Division 2: Day 1 Round-up
The Online Olympiad formula by FIDE is a real catch. Indeed, many strong GMs who got into action yesterday rarely take the stage as their teams usually don’t fight for the top positions. And to think that by the fourth tournament weekend we have already seen many exciting games and unexpected outcomes. The first rounds in Division 2 pleased those fans who treat chess as an art with many games of exceptional quality. Pool A Since nobody expected many crushing defeats at this stage, the first round’s results came as a surprise. Team Australia lead by a young GM Anton Smirnov started with 12 straight victories whitewashing even Belgium. Despite a promising start, Australia has not secured a spot in Top Division yet – in Round 3 this team fell to Bulgaria that turned in even more impressive performance and tied for the lead with clear favorite team Germany. Australia most likely will fight for the third spot with Indonesia and Philippines. These two Asian teams already faced each other with Philippines coming on top. Turkmenistan also made a splash in the starting rounds – the team nearly wrestled a match point from Germany losing by a minimal margin and then somewhat unexpectedly defeated Belarus. Unfortunately, the Belorussian players performed badly on the first day, losing two matches out of three – apparently, the representatives of this chess power are having a hard time concentrating on the games these days. Pool B This pool produced the most unexpected leader so far. Although Slovakia did not play with most dangerous opponents, 6 points out of 6 came as a strong bid for the top-3. With no formal leaders playing yesterday, 62-year old GM Lubomir Ftacnik (pictured below) was shining on the first board. The veteran won all his three games, creating an impressive positional masterpiece in the encounter with FIDE Executive Director and the leader of team Moldova Victor Bologan (check it out here). Photo: Frans Peeters The pool favorites Romania and Greece along with Latvia (5 points each) are close behind the leader. Romania and Greece scored confident victories in Rounds 1 and 2 and then drew their match in Round 3. There has been no reason question these teams’ advancing to Top Division so far. Meanwhile, Latvia split points with Israel. It is fair to assume that these two teams plus Slovakia will fight for the third spot in Top Division. Speaking of the teams qualifying from lower divisions, one might have expected more from Singapore. On the other hand, Thailand has picked up points in every match although not enough for even a single draw. One of the discoveries of Online Olympiad Prin Laohawirapap scored two victories and even when losing stayed true to himself: Prin Laohawirapap – Ilia Lipilin White has a nice play against Black’s king that is stuck in the center. Laohawirapap opted for the sharpest continuation: 19.f5!?, and after 19…gxf5 White should have played 20.Qe5, with a good position, but the young player is carried away by a flashy but unsound idea – 20.Rxf5?? exf5 21. Qe5+ Kd7 22. Qxh8 Bh6 (apparently the youngster missed this move) 23. Qxh7 Bxd2 24. Qxf5+ Qe6, and Black converted his extra piece. Pool С The biggest story in this pool is a poor performance by the highest-rated player in Division 2 and the leader of team Netherlands Anish Giri, who scored only a half-point in three games. In a short interview during the livestream Anish said that he was having many distractions these days and could not concentrate on the game. The leader’s result affected the overall team performance – Netherlands is outside the top-3 with four points. Moreover, in the match with Italy, Netherlands was lucky to close the two-point gap. Spain and Italy came atop the standings, although both teams lost points along the way. As mentioned above, Italy drew with team Netherlands, whereas Spain conceded a point to a very tenacious team Slovenia. The Slovenian players who already faced off all the favorites have a good shot for a spot in the top-3; on the contrary, Albania’s high position in the leaderboard is misleading – this team played only with the underdogs. Pool D In this pool, more experienced teams are simply ruthless in the matches with qualifiers from Division 3. We saw crushing scores in many matches even in the clashes of the teams with a comparable average rating. As a result, it became evident that only five teams are running for three qualifying spots: Turkey, Serbia, Norway, Croatia, and Sweden. Team Turkey that conceded only 2.5 points in three matches looks the most powerful. On the other hand, Turkey is yet to play key matches. Serbia already prevailed in a very important encounter with Croatia 3.5:2.5. The Croatian players, in turn, crushed Sweden 4.5:1.5. Somewhat unexpectedly, Denmark is at the tail-end. The team is not showing its best, but in all fairness, the fortune turned away from the Danes: Mads Andersen – Winston Darwin Cu Hor Being up an exchange Denmark’s leader Mads Andersen had many ways to victory in the game with his opponent from Guatemala Winston Darwin Cu Hor, but decided to to rush off to complications. This plan appeared to have worked – there is no defense against checkmate after 39.Qf6. Instead, in a terrible time scramble White played an unthinkable 39.g4??, but after 39…Qf2! that was White who got checkmated – there is no way to prevent a deadly knight-check from g5. Pool E Before the event many experts pointed out that Hungary and England stood out in this pool as marquee teams with the highest average rating – Hungary is a three-time champion, whereas England came second after the invincible team USSR three times in a row. Indeed, each team did win three matches on the first day, but the scenarios were quite different. Hungary had no problem whatsoever brushing the opponents aside (three 5:1 victories). In Round 3 match against Argentina the youngest Hungarian GM Adam Kozak created a real masterpiece: Tomas Kapitanchuk – Adam Kozak White has just carelessly played 15.d4. The punishment came quickly: 15…Rxf3! 16. gxf3 Nf4 17. d5 Qh5!! 18. dxc6 Qxf3 19. h4 b5 (simpler was 19…bxc6, but being a rook down Black does not want to lose momentum) 20. Qb3 (The Argentinean did not find the most stubborn continuation but became a co-author of a spectacular finish) 20…Rf8! 21. Qd1 Ne2+ 22. Kh2 Rf4
Carlsen blinks first in $140,000 dream final
The battle to be crowned the king of online chess got off to a stunning start today as US star Hikaru Nakamura took an early lead against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. The dream final, which closes the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, sees the two titans of the online game go head-to-head in a best-of-seven. Nakamura, the only player so far to have knocked Carlsen out of an event on his own signature tour, brought his A-game on day 1 as he pulled off a high class 2.5-1.5 win. The American appeared in full control throughout as he won game 2 to go ahead and then with scored draws in games 3 and 4 to end the day 1-0 up in sets. Carlsen, whose tight semi-final finished a day later than Nakamura’s, just never got going and, in fact, it could have been even worse for Norway’s world number 1. Game 3 was a big save for Carlsen as he escaped with a draw. In the fourth, Carlsen threatened but Nakamura kept him under control. Nakamura said: “It was a tough match. When I won the second game I figured at the very least I would get to tiebreaks. “The result seems smooth but the way the third game went messed up the whole rhythm because I was close to winning at a couple of points in that game and when I didn’t win that game it was a big swing of emotions. “But for the most part, I thought I played well, and even in the fourth game, when it was pretty bad, I always thought there would be chances of a draw.” Carlsen and Nakamura have a long-standing rivalry. In 2010 they duked it out all night over 40 games in a private grudge match in Moscow. Three years later Nakamura appeared to put noses out of joint when he likened Carlsen to Sauron from Lord of the Rings. For many years Nakamura failed to beat Carlsen in an over the board classical match before eventually breaking the spell at the 30th attempt in 2016. The event carries a total $300,000 prize pot and is the climax of Carlsen’s $1 million signature tour, the richest and most prestigious online chess event ever. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Online Olympiad Division 2: Preview
There comes a time of decisive matches at the FIDE Online Olympiad. In Division 2 we will see in action the teams that can potentially if not run gold – China, Russia, and the USA are the main favorites here – then at least advance to the playoff. However, they are up against resilient opponents and ambitious qualifiers that made it to Division 2 from lower Divisions. One might recall that Thailand became the only team to get through to Division 2 from Division 4. Since the favorites in Division 2 are very strong, it is hard to imagine any of less experienced teams to progress to the next stage. Only Denmark might fight for the top-3 in its group but this team has to enlist its best players for three days. Pool A (Germany, Belarus, Indonesia, Philippines, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Australia, Turkmenistan, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan) The highest-rated team in Division 2, Germany, is a real gem of Pool A; the Germans are particularly strong on women’s boards. Despite a high level of competition, Germany’s not taking one of the positions in the top-3 will come as a great surprise. Belarus, lead by a great expert in rapid chess Vladislav Kovalev (pictured below) and very experienced Aleksej Aleksandrov also should advance. Its greatest risk is internet connection but by Wednesday these problems seemed to have disappeared. Photo: Etery Kublashvili It is virtually impossible to name the third favorite in this pool, we can only assume that one of stong Asian teams – Indonesia or Philippines – might advance. On the other hand, Bulgaria‘s average rating should not misguide as rapid ratings of several women-players in this team have nothing to do with their real chess strength. Pool B (Romania, Greece, Israel, Slovakia, Latvia, Austria, Moldova, Singapore, IPCA, Thailand) Most likely, the Thai players have been preparing hard all these days – it is a rare opportunity to play with strong GMs. It will be really hard to show a great result, but they have a great chance to learn from such powerful teams as Romania, Greece, and Moldova. The European teams appear to be the favorites in this pool. Romania stands out thanks to very strong women’s boards and one of the best young players in the world Bogdan-Daniel on a junior board. Greece and Israel also have very balanced squads, whereas Singapore is capable of throwing a curve – this team can boast of several strong players in its lineup. Pool С (Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Portugal, Albania, Jordan, Estonia) Very often the team to join the competition at the very last moment becomes one of the potential winners of the entire tournament. Netherlands is very much suited for this role in Pool C. For Anish Giri (pictured below), Jorden Van Foreest and their teammates the upcoming weekend is going to be a good warm-up before the matches in Top Division and then maybe in Playoff. The South European teams are the main competitors of Netherlands, but it looks like only Spain has a real shot for the first place. Photo: Lennart Ootes If we use ratings as a reference, then Italy seems to be a strong candidate for the third spot. On the other hand, rapid rating is not a good indicator of real chess strength, especially in the case of young players since there not so many rapid chess tournaments are being held around the world. With this in mind, North Macedonia, Switzerland, and Slovenia have a fair chance to join the top-3. Pool D (Turkey, Sweden, Croatia, Serbia, Denmark, Norway, Chile, Iceland, Guatemala, Ireland) The tournament in Division 3 was not a walk in the park for Denmark, but a serious hurdle, that the team cleared not without some luck. Nevertheless, the Danes are the only qualifiers that can count on going even further. However, it will be quite a challenge as Denmark competes with Turkey and Sweden with ever-young Pia Cramling (pictured below) shining on a women’s board. Don’t forget teams Croatia and Serbia. Photo: Lennart Ootes Unfortunately, Magnus Carlsen won’t be able to play for team Norway. The World Champion is busy in the Magnus Carlsen Tour Finals. Without its leader, Norway will have a hard time fighting for the top-3. Pool E (England, Hungary, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Scotland, Montenegro, Mexico, Costa Rica) This traditionally South American domain is blended with European squads. One of the strongest European teams, England is the main candidate for a spot in Division 2. Two men’s boards are not enough for England – such good players as Gawain Jones and David Howell are benched as a result. Hungary also looks very strong. As for the teams prevalent in the time-zone of Pool E, it is virtually impossible to predict the squads that will fight for qualifying spots. Colombia and Ecuador have a slightly better chance on paper, but who knows, maybe Andrew N Greet of Scotland, who turned in a breakthrough performance in Division 3, will continue his good run this weekend. Andrew N Greet More than 140 GMs from all around the world will take part in Division 2, which traditionally starts on Friday at 08:00 UTC. It is high time to follow the high-level games closely either on chess.com, the official hosting partner of the Online Olympiad, or on FIDE’s official channels.
Magnus Carlsen Tour: Carlsen set up dream final
Magnus Carlsen survived a fierce onslaught from Ding Liren today to set up a dream final in his own $140,000 online signature tournament. The World Chess Champion was right on the brink of being dumped out in a topsy-turvy white-knuckle rollercoaster ride of a fourth set. Ding, the highest-rated Chinese player in history, missed a string of chances to pull off a shock result as the regular rapid chess games finished 2-2.A blitz chess play-off followed and in the final tiebreaker game, Chinese number 1 collapsed under pressure to send Carlsen through to the grand final of Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals benefiting Kiva. Carlsen, who looked visibly exhausted after today’s grueling match, said: “I can’t believe that I actually escaped, but that is the way it is sometimes.” He added: “He [Ding] put on an unbelievable fight today and I needed every inch to win this match. The main take away is that I’ve just got to be better to win the final.” It meant the Norwegian won the best-of-five Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals semi 3-1 and gets a rest day going into Friday’s final when he will face his biggest rival in online chess – US blitz chess king Hikaru Nakamura. Day 4 of the last four stage match-up had appeared to be going to form as the World Champion won game 1. But Ding put on a real show in game 2 as he checkmated Carlsen in 31 moves to get right back in the tie. Ding then missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in game 3 and wasn’t able to convert. It looked painful for the softly-spoken 27-year-old as the game he seemed fully in charge of ended in a draw. Ding squandered more opportunities in Game 4 which also meandered to a draw to leave the match locked 2-2 and going into a two-game blitz chess play-off. In a rollercoaster first play-off, Carlsen appeared to be heading for victory but with his clock down to 17 seconds took the draw as it was Ding’s turn to escape. Then in the second, Carlsen was in trouble but Ding messed up and the champion capitalized with ease to take the match and the tie. The event carries a total $300,000 prize pot and is the climax of Carlsen’s $1 million signature tour, the richest and most prestigious online chess event ever. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
FIDE deploys the Chess ID project
After more than one year of preparation, FIDE is launching Chess ID, one of our most ambitious and long-term development projects. The purpose of Chess ID is to tackle two of the main problems that have to be solved in order to provide more effective services and tools for the worldwide chess community: lack of hard data, and fragmentation. How big the chess community really is? So far, any attempt to come up with a reliable estimation has been unsatisfactory. The recent “boom” of online chess gave us a glimpse of our true potential, making a lot of activity resurface in an environment where it can be tracked and measured. But we are somehow still looking at the tip of the iceberg since not all chess activities are so easily transferred to the online world. The problem is intrinsic to chess, a free-time activity that can be “consumed” in many different ways. There are those who are eager to play under any format, online or over the board. For many people, nothing has more appeal than the competition, while others prefer to solve puzzles or read chess books and magazines. Some like to play but have little interest in being spectators, while some others consume more than 15 hours a week of chess content. And we estimate than more than 30 million children take part in chess in school programs all over the world, mainly because of its educational benefits. There is a FIDE database of almost one million registered players, of which 0,4 million have a FIDE rating. But in parallel, there are multiple online playing platforms with their own pool of players, there are separate results and reporting databases, independent national federations databases, and educational programs and courses without coordination or any exchange of information between them. This fragmentation is a hurdle when trying to establish better interactions and wider development opportunities for the global chess community. Chess ID aims at uniting all agents in the chess community, creating a unified ecosystem that will result in benefits for us all. A unique reference code will be assigned to any person engaged in any chess-related activity, on any capacity: players, coaches, instructors, arbiters, publishers, et cetera. A consolidated database for all of them will result in many practical advantages: the implementation of chess programs or initiatives would be more effective, and registering to a tournament or a seminar would be faster and easier. Chess ID will be used for online and offline worldwide recognition and Chess ID holders will have access to multiple services and benefits as members of a global activities program. The means to achieve this goal are a conglomerate of digital tools and partnerships, and the first steps are being taken. The core of the project is an IT platform composed of several modules: personal rating and profile management, evens management and calendar, and an online gaming portal, to name a few. The first of these modules to be built within this platform is a “game viewer”, a basic tool to broadcast chess events. In the spirit of openness, transparency, and accountability, FIDE is pleased to announce the opening of a Call for Offers procedure to evaluate market conditions and to consider granting the rights to develop this browser-run application. You can find the technical requirements and all the required documentation in the following link: Call for Offers.
FIDE distributes an additional €21,000 among veterans
After carefully considering the numerous applications received, the special panel appointed by the FIDE Council decided that these will be the 10 chess players, coaches, and promoters who will benefit from FIDE’s support to chess veterans: GM Rafael Vaganian (Armenia)IM Anatoly Bykhovsky (Russia)WGM Lyudmila Saunina (Russia)IA Viktor Kart (Ukraine/Germany)WGM Lidia Semenova (Ukraine)Petko Petkov (Bulgaria)IM Raimundo Garcia (Argentina)IM Rico Yap Mascarinas (Philippines)IM Michael Basman (England)GM Włodzimierz Schmidt (Poland) A total of €21.000 will be distributed among these seniors. This second package of financial aid is added to the €35,000 that has already been distributed in April 2020, totaling a record €56.000.
Magnus Carlsen Tour Finals: Nakamura bombs out Dubov
Hikaru Nakamura outclassed Daniil Dubov with aplomb today to seal a place in the $140,000 Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour grand final. The world’s number 1 rated blitz chess player was in an incredible form yet again as he calmly dispatched his Russian opponent 2.5-1.5. Nakamura said afterward: “It was a pretty interesting match today and I was just a little fortunate to come out on top.” The American is likely to face his closest online chess rival Magnus Carlsen after the World Champion moved into pole position in his signature tournament semi-final. Carlsen, having lost the first set before leveling the match yesterday, beat China’s top player Ding Liren to go 2-1 ahead in their best-of-five semi. Having lost in game 2, Ding tried to launch an attack in the third but appeared to blunder and Carlsen capitalized to finish it off 2.5-0.5. Carlsen is now 2-1 up in sets against Ding in their best-of-five tie in the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals benefiting Kiva. Carlsen said: “We both decided to go for Open Sicilians today and that set the tone, right? It’s inevitably going to be pretty fighting, but both games could have gone either way and I am happy to prevail.” The event carries a total $300,000 prize pot and is the climax of Carlsen’s $1 million signature tour, the richest and most prestigious online chess event ever. Day 4 of the Tour Finals starts at 16:00 CEST tomorrow with Carlsen-Ding playing their fourth set. A win for Carlsen and it is all over. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Magnus Carlsen Tour Finals: Carlsen draws level with Ding
Magnus Carlsen got himself back on level terms in his signature Tour Finals semi today after a shock opening loss yesterday. The World Champion was in complete control as he raced into a 2-0 lead against Ding Liren and then got the draw he needed for a 2.5-0.5 win. It comes after a drama-filled match yesterday saw Carlsen suffer a technical glitch and go on to lose to Ding in a tense tiebreaker. Speaking about today’s quick result, Carlsen said: “I guess it’s good for our mental health!” Carlsen and Ding are now 1-1 in their best-of-five tie in the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals benefiting Kiva. The event carries a $140,000 top prize and is the climax of Carlsen’s $1 million signature tour, the richest and most prestigious online chess event ever. Asked if he had extra motivation today, Carlsen said afterward: “Obviously today was crucial in the sense that I couldn’t really afford to lose.” Carlsen, the winner of three of the four qualifying tournaments for this event, added: “In general, I played a good match today and I felt I was in control.” On yesterday’s loss, Carlsen said: “I lost one game by not registering that my opponent had moved.” In the other semi, Daniil Dubov and Hikaru Nakamura were neck-and-neck after two games until the popular American pulled away 2-1 in Game 3. With Nakamura needing just a draw in Game 4, it was a must-win for Dubov and the young Russian was forced to push. But Dubov’s risky play didn’t pay off and Nakamura rode out the attack to take the game and win the match by a convincing 3-1 margin. Nakamura now has 2 sets to 0 lead in the tie with just one more needed to book a place in the grand final. Day 3 of the Tour Finals starts at 16:00 CEST tomorrow with Carlsen-Ding and Nakamura-Dubov playing their third sets. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Division 3: Day 3 Round-up
Intrigue remained till the last round in virtually all the pools of Division 3, but as it often happens, we saw the most unpredictable and breathtaking ending in the groups where things had been quiet over the first two days. Pool A The script in this pool seemed quite trivial – Singapore and Albania would advance, whereas the third spot would be on the stake in the match between Malaysia and Monaco that recovered after a disastrous start. However, Ireland had its own agenda – not only football players from this country are known for their obstinacy and determination. Ireland was on a fire on Sunday. First, the players from Emerald Island unexpectedly beat Albania 4:2 (both Albanian IMs were defeated), then routed two underdogs and punched the second ticket to Division 2 after the leader, team Singapore. On the contrary, Albania nearly missed its spot in Division 2 that seemed guaranteed. After losing to Ireland the team drew with Syria, but the competitors did not seize this opportunity – in Round 8 both Malaysia and Monaco suffered unexpected defeats. By winning the last-round match Albania secured the third place whereas Malaysia’s wiping out Monaco 5:1 did not help the Asian team. The biggest surprise in this pool is Monaco’s setback. The Monegasques lacked strong young players whereas leaders turned in a patchy performance. Pool B The surprises began from the very start of the final day in this pool. In Round 7 Sri Lanka prevailed over IPCA and took the lead. Unfortunately, the team stumbled in the match against Portugal. Isuru Alahakoon (White) playing for the island nation on second board lost the position below: Isuru Alahakoon – Jose Guilherme Santos As a result, Sri Lanka lost this decisive match by a minimal margin, then feeling upset got beaten by Botswana and finished just fifth. As for Portugal, with this Round 8 victory, the team pretty much secured the first place in the final standings. Scotland scored three confident wins and came second. The third spot was at stake in the match Tajikistan – IPCA. The Tajik players badly needed a victory and they quickly pulled ahead 2:0, but failed to hold the lead – after IPCA won three games even a full point on the first board could not change anything for Tajikistan. Team IPCA will continue its quest in Division 2. Pool С The situation took a dramatic turn in this group with the third team advancing to Division 2 only thanks to better tiebreaks after the first two spots were booked by the rating-favorites Belgium and Jordan. Many thought that the third team to qualify had been determined in Round 8, when Thailand clobbered Kosovo 5.5:0.5. Prin Laohawirapap, a revelation of the event, carried out another brutal, although semi-correct attack. However, the team lacks experience and overall consistency. Indeed, in the last round match in which Thailand was OK with a draw, the Thai players started crumbling. It became clear soon enough, that Thailand would lose to Wales which meant that а victory over Lebanon would promote Zambia in Division 2. The Zambians quickly earned three points, but did not manage to pull it off – Chitumbo Mwali, who had won all the games before that, blundered in a slightly inferior but drawing endgame, whereas on the first board we saw a real tragedy: Richmond Phiri – Fadi Eid Black has compensation that is sufficient for a draw but hardly more. However, IM Fadi Eid pushed for a win and played 39…Nb2? Had the leader of team Zambia Richmond Phiri found a spectacular 40.с5! we would have seen this interesting African team in the next stage. Unfortunately, he opted for 40.Bf3?? and after 40…Nxc4 White found himself in a hopeless position. Zambia forfeited three points in the first two rounds and deserved better than fourth place, but it is really hard not to rejoice in Thailand’s success (the only team that managed to make all the way from Division 4 to Division 2). The upcoming encounters against grandmasters in Division 2 will be an invaluable experience for the Thai players. Pool D The only intrigue remaining in this pool was Denmark’s fighting for the third qualifying spot. It looked like the Danes would advance smoothly thanks to weaker opponents in last rounds, but in reality, it came down to the wire in the end. Denmark completed its mission by scoring three confident victories, but Venezuela’s win over an ex-leader Bolivia in Round 8, could have cast the Scandinavian team overboard. In order to take third place, Venezuela had to beat Uruguay in the last round match. In all fairness, Venezuela had no winning chances – the match ended 3:3 with one of the Uruguayan players losing on the clock in a winning position. As a result, Denmark caught up with Venezuela on match points but overtook it on board points. Chile and Bolivia took first and second places respectively. Pool E The situation in this pool seemed to be the most complicated but surprisingly enough the dust settled quickly. Mexico demolished the opponents in three matches and mounted to its “legit” first position. Costa-Rica also progressed into Division 2 although the team had to grind out points in all the final day matches. Guatemala also scored three match victories and took third place, but did it by the skin of its teeth. In the match with Nicaragua, the Guatemalans had hopeless positions on almost all the boards, but fortune favored them on Sunday. As a result, three highest-rated teams occupied three first places in this seemingly most unpredictable pool. In conclusion, let’s have a look at the full list of the teams to advance in Division 2, which gets underway on August 14: BelgiumChileSingaporeMexicoPortugalIPCACosta RicaBoliviaIrelandJordanScotlandAlbaniaDenmarkGuatemalaThailand
UPDATE: Chess ID game viewer, Call for offers
UPDATE: Lausanne, September 7, 2020 The Chess ID Game Viewer Call for Offers Procedure has been completed. We are thankful to those who showed their interest. However, FIDE didn’t receive any proposal which would satisfy in full its requirements, and, as per Art 12.3 and 12.5 of the Chess ID Game Viewer Call for Offers Procedure, FIDE has decided not to declare a winner. We are committed to protecting and promoting fair market competition, as well as encouraging new entrants and innovative solutions. FIDE explicitly seeks to prevent any company from establishing a monopoly in the marketplace. We will continue the dialogue with various parties in order to identify a suitable solution for introducing the Chess ID Game Viewer. #### #### #### August 10, 2020 FIDE is pleased to announce the opening of a Call for Offers procedure to evaluate market conditions and to consider granting the right to develop a software application (Game Viewer) to broadcast online FIDE and not FIDE-organized chess events. The Game Viewer shall be a browser-run application enabling FIDE to display live and recorded chess games in PGN format, to be displayed in user-friendly and custom format to world chess audience taking into consideration existing solutions and aiming at top visual and technical performance. The Game Viewer will be the first module of the Chess ID platform, a digital ecosystem to be built on several modules with the objective to provide effective services and tools for the worldwide chess family (National Federations, players, tournament organizers, chess servers, commercial and business partners, chess fans, media, etc.). All technical requirements and detailed information regarding the Call for Offers procedure are available in the attached documents. All Offers shall be submitted to FIDE via e-mail at office@fide.com before 12:00 UTC on August 24, 2020. Documentation (pdf): 1 – Procedure 2 – Procedure Request for Proposals (Annex 1) 3 – Technical Data Sheet (Annex 2)