national championships. He repeated his success of 2017 and 2018. The champion picked up 21.8 rating points and took home a cash prize of 4,000$. Idani made two extra draws and finished with impressive 13 points (+26.1 rating increase), 3½ points (!) ahead of Aryan Gholami who tied for third place with Amin Tabatabaei but took bronze thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1. Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) – 142. Pouya Idani (2588) – 133. Aryan Gholami (2507) – 9½4. Amin Tabatabaei (2629) – 9½5. Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2561) – 8½6. Khalil Mousavi Seyed (2522) – 87. Masoud Mosadeghpour (2498) – 7½8. Mahdi Gholami Orimi (2428) – 7½9. Pouria Darini (2432) – 710. Arash Daghli (2431) – 711. Bardiya Daneshvar (2401) – 712. Abtin Atakhan (2294) – 613. Arman Hakemi (2316) – 5½14. Mani Jahedi (2201) – 4½15. Bardia Veisi (2273) – 316. Mahdi Nikookar (2239) – 2½ Photo: Iran Chess Federation
Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are absolutely ready to start the Candidates Tournament”
Press conference on the FIDE Candidates Tournament was held today, on April 13, in Moscow, at the Rossiyskaya Gazeta Media Center. Six days before the resumption of the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg the speakers answered questions of journalists from all parts of the world, who were attending the event online. The speakers of the press conference were: FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, multiple times World Сhess Champion, Сhairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation Anatoly Karpov, participant of many previous Candidates Tournaments and the winner of 2016 FIDE Candidates Tournament Sergey Karjakin, and Director of the Candidates Tournament, Executive Director of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation Albert Stepanyan. Arkady Dvorkovich started by thanking chess fans and media for waiting for the resumption of the tournament, which was stopped on March 26, 2020. “FIDE is very proud to announce the resumption of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg. After all the games are played it’ll be determined who will be the World Champion Challenger and play the World Championship Match against Magnus Carlsen in Dubai in December 2021. We are absolutely ready to start the Candidates Tournament. All players are aware of the medical protocol, and we are in daily contact with all participants and their teams. The wearing of a mask during the tournament is not necessary for the players. Players will be required to have negative PCR tests done no earlier than 72 hours before the start of the tournament. They will not be required to do the tests during the tournament unless a player has symptoms. I know that 2 players have made the vaccination, I’m not aware of the other players, it’s their personal decision. We have decided that spectators would be admitted to the tournament with some of the measures, such as wearing face masks and social distancing. Also, spectators must have either a vaccine, or antibodies, or a negative test for coronavirus infection.” Albert Stepanyan assured that organizers took all the measures to make the event safe for players and visitors: “The whole chess world was waiting for this tournament to be resumed. The first part of the event was quite nervous, we were not sure what to expect in this non-standard situation. Nowadays, we know how to adapt to these conditions. The organizers, medical authorities and all the other bodies involved in making this tournament have a clear vision of what to do and how to conduct this event on a high level”. He also added that although the access to the playing hall will be limited, visitors will be able to listen to the live commentary of the games on the venue: “Access to the commentary hall will be free for everyone in accordance with all the necessary medical standards”. Anatoly Karpov reminded the reason the tournament was stopped: “All this time we were waiting for reopening borders between countries, and despite the fact that Russia was one of the first countries to open the borders, European Union and China were still keeping them shut. All this time Yekaterinburg was ready to resume the tournament at any moment. The next game is going to start on April 19th, and together with the whole chess world we are looking forward to knowing, who is going to get the right to play against the World Champion Magnus Carlsen“. Sergey Karjakin expressed his opinion that the event will run smoothly: “As a chess professional, I would like to say that I’m also very eager to see the start of the tournament and get to know who will be the next contender. I’m sure the organizers will do their best and conduct the tournament on the highest level. I have been to Yekaterinburg many times and know well how strong the local chess federation is“. The winner of the Candidates tournament 2016 gave some advice to the players, based on his own experience: “I think the players should find the way to abstract away from the tournament situation and the fact it’s only 7 rounds left. They should mainly concentrate on their play. Under so stressful conditions everything will depend on who has better nerves, who will manage to be stable during the whole distance and not break down psychologically”. FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020-2021: This double round-robin tournament kicked off on March 16, 2020. However, it had to be abruptly stopped 11 days later when the Russian government announced the closure of air traffic with other countries, amid a rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic. After a long wait, the challenger to Magnus Carlsen’s throne will be finally known by the 28th of April. After the first half, the French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi are in the lead, with 4½ points after seven games. Fabiano Caruana (USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Wang Hao (China) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia) are in the chasing pack, all with 3½ points. Partners supporting the FIDE Candidates Tournament are: Sima-land, a wholesale online store, as the General Partner Algorand, as the Official Blockchain Partner Kaspersky, as the Official Cybersecurity Partner PhosAgro, a leading chemical company as the CFR General Partner Chessable, as Event Partner Pine Creek Golf Resort, the first and only world-class golf resort in the Urals, as event Partner Mercedes-Benz Russia, as the Official Auto Partner PRESS KITFIDE CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT:
“Chess for Freedom” program launched
As we always stress, promoting chess as a tool for education is one of FIDE’s top priorities. However, the scope of work in this field is not limited to chess in school programs, and there are many other opportunities. In recent years we have witnessed the successful introduction of chess in prisons, through different educative programs in Russia, England, the USA, Brazil, Italy and Spain, with very positive outcomes. These experiences show that chess improves behaviour, helping to reduce inmate violence and developing communication skills while promoting positive use of leisure time. Chess also drastically improves the decision-making capabilities of a group of people that, very often, due to the lack of opportunities and access to proper education, has ended up in jail after making a wrong choice in life. Besides, the game has a positive impact on the inmates’ overall health, fighting depression, stress and anxiety, and motivating them to change for the better. As a result, chess greatly contributes to efforts towards rehabilitation, and some studies have already proven it to reduce reoffending. It can be potentially life-changing, as many testimonies show. In prisons, just as in wider society, the impact of sport and games can be far-reaching. Aiming to support and promote this line of work, FIDE and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chicago, USA) have signed a cooperation agreement, and together we are launching the “Chess for Freedom” program. This project, under the patronage of the 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov, will kick off with an online conference and an exhibition tournament with four participant countries, scheduled for May 11th. The conference will feature FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the 12th World Chess Champion Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, and Tom Dart, Cook County Sheriff, among other distinguished guest speakers. Starting at 4:00 pm CET (9:00 am US Central Time), it will be broadcast on the FIDE YouTube Channel. To take part in this conference, please fill out the registration form. If any of our readers know about any chess in prisons initiative or is willing to volunteer and start one, please get in touch with the FIDE Social Commission: socialchess@fide.com. We would like to hear about your experience, offer guidance and support where needed, and stimulate more research and papers being published on this topic.
Candidates 1956: Smyslov again!
The third Candidates tournament held in the Netherlands was from March 27 to April 30 of 1956, where ten players competed for the right to challenge the World Champion. In comparison to the previous event, (Zurich, 1953), FIDE reduced the number of participants from 15 to 10. The challenger of the previous World Championship match, Vasily Smyslov, was seeded directly, and the other participants qualified from the Gothenburg Interzonal (1955). The opening ceremony took place on 26 March in Vossius Gymnasium, Amsterdam where the chairman of the Dutch Chess Federation, Hendrik Jan van Steenis, and FIDE President, Folke Rogard, held welcoming speeches. The fifth World Champion (1935-1937), Max Euwe, conducted the drawing of lots. All the rounds except the tenth and eleventh (that were held in Leeuwarden) were played in Amsterdam. Unlike the Candidates in Zurich, which turned into a close duel between Smyslov and Reshevsky, this time around it was wide open almost until the very end as at least four grandmasters had a fair chance to challenge Botvinnik. After the first part of the event, Efim Geller was leading the field with 6 points (+3) followed by Paul Keres and David Bronstein with 5.5 points (+2). The winner of the Candidates in Zurich (1953) Vasily Smyslov was sitting on 5 points after spoiling an overwhelming position and losing to young Spassky in Round 9. Round 10 complicated matters even more, as Petrosian defeated Geller, whereas Keres went through a lost position against Bronstein, scored a very important victory and reached the +3 mark. The ex-leader’s problems did not end there – in the next round, Geller fell to Smyslov. To his credit, he managed to rebound in Round 11, then beat Filip with Black and caught up with Keres. In Round 14 Smyslov scored his fourth victory in the event and joined this duo. The culmination of the entire tournament came in Round 16 when Smyslov faced Bronstein who was just a half-point behind after prevailing over Geller the day before. Both opponents were pushing hard but it was Smyslov who came out on top. Later on, the seventh World Champion included this victory in all his best games collections. Smyslov – Bronstein Black has just played a natural 31…Bg5-d2? Which turned out to be a decisive mistake 32.e6! Bg5 (32…fxe6 33. Rf3+) 33.h4 fxe6 34.Bh3 Bd7 35.Rxa7 exd5 36.Rxd7 and White won on move 57. Smyslov made a strong claim for the first place as Bronstein dropped out of the race, but Keres was hard on his heels. The oldest participant (Paul was 41) tried a new energy-saving strategy in Amsterdam: if Keres did not manage to obtain a promising position after the opening he offered a draw. In the penultimate round, Keres achieved a won position against Filip and got a real chance to catch up with Smyslov. Keres – Filip An obvious 38.Qf6 was winning easily (38…Nxe5 39.Qxe5 Re8 40.Qc7), but Keres played an overly “accurate” move 38.Kh2?? which was met with 38…Rc4! – Black got a defensive idea of Qf4+. After 39.Qf6 Nxe5! Keres opted to play a piece down but resigned on move 91 after a stubborn but hopeless defense. It is worth noting though that even in the case of Keres’ victory, Smyslov had a much better chance for the first place as in the last round he faced a “weak link” Herman Pilnik with White whereas his main rival took on Petrosian with Black. Still, it would have been an exciting final round but it was not meant to be. Source: Wikipedia Smyslov took well-deserved first place winning his second Candidates tournament in a row, whereas Keres eventually finished second and secured a spot in the next Candidates tournament. A big group of participants tied for third place, but their paths were quite different. The leader after the first part of the event, Efim Geller, scored as many victories as Smyslov but suffered five defeats (two of them at the hands of the eventual winner). The last one, in the final round with White against Laszlo Szabo, was particularly vexing as a draw would have allowed him to tie for second with Keres. Unlike Geller, Szabo did not have a chance for first place at any point, but this victory catapulted him to the third position in the final standings. The winner of the Gothenburg Interzonal, David Bronstein, was not in his best form but remained in the contest for first place until Round 16. All in all, despite receiving a “gift” from Petrosian he lost two crucial games to his main competitors (Keres and Smyslov). Tigran Petrosian was hardly content with his result as arguably he became the main underperformer of the tournament – take for example two won positions the future ninth World Champion achieved in the games versus Bronstein and Smyslov in which he netted zero points. The first defeat was particularly bitter: Petrosian – Bronstein White is in total control but Petrosian played 36.Ng5?? ignoring the only Black’s treat and after 36…Kxd6 resigned immediately, although Bronstein had just a few seconds left on his clock. Nevertheless, it became evident for many that Petrosian would be one of the main contenders in the future Candidates tournaments. Indeed, six years later he won a marathon competition in Curacao (1962) and eventually became the ninth World Champion. The youngest participant of the event, 19-year old World Junior Champion Boris Spassky, also scored a decent +1. Just like Petrosian, he did not compete for first place, but beat the eventual winner, Smyslov, and Bronstein along the way and showed great potential. Who could ever imagine back then that it would be his first and last Candidates tournament? But that is exactly what happened – Spassky missed the next two cycles failing to qualify for Interzonals (it is just another piece of evidence attesting the high level of USSR championships) and later on played only Candidates matches. Miroslav Filip and Oscar Panno had their bright moments in the event but their level was not high enough to hold out against the top Soviet grandmasters. The event in Amsterdam (1956) showcased Smyslov’s dominance throughout the 1950s. Indeed, during this decade he won two Candidates tournaments, played three