Gawain Jones and Elmira Mirzoeva сrowned English Chess Champions
Gawain Jones and Elmira Mirzoeva are the new English Chess Champions, emerging victorious after thrilling tiebreaker battles. The 2024 English Championship took place in Kenilworth from June 20-23. Both the Open and Women’s competitions were 7-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control. The open event became a tense race between defending champion Michael Adams, Peter Wells, and Gawain Jones. Although Adams held a half-point lead entering the final round (5.5/6), a draw against Ameet Ghasi opened the door for his competitors. Jones pulled off a crucial victory over Wells on the black side of Ruy Lopez and tied for first place. According to the tournament regulations, a rapid tiebreaker was played to determine a champion. After winning the first game with black pieces, Jones drew the second one and captured the title. Final standings Open The women’s tournament followed a similar script, with Elmira Mirzoeva winning on-demand her final round game to catch up with the defending champion, top seed Katarzyna Toma. The women’s tiebreaker was a very close affair. Mirzoeva won the first rapid game, but Toma bounced back in the second one, forcing the blitz playoff. There, Elmira prevailed in the first blitz encounter with black pieces and secured the title after drawing the second one. Final standings Women Photos: Lennart Ootes and Etery Kublashvili
FIDE World Cup U8-12 kicks off in Batumi, Georgia
The inaugural FIDE World Cadet Cup commenced off in Batumi, Georgia, marking a momentous occasion for youth chess and opening a new chapter of opportunities for young players. This prestigious competition, held from June 22 to July 3, takes place in Batumi, renowned as a “chess city”. The event is dedicated to FIDE’s centenary, adding an extra layer of significance to the World Cadet Cup. The competition features six groups across three age categories: U8, U10, and U12, with separate tournaments for both boys and girls. The strongest young player on the planet vie for the coveted titles of the first-ever champions in their respective age groups. A total of 288 participants from 37 countries from around the world made their first moves on June 23, embarking on a quest for medals and gaining invaluable experience for their future chess careers. CM Guo Ethan (USA), Reyaansh Chakrabarty (Australia) and Luca Protopopescu (France) are the highest-rated players in the U-12, U-10 and U-8 Open sections. WCM Laurie Qiu (USA), WCM Milner Romi (USA) and Stella Xin top the starting lists in the U-12, U-10 and U-8 tournaments. After a brief opening ceremony led by the president of the Georgian Chess Federation, member of the FIDE Management Board, Akaki Iashvili, a special guest, the Deputy Minister of Sports of Georgia, Badri Nkashidze, made the first ceremonial move, and the FIDE World Cadet Cup went underway. We extend our best wishes to all participants and look forward to exciting games for the spectators. The official website offers live games with commentary, which provides insightful analysis and enhances the viewing experience for chess enthusiasts. Official website: wcc2024.fide.com Live games: chess.com/events/2024-fide-world-cup-u8-group-a/games Video and live commentaries:youtube.com/watch?v=3yXvGJwXe3w&ab_channel=chessingeorgia64 Photos: Sophie Nikoladze and Tornike Tavadze
Cairns Cup 2024: Tan Zhongyi clinch title
Tan Zhongyi, a former Women’s World Champion and the current challenger, emerged as the winner of the Cairns Cup 2024. The Chinese GM took the lead as early as after Round 4 and preserved her top position to the very end. She landed the $50,000 first prize for her effort. Going into the final round with 5.5/8, a full point ahead of five of her closest competitors, Tan made a quick draw on the white side of the Slav Defense with Alexandra Kosteniuk and clinched her maiden super-tournament title. After Harika Dronavalli, Mariya Muzychuk, and Nana Dzagnidze drew their games, Anna Muzychuk seized the opportunity and climbed to second place by defeating Alice Lee and finished on 5.5/9. She took home the $40,000 prize. Kosteniuk, Dronavalli, Dzagnidze, and Mariya Muzychuk tied for third place with 5/9 and will each receive $19,000. Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes Official website: uschesschamps.com/2024-cairns-cup/
Ganzorig Amartuvshin and Turmunkh Munkhzul win Mongolian Championship
The 62nd Mongolian Championship and 54th Mongolian Women’s Championship concluded recently in the ceremony hall of Choibalsan Hotel, central Dornod province. Both tournaments, 13-player round-robins with classical time control, were qualifiers for the national teams to represent Mongolia at the 45th Chess Olympiad. In the open event, IM Ganzorig Amartuvshin quickly pulled away with five straight victories and, despite losing to IM Munkhdalai Amilal in Round 9, finished clear first with an excellent score of 9.5/12, a half-point ahead of FM Sumiya Chinguun. FM Erdene Baasansuren and Munkhdalai Amilal netted 8/12 and tied for third place, with the former claiming bronze thanks to the last-round victory in their direct encounter. Final standings Open The women’s section saw the domination of WGM Turmunkh Munkhzul who secured impressive 9.5/12 and finished 1.5 points ahead of the runner-up WGM Batkhuyag Munguntuul. WGM Davaademberel Nomin-Erdene and Erdenebayar Khuslen both scored 7.5/12 and shared third place. The bronze medal goes to Davaademberel, who won their direct encounter. Final standings Women The top five players from each section will represent Mongolia at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Hungary in September 2024. Notably, both Mongolian teams are primarily composed of young players this year. The Mongolian Chess Federation extends its gratitude to all sponsors and supporters for organizing the championship: Chief Organizer Batjargal Dorjsuren (journalist and producer of the MNB Sports channel), General Sponsor “Choibalsan Group” LLC, State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports regulatory agency of Government of Mongolia, Local Governance of Dornod province, Local council in Ulaanbaatar of Bulgan sum and “Step Gold” LLC. Photos: Mongolian Chess Federation Facebook
Chess for Freedom Conference: Rehabilitation through chess
The Chess for Freedom Conference, hosted by Indian Oil Corp. in collaboration with the All India Chess Federation and the Ministry of Justice, continues in Pune, India. The event explores the transformative power of chess as a rehabilitation tool in correctional facilities worldwide. On the second day of the conference, attendees discussed concepts of teaching chess to incarcerated people. Experts from all over the world shared information about their national initiatives and approaches to teaching chess in prisons. Ms. Rashmi Govil, Director of HR Indian Oil Corp, greeted the on-site participants from 12 countries and those joining the event online. “In chess, every piece is unique. Every piece has its own strength and weakness. And no piece can win the board; they can only do it together. The same is true with people. You need to have a team if you want to win. Even a small pawn has a chance to reach the other side of the board and become a piece. The more I think about it, the more I understand why people here are so passionate about the game. FIDE is doing a great job, creating waves across the globe, involving more and more countries in the project,” Ms. Rashmi Govil said. Indian Oil has been leading several social responsibility programs across India. One of them, the “Parivartan – Prison to Pride” program, aims to build confidence and improve the well-being of prison inmates through sports. According to the company’s values, channeling the energy of individuals in prison through sports can positively transform their lives. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (Chicago, USA), who oversees the world’s largest and oldest jail chess program, also sent a greeting speech to the conference participants. A program to teach inmates how to play chess was launched in the Cook County jail more than ten years ago, in 2012. “Our partnership with FIDE symbolizes more than just our shared passion for chess; it represents a commitment to nurturing talent, promoting education, and fostering a spirit of camaraderie among nations. Through educational programs, tournaments, and initiatives aimed at inclusivity, I am proud to work side by side with FIDE in our mission to make chess accessible to everyone, everywhere. As we look to the future, our collaboration aims to leverage the power of chess to teach critical thinking, patience, and strategic planning – skills that are invaluable in today’s world,” Sheriff Tom Dart said. Speaking about the benefits of the program, Mikhail Korenman, Chess Program Coordinator at Cook County Department of Corrections and Councillor of FIDE Social Commission, shared some compelling statistics on the results of the program. According to a comprehensive study held for 3 years, participants of the chess program were involved in fewer fights and batteries than statistically similar detainees who did not play chess, both while actively enrolled in chess and before/after participation in the program. Besides, recidivism rates are also lower for those people. Participants of the chess program in the Cook County Jail were significantly less likely to be re-booked than detainees in the comparison group. Another positive example of bringing chess to prisons was presented by Susan Namangale, Global Head of the Gift of Chess and Founder of Dadaz Chess Academy (Malawi). She has led the Gift of Chess in distributing chess sets to prisons in over 20 countries across Africa. Two teams of the Chess in Prison program in Dadaz Chess Academy attendees played the Intercontinental Chess championship among Prisoners in 2023. “Most of the prisons don’t have chess sets at all. So we started distributing them. We make sure that some chess sets provided by the Gift of Chess are reaching prisons. We believe chess unlocks potential, and even one chess set can change lives. And we want to make chess as accessible as possible,” Namangale said. Another initiative by the Gift of Chess was announced during the conference. With the help of the All India Chess Federation, the Gift of Chess will distribute 29000 chess sets across India – 1000 sets for each state. Some of them will go to Indian prisons. The Chess for Freedom Conference offered a promising outlook on utilizing chess to empower individuals and foster positive change within correctional facilities. More presentations and panel discussions of Day 2 can be seen on FIDE YouTube here: youtube.com/live/RK9Ll5K-22c Text and photos: Anna Volkova
FIDE World Youth Championships 2024: Registration is open
FIDE, the Confederation of Chess for Americas and the Brazilian Chess Federation invite all national chess federations to participate in the World Youth Chess Championships U14, U16, and U18. The competitions will take place in Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, from October 28 (date of arrival) to November 10, 2024 (day of departure). Every national federation can register one official player in each category (under 14, 16, 18 years old, Open and Girls). This total of six official players plus one accompanying person (captain or head of delegation with FIDE ID) are invited by the organizers. The players placed 1-3 in the previous U14, U16, U18 World Youth Championships 2023, and the respective Champions (gold medalists) of the last Continental Youth Championships have the personal right to participate in their category or a higher age group. Registration deadline is September 2, 2024. The first World Youth Chess Solving Championship will be held during WYCC on November 4th, mirroring the age and gender categories of the main event. FIDE World Youth Chess Championships 2024 official website will be launched by July 1: worldyouth2024.fide.com E-mail: worldyouth@fide.com Invitation letter with all the details (PDF) Photo: Oscar Fava
Making History: Countdown to Guinness World Records® attempt begins!
The countdown has started! With exactly one month to go, we are excited to execute our attempt to set a new Guinness World Record on July 20 in celebration of International Chess Day and the FIDE’s 100th anniversary. This ambitious event will unite chess lovers from around the globe, inviting organizers and players to participate in this historic moment. “We are thrilled to bring the chess community together for this extraordinary event. Our aim is to set a new standard and celebrate the game we all love. Your participation is crucial, and we look forward to seeing you on July 20, 2024,” says Laurent Freyd, Chief Arbiter of the Project. For Organizers: We are calling on organizers worldwide to join us by hosting over-the-board (OTB) tournaments on July 20, 2024. Your participation will not only contribute to breaking a world record but also celebrate the rich tradition of chess. Some prestigious tournaments have already joined our initiative, including a renowned high-level Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland, Liaocheng Festival in China, which aims to bring together 2000-3000 OTB players and 5000 online participants, Turnier auf der Schallaburg in Austria, in a beautiful Schallaburg Castle, and others. By showcasing your tournament on the global stage, you will attract more players and gain widespread recognition. Registration of the tournaments joining the attempt is done before July 15, 2024: https://100.fide.com/gwr/. Please note that the event shall be registered by the FIDE Arbiter, who will later perform the reporting procedure to record the attempt. For Players: We invite all chess players to support our record attempt by participating in OTB tournaments or playing online on Chess.com, Lichess, or FIDE Online Arena. Your participation will help us achieve this remarkable goal and demonstrate the unity and passion of the chess community. You can find the list of registered tournaments here, so pick, play, and participate in history! For Chess Fans: We will have a live broadcast of the attempt on FIDE’s YouTube channel, featuring players, influencers, officials, and organizers from around the world. This will be a fantastic opportunity to witness the global chess community coming together. The broadcast will include live coverage of the participating events held worldwide to celebrate World Chess Day and our GWR attempt. Join us in this historic endeavour and be a part of chess history! For more information and to register your tournament, please visit FIDE Guinness World Records Attempt. Let’s make history together on July 20, 2024! About the Guinness World Records Guinness World Records, originally known as the Guinness Book of Records, has emerged as the definitive authority on record-breaking achievements, stemming from the idea of resolving disputes in pubs with a book of facts. Today, it stands as a global brand, with offices spanning London, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, and Dubai, alongside a network of brand ambassadors worldwide. Its mission extends beyond the pages of its iconic book, now encompassing TV shows, social media, and live events, all aimed at documenting the extraordinary.
Pune, India hosts Chess for Freedom Conference to promote global growth of chess in prisons
The second Chess for Freedom Conference, organized by FIDE, in collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation, and hosted by the All India Chess Federation and the Maharashtra Chess Association started on June 19, 2024, in Pune, India. Attracting dignitaries and chess experts from 12 countries, the event is aimed to explore the transformative power of chess as a rehabilitation tool in correctional facilities worldwide. This unique forum brought together officials from The International Chess Federation (FIDE), including Chair of the FIDE Social Commission Andre Voegtlin, Councillor of the Commission and manager of the Chess Program at Cook County Jail (USA) Mikhail Korenman, as well as chess professionals and penitentiary officers from Germany, Georgia, Ghana, India Kenya, Latvia, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Switzerland, and USA, all in an effort to spread global awareness of the benefits of having chess programming in correctional facilities. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich joined the conference online and praised participants’ efforts to bring more inmates into chess. “It is my pleasure to watch all the professionals, everyone involved in the implementation of the project all around the world. The Chess for Freedom project helps people who have made some mistakes in the past and serve their sentences to be prepared for their new lives and to make sure they feel responsibility for each move they make. Chess helps to do that. It helps to develop abilities that could be useful throughout the life of each person, including respect for the rules and opponents. And, of course, a strategic vision of what is happening around you. I hope that your interworking will bring a better understanding of how this project can be implemented and will help it to expand,” he said. Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola, who was also present online, thanked organizers both for hosting the event and for promoting chess among prisoners: “We offer inmates a new path via chess, India really set a commendable example for the world to follow. This is one of the main reasons why we wanted to host the conference here, in India. We know that it is much better to see once than to hear one hundred times. Witnessing personal experiences, sharing tips, hearing stories could be useful for those who are still watching and thinking whether to join this initiative in their countries.” Among the speakers who shared their experience on the first day of the conference were Nadia Cristina Tovar Cruz, Chief of risk management and health safety of the Mexican federal judiciary system (Mexico); Dr. Cris Fanning, Executive Director – Programs and Risk Management, Kansas Department of Corrections (USA); Carl Portman, English Chess Federation Manager of Prisons chess (UK); as well as former inmates Steven Maruwo (Malawi), Hector Guifarro (USA), and Emmanuel Garcia (USA). In addition to presenting national programs for teaching chess in prisons, the participants also discussed on how to recruit new countries and correctional facilities for the Intercontinental Online Chess for Prisoners Tournament. Held in October 2023, the tournament featured 118 teams from 50 countries representing every continent. On the first day of the event, conference attendees also visited the Yerawand correctional facility, where IndianOil implements chess and other sports programs. They met with current program participants, their coaches and the prison’s administration and played chess in the prison yard. Launched by IndianOil in 2021, the “Parivartan – Prison to Pride” has impacted over 4100 inmates across 83 prisons in India. In collaboration with the prison departments of respective state police, IndianOil provides coaches to train inmates in different sports disciplines, including badminton, chess, carrot, table tennis, kho-kho, and basketball. The initiative aligns with the belief that making a difference in inmates’ lives can lead to benefits for society upon their return to normal life. The conference will continue tomorrow with more presentations, case studies and interworking. Both days are streamed live on FIDE YouTube channel and available via the following links: Day 1, June 19: youtube.com/live/ldI5NpTaiRw Day 2, June 20: youtube.com/live/RK9Ll5K-22c Text and photos: Anna Volkova
CAS upholds FIDE’s decision on South African Chess Elections
CAS – The Court of Arbitration for Sport, an independent institution based in Lausanne that resolves legal disputes in the field of sport, has dismissed the appeal filed by the Chess South Africa association regarding FIDE’s decision to hold FIDE-supervised elections for Chess SA in November 2023 The case stems from early 2023 when, due to internal issues, the South African Sports Federation and National Olympic Committee provisionally suspended Chess SA in March 2023, with the suspension being made final in April 2023. In May 2023, the FIDE Council passed a resolution addressing the conflicts within Chess SA and appointed a “Reverse Delegate” to organize elections, ensuring democratic procedures. This led to FIDE’s decision on October 6, 2023, to hold FIDE-supervised elections for Chess SA on November 25, 2023. The elections took place on the appointed date, a new Executive Board was elected, and Mr Andre Lewaks was elected as the President of Chess SA. However, FIDE decided to hold recognition of the outcome until all appeals were dealt with. FIDE’s decision to organize the elections was challenged on behalf of Chess SA in front of the FIDE General Assembly, and after losing the appeal, Chess SA and several Executive Board members appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On June 17, 2024, CAS issued its final verdict: The appeal filed by Chess SA against the FIDE General Assembly decision of December 17, 2023, was declared inadmissible. The decision was made on the grounds that the Chess SA Executive Board did not have a quorum to authorize the lawyers to file the appeal. The appeal filed by certain members (natural persons) of the Chess SA Executive Board was also declared inadmissible, as those individuals had not filed an internal appeal with the FIDE GA in the first place and were not the addressees of the FIDE GA decision of December 17 2023. The ruling of CAS is final and subject to immediate execution as per Article 190, paragraph 1 of the Swiss Private International Law Act. Taking into account the CAS decision, FIDE officially recognizes the results of the elections held and wishes the new management success in advancing chess in the country. About Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is an institution independent of any sports organization which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world. The CAS was created in 1984 and is placed under the administrative and financial authority of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS). The CAS has nearly 300 arbitrators from 87 countries, chosen for their specialist knowledge of arbitration and sports law. Around 300 cases are registered by the CAS every year. Official website: tas-cas.org/
Selected participants for the ChessMom Project announced
The FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess is pleased to announce the names of the five players selected to participate in the ChessMom pilot project during the 45th Chess Olympiad. This innovative program aims to support mother chess players by covering all expenses related to an accompanying caregiver, enabling them to participate in the tournament. The selected participants for this project are: Kashlinskaya, Alina (Poland)Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)Osmak, Yuliia (Ukraine)Bantiwalu, Aster Melake (Ethiopia)Shipindo, Rauha (Namibia)Nkwanyane Nolwazi (Eswatini) We thank all the national federations for their support, and we hope this initiative evolves into consistent support for chess-playing mothers. Congratulations to the selected participants and we wish them great success at the Olympiad! For more information on initiatives for women’s chess, please visit our official website or follow us on our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess