Austria Chess Federation celebrates its centenary
Christian Hursky, President of the Austrian Chess Federation, poses with the commemorative magazine PHOTO: Fuerthner Christian On December 12, 1920, the Austrian Chess Federation (ÖSB ) was founded in Vienna. As part of the celebrations, ÖSB has presented a special commemorative magazine and a limited edition of an exclusive watch. Grandmaster Markus Ragger, the first Austrian player to reach the 2700 mark, was chosen by the readers of ‘Schach Aktiv’ to receive the “Player of the Century Award”. The ÖSB had planned numerous activities for this anniversary: a Grandmaster tournament with Markus Ragger, a special gala, and a world record attempt. But of course, the Covid-19 pandemic has also affected Austria and thwarted some of these plans, so the Austrian Chess Federation had to adjust and come up with alternatives. A lot of effort was put in editing a commemorative magazine for the occasion and making it truly memorable. Produced by Echo Medienhaus, and with authors like Dieter Chmelar, Achim Schneyder and Michael Hufnagl, “the magazine shows impressively the rich chess scene in the country. And it is encouraging that the game of chess in Austria has a splendid future ahead of it in the next hundred years”, explains Christian Hursky, President of the ÖSB. The magazine extensively describes the rich chess life in present-day Austria: from the scholar chess champions in Dornbirn, to the U16 World Champion Dominik Horvath in Burgenland. But of course, it also pays tribute to the giants from the past, and particularly, about the first world chess champion, who was born in Austria: Wilhelm Steinitz. The complete magazine can be found here: https://www.chess.at/pdf/schachmagazin2020.html The magazine also includes a congratulatory message from the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich: “A centenary is a very important occasion, and there are not many other sports federations who can boast such seniority! 100 years ago, coffeehouses in Vienna provided the archetype of a cultivated atmosphere that came with a cup of coffee, intellectual conversations, and of course playing chess. Today chess is reconquering public space and public attention as well: led by Markus Ragger, Austria can be proud of a talented group of young chess players. And today chess is not only still and again played in coffee houses: it is played in public spaces throughout the country. Austria’s chess community is a very lively one and has renewed its tradition through ten decades”, said the FIDE President. A chess clock was also designed for this centenary, in a cooperation between the Austrian Chess Federation and the brand Jacques Lemans. This exclusive piece received the name of “Grandmaster”, and it is up for sale at the ÖSB website at a price of 139€. If you are a chess collector, you better hurry up, because only 300 units were produced! The ÖSB has been recognized as a professional sports association in Austria since 2005. Austria has achieved outstanding successes in recent years, especially in the youth categories, achieving 28 medals at recent European and World Championships. Most recently Dominik Horvath from Burgenland became the first Austrian junior world champion in history. At the beginning of the year, the Austrian Chess Federation gave itself a new, modern website and presented a new logo designed by Eva Urthaler. www.chess.at
Grand Chess Tour returns in 2021
World’s Elite Grandmasters Will Compete In Five Over The Board Events From June to August 2021 Saint Louis, MO, December 10, 2020 – The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is scheduled to return in 2021 and will feature the same five tournaments and format that was originally planned for the 2020 edition of the tour. Tour participants will compete for a total prize fund of $1.275 million over the course of the 2021 season. The prize money for the two classical tournaments will be $325,000 per event while the prize fund for the rapid and blitz events will be $150,000 each. In addition, a bonus prize fund totaling $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers. Following the success of the 2019 Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament in Bucharest, the Romanian capital will host the first classical event of the 2021 season in June. The 2021 Sinquefield Cup will be in August and will conclude the final leg of the tour. Between the two classical events are three rapid and blitz events, Paris, France, Zagreb, Croatia, and Saint Louis, USA. There will not be a “GCT Finals” tournament in 2021; the final tour standings will be decided based on the GCT points each tour player accumulates over the course of the five tournaments. Event dates have been coordinated with FIDE to ensure that there will be no clashes with FIDE’s major events including the conclusion of the Candidates tournament, the World Championship Match, and the expanded FIDE World Cup. The major sponsors of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour are the Superbet Foundation, Vivendi SA, Colliers International, and the Saint Louis Chess Club. The full tour participants will play in both classical events as well as in two of the three rapid and blitz events. Ten wildcards will be extended to selected players to participate in the rapid and blitz events. The full schedule for the 2021 GCT season (including arrival and departure days) is as follows: 1. Superbet Chess Classic Romania: June 3 – 15, 2021, Bucharest, Romania2. Paris Rapid & Blitz: June 16 – 23, 2021, Paris, France3. Croatia Rapid & Blitz: July 5 – 12, 2021, Zagreb, Croatia4. St Louis Rapid & Blitz: August 9 – 16, 2021, St. Louis, Missouri USA5. Sinquefield Cup: August 16 – 28, 2021, St. Louis, Missouri USA Tour invitations have been extended to the selected participants and further announcements regarding the final composition of the 2021 field and season will be made as they become available. About the Grand Chess Tour™ The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world’s best players. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest ambassadors for chess, inspired the Grand Chess Tour and helped solidify the partnership between the organizers. All Grand Chess Tour 2021 events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. For more information about the tour, visit grandchesstour.org.
Tata Steel Chess 2021 lineup announced
The World Champion Magnus Carlsen will once again be one of the participants of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January 2021. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 this event is only the second international classical chess tournament to be held and the organization is very pleased with the permission that has been granted to organize this tournament in a COVID- safe manner in Wijk aan Zee. The Norwegian world champion is perfectly at ease in Wijk aan Zee. He will participate for the 17th time in January. Apart from Carlsen four other top 10 players will participate: Fabiano Caruana (this year’s winner and number two in the world), Ian Nepomniachtchi (4), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (5) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (8). The best Dutch chess player, Anish Giri (11) will also participate, of course. Super talent Alireza Firouzja (18) will also be taking part in ’the Wimbledon of Chess’. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021 will take place in De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee from 15 January – 31 January 2021 and chess fans have the opportunity to watch the live stream via our website. Unfortunately, no spectators are allowed to watch the games in De Moriaan itself unless the COVID-19 measures will allow it in January. All the games will be broadcasted online. Tournament director Jeroen van den Berg: “the flood of congratulations and positive reactions I have received from people all over the world after the announcement is proof of how special it is that the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will really be played in Wijk aan Zee in these times. People show tremendous respect for the fact that Tata Steel, the municipality of Beverwijk and the other authorities have gone to such great lengths to make sure that the world’s most prominent chess tournament can go ahead. Chess aficionados have had to do without big international classical chess tournaments for almost a year. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021 is seen as a beacon of hope. People all over the world are craving for it.” Tata Steel Chess 2021 line-up: Name Country Rating World Ranking Magnus Carlsen Norway 2862 1 Fabiano Caruana U.S.A. 2823 2 Ian Nepomniachtchi Russia 2784 4 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France 2784 5 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2770 8 Anish Giri Netherlands 2764 11 Alireza Firouzja FIDE 2749 18 Jan-Krzysztof Duda Poland 2743 19 Daniil Dubov Russia 2702 37 Andrey Esipenko Russia 2686 49 David Anton Guijarro Spain 2675 60 Jorden van Foreest Netherlands 2671 66 Nodirbek Abdusattorov Uzbekistan 2627 152 Aryan Tari Norway 2618 184 Text and photo: Official website Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Nakamura beats So to reach final
On his 33rd birthday, GM Hikaru Nakamura defeated Wesley So 13.5-12.5, thereby qualifying for Saturday’s final of the 2020 Speed Chess Championship. GM Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will play on Friday for the other spot in the final. The Nakamura-So match was a repeat of both the 2018 and 2019 finals of the Speed Chess Championship as well as a recurrence of their recent encounter in the Skilling Open. Nakamura lost that last one and had made it clear that he was out for revenge, after his win in the SCC quarterfinal: “Certainly, it’s payback time. I’m gonna be out for blood, I will say that much!” The match was one of the closest of the championship so far, with the players still in a tie before the bullet segment. Nakamura expectedly made the difference in the 1+1 games but in the end, the margin was only one game. It was So who started strongly in the five-minute segment. After two draws, he won both games that followed. To turn the tide, Nakamura decided to play a bit sharper. He chose the rare plan of castling queenside in the Italian and it worked out well. Nakamura also won games seven and eight and so he was leading 5-4 when the five-minute ended. He allowed his opponent to tie the score right away in the first 3+1 game as he mixed up the moves in another line of the Italian. So had some momentum there as he also won the next game and should have held the one after. A huge blunder still kept the match tied. So won the penultimate 3+1 game in crushing style, eventually doing what Nakamura did to him: castling queenside in an Italian. But by then, White was already winning due to an early blunder from Black. Afterward, So pointed out that his loss in the last 3+1 game (from such a solid position) was “very critical” as he won that second segment only by 4.5-3.5. “If I had won that game I would be on plus two and it doesn’t matter if I lose the bullet portion for sure but if I am on plus two I have at least a small cushion,” said So. “Losing that game was a big blow because coming to the match I knew for sure that I was going to lose the bullet.” However, So was hardly the worse player in the bullet either. Nakamura ended up winning it with 5-4 only. Still, the fact that he won for example a theoretically drawn rook endgame speaks for his incredible experience. So was playing the last 20 moves with just two or three seconds on the lock while Nakamura had about six, seven seconds all the time. He found the one moment where So slipped and took his chance. Nakamura was more in control during the bullet than the final score might suggest. He was leading 13.5-10.5 after game 24, with four and a half minutes left on the match clock. He was never going to lose three games in that timeframe, if only because he could stall at the right moment. There just wasn’t enough time for So to have real chances even after winning Game 25. Game 26 started with a minute and 49 seconds left on the match clock and while Nakamura was headling for another loss, he made sure to use enough time to get there in the end — a generally accepted match strategy. “I am very happy to win the match but in all seriousness, a lot of credit goes to Wesley, he played a very good match,” said a gracious Nakamura afterward. “I think in many ways, he was the better player of the match. It’s just that at the end of the day there were a couple of missed opportunities for him in the 5+1 and 3+1 and then in the bullet, I was just a little bit better. But I thought he played great.” So was a good sport after his loss: “First, I want to wish Hikaru a very happy birthday. Thank you for popularizing chess and doing a good job on your Twitch. Streaming is a big deal now that chess is moving online. May this be a good year for you and many more to come!” The 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event is a knockout tournament among 16 of the best grandmasters in the world who will play for a $100,000 prize fund, double the amount of last year. The tournament runs from November 1-December 13, 2020 on Chess.com. Each match will feature 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess. Text: Peter Doggers Photo: chess.com
Isle of Man joins FIDE
The General Assembly approved the admission of the Isle of Man Chess Association as an affiliated organization. This is in recognition of the Isle’s continued contribution to chess, including what promises to be one of the world’s major chess events next year, the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. The vote saw 107 votes in favor and just 4 against, with a further 4 abstentions. The status of “Affiliated Organization” is slightly below that of full “Member Organization”, which according to Article 9.4 of the FIDE Charter, would demand a territory to be recognized by the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee. Howard Dobson, the Chairman of the Isle of Man Chess Association, said: “In 2019, our chess friends and colleagues at IOM International Chess Limited successfully organized the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss Tournament as part of the FIDE World Championship Cycle. Furthermore, they recently won the bid to host the 2021 Grand Swiss and the Women’s Grand Swiss. In light of this, plus Isle of Man’s history of hosting high class international Swiss events extending back to the early 1990s, we believe that it is important that FIDE should acknowledge Isle of Man’s status in the chess world”.
91st FIDE Congress: decisions, documents, numbers
Since its foundation 96 years ago, FIDE has celebrated 91 Congresses. This annual meeting, where the most important matters are discussed and voted on, has been held almost without interruption for nearly a century. Only five editions had to be canceled, due to force majeure. Just a few years ago, a global pandemic would have surely meant the cancelation of the FIDE congress. But in 2020, with broadband internet connection available almost everywhere in the world, we have managed to hold this event entirely online. The meetings were held via Zoom, and those of general interest were also broadcast via Youtube. This wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation, will, and patience, of all our member federations, delegates, and commission members. Most of us have already mastered the use of Zoom and other video-conference solutions during 2020, but for many others without technological savvy, the experience posed a little challenge. An additional difficulty was that, with our members being spread across the whole planet in different time zones, we all had to make a little effort, and while some of our members had to get up early in the morning, for many others the meetings concluded well past midnight. We want to thank all participants for their patience, and in particular, to all those who had to make an extra effort to adapt to this new format. We would also like to thank our IT department, headed by Vladimir Kukaev and Gennady Rakhvalov, who provided explicit tutorials and provided assistance to the delegates during the whole process. Here is a recap of some of the most important decisions and topics discussed during this week at the General Assembly, the Zonal Council, and the Commissions’ meetings. The entire meeting is available on the FIDE Youtube channel. FIDE Treasurer report An important report at every General Assembly is the one by the FIDE Treasurer, which is normally offered right after the President’s opening speech. Zhu Chen shared the news that FIDE has now opened a Swiss bank account, which means that the organization is now ready to accept credit card payments, something crucial in order to organize activities like seminars, et cetera. The Treasurer informed that Ernst & Young concluded their audit for the year 2019 in which they examined every transaction, and “they were fully satisfied with FIDE’s internal control procedures”. The delegates voted in favor of appointing Ernst & Young again for the 2020 audit. Chen informed the delegates that FIDE’s cash balance is currently just below 3 million euros, and she expects it to be a bit over 4 million euros by the end of the year thanks to some advance payments that are expected in the next weeks related to next year’s World Championship match and the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. “We are in a very small group of International Federations that have managed to deal with the crisis on our own, without applying for support from IOC or public funds. We must be proud of this achievement”, she added. The Treasurer also spent some time analyzing how the pandemic has impacted FIDE’s budget, compared to what was originally approved in February. The budget took a serious blow, but FIDE’s good situation allowed for even further reductions in several fees: in particular, the ones applied to titles and transfers. These new reductions are added to the ones already established in previous budgets, following the strategic plan announced by Arkady Dvorkovich during his electoral campaign. As for the budget for 2021, FIDE has prepared a very conservative estimate, but the budget will probably be reviewed, and it will depend greatly on the income generated by the World Championship match. FIDE’s Director-General Emil Sutovsky briefed the attendants about the most recent developments on the match and the candidates, and he said that he expects the match to generate a profit for FIDE of at least 1,5 million euros. The report of the FIDE Treasurer, the budget for 2021, the new Financial Regulations, the appointment of Ernst & Young, and the report of the Verification Commission were all approved without objections. Trainers Commission, by the numbers Leading up to the Trainers Commission Meeting held as part of the Online FIDE Congress, its secretary Peter Long shared a presentation that reported on the work done by this commission. In 2019, TRG organized a total of 38 seminars, which totaled 902 participants – using 42 different lecturers. Besides offering rotation which is a practice that the new FIDE management has established, this also tapped on the expertise of a large number of trainers. Of these seminars, 13 took place in Asia, 11 in Europe, 8 in Africa, and 1 in the Americas, while 5 of them were held online. This experience proved to be very useful for what was to come! In 2020 there was a shift to having seminars by region and language, so while TRG organized just 23, many were in cooperation with the continental chess bodies and even held together with other commissions, and so have become more available to many usually unable to attend when organized by country. Of these, 16 are already completed, and 7 will be held during the next few days. In total, there have been 605 participants and 37 different lecturers to date, 11 in English, 3 in Russian, 3 in Arabic, 2 in Spanish, 1 in German, and 1 in Portuguese. 2021 will see a complete shift to a teaching curriculum where the subjects have moved beyond just teaching to play chess, to include areas such as psychological and training issues and the use of technology, and critically needed by trainers today, and lecturers will be focused on sharing their own methods and the best practices. In total, 1,573 titles were awarded during these two years (note that very often the titles are awarded sometime after the seminar has concluded). Regarding academies, there are currently 42 FIDE Endorsed Academies, of which 14 are in Asia, 13 in Europe, 9 in Africa, and 6 in the Americas. At the end of 2019, there were 30 so 2020 added 12 more. More information: https://trg.fide.com FIDE honorary titles
Barrientos and Castrillon Gomez win Colombian Championship
GM Sergio Barrientos and WIM Melissa Castrillon Gomez clinched the titles of Columbian chess champions. The national championship was held in Fusagasuga in open and women sections from December 1 to December 8. Both competitions were 12-player round-robin tournaments with the time control of 90 min /40 moves + 30 min/end +30-sec increment starting from the first move. Sergio Barrientos took the open section by storm scoring 9½ points out of 11. The Medellin-born GM conceded just three draws to his opponents winning eight games. Esteban Valderrama Quiceno finished 1½ points behind the champion and took silver, but most importantly he completed his first GM-norm. David Arenas rounded out the top three claiming bronze. Final standings open: 1. GM Barrientos Sergio (2463) – 9½ 2. IM Valderrama Quiceno Esteban (2424) – 83. GM Arenas David (2452) – 7½4. GM Rios Cristhian Camilo (2464) – 75. IM Sanchez Sebastian Felipe (2431) – 6½6. GM Ruiz Castillo Joshua Daniel (2501) – 6½7. IM Panesso Rivera Henry (2355) – 5½8. FM Soto Miguel Angel (2291) – 59. IM Avila Pavas Santiago (2399) – 410. FM Quinones Garcia Santiago (2233) – 3½11. FM Lozano Ramirez Nestor Favian (2234) – 1½12. FM Becerra Juan David (2351) – 1½ Ironically, the top trio in women’s competition netted the same amount of points as the podium in the open tournament. WIM Melissa Castrillon Gomez was unrivaled in the women’s championship finishing 1½ points clear of WIM Valentina Argote Heredia. Lizeth Chirivi Angie overtook several higher-rated opponents and secured bronze. Finals standings women: 1. WIM Castrillon Gomez Melissa (2172) – 9½2. WIM Argote Heredia Valentina (2192) – 83. WFM Chirivi Angie Lizeth (1991) – 7½4. WIM Chirivi C Jenny Astrid (2093) – 6½5. WIM Orozco Lina Yomayra (2065) – 66. WCM Viveros Erica Johana (1963) – 5½7. WFM Pachon Adriana (2037) – 5½8. WIM Ramirez Heimy Polgar (2077) – 59. Macias Chavarro Manuela (1741) – 4½10. Moncada Correa Sara (1897) – 3½11. Hernandez Bermudez Manuela (1638) – 312. WFM Pulido Diana Marcela (1916) – 2 Photo: Federación Colombiana de Ajedrez Facebook
Chess Olympiads: Moscow 2022, Budapest 2024
One of the main concerns of our member federations and the chess community, in general, was the uncertainty related to the two next Olympiads: Moscow 2021, and Minsk 2022. Besides, hosting the chess Olympiad comes with the associated responsibility of organizing the World Cup as well, which under the current situation is an additional complication. The FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich explained the situation and the decision made as follows: “Given that the Republic of Belarus and its government have decided that they cannot hold the Olympiad, we have tried to find a solution, another host for the 2022 Olympiad and the World Cups. But we couldn’t find an alternative. If you add to the picture the pandemic, we have been left with no other choice than to have just one Olympiad during this period. We have received a kind proposal from the Russian government to host the two World Cups simultaneously next year, 2021, and to have the Olympiad in Russia 2022.” The FIDE president clarified that, as long as the circumstances allow it, Khanty-Mansiysk will still host the FIDE Olympiad for players with Disabilities and the FIDE Congress in Khanty during the summer next year. The news was hardly a surprise, given the difficult circumstances. No one was happy to hear that we all will have to wait until 2022 to enjoy a chess Olympiad, but the slight disappointment quickly dissipated when the representatives of the Hungarian Chess Federation presented their project for Budapest 2024. The tournament is scheduled to run from September 10 to September 23 at the renovated Hungexpo Exhibition and Conference Centre, with a total budget of 16,6 million euros. Political authorities, chess legends, and prominent members of the Hungarian Olympic movement and the sports administration have expressed their unconditional support to the event. You can download a complete presentation for Budapest 2024 here.
Serbian Chess Championship kicks off in Vrnjačka Banja
The 14th individual chess championships of Serbia for men (open) and women began in the hotel “Fontana” in Vrnjačka Banja. The 10-player round-robins stretch from December 07-13. Only players, organizers, and sponsors are allowed on the premises. The vice-president of the Serbian Chess Federation Obren Ćetković greeted the participants on behalf of the organizers, the director of the Championship Marijan Stričević, and local officials. Ivona Borojevic, director of marketing and sales of the hotel “Fontana”, and Dane Stanojcic, deputy president of the Municipality of Vrnjacka Banja made the first symbolic moves in the competition. The defending champion GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2608), GM Alexandar Indjic (2604), and GM Robert Marcus (2592) topping the starting list are considered to be the main favorites. In Round 1 all three scored victories and took the lead in the competition. Official website: http://serbiachess.net/ Photo: official website
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91st FIDE Congress Moscow 2022, Budapest 2024 FIDE in good financial shape Trainers Commission, by the numbers FIDE Honorary Titles Isle of Man joins FIDE Brief news from National Federations “The power of chess in education” Anniversaries READ NEWSLETTER