Manyok Chaderek Panchol wins 4th South Sudan Championship
Manyok Chaderek Panchol came out as the winner of the 4th National South Sudan Chess Championship (Qualifying Stage). He scored comfortable 10 points out of 11 gruelling rounds. John Makuach, Thon Gong, Juach Marol and Peter Manyang all ended up with 8½ points in joint second place. Manyok Chaderek Panchol went home with SSD 200,000 (USD 1,500). The 11-round Swiss tournament with classical time control attracted over 120 hopefuls who battled daily from 13th to 22nd March 2021. The cash prize fund amounted to SSP 570,000 (approximately USD 4,300). The top twelve players will play in the Final Section, which will take place in June 2021. Nile Petroleum Corporation, 1People Technologies Ltd, Trinity Holdings and GS Construction were the event sponsors. Final standings: 1. Manyok Chaderek – 102. John Thon Makuach – 8½3. Gong Thon Gong – 8½4. Juach Deng Marol – 8½5. Peter Majur Manyang – 8,56. David Maluak Bol – 87. Agook Madol Agook – 88. Joseph Deng Buol – 89. Yuot Mabut Deng Yal – 810. Ayuen Kuer Riak – 811. Gai Athel Riak – 812. Mabior Anyuat Mabior – 7½ Chess facts about South Sudan The South Sudan Chess Federation was registered in 2014 and joined FIDE in 2016. Juuk Thiong Juuk is the current President of the South Sudan Chess Federation. Henry John is South Sudan’s highest-rated player at 2245. South Sudan has just over 370 registered players with FIDE. The federation has only three ladies players who are registered with FIDE. South Sudan has participated in two Olympiads, namely the 2016 Baku and the 2018 Batumi editions. Text and photo: Kenya Chess Masala
How can chess help children with autism?
The question above, particularly relevant today on World Autism Awareness Day, was answered by a group of five lecturers during the first FIDE Introductory Seminar “Chess for children with an autism spectrum disorder. How chess can help children with autism” held on March 29. 130 representatives of chess federations and FIDE academies took part in the two-hour event, organized as part of the Autism Awareness Week. The audience included legendary figures like Judit Polgar, Artur Yusupov, and the former Women’s World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova. “You’d see a quote in one of today’s presentations which says ‘Autism is not a disability, it is a special ability’. But how to make use of it? And our answer today would be to think of chess as a discipline that might not only give enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure to these special kids but also improve their physical and mental health,” said FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola in her welcome speech. Five speakers from different parts of the world shared their experiences in teaching chess to children with ASD: Ala Mishchanka, Special needs educational assistant from Canada with more than 15 years of experience, made an introduction to the concept of “Autism Spectrum Disorder”. “Some sports can be challenging for kids with ASD; that’s why it is important to help children choose sports they are likely to enjoy and excel at”, says Ala Mishchanka. “But not every sport requires high-level communication and cooperation and could be a great match for children with autism. Chess is definitely one of them.” The next lecturer was Dr Lilit Karapetyan, Senior researcher at the Chess Research Institute of the Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), and Lecturer at the Department of Special Pedagogy and Psychology. Lilit shared the Armenian experience in chess lessons with students with an autistic spectrum disorder. They used unique chess tasks and lessons to develop speech and other cognitive processes and regulate the behaviour of children with ASD. “The study showed the effectiveness of special psychological-pedagogical methods. These methods are also very effective in the development of spatial orientation. Based on the work done during the chess lessons with children with ASD, we suggest the list of methods and exercises.” Lilit’s colleague Dr Anna Charchyan also a researcher in chess at ASPU, with a Ph.D. in Pedagogy, and Lecturer in Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy at the Faculty of Special and Inclusive Education, provided practical advice and comments about each of them, which you can find in the seminar’s video recording. WIM Natalia Popova, Trainer at the FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus who has led a project in Minsk for the last two years, was the next one to share her experience. She stressed the positive impact that chess lessons had on the children, and how this progress was also acknowledged by the parents: “If we speak about the personal development of a child with ASD, even I, not being a specialist in ASD children, witnessed the first signs of positive results within the first three or four months. Children pronounced the words more clearly, were able to formulate their thoughts. The children that are non-verbal and have problems with hearing demonstrated the ability to answer simple questions. Last year, many children worked only in the presence of their parents. This year, most children work without their parents; only one boy requires his mum’s presence. Last year, several children demonstrated significant aggression. This year they have become less aggressive and show at least some control of their aggressive behaviour. They became more persistent. So within a year, their behaviour and overall interaction have improved.” Dr Sandra Maria Guisso, Ph.D. in psychology and MSc in Biology and Education, is a very reputed authority who studies the game of chess in various situations of daily life and with people affected by Down syndrome, autism, and people deprived of freedom. In her dissertation “the game of chess and the autistic child” she presented a case study from Brazil. “This study shows us that autistic kids are not abnormal, they are just different. We have abilities that we need to work on. In the same way, the autistic child has abilities that need to be worked on. We, researchers, always look for new tools to develop those abilities. Chess is one of the tools that we can use more,” stressed Dr Sandra Maria Guisso. According to the latest data, 1 in 54 children has ASD in the USA, and the prevalence has increased 178% since 2000. FIDE believes that using chess as a development tool is an important priority, and will continue supporting educational efforts in this direction. “From FIDE side, we are willing to have further follow-up activities, allowing us to use our royal game as an efficient tool for empowerment, social integration and psychosocial well-being of those members of society who need it the most, in this case, it’s the kids with autistic spectrum disorder, always unique, totally intelligent and sometimes mysterious,” said Dana Reizniece-Ozola in conclusion. The first introductory seminar proved that there is a big interest in the topic from the federation representatives and chess trainers. We hope that the follow-up surveys will confirm the interest and we will have a basis to expand on the project, providing more seminars and training courses as soon as in summer. You can watch the complete recording of the seminar on the FIDE YouTube channel. All the presentations are also available for download: Indroduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder (by Ala Mishchanka) Chess lessons with students with autistic spectrum disorder: Armenian experience (by Lilit Karapetyan and Anna Charchyan) Belarus project teaching chess to children with autistic spectrum disorder (by WIM Natalia Popova) The game of chess and the autistic child: A study case (by Sandra Maria Guisso) We would like to thank FIDE Vice President Anastasia Sorokina, and Nadezhda Kravchuk, a member of the FIDE Social Commission, for their initiative in organizing this successful event.
SF Deizisau e.V wins European Online Chess Club Cup 2021
SF Deizisau e.V took the European Online Chess Club Cup 2021 after winning the final stage of the competition. 91 teams participated in the event with 18 squads advancing to the play-offs. The best 10 teams of play-offs qualified for the final which took place from 30th-31st March. Neither team completed the tournament distance unbeaten. The champion scored 14 match points losing one match and drawing two. Clichy Echecs 92 from France came in second with 13 match points. Two teams, Mednyi Vsadnik (Russia) and Poland Hussars (Poland), tied for the bronze medal netting 11 match points each with the former getting bronze in accordance with board points. Special prize “Vasily Smyslov” was awarded to a winner of the best game of the tournament Vladislav Artemiev who stunned Mateusz Bartel with a spectacular queen sacrifice. The game can be seen here. The best individual players per board will be awarded special prizes according to their performance: the top three individual board players will receive e-medals, while the best players on each board will take home €400. 1st board: GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL, 2729, Poland Hussars), Performance: 2890 GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2701, Clichy Echecs 92), Performance: 2857 GM Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS, 2687, Mednyi Vsadnik), Performance: 2823 Jan-Krzysztof Duda Photo: Maria Emelianova (chess.com) 2nd board: GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (IND, 2726, Novy Bor), Performance: 2786 GM Maxim Matlakov (RUS, 2688, Mednyi Vsadnik), Performance: 2726 GM David Howell (ENG, 2658, 4NCL Guildford), Performance: 2725 3rd board: GM Bartosz Socko (POL, 2618, Poland Hussars), Performance: 2674 GM Amin Bassem (EGY, 2695, Clichy Echecs 92), Performance: 2664 GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2664, Odlar Yurdu), Performance: 2654 4th board: GM Andrey Esipenko (RUS, 2701, Mednyi Vsadnik), Performance: 2767 GM Gawain Jones (END, 2670, 4NCL Guildford), Performance: 2708 GM Vasif Durarbayli (AZE, 2606, Odlar Yurdu), Performance: 2697 Andrey Esipenko Photo: John Saunders 5th board (Reserve players): GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2591, SF Deizisau e.V.), Performance: 2812 GM Aleksandr Shimanov (RUS, 2597, Mednyi Vsadnik), Performance: 2661 GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE, 2598, Odlar Yurdu), Performance: 2656 All the results and standings can be found here. The Closing Ceremony of the event will take place on Friday, 2nd of April, starting from 17:00 CET and will be broadcasted through the ECU Twitch channel and the European Chess TV Youtube channel. All the rounds and games of the event were broadcasted live from the ECU LIVE studio, together with commentaries by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and her special guests: ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice Presidents: Adrian Mikhalchishin, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, and Eva Repkova. Text: europechess.org/
Saint Louis University clinches Team Rapid Cup
Similar to the blitz event of the FIDE World University Online Championship, the four best teams qualified for the Team Rapid Cup semifinals after the individual rapid. Both semifinals and the final were best-of-two-sets matches played on March 28 on chess24 platform. According to the tournament regulations in case of a tie on match-points, board points did not count so the team had to play a tie-break blitz match. In the semifinals, the University of Missouri was pitted against Shanghai University of Finance and Economics whereas Texas Rio Grande Valley squared off with Saint Louis University again, just like in the Team Blitz Cup. The first semifinal started with a draw in the first set (all four games produced decisive outcomes) but in the second set, the University of Missouri took the situation under control and advanced to the final thanks to the victories by Grigoriy Oparin and Christopher Repka on first and third boards. In the second semifinal, Saint Louis University pushed hard from the very start, grabbed the first set 3:1, and after drawing the second one 2:2 made it to the final. The University of Missouri and Saint Louis University met in the final again but this time around the latter took revenge. Again it was a very close battle – the first set was drawn after the teams exchanged blows on all four boards. The fate of the match and the title was decided in the second set on the first board: Nikolas Theodoru toppled the highest-rated player of the event Grigoriy Oparin in a spectacular fashion and tipped the scales for his team. Nikolas Theodoru – Grigoriy Oparin 18.Rxh7! fxg5 19.Bxg6 Qf6 20.Rxd7 Qxg6 21.Rxb7 and White converted his extra material 1-0 Final standings: 1. Saint Louis University 2. University of Missouri 3. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 4. Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
FIDE Arbiters’ Manual 2021 published
Last summer, the Arbiters’ Commission invited the chess community to provide feedback and contribute with ideas to improve the FIDE Arbiters’ Manual, a key working tool for chess arbiters worldwide. The result of this team effort is the 2021 edition of the FIDE Arbiters’ Manual that was published a few days ago, in which more people contributed than ever before. Apart from many of these suggestions, this important document was also enlarged and is now composed of 14 chapters. The two new ones are #13, with the FIDE Online Chess Regulations, and #14, with sample exam questions for FIDE arbiters. The document also now includes more educational content, like a section by Professor Ken Regan about his Anti-cheating tool, and more comments and interpretations written by experienced arbiters. The topics have also been rearranged in a different order that better reflects their importance: 1. Governing play: Roles and duties, Laws of Chess, Anti-Cheating, Pairings2. Players’ focus: Ratings and norms3. Technical references: Tournaments and tie-breaks4. Administrative: titles and classifications of arbiters, application forms The International Arbiter Shohreh Bayat, Councillor of the ARB Commission, was the leader of the project, and she expressed her gratitude to all those who contributed. in particular, Alex McFarlane, Ken Regan, Juergen Klueners, David Sedgwick, Aris Marghetis, Gopakumar MS, Shaun Press, Sabrina de San Vicente, Alex Holowczak, Anantharam Rathinam, Hal Bond, Igor Vereshchagin, and Pierre Denommee. They all provided very valuable input. DOWNLOAD THE FIDEARBITERS’ MANUAL 2021 The Arbiters’ Manual is an ongoing project, so any feedback, comments, and proposals to continue improving it are welcome any time. Feel free to address them to the ARB Commission using their contact email: secretary.arbiters@fide.com
Temur Kuybokarov wins Zone 3.6 Zonal Championship
The first chess Zonal in Asia, Australia and Oceania (Zone 3.6) in hybrid format was held over the consecutive weekends of March 20th and 21st and March 27th and 28th by the Zone President Paul Spiller and Oceania Chess Confederation under the auspices of FIDE and the Asian Chess Federation. The players could use traditional boards to think over their moves before uploading on their computers under the watchful eyes of Local Chief Arbiters, Zonal Chief Arbiter Dr. Peter Tsai, and Deputy Chief Arbiter IM Leonid Sandler (overall more than 20 arbiters). Full standard time control (90+30) was applied in this 8-player round-robin competition. The event was dominated by the highest-rated players, GMs Anton Smirnov and Temur Kuybokarov of Australia, who drew their direct encounter, won all other games and tied for first place scoring 6½ out of 7 each. The tie-break of two worthy opponents was a very close affair that came down to the wire: Kuybokarov and Smirnov drew both rapid games (25+10), exchanged blows in fast rapid (10+5), then split points in blitz (5+3). Having white pieces in the Armageddon game Kuybokarov (pictured below) pulled out so much-needed victory and punched his ticket to the FIDE World Cup scheduled for July 2021. Photo: aus2020.chesschamp.net/ Final standings: 1. Temur Kuybokarov (AUS 2530) – 6½2. Anton Smirnov (AUS 2597) – 6½3. Nic Croad (NZL 2316) – 54. Elmer Prudente (GUM 1991) – 3½5. Taione Sikivou (FIJ 1830) – 2½6. Thubalkain Dabuae (NRU) – 27. Fred Resture (SOL 1797) – 28. Angelo Salvadora (PLW 1730) – 1
Israel: “Chess for Every Child”
Chess keeps gaining space in the education system, and once in a while, a new square in this field is conquered. Recently, the Israel Chess Federation and the Ministry of Education in Israel have announced the expansion of the program “Chess for Every Child”, which consists of six special projects aimed at enabling second and third-grade children all over Israel to learn the game of chess during 20202021. The program will be funded by Mifal Hapais, the Israeli lottery organization, which is a “community interest company” whose core purpose is to raise funds from the public through lotteries, for investments in the community and Israel society as a whole. All of Mifal Hapais’s profits are invested in the community through innumerable social projects in education, welfare, community volunteerism, and the promotion of Israeli culture. “Chess is recognized by the public, heads of government, and senior government officials in Israel as an effective means of improving attention and concentration, developing strategic thinking, competitiveness and the value of victory among youth”, explains the Israel Chess Federation. “Mifal Hapais is investing many resources in this project because it realizes that chess is an excellent tool for developing thinking and improving capabilities among children, among them, patience, success, coping with failure, strategic thinking, the ability to solve problems requiring concentration, creativity, etc.” This program was funded with approximately €408,000 (NIS 1.6 million) in the 2019-2020 school year. Citing the growing interest of authorities and schools in Israel in the project, Dr. Zvika Barkai, Chairman of the Israel Chess Federation, made a petition to increase this budget. The proposal was accepted by the chairman of Mifal Hapais, Mr. Avigdor Yitzhaki, who decided to increase the budget to €918,000 (NIS 3.6 million) for the 2020-2021 school year. Given the fact that 2020 was a challenging year in the financing of non-healthcare projects, this is a substantial increase. The program was launched during the 2018-2019 school year, 40 second-grade classes from all the eight primary schools in Kiryat Yam participated in the chess lessons. The number was increased to 205 classes the following school year, 2019-2020, when the project grew and expanded to the third grades as well. Given the positive results and the enthusiasm of the students, numerous local authorities and school principals praised the project and requested additional hours and lessons. In some cases, they continued the chess lessons at their own expense. The increased budget will allow the Israel Chess Federation to expand the program to a total of 410 classes, a 100% increase. Mifal Hapais will oversee the implementation of the program, taking the demand into account and giving priority to minority groups and socioeconomically disadvantaged sectors.
University of Missouri wins Team Blitz Cup
The first FIDE World University Online Individual Blitz Championship, the competition that brought together 960 students from 78 countries also served as a qualifying stage for FIDE World University Online Blitz Cup with the four best universities advancing straight into the semifinals. Both semifinals and the final consisted of four sets and were played on March 27. The tournament regulations stipulate that in case of a tie on match-points, board points did not count so the team had to play a tie-break blitz match. In the semifinals, the University of Missouri faced off Armenian State University of Physical Culture and Sports University of Texas Rio Grande Valley took on Saint Louis University. The University of Missouri started with a bang by winning the first set 3:1; however, the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport retaliated in the second set 2½:1½. It was a wake-up call for the higher-rated team as the University of Missouri comfortably took third and fourth sets by equal score 3:1. In the second semifinal, Saint Louis University won two close sets 2½:1½ and took the commanding lead. The top-rated Texas Rio Grande Valley came back in the third set 3:1 but did not manage to pull out so much-needed victory and the fourth set and the team from Saint Louis progressed into the final. A very tightly-contested final was a battle of two equal teams that exchanged blows in the first two sets and drew two others. It came down to a tiebreaker in which Mikhail Antipov and Christopher Repka tipped the balance in favour of the University of Missouri (2½:1½ ) that clinched the title. Final standings: 1. University of Missouri 2. Saint Louis University 3. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 4. Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport
Statement regarding the FIDE World University Online Championships
In connection with the decision of the Fair Play Panel (FPP) of the FIDE World University Online Championships, FIDE confirms that the results of the women’s rapid final held on 25 March have been adjusted. All the results of IM Yulia Osmak are counted as a loss – in line with the tournament’s Regulations. The decision was not based solely on cheating-detection algorithms but was made by FPP after a thorough examination, that included all available evidence. The decision is final. FIDE Fair Play Commission upon reviewing all the data submitted by FPP will decide, whether the case shall be referred to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for further sanctions. FIDE relies on the dedicated work of FPP and encourages players to follow and value the principles of fair play.
#28
Israel: “Chess for Every Child” India: Chess in the academic curriculum How can chess help children with autism? FIDE Arbiters’ Manual 2021 The story of the African Chess Federations Chess keeps getting air time Anniversaries READ NEWSLETTER