Kacper Piorun wins Polish Championship
The 77th Polish Individual Chess Championship took place in Warsaw from 21st to 28th of July. It was quite a challenge to run the event during the pandemic, but the federation was granted special permission by the government. It was extremely important for the national federation to run this historical tournament and not to abandon the tradition that traces back to 1926. The tournament was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki. Minister Lukasz Schreiber, former Polish Champion U10 (he defeated GM Wojtaszek then!) attended the opening ceremony as a special guest. President of Polish Chess Federation GM Jedynak and Mr. Schreiber played a friendly blitz game which eventually ended in a draw after a tense battle (Lukasz Schreiber is an accomplished player, rated 2100). For the first time in its history, the championship was held in a knock-out format. The exact system was two games of classical chess, then if it is 1-1 the opponents played two rapid games, if 2-2 – two blitz games and if it is 3-3 then Armageddon 5 minutes vs 4 minutes with White having to win. The tournament started with 16 players and the very first round spang a few surprises. The # 1 seed GM Mateusz Bartel, four-time Polish champion, faced 16th seed 17-year old IM Pawel Teclaf. Bartel had winning or much better positions in each of four games but lost the match 2,5-1,5. The first round was also devastating for one of the favorites GM Bartosz Socko, national coach of Polish team who lost to the eventual runner-up GM Daniel Sadzikowski. With this win, Sadzikowski started his incredible run which eventually propelled him into the final. In the second round, Sadzikowski and Orzegorz Gajewski qualified for the semifinals but both went through extremely dangerous positions. This is particularly true for Gajewski, whose opponent GM Marcin Dziuba had an overwhelming advantage +15.0 (according to a chess engine) but lost anyway! It looks like the stress of the knock-out system and a long break from tournament chess affected many players. In the semifinals, Kacper Piorun won over Gajewski 4-3 in Armageddon. It was 2-2 after classical and rapid games, in blitz Piorun delivered first punch, but Gajewski bounced back to make it 3-3. In the decisive Armageddon game, Gajewski chose white but lost and Piorun advanced into the final. Sadzikowski had a smooth sail in rapid games against GM Heberla, who defeated IM Teclaf one round before, ending youngster`s dream-run. In the final match, four first games were drawn and it went into blitz portion. After Sadzikowski shockingly forfeited on time in a drawish ending in the first game it looked like the end of a story. However, in a second blitz game, he came back sending the black king to the long journey up to the 2nd rank(!) and won a special brilliancy prize (a weekend in a luxury Dr. Irena Eris Spa hotel in the mountains). With 3-3 on the scoreboard, it came down to decisive Armageddon. Piorun confidently won the game and took the Polish Championship title for the second time in his career. In the match for third place, Gajewski downed Heberla 1,5-0,5. With Polish best commentators, GM Pakleza and IM Brodowski on the microphones the tournament had a record-breaking exposure doubling the number of spectators compared to any other previous championship. Only Jan-Krzysztof Duda games in the best events are comparable in terms of viewership.
Online Olympiad Division 4: Preview
On July 31, the matches in Division 4 of the first Online Olympiad in history will start on chess.com. 38 teams from all around the world are joined by 12 winners of Base Division (Myanmar, Lebanon, Cyprus, Brunei Darussalam, Qatar, Aruba, Pakistan, Bahrain, Haiti, Oman, Liberia & Mauritania). In Division 4, 50 teams are divided into 5 groups of 10 squads each. Three best teams from each pool advance to Division 3 – many strong squads with well-known GMs in their ranks will step into the competition at this stage. The official website of Online Olympiad olymp.fide.com presents a brief overview of all five Division 4 pools. Pool A (Bahrain, Nepal, Kenya, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Tanzania, Maldives) The preview of this pool is going to be very similar to the one of Base Division. Teams Myanmar and Brunei are in the same tournament again (up to Division 4 it is allowed for two teams qualifying from the same division to play together in the next one ) and again they enter the competition as favorites. Myanmar has some problems with the 6th board, but the rest of the team, which can boast of three IMs (out of 14, playing in Division 4), is head and shoulders above others. The Hj Azahari Siti Nur sisters are the main striking force of Brunei Darussalam, who can easily pull the team to the next division. Based on ratings, the third favorite in the race for a spot in Division 3 is Thailand. Chinese Taipei also looks strong – although with just 6 people in its line-up it is headed by IM Raymond Song (pictured below). Nepal and Kenya also have a fair chance to qualify. It will be challenging for other teams to succeed, but everyone has equal changes before the start, and one thing is sure – Myanmar and Brunei will not have an easy walk like in Base Division. Pool B (Kuwait, Rwanda, Qatar, Uganda, Malta, Pakistan, Mozambique, Cyprus, Syria, Namibia) This pool features one of the clear frontrunners of Division 4 – Syria national team. The team has four titled players led by IM Bashir Eiti. It looks like only a concourse of unfavorable circumstances or connection problems can prevent Syrian chess players from progressing into the next stage. The run for 2nd and 3rd places promises to be unpredictable. Malta (which at the last moment was headed by the president of the country’s chess federation IM Geoffrey Borg) and Mozambique have better average rating comparing to other squads, but both teams are short of strong Women U20 player, which gives some hope to Uganda or even the qualifiers from Base Division Pakistan and Cyprus. Geoffrey Borg Pool С (Sudan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Eswatini, Oman, Cameroon) Two teams stand out in this division and most likely they will confidently advance to Division 3. Nigeria has the best average rating in Division 4, but with only 6 players in the roster, any forfeit or connection problem can seriously damage this team headed by the IM Oladapo Adu (pictured below). In any case, this tournament will not be a cakewalk for Nigeria, as Lebanon has already shown its strength in Base Division. This Mediterranean team, staffed with good reserve players and strong women’s boards shouldn’t experience any problems in Division 4 – Lebanon is well-positioned to continue its campaign in Division 3. Third place will be contested by African teams with Sudan looking slightly stronger, at least on paper. IM Omar Eltigani on the first board and Eyhab Rawan (1521) on the very important 6th board make Sudan a favorite against its neighbor from Ethiopia and Cameroon. Pool D (Liberia, Ghana, Puerto Rico, Angola, Togo, Palestine, Senegal, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, Haiti) Since Angola is one of the leading African countries in terms of the number of FIDE-rated players it is no surprise that 9 out of 12 members of this team have international titles. Division 4 will be good practice for the Angolan players before much more difficult matches in Division 3, where they have to progress. David Silva (Angola) The only real competitor of Angola in Pool D is Puerto Rico. This team has very strong female boards; FM Danitza Vazquez Maccarini is a clear favorite when it comes to the best result on board 3. Suriname’s strength is on its sixth board, WFM Catherine Kaslan will surely become the main scorer for this South American country, famous for its vast rainforests and original cuisine (you can taste it not only in Suriname but also, for example, in Amsterdam). Haiti will try to make up for a lackluster performance in Base Division in matches against stronger opponents, but the chess players from this country need to raise the bar, otherwise, their Olympic quest will end at this stage. Pool E (Nicaragua, Jamaica, Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Honduras, Sao Tome & Principe, Sierra Leone, Aruba, Bahamas) This pool brought together mainly countries from Central America and the Caribbean; the African teams of Sao Tome & Principe and Sierra Leone are unlikely to keep up with more experienced and stronger chess players from another part of the world. The neighboring countries Honduras and Nicaragua look like clear leaders of this pool, and the outcome of their clash is absolutely unpredictable. The Honduran chess players are a little more experienced, but in any case, both teams have every reason to count on a spot in Division 3. Overall, this group should be particularly interesting for women’s chess fans. Rachel Miller, rated 2004 sticks out in team Jamaica. Since she is turning 20 this year, Rachel plays on the 6th board. Bermuda’s Zuzana Kovacova (pictured above) is the strongest active chess player in the country, regardless of gender. And of course, we all wonder if Thamara Sagastegui (Aruba), who delivered a breakthrough performance in Base Division, will be able to prove herself again. The matches of Division 4 will start at 08:00 UTC on July 31. The Pool A teams will be the first to enter the battle. The official website of the Online Olympics olymp.fide.com will follow the competition closely.
Legends of Chess: Semifinals are set
The four semi-finalists for the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess event were confirmed today as Magnus Carlsen settled all remaining questions himself. The World Champion, who has dominated this online tournament so far, comfortably beat legend Vladimir Kramnik 3-1 to end the prelim stage on top of the leaderboard. However, despite chalking up nine wins out of nine and taking 25 out of a possible 27 points, Carlsen was typically hard on himself afterward. Carlsen said: “It seems that in the last few matches, to use a football analogy, I am getting Lewandowski level chances but I am converting them at a Firminio level. “For those who don’t watch football, that’s pretty bad. But at least the last two games were kind of ok.” Carlsen’s swift win kept Peter Svidler in the final four ahead of Kramnik – despite the eight-time Russian champ losing against Anish Giri. Giri, lying in third, was already safely into the semis and took the match 2.5-1.5. Carlsen’s nearest rival Ian Nepomniachtchi, already assured of a place in the semis, was beaten by 52-year-old Boris Gelfand in an Armageddon but still finished a clear second. With the semi-final places now decided, Svidler – the only old guard legend to make it through – will face Carlsen on Friday after tomorrow’s rest day while Giri faces Nepomniachtchi. It means Kramnik, the former World Champion, is eliminated along with Gelfand. Vasyl Ivanchuk and Vishy Anand both had no chance of progressing and took their match to an Armageddon, which Ivanchuk won. Ding Liren beat Peter Leko 2.5-1.5. Ding was already heading out of the Legends of Chess but still has a chance to qualify for the $300,000 tour Grand Final if Carlsen wins the Legends event overall. On the evidence of the first nine days, the Chinese number 1 should be confident. 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
Legends of Chess: Carlsen shoots ahead
Magnus Carlsen turned on the afterburners to beat his nearest rival today in a super-fast finish to Round 8 of the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess. The World Champion made it an incredible eight match wins in a row as his encounter with Ian Nepomniachtchi went down to a nervy tiebreak finish. On a day when the great female chess player ever, Judit Polgar, joined the commentary, Carlsen had been moving towards a comfortable win. But the 30-year-old superstar admitted he lost his mind to let Ian off the hook in the last of their rapid games which finished 2-2. It took the top of the table clash into an “Armageddon” blitz chess play-off which Carlsen – playing Black – got the draw he needed with just seconds left on his clock. The Norwegian is left three points clear at the top of the tournament table, having dropped just one point so far in the online chess event. Carlsen said afterward: “I don’t want to talk about it too much, it was pretty bad. Today I was much better to winning in literally every game and then I just lost my mind in the fourth and we got an Armageddon in which I, somehow, managed to escape.” In the other matches, the battle for semi-final places has seen most of them sewn up before tomorrow’s final prelim round. Peter Svidler scored a vital win over former world champ and fellow Russian Vladimir Kramnik as both vied for a top-four spot. The pair were separated by just one point in the table going into Round 8 with Kramnik fourth and Svidler fifth. But Svidler made the early running with an opening game win, then Kramnik had a golden chance to level the score in game three. Kramnik, however, couldn’t convert and his opponent pulled off what seemed like a miraculous save to draw. Game 4 was also a draw as the match ended 2.5-1.5 to Svidler. It means that out of the Russian contingent, Nepo is already in and Svidler is in the driving seat to make it through. Kramnik, however, is now likely to miss out. Meanwhile, Anish Giri in third needed a win over Vasyl Ivanchuk to nail down his top-four place but faltered when the match went to Armageddon. It was a stunning win for the 51-year-old Ivanchuk, who became the first member of the old guard to win a tiebreak against a qualifier. However, the popular Ukrainian can’t progress. Boris Gelfand beat Peter Leko after their match also went to an Armageddon. Like Ivanchuk, neither legend can make it through. At the bottom, Ding Liren, who went into the event needing just a semi-final place to qualify for the tour Grand Final, also stands no chance of getting through. But he put his woeful form behind him today to dispatch another struggler, Indian legend Vishy Anand, by 2.5-0.5. Today was day eight of the round-robin battle for four places in the Legends of Chess semi-finals. 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.
Online Olympiad Base Division: Day 3 Round-up
On July 27, the matches in Base Division came to close. 18 least experienced teams finished their campaign in this competition; 12 teams advanced to Division 4. Despite a relatively low chess level of the majority of participants, Base Division had everything we love chess for – strong, non-standard moves, unimaginable blunders, and dramatic twists and turns. In Pool B things came to a real crunch. Pool A The key matches in this pool were played in Round 7. After losing to Oman by a narrow margin in Round 4, Fiji had to beat Pakistan at any cost. Many Pakistani players do not have FIDE rating, but as we already mentioned in our preview, chess in on the rise in this country, and getting rating and titles is just a matter of time. Fiji suffered a painful defeat 2.5:3.5 – the leader of Pakistan Ali Khan Salman scored a decisive victory for his team defeating an opponent rated 300 points higher. In another important match, Oman prevailed over Guam 3.5:2.5 and rounded out the quartet of the teams qualifying for Division 4: Myanmar, Brunei, Pakistan, and Oman. Most likely Myanmar will be one of the main favorites in Division 4 as well. Unfortunately, team Somalia failed to finish the competition – the internet connection in this country has not been restored. Pool A Final Standings: 1. Myanmar – 182. Brunei Darussalam – 163. Pakistan- 13 (36,5)4. Oman – 13 (32,5)5. Fiji – 106. Guam – 87. Laos – 68. Macau – 3 9. Bhutan – 210. Somalia – 1 Pool B The final day in this pool turned into a real thriller. After Day 1 it became clear that Lebanon, Qatar, and Bahrain were substantially stronger than other participants, but the fourth spot in Division 4 would be closely contested by the African teams. As we pointed out in yesterday’s round-up, Burundi’s seemingly firm position in the leaderboard was an illusion as they were taking on all the three main favorites on the final say. Burundi threw a curve in the first match and became the first team to win a game over Lebanon on one of the boards. Nathalie Nahimana defeated her opponent, but her teammates failed to back her effort – the final score was 1:5. In a clash for second place Qatar – Bahrain the former somewhat unexpectedly dominated the proceedings. Whitewashing 6:0 seemed imminent but a Qatarian player on a women’s board lost connection in a winning position and forfeited the game. Round 8 sprang no surprises and as a result, Liberia overcame Burundi thanks to better tiebreaks (2.5 extra board points). However, in the last round, Liberia faced Lebanon, a team of a completely different level, and it was predictably swept 0:6. Thus, in order to advance to Division 4, Burundi had to score 2.5 points against Bahrain as this team won the face-off against Liberia. The strength of the Burundi team was in the women’s boards and they won the first point quickly enough – Deborah Niyonzima nicked her sixth victory in six games (in two other games her opponents defaulted). The holder of DeborahBurundi’s patriotic nickname at Chess.com was one of the finds of the tournament; let’s hope that the capable girl will continue to develop as a chess player. In three games Burundi had no chance, but the cherished 1.5 points could have been scored in the remaining two games – a winning position on the second women’s board and rough equality on the second men’s board. Alas, it was not the day of Burundi national team – first, Wilfried Ntamatungiro blundered an exchange whereas Francine Kwizera forfeited on time in a winning position. It’s a pity we won’t see talented Burundian chess players in Division 4, but Liberia earned its spot in the next round with a stable, consistent performance. Chess in this country has been supported by state lately; the federation is doing a great job which has begun to yield fruits. Pool B Final Standings: 1. Lebanon – 182. Qatar – 153. Bahrain – 144. Liberia – 10 (28,5)5. Burundi – 10 (27)6. Gambia – 87. Gabon – 78. Mali – 59. Congo – 210. San Marino – 1 Pool C The outcome in this pool seemed to be the most unpredictable, but the top-4 in the final standings emerged with one round to spare. The most important match was played in the 7th round – Mauritania managed to defeat Libya by a score of 3.5:2.5. This result secured the country-winner, 75% of whose territory is either desert or semi-desert, one of four spots in the tournament in Division 4 which starts on Friday, July 31. Mohamed Ahmed Taleb scored the most important point for the Moors – he conducted an instructive attack on an opponent’s king stuck in the center after boldly sacrificing an exchange. Also in Round 7 the winner of Pool C was finally decided. Cyprus made a quick work of Haiti 4.5:1.5 and guaranteed itself the first place. The last two rounds did not change much in the standings – only Haiti and Mauritania faced-off in the last round to determine who would take third place. The Haitians won by a narrow margin and found themselves in the third position. Mauritania tied for fourth place with Libya and Saint Lucia but had much better tiebreaks. When Talking about Pool C, we are bound to pay tribute to Thamara Sagastegui (Aruba) – she won all 8 games on the women’s junior board, and one more time her opponent didn’t show up. Tamara made a decisive contribution to 2nd place in Aruba and showed the absolute best result among all participants in Base Division. Pool С Final Standings: 1. Cyprus – 182. Aruba – 153. Haiti – 124. Mauritania – 10 (36)5. Libya – 10 (29,5)6. Saint Lucia – 10 (29)7. Cape Verde – 78. Cayman Islands – 59. Antigua & Barbuda – 310. Grenada – 1
Legends of Chess: V for Vishy as he gets first win
Vishy Anand was in vintage form as he tore apart fellow legend Boris Gelfand today in the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess. The 51-year-old Tiger of Madras gave his Israeli opponent a 2.5-0.5 mauling to polish him off with a game to spare. The match was a replay of the pair’s 2012 world title match which went to rapid games after the classical section before Anand retained his crown. This time, however, Gelfand was never in the running. Anand has started slowly in this event yet the legend from Chennai picked up points in the last two rounds after taking his opponents to Armageddon tiebreaks. Today Anand improved further and picked up a three-point maximum. He said: “Obviously it’s not been quite so disastrous the last three days as the first three, but it’s nice to get a win.” He added: “I simply forgot about Armageddon because I forgot what it’s like without increment… In normal chess the clock can intervene – in Armageddon the chess can intervene.” Meanwhile, Carlsen, the reigning World Champion, continued his imperious form to record a seventh straight match-win against Russia’s eight-time champ Peter Svidler. Carlsen’s first two games against Svidler were drawn but in between the champion found time to tweet his congratulations to the winner of the Premier League fantasy football. In a reply to his rival Aleksandar Antonov, the Norwegian said: “Bossed it on the final day. Congrats, TooGood indeed!” Carlsen, who was in with a chance of winning, finished joint 11th in the fantasy football – but is going far better in chess. After a third draw, Carlsen hit Svidler in the fourth game with the White pieces to take the match 2.5-1.5. It was hard on Svidler who battled hard. Meanwhile, the in-form Ian Nepomniachtchi – who has been Carlsen’s biggest threat in the tournament table – was taken to an Armageddon by Peter Leko. But Leko was outclassed in the faster tiebreak match as Ian picked up 2 tournament points to keep in touch with Carlsen. In the other matches, mercurial legend Vasyl Ivanchuk beat former world champ Vladimir Kramnik 3-1. Ding Liren’s woeful form, punctuated by disconnections because he is playing in China, continued as he went down 2.5-0.5 to Anish Giri. Today was day seven of the round-robin battle for four places in the Legends of Chess semi-finals. 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
Legends of Chess: Magnus chess if not Fantasy king
Magnus Carlsen played Ding Liren four hours earlier than usual to be able to “sweat” the final day of the Fantasy Premier League, and while the football didn’t go so well Magnus racked up a 6th match victory in six with a 2.5:1.5 win over the world no. 3. Ian Nepomniachtchi has won as many matches but fell a point behind as he could only beat Vishy Anand in Armageddon, while Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler also won in sudden death. Anish Giri was the other player to win in four games as he and Peter Leko defied the haters with the day’s lowest number of draws. World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen went into the final day of the English Premier League season, and therefore the Fantasy Premier League season, ranked no. 4 out of more than 7.5 million players of that game. The media interest was high, especially in Norway, which brought with it some obligations. It was agreed a couple of weeks in advance that Magnus would play this round four hours earlier, with Ding Liren happy to agree to the chance to start playing at 6 pm rather than his usual 10 pm. In football, as in chess, Magnus is all about taking calculated risks that maximize the upside for him, and in this case, it wasn’t impossible that he could top the table: “It’s a long shot, but as long as there is a chance that’s cool and I would like to thank Ding for agreeing to play at an earlier time today so that I can sweat the games properly later today”. It did not work in football, but on the chessboard Magnus went from strength to strength. He described the first game of the day against Ding Liren as “uneventful”, with the 31-move draw most remarkable for the fact that the world nos. 1 and 3 managed to create a position never seen before at the top level by move 4. The second game was no offbeat theory, however, with Magnus navigating straight into the shark-infested waters of the Anti-Moscow Gambit where he proved his prowess winning on move 33. Magnus felt the result of the match hinged on Game 3, where he went for some bold defense after getting into a difficult position in the opening. Ding Liren decided to go for a technical position a pawn up, but although Magnus described it as “really, really ugly for Black,” he also felt his drawing chances were good. Ding Liren rushed his winning attempt and a draw was reached in 60 moves. In the final game, Ding had to win on demand with the black pieces, and at the price of a pawn he did manage to marshal his pieces for a kingside assault. It never looked like being enough, however, and Magnus safely defused the situation to claim the full three match points. He’s now won all six matches so far, dropping a match point only to Vasyl Ivanchuk, who took their encounter to Armageddon. Leko – Giri was the only other match that a player won without the need for Armageddon. After exchanging blows in games two and three, Dutch no. 1 scored a crushing win in the final encounter to clinch the match. Grischuk said Leko had suffered, “an old-fashioned opening catastrophe,” where you find yourself totally lost, unlike the more modern “catastrophes” where you just have no advantage or a slightly worse position. Ian Nepomniachtchi also managed to win sixth match in a row, but not without some difficulties. He failed to convert a close to winning position in the first game and also thought he’d missed chances of a masterpiece in the 3rd game. Between those, however, he’d won the second game after a hyper-sharp opening didn’t go Vishy’s way. Needing to win with the black pieces in Game 4, most people had written off Vishy’s chances, but that’s just when he’s at his most dangerous as, for instance, the 2014 Candidates Tournament proved. Ian confessed he got “over-optimistic” when he tempted Vishy to grab material in the opening. Anand didn’t need to be asked twice and went on to convert his advantage brilliantly. That meant a 3rd Armageddon in a row for Vishy, and it proved to be a 3rd Armageddon in which he was just too slow. It may be purely a technological issue – if, for instance, he doesn’t have a good mouse – but Grischuk also saw some historical “revenge” on behalf of all the people Vishy had blitzed in his long career. Gelfand – Kramnik match was a fantastic brawl between two players who first met 27 years ago in Linares 1993. Nowadays it’s 7-year-older Boris who’s working harder on chess, and he managed to catch Kramnik out in the opening in the first game until by the end it was already high time to resign. After a tense second game, it looked as though Gelfand was about to win the match with a game to spare, but Kramnik managed to muddy the waters in a position where he was an exchange down and level the score. In the final rapid game, it was Vladimir who was pushing for a win, but Gelfand held to take the encounter to Armageddon. Vladimir had White and had to win, which he duly did, in a sparkling game in which he quickly saw that he could exchange off all the pieces to force a won pawn ending. Vasyl Ivanchuk had tortured Magnus Carlsen the day before and he showed exactly the same hunger and talent against Peter Svidler. He took the early lead and it looked like Vasyl would storm to an almost unassailable 2:0 lead but by making two mistakes in a row he allowed Peter to completely turn the tables. Vasyl could again have finished off the match in the final rapid game, but instead, after draws in Games 3 and 4, we got yet another Armageddon. What followed was a great battle with mutual mistakes, but starting with Black and a
Base Division: Day 2 Round-up
On July 26 the teams in all three pools of Base Division continued to fight for the spots in Division 4. Although there were no big surprises on Sunday, some results might be crucial in deciding what teams advance to Division 4. Pool A The matches in this pool have followed a predictable script – after the first-round clash of favorites, Myanmar and Brunei, both teams have been dominating all their matches. However, it was not just an easy ride for the two strongest teams in this pool. For example, Myanmar suffered two defeats on junior boards vs. Pakistan, whereas Brunei unexpectedly conceded two points to Laos and Macao. On the other hand, in the most important match for Brunei with team Macau, the former scored a confident victory 4.5:1.5 thanks to total domination on women’s boards. The key match in terms of 3d and 4th positions in tournament leaderboard was played in the fourth round: Oman beat Fiji with a minimal margin and now has a fair chance to qualify for Division 4. The seven-round match Fiji – Pakistan will be of paramount importance for both teams. Most likely Pakistan will be OK with a draw. Two matches in this group were postponed to Monday due to connection issues in Somalia, but they will hardly affect the final standings. Standings After Day 2 (Rounds 1-6): 1. Myanmar – 12 (30.5)2. Brunei – 10 (26.5)3. Oman – 9 (23)4. Fiji – 8 (21,5)+1 extra match5. Pakistan – 7 (20) + 1 extra match6. Guam – 4 (17)7. Laos – 4 (10)8. Macau – 1 (8,5)9. Somalia – 1 (5) + 2 extra matches10. Bhutan – 0 (4) Pool B Will Lebanon, one of the two strongest teams in Base Division, lose a single point? That was probably the most interesting question of the second day in this pool. On the first day, Lebanon players won all their games but on the second day, they conceded to their opponents five half-points (Bahrain scored 1.5 points, Qatar – 1). One way or another, Lebanon remains the only team in Base Division not to lose a single game. It will be interesting to watch this squad in action in a stronger Division 4. Despite losing to the leader Bahrain and Qatar are bound to advance to the next stage. Even unexpected draw with Mali (notable because only four players played in the African team) should not prevent Qatar from qualifying for the Division 4. It was not the best day for Qatar’s leader IM Husein Aziz Nezad. Burundi found itself in a bind – formally speaking, this team from East Africa occupies the third position, but it is playing three difficult matches today with Lebanon, Qatar, and Bahrain. It means that Liberia which won a very important match against Gabon has a good chance to catch up with Burundi. Standings After Day 2 (Rounds 1-6): 1. Lebanon – 12 (33,5)2. Bahrain – 10 (27,5)3. Burundi – 10 (24)4. Qatar – 9 (24,5)5. Liberia – 6 (18,5)6. Gabon -5 (15)7. Mali – 5 (12)8. Gambia – 2 (6,5)9. San Marino – 1 (10,5)10. DR Congo – 0 (2) Pool C Unlike Pools A and B where things shaped up quickly enough, in Pool C we can expect a surprise in any match. After a disastrous first day, team Haiti, the rating-favorite of this group, rolled up the sleeves. Three confident victories over Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Cape Verde catapulted Haiti to third place but since in Round 7 it is facing the leader, team Cyprus, Haiti has not secured its spot in the top-4 yet. Cyprus is in a much more comfortable situation – after the victories over Aruba and Libia the Mediterranean team punched its ticket to the next stage. Team Aruba already can prepare for tough matches in Division 4 as well, as it prevailed in a key encounter vs. Mauritania. With 2:3 on the scoreboard Ahmed Taleb Mohamed was desperately trying to win a drawing ending vs. Octavio Croes, but eventually had to take a draw. Aruba owes its triumph to Thamara Sagastegui playing on the Women U20 board – she won all her six games which is the absolute best result in Base Division. Team Libya complicated its task of advancing to Division 4 after giving up points in two matches with weaker teams including the Round 6 encounter with the Cayman Islands. Now Libya has everything at stake in the decisive match with Mauritania in Round 7. Saint Lucia and Cape Verde are still in the contest. Under certain circumstances, one of these teams also might progress to the next stage. Standings After Day 2 (Rounds 1-6): 1. Cyprus – 12 (30,5)2. Aruba – 9 (21)3. Haiti – 8 (25)4. Libya – 8 (19)5. Mauritania – 6 (24)6. Saint Lucia – 6 (18,5)7. Cape Verde – 5 (18,5)8. Cayman Islands – 3 (10,5)9. Antigua & Barbuda- 3 (10)10. Grenada – 0 (3)
Base Division: Day 1 Round-up
FIDE Online Olympiad started on 25 July at Chess.com with the support of the official partners of the tournament – Gazprom and Yugra government. The organizers managed to overcome all technical difficulties, all matches started at the planned time, and the unique tournament, which brought together 163 national teams, has already gripped the attention of the chess world. Pool A Tournament fortune pitted against each other two main favorites of Pool A – Myanmar and Brunei teams – in the starting round. The match met the expectations of those who had predicted an interesting and exciting battle. The first victory on the 6th board was scored by a representative of Brunei Zahira Zazali Nur. Myanmar quickly bounced back and edged ahead, but Brunei had a great chance to level the score and draw the match. Unfortunately, Fatimah Hj Azahari Siti Nur on board 3 lost her cool in an absolutely winning position and eventually suffered a defeat. The final score is 4:2 in favor of Myanmar. In the next rounds, the teams-favorites conceded only a half-point in four matches. Myanmar is leading the field, Brunei is still in 5th place, but most likely this team will also make it to Division 4. The two other slots will be contested by teams Fiji, Pakistan, and Oman. Fiji confidently won all matches on the first day, but this team has not faced the main competitors yet. Pakistan and Oman met in the third round and this hard-fought, dramatic the match ended in a draw (3-3). Unfortunately, team Guam took a poor start and doesn’t have much of a chance to go further. As for teams Laos, Macau, Somalia and Bhutan, their goal in this tournament is to get a unique experience in such a competition and prepare themselves for future battles. Bhutan takes part in Olympiad for the first time and already scored a win on the 3rd (women’s) board. Standings After R3: 1. Myanmar – 6 (15.5)2. Fiji – 6 (14)3-4. Pakistan & Oman – 5 (12)5. Brunei – 4 (14)6. Laos – 2 (3.5)7. Macau – 1 (5.5)8. Somalia – 1 (5)9. Guam – 0 (4.5)10. Bhutan – 0 (2) Pool B The tournament in this group initially looked the most predictable and indeed the first day brought no surprises. Lebanon lived up to his reputation of clear favorite and showed the best possible result – its players won 18 games and the team confidently moved atop the leaderboard. Bahrain and Qatar will hardly have any problems advancing into Division 4; they had a smooth sail today, winning all their matches as well. It seems like Burundi is the main candidate for the fourth qualifying spot – all its matches followed a similar pattern: the Burundians immediately pulled ahead, either due to opponents’ non-appearance or by winning a couple of games, then the team let the opponents catch up. As a result, one match ended in a draw, whereas in two others the strongest African squad in Base division eventually tipped the scale in its favor (4:2). Team San Marino, a country of 33,000 people, plays at the Online Olympiad without women. Three men start each match being 0-3 down, which gives the team no chance of reaching the next stage. Unfortunately, in Group B several teams were unable to ensure participation of all their players. Hopefully, tomorrow all technical issues will be resolved. Standings After R3: 1. Lebanon – 6 (18)2. Bahrain – 6 (15)3. Qatar – 6 (14.5)4. Burundi – 5 (11)5. Liberia – 2 (7.5)6. Gabon – 2 (4,5)7. Mali – 2 (3)8. San Marino – 1 (6)9. Gambia – 0 (2,5)10. DR Congo – 0 (2) Pool C Unlike Pool B, the outcome in this group initially looked absolutely unpredictable. In Round 1 the rating-favorite Haiti flopped in the match against Aruba. Players on board 1 and 2 did not show up online whereas on the other boards the members of team Haiti played below their capacity. The final score of 1-5 completely changed the balance of power in Pool C. Haiti chess players also lost a point on the first board in the second round due to non-appearance, and eventually lost the match against Libya. Now, despite whitewashing its opponents in the third round, Haiti will have a hard time fighting for one of four top-spots. Only one team can have no worries about its tournament prospects in Pool C – Cyprus will surely play in Division 4. Nevertheless even Cyprus had some problems in the match against Mauritania, won only by a narrow margin. Aruba and Libya share second place but they still have some difficult matches to play. For example, in the next round, Aruba is pitted against the leader, team Cyprus. Three teams are making a debut in Pool C – Grenada already scored its first board win whereas the Cayman Islands and Saint Lucia even managed to beat Grenada and Mauritania respectively. This group is unique in the sense that any team is capable of throwing a curve, so we can expect a close, exciting race until the very last round. Standings After R3: 1. Cyprus – 6 (15.5)2-3. Aruba & Libya – 5 (11.5)4. Cape Verde – 3 (9)5. Antigua & Barbuda – 3 (7)6-7. Mauritania & Haiti – 2 (9.5)8. Saint Lucia – 2 (7.5)9. Cayman Islands – 2 (6)10. Grenada – 0 (3)
Nepomniachtchi catches up with Carlsen
Mercurial genius Vasyl Ivanchuk inflicted Magnus Carlsen’s first wound in the chess24 Legends of Chess event today – but couldn’t stop the reigning World Champion roaring back. Carlsen, in red hot form recently, had gone 15 games unbeaten in the $150,000 online super-tournament before facing the veteran Ivanchuk, one of the most feared and unpredictable players in elite chess. And after Carlsen said Ivanchuk was the player he was looking forward to playing most, the 51-year-old didn’t disappoint. Game 1 of their Round 5 clash saw Ivanchuk, Ukraine’s former world number 2 nicknamed “Chucky”, showcase his brilliance by putting Carlsen under severe pressure. The champion blundered and Ivanchuk went ahead. A draw straight afterward had Carlsen needing a win and the Norwegian, as he so often does manage it. With the score level, the final game ended in another draw to send the match into an Armageddon play-off. Carlsen was not to be denied and took the match but only two out of three tournament points to ruin his perfect record. Elsewhere, Ian Nepomniachtchi drew level with Carlsen at the top of the table as he posted an emphatic 3-point win over fellow Russian Peter Svidler. Nepomniachtchi, another opponent Carlsen has said he finds tough, won the third and fourth games after the match opened with two draws. Anish Giri‘s tournament is picking up as he won a second match in a row, beating Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5, to move up the leaderboard. Ding Liren, who has endured a tough tournament so far, overcame connection problems to appear in the driving against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. But the Chinese number 1 suffered something of a collapse to allow Kramnik to take it to a tiebreak, which Ding then lost. His chances of making the semis, and the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour’s Grand Final, are now effectively over. Finally, Peter Leko beat Indian hero Vishy Anand in an Armageddon play-off after the two legends finished 2-2 with one win each and two draws. Today was the fourth day of the round-robin battle for four places in the Legends of Chess semi-finals. 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 will be 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