Centenary of the French Chess Federation
The French Chess Federation celebrates its centenary today. Jean Olivier Leconte sent us this article where he goes through «The long road to the French Chess Federation», as he titled it. The first attempt to bring together French chess players in a single national association was mentioned in the magazine La Stratégie in 1874. The Chess Chronicler, Alphonse Delannoy, moved to England and wrote in a short article: “It will introduce us to the functioning of the association of chess players in this country; and who knows? Perhaps it will thus help us in the attempts which will be made to found a chess players association in France. “ Indeed, since 1857, British chess players have been united in the British Chess Association. The magazine La Stratégie then published an embryonic statute for a French Chess Players Association. A laudable attempt, but it will remain wishful thinking. Source: BNF La Strategie 1874 In 1882, during the correspondence match between Paris and Vienna, an argument occurred between the best French players, because of a disagreement on moves to be chosen. On one side Arnous de Rivière, Albert Clerc and Edward Chamier, and on the other Samuel Rosenthal. This incident created two distinct groups in French chess. Offensive words were said, and this deep crisis, in which resentments are emerging, does not favour the gathering of chess players in France. Nevertheless, Arnous de Rivière tried again and in 1887 the French Association of Chess Players and Other Combination Games was created. Source: BNF – Gallica Extract from the newspaper “Gil Blas” of July 5, 1887, 161 rue Saint-Honoré corresponds to the address of the Café de la Régence It is difficult to know if this French Association of players of chess and other combination games is the same one mentioned in the magazine La Stratégie in 1900: «The session given on February 17 at the French Chess Association was also a great success. The hall was too small to accommodate all of the visitors who presented themselves. (…) ». But the association has not developed and it is difficult to find more information about it. But the real impetus came in 1914 by Le Cercle Philidor de Paris and its founder Henri Delaire, also owner of the magazine La Stratégie, supported by the Union Amicale des Amateurs de la Régence (U.A.A.R.). Circles outside Paris follow this movement. Thus, in January 1914, still in La Stratégie, Édouard Cavrel, Editor of the Chess column of the “Journal de Rouen”, wrote a long article which began as follows: «A French Federation of chess players what it should be. Chess players associations have been founded abroad for several years. To speak only of those who work in England and in Germany, their action is as fruitful as their life is active. Successively transporting their annual congresses, sometimes to one city, sometimes to another, received with great solemnity by the municipalities, they attract and hold for a moment the public attention constantly requested elsewhere in our turbulent times; throughout the entire country, they rekindle the zeal of amateurs and help, we are convinced, to give rise here and there, especially among young people, vocations which were ignored.» The Cercle Lyonnais des Échecs, an important association of chess players outside Paris, then proposed to organize the 2nd French Amateur Championship, after the first one in Arcachon in 1903, as well as a constitutive assembly of the French Chess Federation. The dates are initially set from July 13 to 19, then finally changed from Sunday, July 26 to Friday, July 31. A change of dates with dire consequences… On June 28, 1914, occurred the Sarajevo attack on Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and events precipitate. The European governors then walk towards warlike sleepwalkers… to use the title of the book by Australian historian Christopher Clark, about the mechanism that precipitated the world towards World War I. France decreed general mobilization on Tuesday, August 1, 1914. The constitutive assembly scheduled for that day was cancelled sine die. It was not until peace had returned to the world that the idea of a French Federation of chess players came back, still at the initiative of the Cercle Philidor in Paris. Source: La Strategie – March 1921 Thanks to Dominique Thimognier and Alain Fayard On Saturday, March 19, 1921, the general assembly, constituting the French Chess Federation, took place as planned, this time in Paris, in the Brasserie / Taverne du Gymnase, 31 boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle. La Strategie – March 1921 « NEWS French Chess Federation The initiative taken by the Cercle Philidor, and in particular by its secretary, Mr. Bourgeois, was finally crowned with success. In a first General Assembly which was held on March 19 at the Brasserie du Gymnase where a dozen organizations were represented, the statutes of 1914, slightly modified, were adopted unanimously and the Federation definitively constituted. The committee for the first year is made up of: President, H. Delaire. Vice-presidents, J. Conti (Paris), R. Gaudin (Bordeaux) and Lavoipierre (Lyon). Administrative secretary, C. Bourgeois. Technical secretary, F. Lazard. Treasurer, D. Bar. Assessors, C. Degraeve (Lille), A. Fabre (Marseille), A. de Gaigneron de Marolles (Nantes), E. Michel (Strasbourg), G. Renaud (Nice), A. Sarrut (Algiers), T. Thomas (Le Havre), and Zani (Besançon). The promoter of the Federation, Mr. Edouard Cavrel, of Rouen, had to decline all functions because of his health. The registered office is located: 85, rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, Paris Xe; Until the publication of a special bulletin, La Strategie will be the newsletter of the Federation. The administrative secretary, Mr. C. Bourgeois, 18, rue Caffarelli Paris IIIe will respond to all requests for statutes; the treasurer, Mr. D. Barreau, 79, rue de Clignancourt, Paris XVIIIe collects the annual contribution of associations, isolated members and donors. We hope that all, chess societies, sections or clubs, isolated players, participating members and donors, in affectionate solidarity, will collaborate with eagerness in the common work founded with the sole concern of increasing the spread of the noble game; everyone will certainly think that the first administration needs to be supported and encouraged and that success can only be assured with the help of all. » The information was officially published on May 22,
Semifinals: Nepomniachtchi and Giri strike first
A thrilling first day of the $220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational semi-finals saw the two heavy favourites lose to set up two tense deciding sets tomorrow. Russian champ Ian Nepomniachtchi was back to his powerful best as he wrestled his way into a half-time lead against tournament host Magnus Carlsen. In the other semi, US champ Wesley So couldn’t hold back an inspired performance from Dutch No.1 Anish Giri. Nepomniachtchi, nicknamed the “Speed Demon”, had to use all his trickery to survive a tense Game 1 before breaking through in Game 3 of his clash with old foe Carlsen. A hard-fought draw in the fourth game saw the 30-year-old Russian take the set 2.5-1.5 and seize the initiative in the tie. Carlsen looked stunned and sat emotionless when the result was secured. He has to win tomorrow to take the semi to tiebreaks. Carlsen said: “It’s really, really frustrating because it just feels like a massive own goal in the third game. I had a great position in the opening, I just spent too much time there.” He added that after that he “miscalculated something simple” and “lost the thread”. Nepomniachtchi, one of the favorites to end up challenging Carlsen’s world title later this year, now has a big chance to dump the world champ out of his own namesake tournament. The other semi was even tighter with So, the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour leader, drawing first blood by taking full advantage of a mistake from Giri to win game 1. But after a draw in game 2, the Giri hit back to level the score. It left the set hanging on the final game. So blundered badly initially, yet Giri failed to fully cash in. But despite desperate defense from So, Giri did eventually make the advantage tell to take the deciding game and win the first day’s set 2.5-1.5. It was a stunning comeback. Giri said: “It’s very nice but of course the main battle is going to be tomorrow.” If there is to be a third Carlsen-So final on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, both players need to hit back tomorrow to force tiebreaks. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
A tribute to our veterans
Last week FIDE announced the names of twelve chess seniors who will benefit from FIDE’s support to chess veterans. A total of €30,000 will be distributed among them with each receiving €2,500. As we did on previous occasions, we would pay tribute to these illustrious veterans with a few words about each one of them, summarizing their careers and achievements: Sergey Makarychev (Russia) One of the most talented Moscow players of his generation, Sergey Makarychev (born in 1953) quickly rose in the chess ranks and gained the title of International Master in 1974. Two years later he became Grandmaster. Despite considerable success in tournament chess, he gradually gravitated toward coaching and analytical work and excelled in both. He was Anatoly Karpov’s second in the 1985 World Championship and helped Garry Kasparov in the 1993 PCA World Championship match. Under his guidance USSR team won five Olympiads (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, and 1992). As a playing coach and a member of the CSKA team, Sergey Makarychev won the USSR Chess Championship and two European Club Cups. Photo: ruchess.ru Sergey Makarichev proved himself as a talented analyst who made a significant contribution to the development of the chess opening theory in the 1970-1990s. His pioneering research in the Sicilian Defense and the Russian Defense gained vast popularity among chess players. The interpretation of the Italian Game with white that became fashionable in the 21st century, was developed and successfully applied by Sergey Makarychev back in the early 1970s. Makarychev is a very popular chess journalist. For many years, together with his wife Marina Makarycheva he authored and presented chess programs on the Russian channel NTV Plus Sport. He is the winner of the 2015 FIDE Awards “Best Chess Journalists in the World” as well as the honorary awards “Kaissa”, “Black King” and “Chess Journalist of Russia 2008” in the TV nomination. His name is included in the FIDE Golden Book. Currently, Makarychev analyses games and discusses chess-related topics on his Russian-language Youtube channel Makarychev Chess. Tamaz Giorgadze (Georgia) A many-time champion of Georgia, Tamaz Giorgadze (born in 1947) made case for himself in the team and student events after showing strong results in the USSR Spartakiad (1967) and Student Olympiad (1969). The 1970 and 1980s were the best period in Giorgadze’s chess career. He won the tournaments in Tbilisi (1974, 1977), Decin (1974 and 1975), Zlin (1976), Dortmund (1978), and participated in four USSR Championships. Giorgadze turned in his best performance in Tbilisi (1978), the city he was born, finishing fourth behind Tal, Tseshkovsky, and Polugaevsky, but ahead of Beliavsky, Romanishin, Geller, Kasparov, and many other strong Soviet players. Photo: RIA-Novosti In the late 1980s, Giorgadze joined the team of Anatoly Karpov in his matches with Garry Kasparov. He also productively worked with Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze. Giorgadze demonstrated some good results in tournaments (the victories in Pontevedra, Conta-del-So, and Sevilla speak for themselves) but after moving to Spain in the early 1990s he started training the national team he left competitive chess. Despite a long separation from practical chess “Don Tomazio” (as his friends often call him) successfully competed in the European Senior Chess Championship 2017 taking silver. Hanna Erenska-Barlo (Poland) A five-time Polish champion (1971, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1980) and thrice vice-champion Hanna Ereńska-Barlo (nee Ereńska) represented her country in eight Chess Olympiads (1972–1992). A true legend of Polish chess, Hanna won the individual silver medal in the 5th Chess Olympiad in Skopje 1972 (second board, 7½ points of 9 games), and team and individual bronze at the 9th Chess Olympiad in La Valletta 1980 (first board, 9 points of 13 games). Photo: David Llada Ereńska-Barlo was awarded WGM in 1981 and became the first Polish player to earn this title. She won the European Senior Chess Championship in Bad Homburg (2005) and clinched the 17th World Senior Chess Championship in Gmunden (2007). Honorary Member of Polish Chess Federation, a holder of several state awards (including Order of Polonia Restituta and silver and gold Cross of Merit), and a very respected member of Ethics Commission, Hanna Ereńska-Barlo is always present at the notable General Assemblies. Avigdor Bykhovsky (Israel) Avigdor Bykhovsky has successfully combined the careers of a chess coach and a tournament player throughout his life. A graduate from the Higher School of Trainers at the State Central University of Sport Education and Physical Culture (Moscow) he used to work as a trainer in a famous sport-school #9, then in the Soviet Chess Federation and Chess Federations Association. A long list of his students includes GMs Rozentalis, Postny and Nesterov and WGM Prudnikova. GM since 1993, Avigdor won the Soviet Spartak Club Championship 1991, the tournaments in Copengagen (1990), Tel-Aviv (2002), and took bronze in the Israel Open Championship 2011. Back in 1994, he moved to Israel, and currently, he works as a coach in a club for the visually impaired and blind in Haifa. Juzefs Petkevich (Latvia) Juzefs Petkevich, Latvian GM of Polish origin is a very popular figure in Baltic chess. A regular of Latvian championships he tied for first three times in these competitions (1969, 1974, and 1985). Petkevich holds a unique record in Riga championships winning all 13 games in 1967. Juzefs played for team Latvia in three Olympiads (1994, 1996, and 1998). In 2002 Petkevich won the Seniors World Championship and was awarded a GM title. Anatoly Noskov (Kazakhstan) A hydro-biologist by profession and an author of more than 20 research articles, Anatoly Noskov considered chess as a mere hobby for quite a long time. A member of the Kazakhstani junior team he achieved the master norm in 1966 and became the first player holding this title in Almaty. In 1969 he became the head of the Kazakhstani student team and still works in this capacity. This team won numerous competitions and became a breeding ground for the first Kazakhstani GM Yevgeny Vladimirov and several international masters. Photo: https://kazchess.kz/ Anatoly Noskov fostered Murat Zhunusov, a two-time world champion among the visually impaired (1995 and 2000). A popular chess journalist and author of hundreds of
Survey on visual imagery and chess
FIDE firmly supports the research and publication of studies, papers and surveys related to chess. In particular, topics like the benefits of chess in education, its effect in improving cognitive ageing, or any study that uses chess as a touchstone to measure intellectual performance, are considered priorities worth our full support. Last week, we have been contacted by Laura Zimmermann, a psychology student at the University of Bonn. Mrs. Zimmermann is currently doing her bachelor thesis on the subject of aphantasia, the state of reduced or absent visual imagery. In this context, she is researching the influence of visual imagery on planning ability, using the game to measure the correlation between visual imagery and chess performance. You can support this study by answering an online form, which takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. It contains a diagnostic questionnaire on visual imagery, a query on the most important chess parameters (e.g. standard rating, rapid rating, blitz rating) as well as a short IQ test with the possibility to get feedback on your IQ. The data of the survey will be stored securely. No identifying information will be used in any publications. The anonymity of the participants will remain fully protected. You can find the survey here: https://www.soscisurvey.de/chess/
Carlsen – Nepomnichtchi, So – Giri face off in semis
Magnus Carlsen showed a hunger for success today as he made it into the last four of his own tournament while eating a salad. The World Chess Champion weathered a fightback from Armenian opponent Levon Aronian to take the vital second set in their $220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational clash. Carlsen brought out his snack in Game 2, but while tucking into a pot of salad, the champion appeared to lose focus. Carlsen and Aronian drew that game which meant the challenger needed to win both the two remaining games to stay in the match. Aronian kicked back hard in the third suggesting Carlsen’s salad didn’t have the desired effect. Carlsen looked lost but Aronian missed a winning move and the draw took the champion through. Carlsen will now face old foe Ian Nepomniachtchi in the semis after Russia’s top player caused a minor shock by demolishing popular US star Hikaru Nakamura 3-1. The tour leader Wesley So, who beat Carlsen in last month’s Opera Euro Rapid, sparkled yet again as he booked his place in the semis. Having won the first set yesterday, the US Champion brushed aside teen prodigy Alireza Firouzja. So’s second-round demolition of the 17-year-old was a classic – one of the best games seen in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. So then overpowered Firouzja again in the third to seal his place without losing a game in the tie. Round 2 had been an eventful stage for all the ties. It was the moment Nepomniachtchi signaled he was in full control of his quarter-final with Nakamura. The pair had been level overnight but the Russian won the first game today and crushed his American opponent with a brutal 28-move win in the second. Ian said afterward he will “hopefully sleep a little” before taking on Carlsen in the semi. Round 2 was also the moment Dutch No.1 Anish Giri took the lead in his tie against the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Anish and Maxime had also been level-pegging overnight but when Giri broke through there was no stopping him. Giri, who is bang in form and must be considered a serious threat, went on to draw the third and win the fourth to go through at a canter. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Mikhalevsky and Shvayger are 2021 Israeli Champions
The Israeli men and women Championships were concluded last Monday at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Haifa with a solemn closing ceremony in the presence of the host mayor, Dr. Einat Kalish-Rotem and senior officials of the chess federation and supporting partners. The championships were mainly sponsored by the National Lottery (Mifal Hapais) and the prize fund was 100,000 NIS with a 20,000 first prize in the open section. Open section The open section was a 9-round Swiss event, officiated by IA Almog Burstein and NA Oded Ross, with 32 players taking part (including 10 GMs and 6 IMs). The rating favorites Tamir Nabaty (2638), Ilya Smirin (2614) (both former champions), Evgeny Postny (2605), Nitzan Shteinberg (2553) and Victor Mikhalevski (2552) were considered to be the main contenders for gold. A large number of young talents that qualified from the preliminaries had a real chance to gain invaluable experience and even title norms. Two members of the Olympic ladies’ team, WGM Marsel Efroimsky, and WIM Michal Lahav chose to compete in the open section. Victor Mikhalevski, Beer Sheva club player, took a somewhat slow start with 2.5 points in four rounds before winning four consecutive games against, among others, the early leaders Nabaty and Borukhovsky. He then drew his last round encounter with Kobo and finished undefeated scoring 7 points out of 9 and clinching his second national title. The most pleasant surprise of the event was a performance delivered by 18-year-old Ido Gorshtein (pictured below), a member of the Kfar Saba Club. The youngster took the silver medal with 6½ points and achieved his first grandmaster norm! Tamir Nabaty (29), Beer Sheva club player and twice former champion, was the main favourite but following his defeats against both Gorshtein and Mikhalevski he eventually had to settle for the bronze. Avital Boruchovsky, a player of the Kfar Saba club, was in the leading group during the decisive stage to finish in the respectable fourth place after beating Evgeny Postny in the last round – a nice gift for his 24th birthday celebrated on the very same day! Kudos to 70-year-old IM Nathan Birnboim, from Ashdod club, the eldest participant and 3-time former champion, who finished seventh with 5½ points after fighting in the last round (though losing eventually) for a GM norm. Final standings open: 1. Victor Mikhalevski – 72. Ido Gorshtein – 6½3. Tamir Nabaty – 6½4. Avital Boruchovsky – 65. Ori Kobo – 66. David Gorodetsky – 5½ 7. Nathan Birnboim – 5½ 8. Yair Parkhov – 5½ 9. Ilya Smirin – 5½ 10. Evgeny Postny – 5 The new champion was born in 1972 in Belarus and immigrated at the age of 19 to Israel with his parents and older brother and his first coach, IM Alex Mikhalevski. He became GM in 1996 and was crowned Israeli Champion for the first time in 2014. He was a member of the national team at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Khanty Mansysk Olympiad. Women’s section Yuliya Shvayger (26), Beer Sheva club’s player, defended her title comfortably scoring 8 points and suffering a single defeat. Her victory, 2 points ahead of the field, came as no surprise after none of her national teammates was there to compete with the champion. Nadejda Reprun (50) from the Rishon Lezion club, on 6 and young Michele Katkov (17) from the “Tzafrir” club in Rehovot scored 5½ each and earned the medals. The latter was the only one to defeat the champion. Final standings women: 1. Yuliya Shvaiger – 82. Nadejda Reprun – 63. Michelle Katkov – 5½4. Adi Federovski – 5½5. Noga Orian – 56. Dana Kochavi – 57. Marina Lian – 58. Noam Gadasi – 4½9. Alina Golovchanskaya – 410. Avital Haitovich – 3½ The 2021 champion was born in Vinnytsia, Ukraine in 1994 and immigrated to Israel at the age of 14. Since 2012 she is a member of the Israeli Olympic team and since 2016 on its first board. The women’s tournament was supervised by WIM Ilana David, herself the Israeli champion in 1980 and currently the director of the Beer-Sheva club whose members dominated both championships. The longest game record A unique record was set in the last round of the open section. The game between Eytan Rozen, the youngest Israeli IM, and WGM Marsel Efroimsky was 233 moves long, lasted seven and a half hours and ended an hour after the end of the prizegiving. This is, as far as is known, the longest official classical game ever held in Israel and arguably also the third longest one in the history of official competitive chess. Text: Yochanan Afek Photo: Dorit Ritvo Wolfovitz
Carlsen and So on the brink of semifinals
The World Champion Magnus Carlsen brought his A-game today to crush Levon Aronian in just three games and take a firm grip on their quarter-final tie. The Norwegian needs just a draw in tomorrow’s second set to book a place in the last four of his own tournament, the $220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational. Aronian, meanwhile, has to launch a monumental comeback on Day 2 to overturn Carlsen’s lead and take the match to tiebreaks. The champ simply looked unstoppable as he moved almost effortlessly into a 2-0 lead before settling for a draw that won the set by 2.5 to 0.5. Carlsen even found time to tuck into some Chinese noodles while playing as Aronian was barely given a chance to fight back. Carlsen said afterward: “I don’t expect it to be quite as comfortable as this tomorrow, but obviously it’s a great start.” It was a brutal day of chess overall as eight decisive games were played in the quarter-finals before Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finally shared a point with a Round 3 draw. But fans hoping for a tight match between Wesley So, the American leading Meltwater Champions Chess Tour overall, and the youngster Alireza Firouzja may have been disappointed. Like Carlsen, So simply overpowered his opponent by winning the first two games and then securing a draw in the third. Firouzja, the teenager tipped to take Carlsen’s crown one day, has a mountain to climb tomorrow. The two other quarter-final match-ups were much tighter affairs. Dutch No.1 Anish Giri and French No.1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave traded blows before heading into a final game that could have decided the set. However, both players settled for a quick draw to leave the set 2-2 and send the tie into a one-day shootout tomorrow. The match between Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and American speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura also went into a final game decider – but this one had an unexpected final twist. Both Ian and Hikaru battled hard for an advantage in a see-saw game before the players agreed to a draw leaving the set level at 2-2. Yet the Russian was left kicking himself when, according to the computer analysis, it was revealed he had a winning move in the final position of Game 4 (55.a4) but he just didn’t see it. The Russian said afterward “it happens”, it was “really annoying” and “disappointing to say the least”. The four quarter-final matches will finish tomorrow with the winners progressing to the semis. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Magnus racks up record score to win prelim
A frantic climax to the Magnus Carlsen Invitational’s prelim phase today saw the knockout places filled and eight grandmasters eliminated. Carlsen, the $220,000 tournament host, finished out in front after rubber-stamping his passage in the quarter-finals with a stunning 10.5/15. The Norwegian had said he was aiming to win the 16-player prelims to get a good draw in the knockout stage. Carlsen did it in style with the best score yet at this stage of a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event. It is an ominous sign for the rest of the field that the world number 1 is back to his imperious best. Anish Giri, the much-improved Dutch No.1, lost his first game of the tournament against Ian Nepomniachtchi but had already secured his place having led after the first two days. He finished second on 10/15. Also sailing into the knockouts was the American Wesley So, the man who has beaten Carlsen twice in finals so far on the tour. He scored 9.5/15. Carlsen’s great rival Hikaru Nakamura continued his return to form as he went unbeaten again to finish on 9/15. The US star was the only player to emerge from the round-robin unscathed. Carlsen and Nakamura were up against each other in the final round and drew in super-quick time with a bizarre “joke” opening called the Bongcloud. Carlsen said after: “I just wanted to have a little bit of fun there.” He added: “I’ve massively enjoyed playing here!” The 17-year-old hotshot Alireza Firouzja was another into the quarters with ease. Improving markedly on his performance in the Skilling Open, Firouzja was never in danger and must be considered a threat. But it was at the other end of the leaderboard where the drama took place. With the bottom eight going out, tension reached fever pitch going into the final round as a trio of Russians battled for survival alongside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Teimour Radjabov and Levon Aronian. Levon and Maxime, two of the top performers so far on the Tour, only needed draws and duly secured them. But Nepomniachtchi was in a must-win situation and pulled it off by beating Alan Pichot to lift himself up alongside Firouzja on 8.5/15. It meant the two remaining Russians, Daniil Dubov and Sergey Karjakin, bowed out. It was particularly cruel on Karjakin who recovered from a slow start to finish level with Aronian but was edged out on the head-to-head score against him. The two-day quarter-finals start today at 17:00 CET For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
#27
British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President They are the champions It is raining awards! A tribute to our seniors (part II) Brief news from National Federations Birthdays READ NEWSLETTER
British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President
The March issue of British Chess Magazine includes an interview with the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, by its Editor Milan Dinic. Courtesy of British Chess Magazine, we offer you an advance and some excerpts from this interview. BCM: What do you think will be the long-lasting effect of coronavirus on chess, if any? Arkady Dvorkovich: Hopefully, we’re not going to have any long-lasting effect of the coronavirus on chess. We are hopeful that strict lockdown measures won’t be around for much longer, as the vaccination will improve the situation globally. Also, people will be more prepared for a repeat of the pandemic. However, it would be naïve to say that we’re not going to see the long-lasting effects in terms of the share of online chess. There will also probably be a more cautious attitude towards mass tournaments, in terms of precautionary health measures. The biggest thing is online chess. It provides better access to millions of people, it provides access to training, watching and playing chess, which is crucially important for growing the chess audience. Also, it’s fun to connect to people all over the world without the need to spend money on traveling. For the lovers of mass chess events, coronavirus will have a big consequence. But online is in no way a substitute for over-the-board chess, that’s the point I’d like to stress. One of the important things now is how to structure the chess calendar for professional players and how to make sure that OTB and online chess go well together. BCM: As a consequence of covid-19, do you see chess changing in a way so most events will be played online? A.D: As soon as the restrictions are lifted we will see a big return to OTB tournaments, especially when it comes to major events. But for other levels of events – student festivals, corporate tournaments and similar, they will be mostly online. OTB will come back but it doesn’t mean that online will go away. I estimate the ratio between the two to be 70-30 in favour of OTB. That’s why it’s important to think of the harmony of OTB and online events at the top level. BCM: From the organisational perspective, what are the key differences between online and over-the-board events and which are more difficult to organise? A.D: You have different challenges for both. For the OTB events, you have logistical issues – the venue, travel, accommodation, safety and similar. For online, the key challenges in the field of anti-cheating and the stability of the internet connection. BCM: Chess has for years been struggling to get sponsorship. Has the growth in chess interest during the pandemic helped bring more sponsors in? A.D: I would say it’s a combination of two trends now. First, we are trying to work professionally in the area of marketing. We have invested in getting more people to do marketing, to get companies connected. On the other hand, we are working much more in analysing the data we have – on the number of active players, on children participating in ‘Chess in schools’ programmes and similar – so we’re able to present a clearer picture to sponsors. There is also a very positive atmosphere in the chess world. We have good commercial stories from the Play Magnus Group. Also, online platforms – from chess.com to Twitch and others, have helped raise the interest in as well as the profile of the game. Streaming is now another booming thing – Twitch had record numbers in February. So, on one hand, we have much more effective and organised work on the side of FIDE, and strong market trends in favour of chess. Also, the Queen’s Gambit has had an impact, at least a temporary one. We’re trying to use this factor for promotion. The series was a really important moment for chess. It was not the first movie/series about chess, but it was done in a much more commercially attractive way and both chess-wise. And Netflix did a great job, both for themselves and for us. I’d also like to note the booming chess trends in India. This announcement of the World Chess League by Mahindra is a thing to follow. We have interest from China to do more. There are initiatives from the US – with Rex Sinquefield taking the lead. Uzbekistan has now introduced a huge chess development programme. Israel has increased its Chess in schools programme. Nice things are happening for chess. Just yesterday I was present at the closing ceremony of the African chess championship – there were 2300 players. That’s big. So, again, online chess helps and will help. But the key is to have more partners and sponsors. Recently I was in Serbia and I hope we will be able to do more events there. BCM: If I got you correctly, you see online chess as the driving force which will get more people attractive and more sponsors for over-the-board events as well, rather than it being the other way around. A.D: Yes, that is correct. BCM: Last year, the Yekaterinburg Candidates tournament had to be cut short due to the pandemic. Now you plan to continue it in April. How will you ensure the safety of the participants? Will there be spectators? A.D: There is never a 100% guarantee, that’s for sure. But, I think both we and the whole world now learnt how to deal with such events. It is one of the most important global events but it includes a couple of dozen people involved. Testing should be enough to prevent any negative scenario. We will require players to be tested before coming to Russia and upon arrival and one more time in the middle of this leg of the event. In terms of whether the spectators will be allowed, we are going to announce that just before the tournament. We will make the decision based on the situation in Russia at the moment, and in Yekaterinburg in particular. We will make the decisions