Mariano Ortega takes Cabo Verde championship
The IV Individual Absolute Championship (CNIA) of Cabo Verde took place in the conference room of the Chamber of Commerce of the Barlavento, in Mindelo (S. Vicente Island), from 15th to 18th of October 2020. The organizers, the Cabo Verdean Chess Federation, adopted some strict health security procedures to mitigate the risk of contagion of COVID-19: the mandatory use of a mask, the temperature measurement for all who entered the game room, including guests and the press, and the requirement to disinfect hands with gel sanitizer at the entrance. It was the first and, until now, the only national sports competition held in Cabo Verde during the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes it a landmark in Cabo Verdean sport. The number of participants in the 7-round Swiss tournament was limited for safety reasons, with 20 players (4 women) representing 6 clubs taking part. The youngest player was a 12-year old Jacira Almeida whereas the oldest participant was Carlos Mões aged 67. The rating favorite IM Mariano Ortega lived up to his reputation – he won all seven games and clinched the title with a round to spare. The final round was decisive in terms of the remaining places on the podium. David Anes Monteiro defeated Célia R. Guevara, caught up with his opponent, and relegated her to third place as the winner of the head-to-head encounter. Best players by category: • Women – Célia R. Guevara • U12 – Jacira Almeida • U16 – Jason Lopes • U18 – Iliano Santos • U20 – Mário Monteiro • S50 – Luis Pina Fernandes • S65 – Carlos Mões Final standings: 1. IM Ortega Amarelle Mariano (2458) – 72. Monteiro Antonio David Cabral Anes (1766) – 53. Rodriguez Guevara Celia M. (1858) – 54. Pereira Eder Marcio (1788) – 4½ 5. Fernandes Luis De Pina (1606) – 4½6. Neves Diogo Alexandre (1573) – 4½7. Fernandes Henry (1619) – 3½8. Fortes Aires (1504) – 3½9. Santos Iliano Silva (0) – 3½10. Miranda Iura (1388) – 3½ Photo: Daniel Lopes
Joel Benjamin wins 2020 U.S. Senior Championship
GM Joel Benjamin made history after winning the 2020 U.S. Senior Championship, becoming the first trifecta (U.S. Junior, U.S. Championship, and U.S. Senior) champion in the US Chess history. The win came after scoring a solid 2.0/3 during the final day of action, finishing with 6.5/9, a clear 1.5 points ahead of the rest of the field. Needing a draw in the last round to clinch the title, Benjamin faced 10th seed FM Shelby Getz, who despite being the underdog had already impressed in the event with his gutsy play. Facing Getz’s usual 1.a3, Benjamin built up a good position and was looking quite comfortable with Black. After getting his (charitable) draw offer declined, Benjamin went on to win in style, sacrificing his bishop to open up White’s king and launch a decisive attack. Benjamin’s main contender, GM Igor Novikov ended up tied for second place with GM Gregory Kaidanov and GM Dmitry Gurevich, all with 5.0/9. Benjamin played quite well throughout the event, though did admit to catching some breaks in a few games. Grateful for the opportunity to compete for a national title, the three-time U.S. champion said: “I’ve felt for a long time that we have an incredible bunch of strong, serious players, and that we should have this opportunity…it really makes a huge difference in our lives.” Up next is the 2020 U.S. Women’s Championship, which begins October 21, with WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Maurice Ashley calling all the action live starting at 12:50 PM CDT on USChessChamps.com, YouTube, and Twitch. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Official website Official site: USChessChamps.com
World Statistics Day – Chess Touch
This year, the 20th of October is special. The World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years, and it’s the third time since its creation by the United Nations in 2010. We are happy to use this unique moment and share some of the statistics that we have accumulated in our base of chess players. Ratings.fide.com keeps a lot of valuable information about every player with a FIDE ID. You can find rating change graphs, top lists records, even head-to-head records of all players, and learn a lot either about yourself or top grandmasters. Another source of exciting statistics is the data related to the national federations. Which country in the world has the most grandmasters per capita? If you want to guess, first make your assumptions and then scroll down, as we’ll share some curious statistics right below. Armenia has a population of 2,963,243 according to the latest UN data and 40 GMs according to our base. Iceland is inhabited by 364,134 people and can brag of 13 GMs. Many know that these two countries are competing for the title of the highest GM density. But let’s not set up a requirement for a minimum number of grandmasters; wouldn’t small countries join the race? And sure they will! Photo: https://www.sepacstamps.eu/ Monaco, a small Mediterranean principality, is home to 39,242 people with two grandmasters among them: David Marciano and Igor Efimov. It means Monaco has 1 GM per ~19,500 inhabitants, comparing to Iceland’s 1/28,000 and Armenia’s 1/74,000. Andorra, another tiny independent state, is not far off. With a 77,302 population, it has two GMs: David Norwood and Oscar De La Riva Aguado, accounting for 1 GM per 38,500 people. As a result, Andorra gets a bronze medal in our fun competition. If FIDE were a country, we would also currently have two GMs! Due to various reasons, some grandmasters play under the FIDE flag now and then. However, FIDE’s “population” is too big to get anywhere close to the density leaders. There are 1722 holders of the Grandmaster title in the world these days. In absolute numbers, Russia is the leader with as many as 239 GMs, followed by Germany with 96 and the USA with 95. Thirty-seven of the world’s 1722 Grandmasters are women, including 7 in China, 6 in Russia, and 5 in Georgia. Female players comprise ~10% of all FIDE-rated players. With 5,851 rated women, Russia is again the leader in absolute terms, followed by India (3,534) and France (2,107). Unlike these two, Russia is also well above the average proportion as women amount to 16.5% of the country’s pawn pushers. An unusually high percentage of female players is recorded in Timor-Leste (41%), Vietnam (37%), Mongolia (35%), Mozambique (34%), Seychelles (33%), Haiti (32%), Tajikistan (31%), and famous for their female champion traditions China (29%) and Georgia (27%). To end our today’s short excursus into the world of chess data, here is a little trivia question. We’re sure you’ll answer with ease. Which country has the biggest amount of FIDE-registered players? No, it’s not Russia again, although Russia is very close, and these two countries did share a spotlight recently.
ISF World Schools Championship Online Chess: Iran sweeps U14 category
ISF World Schools Championship Online Chess 2020 is an online event, taking place on a virtual platform Premium Chess from 3 to 25 October 2020. The first finals in the U14 category (born in 2006-2007), 9-round Swiss tournaments with time control 3+2 were held on Saturday and Sunday, 18-19 October 2020. Young chess players from Iran claimed the titles in both groups. Mohammad Javad Khorshidi Paji won among the U14 Open, while Sahar Masoumi Kajaz came out on top in the U14 Girls category. Both players qualified for the ISF U15 World Schools Games in Belgrade, Serbia (scheduled for 26th June – 4th July 2021). Final standings: Open U14 category:1. Mohammad Javad Khorshidi Paji (Iran) – 7 (took the title thanks to better tiebreaks)2. Read Samadov (Azerbaijan) – 73. Simon Lamaze (France) – 6.5 4. Mykhailo Matviienko, (Ukraine) – 6.55. Timur Balmagambetov (Kazakhstan) – 6 Girls U14 category: 1. Sahar Masoumi Kajaz (Iran) – 7.5 (took the title thanks to better tiebreaks)2. Candela Belen Francisco Guecamburu (Argentina) – 7.53. Munkhzul Davaakhuu (Mongolia) – 6.5 4. Gulenay Aydin (Turkey) – 6.55. Ava Yazdani Kouhi (Iran) – 6 The finals were broadcasted to 1 Play Sports social media channels and moderated by the Soumya Swaminathan, a former FIDE World Junior Girls champion and World #24 player Vidit Gujrathi (both India). The second round of the finals, in the U17 category (born in 2003-2004-2005), will take place on 24-25 of October. The live broadcast will begin at 14:00 UTC. Full results and archive of the live stream:https://www.isfsports.org/isf-world-schools-championship-online-chess-2020
Mads Andersen wins Danish Championship
Grandmaster Mads Andersen from Skanderborg Skakklub became Danish champion for the 3rd time on Saturday. The winner repeated his success of 2016 and 2017. The Danish Chess Championship took place in Svendborg from October 09 to October 17. The event should have been held in the spring but due to the epidemiological situation was postponed to the fall. The tournament became one of the strongest in the history of Denmark’s chess with six GMs and the highest rated IM of the country Bjørn Møller participating. Before the final round, Mads Andersen was a full point ahead of the two closest competitors Bjørn Møller Ochsner and Allan Stig Rasmussen but faced his young clubmate Jonas Bjerre with Black. Bjerre put some pressure on the leader but Andersen was defending with precision and eventually reached a draw and clinched the title. Bjørn Møller Ochsner (pictured above) came second with 6 points out of 9. In order to complete his second GM norm, he had to win his last round game against Jesper Søndergård Thybo and was up to the task. Final standings: 1. GM Mads Andersen (2589) – 6½2. IM Bjørn Møller Ochsner (2484) – 63-4. GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (2560) – 5½3-4. GM Boris Chatalbashev (2517) – 5½5-7. GM Jesper Søndergård Thybo (2570) – 4½5-7. GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2537) – 4½5-7. IM Martin Haubro (2407) – 4½8. GM Sune Berg Hansen (2565) – 3½9. FM Nicolai Kvist Brondt (2214) – 310. IM Jens Ove Fries Nielsen (2395) – 1½ Photo: Thomas Vestergård Official site: https://skak.dk/
Norway Chess R10: Firouzja finishes second
In the final round of Norway Chess Magnus Carlsen suffered his second defeat in the tournament and the first one with White in classical chess since December 2017. Alireza Firouzja scored a good victory over Jan-Krzysztof Duda and secured the second place in the final standings. It was not Magnus Carlsen’s day today as he, figuratively speaking, lost twice against Levon Aronian. After finding himself in a bad position right after the opening the World Champion scrambled out of danger and reached an almost equal position in the rook ending but then grabbed a poisoned pawn 50.Rxf6? As a result, his rook was unable to timely retreat and eight moves later Magnus threw in the towel. Nevertheless, Carlsen finished clear first one point ahead of Firouzja. Alireza Firouzja obtained a clear advantage in the game with Jan-Krzysztof Duda but on move 27 made an inaccuracy and give his opponent a chance to equalize. After the Pole missed this opportunity (27…Na5) Firouzja did not let him off the hook. Aryan Tari held his own on the black side of Ruy Lopez against Fabiano Caruana in the classical game but the top-rated American GM prevailed in the Armageddon. Final standings: 1. Magnus Carlsen – 19½ 2. Alireza Firouzja – 18½3. Levon Aronian – 17½4. Fabiano Caruana 15½5. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 9½6. Aryan Tari – 3½
The second leg of the Candidates Tournament is postponed to the spring of 2021
Unfortunately, FIDE is forced to postpone the resumption of the Candidates Tournament until the spring of 2021. The main reason for rescheduling the event is, of course, the concern related to the well-being of the players in the midst of the second wave of the pandemic. FIDE was ready to provide special travel arrangements and hospitality, including dedicated charter flights, and a high-class hotel being converted into an isolated environment. We have discussed all the details with each one of the players, and we’d like to thank them for their honest opinions, which helped us to weigh all pros and cons. Till now, we have not received clearance for all players to participate in the tournament. Two players from one country are awaiting permission from their national authorities. While having full respect for the respective national procedures, FIDE will take further decisions about both the location and timing of the event based on our organization’s internal rules. With the World Championship Match being scheduled for November-December 2021, we have some margin to adjust the reschedule of the Candidates Tournament. Holding the event in the spring of 2021 increases significantly the possibility of staging this very important event in a safe environment, minimizing the stress on the participants. FIDE confirms that the second leg of the event will, in any case, take place in the spring of 2021. FIDE does not consider any changes to the cycle regulations. The venue and exact dates will be approved by FIDE two months before the resumption of the competition. The protocol for the event will be developed taking into account the practice of other top-level tournaments and the recommendations from local authorities. We understand this announcement might be a disappointment for the chess community. However, it is FIDE’s responsibility to ensure not only the safety of the players and their general well-being during the tournament but also to provide the best possible conditions for the course of such a high-level event. Finally, FIDE would like to express its gratitude to the host city of Yekaterinburg, which did a splendid job organizing the first leg of this competition under very challenging circumstances. Likewise, we are very thankful to the Georgian authorities, who generously stepped in to offer us an alternative in case of need. Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors for their patience and commitment.
Carissa Yip and John Burke win 2020 U.S. Junior Championships
The 2020 U.S. Championships features a series of five national title events, all taking place online for the first time. The tournaments, stretching from October 8 to October 29, started with the 2020 U.S. Girls Junior Championship, followed by the Junior Championship (Open). Top seed and two-time U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion IM Carissa Yip managed to pull a hat-trick and win her 3rd straight U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship title in a row, thanks to a brilliant final day where she won all three of her games to finish with 7.5/9 points. Trailing Carissa during the final day was IM Annie Wang, who despite a loss was able to finish in 2nd place with 6.0/9, along with WIM Rochelle Wu, who finished the event in clear third place with 5.5/9 points. Asked about her success, Carissa said, “My first two days weren’t really my best chess, the rapid time control is something I’m not really used to, so there were a lot of blunders, but I feel like I got the hang of it the last day, and put more of an emphasis on time than in standard games.” In one of the most thrilling finishes ever, GM John Burke managed to win the 2020 U.S. Junior Championship after getting the best of GM Jeffery Xiong in an Armageddon playoff that ended with the U.S. #5 ranked player losing on time in a winning position. The final game took place after the players both finished with 6.5/9 points during the regular event, leading to a two-game rapid playoff match that was also tied. Asked about the rapid playoff, Jeffery felt he “jumped the gun a bit” in terms of his conversion in some games, but didn’t feel too bad about losing in the eventual time scramble, focusing on his own mistakes. “The key was not being precise earlier, and then once we were low on time it was just a mouse race so it was not in my control,” said Jeffery. Burke was able to cap off an incredible run that started with a first-round loss to Xiong in the event, needing to win game after game to stay within reach of the leaders. “After losing the first game I was worried that it might turn into a not-so-good tournament, but somehow I was able to keep focusing on one game at a time.” With this win, Burke will qualify for the 2021 U.S. Championship, as well as earning an additional $6,000 in scholarship money. Finishing in 3rd place with 6.0/9 was #2 seed GM Sam Sevian, who despite a poor start managed to fight his way back to a bronze finish. Next up in the 2020 U.S. Championship series is the 2020 U.S. Senior Championship, which starts Saturday, October 17, with live coverage from WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Maurice Ashley starting at 12:50 PM CDT on USChessChamps.com, YouTube, and Twitch. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Official website Official site: USChessChamps.com
Magnus Carlsen wins Norway Chess with one round to spare
Magnus Carlsen won Norway Chess with one round to spare after beating his main competitor Alireza Firouzja in Round 9. Despite this vexing defeat (the youngster lost a drawing position) Firouzja is still one point ahead of Levon Aronian and has a fair chance for the second place in the final standings. Carlsen little by little outplayed Firouzja in a symmetrical position but when the time came to rip the harvest he rushed things with 35…Nc1 (Magnus thought that he was winning on the spot). Firouzja reached a roughly equal position and eventually transposed into a drawing endgame but had to play on a 30-second increment. Still, all he had to do is to hold a distant opposition but Alireza cracked under pressure, made a tragic mistake 69. Kc3?? (69. Kd2 lead to a draw) and after an obvious 69…Kc5 immediately capitulated. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Fabiano Caruana played a very clean high-quality game. The computer evaluation of the position throughout this encounter hovered around equal and even a rook sacrifice on move 37 by the American did not change the balance. The Armageddon game was quite a different story as Caruana quickly obtained quite a comfortable position with Black in the Modern Benoni reversed. Trying to get some play Duda misplaced his knights and the punishment was both quick and severe. Aryan Tari came very close to claiming his first win in this event as Levon Aronian opted for a very interesting but risky pawn sacrifice with Black in the Caro-Kann defense hoping to confuse his opponent. The Norwegian accepted the gift, consolidated his position but then move after move let his advantage slip away and by the time control allowed Aronian to reach an equal endgame. In the Armageddon game, Aronian got back to his trusted 1…e5 and scored a good victory in a sharp line of the Scotch Game capitalizing on the opponent’s mistake 21.a4? (21.Bh6 was much better). Standings after Round 9:1. Magnus Carlsen – 19.52. Alireza Firouzja – 15.53. Levon Aronian – 14.54. Fabiano Caruana – 145. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 9.56. Aryan Tari – 2.5
World Rapid and Blitz Championship postponed to 2021
Last year, almost 350 chess players from 48 different countries gathered in Moscow for the 2019 King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championship. This event has grown in importance and popularity, turning it into one of our flagship competitions, almost on par with the Olympiad and the World Championship match. Unfortunately, under the present circumstances, such an international gathering of people would have not been possible. Holding the World Rapid and Blitz Championship during Christmas, as it was initially planned, is not feasible. The pandemic situation poses health and logistic challenges that can not be easily solved for an event of these characteristics. In view of the situation, FIDE has decided to postpone the 2020 edition of the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. We will do our best to make it happen in spring 2021.