Sachini Ranasinghe clinches Sri Lanka Women’s Grand Prix
WIM Sachini Ranasinghe (Nf3 Chess Club) became the champion of the inaugural Sri Lanka Women’s Chess Grand Prix 2020. Despite losing her last round game against young Tharushi Sandeepani of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, she finished with an excellent score 9 ½ points out of 11. The four-time women’s National Chess Champion (2009, 2011, 2012 & 2013), Sachini played at four FIDE Chess Olympiads in 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2018). The champion was awarded a trophy, gold medal, and prize money in the amount of Rs. 30,000. WFM Dinushki Premanath of the University of Moratuwa took a poor start (including a loss in a key first-round game to eventual champion) but picked up steam in the middle of tournament reeling off six straight wins to finish on 8 points. Dinushki took the National Women’s Chess Champion title in 2010 and 2018 and has participated in a couple of Chess Olympiads in 2012 and 2018. Dinushki got silver and a prize of Rs. 12,000. WCM Tharushi Niklesha (Visakha Vidyalaya) and WIM Nelunika Methmani (University of Sri Jayawardenapura) also scored 8 points each and tied for second place but had to settle for bronze and fourth place respectively due to inferior tiebreaks. Both received equal money with Dinushki Rs. 12,000 each. Asvini Pavalchandran finished fifth scoring 7½ points and she was awarded Rs. 4,000 in cash. The tournament, organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka, became the first women sports event in the country after the COVID 19 outbreak. The competition was held at the Chess Federation Headquarters, Delkanda, Nugegoda, and stretched from July 25 to August. The total prize fund of the event amounted to Rs 70,000. Mr. Luxman Wijesuriya, General Secretary of South Asian Chess Council & Commonwealth Chess Association and Vice President of the Asian Chess Federation attended the awards ceremony as the guest of honor. Sachini, Niklesha, and Ashvini are the members of the national team which will take part in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad. Final Standings: 1. WIM, Sachini Ranasinghe – 9½2. WFM, Dinushki Premanath – 83. WCM Tharushi Niklesha – 84. WIM, Nelunika Methmani – 85. Ashvini Pavalachandran – 76. Sandeepani Tharushi – 6½7. Prasansa Premanath – 5½8. Janadani Abeysinghe – 5½9. Oneli Weerawardena – 3½10. Sayumi Gamage – 311. Sayumi Vimansa Piyumanthi – 1½
Division 4: Day 3 Round-up
It was a relatively quiet day in most pools as many top teams had won the most important matches in previous rounds. Nevertheless, at the very end, we saw a real drama in group E. Pool A In Round 7, team Nepal, demonstrating some attractive chess lost its chance to qualify for Division 3. One of the team leaders, Bibek Thing, erroneously traded queens in a winning queen endgame, and after realizing that the emerged pawn ending was drawing he choked up and forfeited on time. As a result, Nepal lost to Hong Kong 2:4 and had to play a supporting role in the last round. On the other hand, Nepal did a great job even with this supporting role, ruining hopes of the rating-favorite Myanmar. After a disastrous first day, Myanmar was trying to make up but stumbled in Round 8. After Maynmar lost to Nepal the trio of qualifiers for Division 3 was finally formed – Hong Kong, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei. Hong Kong finished first after beating Thailand in the final round. It should be noted, that team Thailand gave a rest day to its leader FM Thanadon Kulpruethanon (6/6) and Pornouma Promsirinimit (5.5/6), playing on the fourth board. Pool B Since three teams – Syria, Mozambique, and Malta – had a good cushion after two days, only connection problems could have prevented them from advancing to Division 3. Everything went smoothly and the leaders carried their quest in this pool to its logical conclusion. Round 9 was decisive in terms of top-3 finals standings. Mozambique somewhat unexpectedly fell to Qatar 2:4 – apparently, due to misconnection on board 5. As a result, the African team finished third, Malta is second and Syria came in the top. Pool C The clear favorites Nigeria and Lebanon along with the “revelation of the tournament” Mauritania progressed to Division 3 with a round to spare. After loosing to Mauritania Lebanon might have had some problems but the team resolved all the issues in a key match with Nigeria. The most spectacular move in this Division is authored by the Lebanon leader IM Fadi Eid – in the game with IM Oladapo Adu, the Nigerian, playing with Black, was dominating the entire game but let his guard down in time trouble: Fadi Eid – Oladapo Adu A careless 45…Qxa4? was met with a stunning 46.Kg5!!, and there is no adequate defense against 47.Kh6 followed by checkmate on g7-square. The game went on 46…Kh7 47. Rb7! Qe8 48. Qxg6+ Kh8 49. Qh6+ Kg8 50. Kf6! Qd8+ 51. Re7 and Black gave up his queen but got checkmated soon anyway. Despite losing the match 1.5:4.5 Nigeria had a great chance to take first place, as in the last round encounter with Mauritania the team looked like a clear favorite. After Rahilou Hemam (Mauritania) did not find an elegant checkmate in a few moves, one may have thought that Nigeria would eventually prevail, but then the unthinkable happened on first board: Abimbola Osunfuyi – Sidi Boidiya Abimbola Osunfuyi (Nigeria) made a misclick – 67.e5?? which resulted in a draw both in the game and in the match. Mauritania sensationally won the tournament in Pool C, Lebanon came second, Nigeria is only third. All three teams will be in the spotlight in Division 3. Pool D Again, we knew all three teams progressing to the next stage before the final round. Palestine, that shined on the starting day, first complicated its task by conceding an important point to Ghana in Round 7, and then blew all chances after losing a key match against Puerto-Rico (2:4). By winning this encounter Puerto-Rico secured third place, whereas the first two spots had been already taken by Angola and Suriname, the teams that comfortably defeated their opponents throughout the day. Angola also gave a day-off to its leaders in the last round. It is clear that this African team, scoring the absolute best result in Division 4, is capable of giving a hard time to many favorites. Pool E Unlike other pools, we saw a nail-biting finale in this group. After losing a key match vs. Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica had to take at least one point against Honduras and the team succeeded – 3:3 thanks to whitewashing on the women’s boards. In Round 8 all the favorites routed their opponents and before the final round, we had a very interesting situation. Nicaragua (15 points) locked up a spot in Division 3, Trinidad and Tobago (14 points) and Honduras (13 points) were playing each other, whereas Jamaica was more than likely to whitewash Sierra Leone (the team defaulted in the end). A simple calculation showed that a draw in the key match guaranteed both teams advancing to the next stage, but in chess, such a cynical approach and violation of fair play principles is a very rare case. Honduras won a very close match over Trinidad and Tobago 3.5:2.5 and climbed to the second position. FM Marlon Miller (Honduras’ second junior board) played the best game of the match; it is worth watching in its entirety (https://www.chess.com/events/2020-fide-online-olympiad-division-4-pool-e/09-Miller_Marlon-Mc_Intosh_Isaiah) – a sound positional play combined with a well prepared, spectacular attack. Any GM would be proud of it. As a result, Trinidad and Tobago fell back to fourth place and arguably became the unluckiest team in Division 4. Jamaica owes its third place to unstoppable Rachel Miller (pictured below) – one of the best young players in the Americas, she won all her nine games in an impressive style. In conclusion, let’s check out all the teams to advance to Division 3: Hong KongThailandChinese TaipeiSyriaMaltaMozambiqueMauritaniaLebanonNigeriaAngolaSurinamePuerto RicoNicaraguaHondurasJamaica They will be joined by 35 seeded teams lead by Denmark. FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 will resume on Friday, August 7. The composition of all the pools in Division 3 will be published within one-two days after the verification of Division 4 results by the Fair-Play Panel.
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Online Olympiad advances to the next stage: Division 3 Polish Power National Championships resume! “Chess Life” and the new chess boom A passionate chess coach from Msogwaba, South Africa New appointments by the Australian Chess Federation Anniversaries READ NEWSLETTER
Nepomniachtchi shows grit to set up final with Carlsen
Russia’s top chess star Ian Nepomniachtchi halted Anish Giri‘s comeback charge today to book a place in the chess24 Legends of Chess final as it was revealed the pair are bitter rivals. “Nepo”, as he is known, had looked home and dry against the Dutchman after winning Friday’s first set and briefly going ahead yesterday. Even chess great Garry Kasparov, a guest on chess24’s stream, had claimed it was obvious the 30-year-old would go through. The third day of semifinals was honored by another chess legend, Kasparov’s predecessor, 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Giri, however, had other ideas fighting back yesterday to take the second set in a tight Armageddon and pushing hard in a tense match again today. But after the rapid games ended 2-2 the gritty Nepo dug in and ground out an incredibly tight win in a second blitz game play-off. It came after Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, speaking in the commentary box, revealed there is no love lost between the pair. He said: “We are witnessing maybe the most grudge match-up we have currently in chess because I’m sure Ian hates Anish and I hope this feeling is mutual, so I think it’s going to be a very emotional and interesting match!” Nepomniachtchi said after his win: “I have no feelings – I’m just very tired.” Tomorrow he plays Magnus Carlsen, who has enjoyed a day’s rest beforehand, as the chess24 Legends of Chess final begins. The event, the fifth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund. The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August. Tournament rules and schedule The time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed. The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST. Highlights in English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Division 4: Day 2 Round-up
There were two main plotlines on the second day in Division 4: the teams that started poorly tried their best to make up, whereas relatively inexperienced African teams sensationally defeated more versed squads. Pool A The second day in the most unpredictable mini-tournament in Division 4 was as thrilling as the first one. After disastrous Friday Myanmar set off in pursuit for the leaders and swept aside outsiders in three matches. Nevertheless, Myanmar is still fifth and in order to advance into Division 3, it has to score three more victories today. Even in the best-case scenario, Myanmar stands no chance to catch up with Thailand and Hong Kong. These teams continued their good run on the second day, crushing the opponents. Chinese Taipei, the team that scored three victories on the second day will compete with Maynmar for the third qualifying spot. After losing critical points Kenya and Nepal have only a theoretical chance to advance. A good showing by Thailand was in the cards before the event, but team Hong Kong became a real breakthrough in the Pool A. The players from Hong Kong are definitely stronger than their ratings suggest. When Thailand and Hong Kong lock horns in the last round, both teams more than likely will secure their spots in Division 3. Pool B Uganda retraced Maynmar’s steps in this pool. This solid team made up for yesterday’s setback by winning three straight matches and moving up to the fifth position in the standings. Team Uganda However, it was Mozambique that stole the show in this pool. After the first day, it looked like this team owed its first position in the leaderboard to sheer luck as Mozambique should have lost to Pakistan. On the second day, we saw a strikingly different team. Its victories over Namibia and Cyprus could have been predicted but 4:2 on the scoreboard against Syria caused a real sensation. Interestingly, Mozambique achieved this result even though its sixth board blundered checkmate in two being up a rook. As a result, Mozambique caught up with Syria and pretty much secured its spot in Division 3. Team Malta, that lost an important match against Syria, is third. Given that the leaders already played against one another, it is highly unlikely that any other team will intervene fighting for the top-3. Unfortunately, Pakistan halted momentum it had picked up on the first day; the team lacks experience after all, but the Online Olympiad will become an important milestone in chess development in this country. Pool С Mozambique was not in the spotlight for too long. Just 30 minutes later Mauritania produced an even bigger surprise. Indeed, Mozambique was considered to be one of the favorites in Pool B, whereas Mauritania with only three rated players in its line-up just barely scraped through Base Division. With this in mind, three victories by Mauritania on the first day surprised attentive audience, let alone yesterdays’ triumph in the match with Lebanon, the team that along with Nigeria was considered a prohibitive favorite in Pool C. In a key moment fortune smiled upon the leader of team Mauritania: Faisal Khairallah – Sidi Boidiya Faisal Khairallah (Lebanon) was in command throughout the game but after 35…Rd6!? let his guard down for just a second – after 36.Qc1?? (after 36.Qc8, controlling g4-square White had an upper hand) Black checkmated – 36…Ng4+ 37.Kg1 Qd1+ and White resigned. Mauritania snatched the victory against Lebanon 3.5:2.5 and then won two following matches. Nevertheless, Mauritania has not punched its ticket to Division 3 yet – today this team is facing tough opponents Nigeria and Lesotho, but it has a fair chance to advance. Nigeria keeps leading the field, Lebanon occupies the third position. Pool D After a great performance on the first day, Palestina did not manage to hold its lead. Since the team leader Baha Miswadah did not participate on the second day, the Palestinians suffered two defeats, including clobbering 0.5:5.5 by Suriname. Its only victory Palestine earned in the match with Liberia won by a minimal margin. Palestine is sharing third place with Puerto-Rico and Netherlands Antilles and still has a chance to advance to Division but in order to do that, it must beat the former. With this in mind, Puerto-Rico looks like a main candidate for the third spot. The first two places almost certain will be taken by Angola and Suriname. On the second day, these teams scored three straight victories each, although the African players had problems not only in the key match with Puerto-Rico but also in the encounter with lower-rated Ghana. Team Ghana playing at Accra Sports Stadium Media center Pool E Since several inexperienced teams have connection problems in this pool, only four squads are fighting for three spots in Division 3 – Honduras, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica. Honduras seemed to be a clear favorite as in every match up to Round 6 it did concede more than one point, but the team bit the dust in a clash with its neighbor Nicaragua 2:4. Nicaragua quickly grabbed the lead after WIM Maria Esther Granados Diaz trapped her opponent and delivered checkmate on move 11, and did not let it go. Another very important match was played in Round 5 – Trinidad & Tobago outplayed Jamaica 4:2 and became the main candidate for the third spot. Now Jamaica badly needs to score points against Honduras. The team counts on Rachel Miller who has not lost a single point yet, but only her efforts won’t be sufficient in this decisive match. Today Rounds 7-9 are played which determine 15 teams that will resume chess battles in Division 3 on August 7. They join 35 seeded teams led by Denmark, Portugal, and Bolivia.
Legends of Chess: Carlsen makes final, Giri comes back
Magnus Carlsen displayed a killer instinct reminiscent of watching great Garry Kasparov today as he booked his place in the final of the chess24 Legends of Chess. The World Champion, who has won a stunning 10 matches in a row in this event, crushed eight-time Russian champ Peter Svidler 2.5-0.5 with a game to spare. However, as Carlsen won his match with relative ease, the real excitement was in the commentary box where former World Champion Kasparov made a rare appearance. The 57-year-old, who many consider the greatest player ever, had this assessment of Carlsen: “Magnus, whether he likes it or not, he’s also struggling with age. He makes more mistakes than he did before.” On Carlsen’s upcoming defense of his world title, Kasparov added: “It will be tougher… if not 2020/1 or 2022/3 he may be facing a younger player, maybe [Alireza] Firouzja.” Speaking about the launch of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, which the Legends event is a part of, Kasparov praised chess24’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said: “I feel quite happy that chess can adjust to these new challenges. I think that is exactly what we need these days to show that the game is resilient even to the virus. “As a chess fan, as someone who is watching these games, I’m quite pleased to see that top players are not giving up to the coronavirus and they keep playing exciting chess.” Carlsen will now face either Ian Nepomniachtchi or Anish Giri in the $150,000 event’s final on Monday after Giri’s comeback kept him in the match against Russia’s number 1. Giri fell behind twice but leveled the score both times to prevail in Armageddon. The event, the fifth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund. The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August. Tournament rules and schedule The time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed. The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST. Highlights in English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Division 4: Day 1 Round-up
The first day in Division 4 evidenced that holding the Online Olympiad, the first in chess history was a great idea. The event resonates all around the world (so far primarily in the countries whose teams are playing) discovering many new names. Although GMs have not entered the fight yet, there are plenty of interesting games in Division 4 that can impress even sophisticated and finicky chess fans. In this round-up, we can’t go deep into chess twists and turns and focus primarily on the results. Pool A Things have taken an unexpected turn from the very start in this pool. The triumphants of Base Division, Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam, stepped in the competition as rating-favorites. It was clear that it wouldn’t be as easy as among the teams consisting of inexperienced chess players, but no one could predict the scenario of the first three rounds. Myanmar suffered a defeat in the very first match – Thailand was simply better. 14-year old Thai Prin Laohawirapap launched a crushing attack: Prin Laohawirapap – Han Thiha Sai White fired 10.f5! b4? 11.fxe6 bxc3 12. exf7+! Kf8 13.Nf4!, and Black already could have resigned since 13…Kxf7 is met with an instructive checkmate 14.Ne6+! Kxe6 15.Qg4+ Ke5 16.Qf4+ Ke6 17.Bh3#. Black opted for 13…Qb6, but after 14.Qg4+ there is no defense against a check on e6 followed by checkmate. After Myanmar managed to level the score – 2.5:2.5, everything was at stake on the first board in the game between FM Thanadon Kulpruethanon (Thailand) and Wynn Zaw Htun (Myanmar). The Thai has silently offered a draw by repetition twice, but his higher-rated opponents turned it down, despite an inferior position. It is hard to argue with chess logic – the Thai player eventually prevailed and supplied the winning point to his team. Maynmar failed to recovers from this defeat, played two next matches way below its level, and ended the day with just 1 point out of 6 and just a slim chance to get into the top-3. Thailand, Hong Kong, and Kenya are leading the field, although Hong Kong has just seventh average rating in Pool A. It’s going to be very interesting to watch the matches in this unpredictable pool today – will favorites on paper prove their presumed strength? Pool B Unlike Pool A, here the preview (link!) by the official website of the Online Olympiad was much more prescient. Syria experienced no real problems and topped the standings. Given that this team forfeited two points, its dominance impresses even more. Team Malta (second-best average rating) is on the second position, but its tournament future doesn’t look trouble-free as it already lost one match point in the encounter with Pakistan. Team Pakistan became a real “hell-raiser” in this group – Pakistani chess players, many of whom don’t even have FIDE rating, proved that their success in Base Division was no coincidence. Pakistan could have been in the top-3 if not an accident that happened on the first board in Round 3 match against Mozambique. Yousuf Azeem Makhdoomi – Donaldo Paiva Yousuf Azeem Makhdoomi (fearless_king2 at chess.com) is launching a final assault: 21.Rxe6! fxe6 22.Bxg6! His more experienced opponent Donaldo Paiva put up stubborn resistance but the game was rolling to the inevitable result. Virtually any move wins, but White blundered his queen – 56.Qf8? Rxe6+ 57.Bxe6 Qxf8. White’s position is winning anyway – 57. с7 Qg7+, and here instead of an obvious 58.Kd6 White opted for an inexplicable 58.Kd5 and after 58…Qxc7 capitulated. Harrowing disappointment! Nevertheless, Pakistan along with Namibia, Qatar, and Mozambique still have a chance for one of the qualifying spots. Pool С There are no sensational results in this group – Nigeria and Lebanon won all their matches and moved atop the standings. Team Nigeria had some unexpected problems in the very first match with Ethiopia, which it won only by a minimal margin. In any case, we will probably talk about these teams again when covering Division 3. As for Mauritania, we have to tip a hat to this squad here and now, as the chessplayers from this country became real stars of the first day. Team Mauritania qualified from Base Division taking fourth place in their pool; only three players have FIDE rating. Nevertheless, Mauritania won all three matches, sensationally beating Oman 5:1 and Sudan 3.5:2.5. The victory over Sudan headed by IM Omar Eltigani is particularly impressive as all the players in this team have FIDE rating. The captain and leader of Mauritania FM Sidi Boidiya and its strongest woman Mine Hemam are the main attacking force of this team. Mine had shown the best result on her board in Base Division and won all her three games in Division 4. If Mauritania loses momentum, then Ethiopia and Lesotho may have a chance to advance to the next stage. As for Sudan, after a disastrous start, it will be very hard for this team to catch up with the leaders. Pool D There is a surprise hero in this pool – not many expected such a great start from team Palestine that won all three matches, whitewashing their opponents twice and topped the leaderboard. To be fair it is worth mentioning that in two matches Palestine faced weak opposition, whereas its third opponent, Haiti, as we already know, is prone to unexpected breakdowns. Still, Palestine has a very good chance to progress to Division 3. The other favorites – Angola, Surinam, and Puerto-Rico – already played each other. Only Angola came out of these encounters unscathed but not without incredible luck. In the match with Surinam the Angolan women-players scored 1.5 points with Black in the positions pictured below: Catherine Kaslan – Jemimo Paulo Virtually any move wins, but 35.Re7 wrap things up immediately. Alexandra Kaslan – Ednasia Junior After 57.Rh6 Black has no other options but to resign. Angola ended up winning the match 3.5:2.5. It looks like these four above-mentioned teams are fighting for three spots in Division 3, but who knows, maybe Haiti will repeat the trick it pulled out in Base Division where after a poor start the team roared back. Pool E The tournament fortune assembled a motley line-up in this pool. Sierra-Leone had huge
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi get off to strong start in semis
The final four in the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess event got underway on Friday with World Champion Magnus Carlsen in frightening form. Having won nine matches on the trot in the prelim stage, the Norwegian picked up where he left off after yesterday’s rest day by taking a swift first set lead in his semi. Carlsen rattled off a 2.5-0.5 win against eight-time Russian champ Peter Svidler and just needs to win again tomorrow to reach the final. Carlsen, who earlier this week likened his play to the misfiring Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino, was typically harsh on himself afterward. “I think the games were of a sort of dubious quality,” he said. Asked what when he is satisfied with his performance, Carlsen said: “I always aim for more, that’s my take-away.” In the other semi, the Svidler’s fellow Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and the Dutchman Anish Giri got their semi off to a marathon start – but it also ended quickly. The pair, who finished second and third in the prelim after Carlsen, played out a 131-move draw in the opening game. In the second, the in-form Nepomniachtchi – hoping to avenge his loss to Giri in the Chessable Masters tournament – went ahead with a win. Ian then finished off the set 2.5-0.5 with a game to spare as Giri crumbled in a worse position and under time pressure. Like Svidler, Giri now needs to win tomorrow to take the contest to a third set or face elimination. Today was the first day of the Legends of Chess semi-finals. The final-four stage is a best-of-three sets contest with the third set being played on Sunday if needed. The event, the fifth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund. The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August. Tournament rules and schedule The time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed. The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST. Highlights in English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Nino Batsiashvili wins Georgian Women’s Championship
The 77th Georgian Women’s Championship was held in a round-robin format on 21-30 July at the Chess Palace in Tbilisi and boasted of a very strong lineup with eight out of the top-10 national players taking part. The eventual champion Nino Batsiashvili started slowly with 1.5/3, losing to Salome Melia in the third round, but then she picked up tremendous speed winning five straight games. A draw against Bela Khotenashvili in the last round sealed the deal for Nino as she finished the event as a sole winner with 7/9. This is Batsiashvili’s third title, previously she won the Georgian championship in 2015 and 2018. Meri Arabidze (6.5 points) came second with a slightly better Sonneborn-Berger over Bela Khotenashvili (6.5 points) who claimed bronze. Both silver and bronze winners completed the tournament distance undefeated. Final standings: 1. Nino Batsiashvili (2457) – 7 2. Meri Arabidze (2428) – 6.5 3. Bela Khotenashvili (2458) – 6.5 4. Lela Javakhishvili (2475) – 6 5. Sofio Gvetadze (2308) – 5 6. Salome Melia (2370) – 5 7. Sopiko Khukhashvili (2339) – 4 8. Nino Khomeriki (2319) – 3 9. Aleksandra Vakhania (2138) – 2 10. Elene Tsotsonava (2012) – 0 Georgian Chess Federation Photo: Georgian Chess Federation Facebook
Wojtaszek clinches Biel Grandmaster title
Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland) won the Grandmaster Tournament at the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival, the first major chess event in the world to be played with games over the board again since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. The Grandmaster Tournament was held in a new triathlon format with ten participants playing each other one game with classical time control (4 points for a win; 1½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss), one rapid game with colors reversed (2 points for a win; 1 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss) and two blitz games (1 point for a win; ½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss). The last round of the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon promised excitement, as three players had a chance to win the title – without facing each other directly. However, the leader Radoslaw Wojtaszek did not let his position at the top be taken away from him and defeated Noël Studer, even though the Swiss did not make his task easy. The Pole turned in an impressive tournament in Biel losing just a single game against Pentala Harikrishna. In an interview after his tournament victory, the champion stressed once again how important it was for him to be able to play normally again. Wojtaszek rated his victory on a par with his titles in Dortmund and the Isle of Man. Pentala Harikrishna (India) and Mickey Adams (England) also were victorious in the final round and finished second and third respectively. Harikrishna ended just a half-point behind Wojtaszek, a margin caused by his disappointing performance in blitz games. Mickey Adams was satisfied with his third place, just 1½ points behind the winner. The British champion finished the event on a high note, defeating Arkadij Naiditsch. Young Vincent Keymer (Germany) had a great start but lost steam closer to the end. Nevertheless, Keymer can look back at a strong tournament, which the 15-year-old finished in fourth place with an impressive margin over Arkadij Naiditsch. Final standings: Rank Name Games Classical Rapid Blitz Total 1 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 27 10 12 11 33 2 Pentala Harikrishna 27 16.5 10 6 32.5 3 Michael Adams 27 12.5 8 11 31.5 4 Vincent Keymer 27 13.5 10 4.5 28 5 Arkadij Naiditsch 27 11 5 6.5 22.5 6 David Antón Guijarro 27 9.5 4 8.5 22 7 Noël Studer 27 7 3 5 15 8 Romain Édouard 27 6 4 3.5 13.5 The organizing committee was satisfied with the festival that also included Corona Amateur Tournament (won by Christian Bauer) and Swiss Youth Championship. From an organizational standpoint, the pandemic-related requirements led to various additional expenses, but as things stand today, it can be concluded that the measures taken have proved their worth and could serve as a model for other organizers around the world. Thanks to the decision to hold the festival, “we were able to offer chess to the world, and it was noticed all over the world and associated with the name Biel/Bienne”, as Peter Bohnenblust, president of the organizing committee summed up. The triathlon format (classical + rapid + blitz) has proved its worth and found a positive response from the players. The fact that 4 points were awarded for a victory, with only 1½ in the case of a draw, has ensured exciting games. Only 10 of the 28 classic games ended in a draw, and in the last five rounds only five of them. Official website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/ Text and photo: the official website and Flickr