WSCC GP Leg 2: Anna Ushenina eliminates Hou Yifan
Anna Ushenina, Valentina Gunina, Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh, and Kateryna Lagno advanced to the semifinals of the second leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Grand Prix. The members of the Russian national team Valentina Gunina and Kateryna Lagno scored very confident victories in their quarterfinal matches. Gunina defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu 7-3 and the reigning women’s blitz champion routed Zhansaya Abdumalik 10.5-1.5. The Grand Prix leader after the first leg, Anna Ushenina took down the highest-rated female player Hou Yifan. Despite the 200-point difference in standard FIDE rating between the opponents, it was a very hard-fought match. Hou Yifan took the lead a couple of times but Ushenina immediately bounced back so they entered the bullet portion with an even score of 4-4. In 1+1 games the Ukrainian grandmaster proved to be stronger, finishing the battle with 6.5-4.5 on the scoreboard. The match Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh – Olga Girya was another close affair. They were going neck and neck almost all the way and reached the bullet portion scoring four points each. The runner-up of the 2018 Women’s World Blitz Championship, Khadamalsharieh won the first 1+1 game. The second game became the decisive one. Full of swings, as a bullet game can be, it ended with a winning queen sacrifice by White that gave Sarasadat a comfortable two-point lead. Girya scored a last-minute goal in the final encounter but there simply was not enough time for a comeback. The final score is 6-5. In the semifinals, Gunina takes on Lagno while Ushenina is pitted against Khadamalsharieh. The games start on June 03 at 14:30 CEST.
Decisions of the 2nd quarter FIDE Online Council Meeting
Decisions of the 2nd quarter FIDE Online Council Meeting 23 June 2020 Q2OC-2020/1 To approve the Treasurer’s report. Q2OC-2020/2 To consider a possibility of raising funds for medical and other assistance for chess players. Q2OC-2020/3 To postpone an approval of 2019 accounts due to late submission. Q2OC-2020/4 To adopt a Declaration regarding the Swiss Financial Marketing Infrastructure Act (PDF) Q2OC-2020/5 To hold the FIDE General Assembly online at the end of November 2020. To prepare the GA Agenda by July 10. Q2OC-2020/6 To acknowledge the FIDE President’s intention to have a conference call with both parties in the AICF dispute in nearest future, and to come forward with a proposal for the FIDE Council. Q2OC-2020/7 To approve the FIDE President’s proposal to postpone decisions on the cases with the South African, the UAE and Cote d’Ivoire Chess Federations till new developments and documents appear. Q2OC-2020/8 To reach a final decision on the dates and location of the second part of the FIDE Candidates tournament 2020 in July 2020. Q2OC-2020/9 To continue monitoring the situation and discussing the logistics of the World Chess Championship Match 2021 with the World Expo organizers in Dubai, keeping in mind two possible dates (spring and autumn 2021) and considering all possible adjustments/changes in the FIDE official calendar. Q2OC-2020/10 To move the dates of the Women’s World Cup 2020 to April 2021 under the condition of signing an additional agreement with the Organizers Q2OC-2020/11 To move the dates of the 2021 World Cup to September 2021, subject to signing an additional agreement with the organizers. Q2OC-2020/12 To continue monitoring the opening of EU borders in order to finalize the Women’s Grand Prix series by the end of 2020, with several possible venues. Q2OC-2020/13 To reach a final decision on the 2022 Chess Olympiad in August, while keeping informal discussions with all potential organizers. Q2OC-2020/14 To approve the dates of the 2020 Online Olympiad as last week of July – first week of September 2020. Draft regulations to be presented to the Council for further e-vote. Q2OC-2020/15 To approve organization of the following online tournaments (regulations to follow): – Online top Junior event– Online cadet and youth events– Online senior event– World Bullet Chess Championship Q2OC-2020/16 To note great success of the Checkmate Coronavirus festival and to express gratitude to its organizers. Q2OC-2020/17 To express dissatisfaction with the nature of the current agreement regarding FIDE Online Arena and to authorize the President to seek legal advice to revise or terminate the agreement for the FIDE Online Arena. Q2OC-2020/18 To postpone making a decision on the Online Tournament Guidelines; to ask all interested parties to provide comments directly to the Arbiters’ Commission. Q2OC-2020/19 To request the FIDE Qualification Commission to study the situation with online titles. Q2OC-2020/20 To request the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission to publish the criteria for arbiters’ selection and to hold an online meeting to explain them. Q2OC-2020/21 To approve new ARB titles. Q2OC-2020/22 To approve the Arbiters’ Commission report. Q2OC-2020/23 To approve the Chess in Education Commission report. Q2OC-2020/24 To approve the Commission for Disabled report. Q2OC-2020/25 To approve the Commission for Women’s Chess report. Q2OC-2020/26 To approve the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission report. Q2OC-2020/27 To approve the proposal of the FIDE President to endorse two members of the Fact-Finding Committee Mr Ralf Alt (GER) as chairperson and Ms Yumiko Hiebert (JPN) as a member. To have consultations between the FIDE President, Mr. Strydom and Mr. Ncube to set up online voting for the third member. Q2OC-2020/28 To approve new EVE titles. Q2OC-2020/29 To approve the Events Commission report. Q2OC-2020/30 To request Events Commission to study a suggestion to introduce a new FIDE Organiser title. Q2OC-2020/31 To approve postponement of the FIDE EVE World Championships according to the Events Commission’s proposal: to postpone the remaining 2020 competitions to 2021 (except World Amateur 2020); to postpone the 2021 competitions to 2022; to postpone the bidding procedure of 2023 events to 2021. Q2OC-2020/32 To approve the Medical Commission report and the Medical security policy and protocol for upcoming over-the-board chess events subject to updates based on the situation changes. Q2OC-2020/33 To approve the Planning and Development Commission report. Q2OC-2020/34 To note that the proposal of Mr. Vega requires further consideration and flexibility in respect of the financial ways to support National Federations and Continents. Q2OC-2020/35 To approve the amendments to the Title Regulations proposed by the QC, with an editorial change that would clarify the terms used. Q2OC-2020/36 To approve the amendments to the Rating Regulations proposed by the QC. Q2OC-2020/37 To approve new QC titles. Q2OC-2020/38 To approve the Qualification Commission report. Q2OC-2020/39 To approve the Rules Commission report and to further discuss the proposal on Appendix E – Online chess. Q2OC-2020/40 To approve the Systems of Pairings and Programs Commission report. Q2OC-2020/41 To note the personal changes in the Social Commission. Q2OC-2020/42 To approve the Technical Commission report; to request that the final proposal regarding changes in Handbook shall be prepared for the next GA. Q2OC-2020/43 To approve new TRG titles. Q2OC-2020/44 To approve new FIDE Chess Academies. Q2OC-2020/45 To postpone making a decision on the Trainers’ Commission regarding a new system of titles and licenses; to ask all interested parties to cooperate with TRG in drafting a final proposal. Q2OC-2020/46 To approve the Data Protection Committee report and the GDPR-related amendments to the Handbook. Q2OC-2020/47 To approve the Constitutional Commission report. Q2OC-2020/48 To note the Media and Marketing report. Q2OC-2020/49 In the light of exceptional circumstances, the Council has approved the granting the GM title to Mr. Brandon Jacobson. Q2OC-2020/50 To request the Qualification Commission to revise a paragraph regarding the required number of foreign players number in view of the current situation. Q2OC-2020/51 To hold the next FIDE Council meeting online by the end September 2020.
WSCC GP Leg 2: Hou Yifan scrapes through, Ju Wenjun out
The second leg of Women’s Speed Chess Grand Prix started on Chess.com with the Round of 16. Some favorites won their matches comfortably: Kateryna Lagno 9-4 Kaiyu NingValentina Gunina 7.5-4.5 Le Thao Nguyen PhamSarasadat Khadamalsharieh 7-3 Irina KrushZhansaya Abdumalik 6.5-4.5 Deysi Cori For other higher-rated players, it was not a walk in the park, to say the least. Hou Yifan started the match against Gunay Mammadzada with losing three 5-minutes games. In one of them, she blundered an exchange and in the other lost on time. As the match progressed, the #1 female player adapted to the format and got the ball rolling; she bounced back in the 3-minutes games, got an upper hand in bullet and eventually prevailed 5.5-4.5. Another Chinese star Ju Wenjun succumbed to Olga Girya‘s resilience and determination. The World Champion was leading 5-3 before the bullet portion and had all the reasons to be optimistic. After a loss and a draw, the score was still 5,5-4,5 with just 2 minutes of the match left. Ju Wenjun resigned the next game just 25 seconds before the end of the countdown, preferring another bullet game to decide the match instead of the right away Armageddon. In the last game, Girya got the upper hand with White and delivered an upset of the round if not of the entire second leg. 19-year-old Vaishali Rameshbabu who went all the way to the match for 3rd place in the previous leg continues to take down the favorites. This time she defeated Anna Muzychuk 6-4 coming back from 2-4 and then winning the last two bullet encounters. The penultimate game turned out to be decisive: Myzychuk emerged with an extra exchange in an endgame but underestimated the quickness of her opponent’s a-pawn. The winner of the first leg Anna Ushenina started this one with confidence too, eliminating Harika Dronavalli 7-4.
Carlsen reaches second final of his $1 million tour
Magnus Carlsen crushed China’s number 1 Ding Liren in just three games to seal his place in the Chessable Masters final. The World Champion and hot favorite to win the $150,000 tournament hit top form at just the right time to qualify in an ominous fashion. Carlsen won the first encounter, drew the second, and then finished Ding off in the third to go through with a game – and a day – to spare. It was “breathtaking”, French Grandmaster Romain Édouard said on Twitter. Ding’s only win of the match was one gifted to him by Carlsen yesterday after he felt bad for winning the previous game when his opponent disconnected in a drawish position and ran out of time. “It would be special to face Anish in the final!” Carlsen said, but his dream of facing his Twitter rival Anish Giri hangs in the balance after the Dutch number 1 was defeated 2.5-1.5 by Russia’s top player Ian Nepomniachtchi. That means Anish and Ian return on Thursday for a high-stakes decider before the final starts on Friday. About the tournament The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game. The Chessable Masters, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer. Players were split into two groups (A and B) of six for the preliminary stage before eight progressed to the knockouts. The final winner will take home the top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharing FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Chessable Masters: Carlsen shows great sportsmanship
Magnus Carlsen, the world’s most ruthless chess player, has been widely praised after he showed incredible sportsmanship to resign on move 4 of a game today. The World Champion provided a moment of magic in the $150,000 online Chessable Masters as he intentionally gifted rival Ding Liren a full point in their high-stakes semi-final clash. It came after the Chinese number 1 suffered an unfortunate disconnection at a vital moment during today’s play. But while moments of mercy are rare in elite-level chess, that didn’t stop Carlsen wanting to make amends. Ding, playing behind internet firewall, has been plagued by connection problems throughout the online super-tournament. In the pair’s opening game today, Ding found himself down to his final few seconds on the clock when disaster struck. Despite fighting back to a seemingly drawn position, Ding had to forfeit the game as there was no chance he could reconnect in time. In the next game, Carlsen then deliberately lost his queen and resigned on move 4 to give the point back and level the score at 1-1. Carlsen said afterward: “I have immense respect for Ding as a chess player and as a human being and I thought against him this was the only correct way and clearly I wanted to win on the board.” He added: “I might have kicked myself if I’d lost one of the last two games but I think in general it was the right thing to do.” The Norwegian was widely praised on Twitter by fans and players alike for his action. Fellow tournament competitors Teimour Radjabov and Pentala Harikrishna responded by saying “great gesture!” and “respect!” In the commentary box, International Master John Bartholomew said: “That’s very consistent with Magnus’s character. He likes to win fairly.” Carlsen and Ding drew the next two games of the four-game set leaving the match on a knife-edge going into a blitz tiebreak. After the first game was drawn, Carlsen went on to win today’s first set in the best-of-three semi-final clash. In the other semi, Dutch number 1 Anish Giri took a first-day semi-final lead against Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi. Fresh from sparring with Carlsen on Twitter, Giri took the second game and then the final game to steer the set towards a 3-1 win. Nepomniachtchi needs to win tomorrow’s set to stay in the semi and take it to a decider on Thursday, or Giri goes through to the final. About the tournament The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game. The Chessable Masters, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer. Players were split into two groups (A and B) of six for the preliminary stage before eight progressed to the knockouts. The final winner will take home the top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharing FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Saša Martinović wins Croatian Championship
Some encouraging news came from Croatia. As this Mediterranean country is getting back normal life and over-the-board chess, the local federations staged an Individual Croatian Championship. The 12-player round-robin brought together the strongest Croatian grandmasters and was held in Vinkovci (Robert Fischer won a tournament there back 1968!) from June 19 to June 29. The competition turned into a very close affair that came down to the wire in the end. In the central game of the last round, the tournament leader Ante Brkić (sitting on 6.5 points) was swept away by Zdenko Kožul’s powerful attack on the kingside. This victory allowed the veteran to catch up with the leader. You can watch this key game here. Meanwhile, Saša Martinović, who was trailing the leader by ½ point, gradually outplayed Ognjen Jovanić and scored arguably the most important victory in his career that brought him his first title of Croatian champion. Interestingly enough, the eventual winner drew his first nine (!) games but a very strong finish (3 out of 3) catapulted him to the top position in the final standings. Zdenko Kozul tied for the second position but took silver thanks to better tiebreak criteria; bronze went to GM Robert Zelčić. Final standings 1 GM Martinović Saša 2532 7.0 2 GM Kožul Zdenko 2597 6.5 3 GM Zelčić Robert 2527 6.5 4 GM Stević Hrvoje 2575 6.5 5 GM Brkić Ante 2593 6.5 6 GM Šarić Ante 2541 6.0 7 GM Jovanić Ognjen 2524 5.5 8 GM Palac Mladen 2529 5.0 9 GM Bosiočić Marin 2625 5.0 10 GM Rogić Davor 2492 5.0 11 IM Plenča Jadranko 2483 3.5 12 GM Kovačević Blažimir 2410 3.0 Live games: https://hrvatski-sahovski-savez.hr/ftp/CroCh2020/
Chessable Masters: Ding downs Nakamura
Ding Liren powered past Hikaru Nakamura and made it into the last four of the $150,000 Chessable Masters with the minimum of fuss today. It took the Chinese number 1 just three games to dispatch the American, known for his speed chess prowess and to set up a semi-final clash with World Champion Magnus Carlsen. It followed a dramatic match yesterday that saw Nakamura, the popular American streamer who boasts 435,000 followers on Twitch, come back to level the tie. Ding had convincingly won the first set on Friday while Nakamura needed a blitz play-off and an Armageddon tiebreak on Sunday to draw level. On his upcoming match with Ding, Magnus Carlsen said: “It’s going to be tough obviously but I feel good. “He [Ding] has shown in these tournaments, and especially in this match, that he has got some serious positional jobs, he can just run you over without giving you counter-chances in a lot of games. So he is extremely strong. Ding said of the semi-final clash to come: “It’s a very exciting match I have and just enjoy the games. I’m very happy to play against Magnus since we play a lot of exciting and fighting games.” Today’s deciding set started with a draw but then Ding took full control to win the second and third games, meaning a fourth wasn’t needed. About the tournament The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game. The Chessable Masters, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer. Players were split into two groups (A and B) of six for the preliminary stage before eight progressed to the knockouts. The final winner will take home the top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharing FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Arkady Dvorkovich: The match for the chess crown will be postponed to 2021
Sports are gradually returning to stadiums after the coronavirus pandemic. However, the main chess competitions will be held online until autumn. In his interview to TASS news agency, Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), spoke about the expectations of the upcoming online Olympiad, expressed hope that the Candidates Tournament would be finished in Yekaterinburg, and admitted that almost certainly the World Championship match would be postponed to 2021. — Let’s start with the current events: the first leg of the Grand Prix Women’s Speed Chess Championship ended two days ago. What is so special about this event? — The women’s tournament consists of four legs plus a super-final. The twelve out of more than 200 players went through the qualification stage and joined 9 seeded participants. Now 21 players are competing in four legs of Grand Prix. Anna Ushenina from Ukraine won the first one, and the Russians Valentina Gunina and Alexandra Kosteniuk took second and third places. But there are still three legs to be played and everyone has a chance to compete for first place. We believe that there are not enough women’s chess competitions; commercial tournaments are held mainly among men. With this in mind, it is our duty to support women’s chess in this way. —Is there a big interest in women’s chess? — The interest is considerable, and the audience is already larger than it was before. The games of the first leg of the WSCC Grand Prix with English commentary were followed by a greater number of people comparing to the last Women’s World Championship match. By the way, in terms of viewership, the last Women’s World Championship became the most popular of all such competitions. Thus, the audience of women’s chess is constantly growing. — The Candidates Tournament and the World Championship Match are scheduled for this year, but both got suspended due to the pandemic. Is there any certainty about them? — Until September, most of our activities will be online. And the main event after the completion of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship is the Chess Olympiad, which will also be online. This year’s Olympiad was supposed to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk and Moscow, but we moved it to next year. And this year we will stage an online Olympiad, and in two or three days the registration of national teams for the tournament will begin. We want as many teams as possible to take part in the tournament — we have 195 FIDE members. I don’t know if all 195 teams can be involved… Photo: Alexander Scherbak (TASS) — But you will try. – Yes, we will do our best. About 70 percent of the countries will participate. The Olympiad will last almost a month. And then, indeed, we are determined to hold the second part of the Candidates Tournament in the autumn. As for location, the main option did not change — Yekaterinburg. But if the current restrictions and the epidemiological situation do not allow us to hold the second part of the Candidates in this city, we will consider other venues. Let me reiterate: it is very important for us to hold the second part this year, and if for objective reasons it is not possible to do in Yekaterinburg, we’ll have to move it to another place. I would like to stress that we will do this together with our partners from the Ural region, SIMA-Land, and the city authorities. It will be carried out only with full consent. But I hope that we will finish the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg. The match for the World Championship will almost certainly be postponed to the next year due to the current situation. We have already discussed this informally, and I think a formal decision will be made shortly. We are discussing various options — both spring and autumn 2021, but we will announce everything later. — You said that all chess would be online until September… — I should clarify here – national tournaments are already held offline. In particular, there were tournaments in Iceland, Norway, and we will hold them as soon as the restrictions are lifted. I was referring to international competitions. We are not able to announce the start of tournaments as usual because of travel restrictions. But I am almost sure that if not in August, then in September-October international tournaments can take place. Not those under FIDE aegis, but commercial ones; still it will be an important step, as people will realize that it is already possible to fly abroad. — A few days ago, the FIDE Council was held, also online. What important issues were discussed? — We mainly discussed online activities, summed up the results of completed tournaments, and talked about upcoming ones. We also discussed the coaches and referees training system. We didn’t make any revolutionary decisions, but we have once again confirmed that the Chess Olympiad will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk and Moscow next year. It is an important decision. — There was also information that a FIDE office might be open in Moscow. Is that so? — It is a long-lasting story. A few years ago, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (former President of FIDE) asked the authorities of the country and the city of Moscow to provide FIDE with office space. It was about the second office since the main one is in Lausanne. Since there are a lot of chess activities in Russia, a few months ago the government of Moscow decided to accommodate our request. Now there is a good location for our second office. Some minor repairs are needed, but I hope that this will happen soon and we will make preparations for the Olympiad directly from our Moscow office.
Anna Ushenina wins first leg of WSCC Grand Prix
Anna Ushenina, the classical World Champion in 2012, defeated Valentina Gunina in the final, leaving the score 7-4 in her favor. The Ukrainian outplayed her rival and was a deserved winner: a better opening preparation gave her the upper hand in most of the games, and she was also more accurate. Taking an early lead in the match was also an important factor that conditioned the rest of the final. Valentina was in general faster, as it is characteristic of her. But speed alone was not enough to prevail in this match and, in fact, none of the games was decided by the clock. Only in the last of the 3+1 games, when the Russian seemed to be gaining momentum, the comeback looked possible, but in a dramatic turn of events, a mouse slip when she was delivering checkmate in one move made her blunder her queen instead. After this blow, the remaining games became almost irrelevant. “It’s a really interesting tournament and a very hard one because everyone is very strong. I enjoyed being part of it,” said Anna Ushenina in a post-match interview. Leaderboard after the first of the four Grand Prix tournaments: GM Anna Ushenina UKR 12 GP points GM Valentina Gunina RUS 8 GP points GM Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 6 GP points WIM Vaishali Rameshbabu IND 5 GP points GM Katerina Lagno RUS 2 GP points GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2 GP points WIM Munkhzul Turmunkh MGL 2 GP points WGM Le Thao Nguyen Pham VIE 2 GP points The games of the Grand Prix events are played on the Chess.com Live Server, at www.chess.com/live. All matches are broadcast live with chess-master commentary on www.Chess.com/TV. “Need for speed” In this thrilling and innovative event, the players face each other under three different time controls. First, they play under “rapid” format, where each player has 5 minutes to think, plus one second being added to her clock after each move. Then, the match continues under “blitz” format, with the time going down to 3 minutes per player, plus one second added per move. Finally, the match concludes with the “bullet” games, the fastest of all time controls, and very popular in online games: the players have only 1 minute each, plus 1 second added per move. The adrenaline rush as the players have less and less time to think their moves as they get closer to the final and decisive games or their matches, and they are forced to make decisions by pure reflex, often making more than one more per second. About the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship The Grand Prix will consist of four legs, with a total of 21 participants: the 12 players who qualified through the Swiss and Playoffs, plus 9 players nominated by FIDE and Chess.com. Each of the 21 players participates in three out of four Grand Prix legs. Each Grand Prix leg is 16-players playoff, and will last five days (including one rest day after the semi-finals). The dates are June 24-28, July1-4, July 7-11, and July 14-18. All matches in each Grand Prix leg are divided into three segments: 30-minute segment of matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move30-minute segment of matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move10-minute segment of matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move In each Grand Prix leg, every player scores GP cumulative points according to her position in the final standings (for details, please check full tournament regulations on the FIDE website). The two players who score the most number of GP cumulative points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for WSCC Super Final. Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner. WSCC Super Final The two best players of Grand Prix will play the Women’s Speed Chess Championship Super Final match on the International Chess Day, July 20th, at 7 AM PDT. The match will be divided into three segments: 90-minute segment of matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move.60-minute segment of matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move.30-minute segment of matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move. Games that start but “run over” the overall countdown clock count towards the final score. The player who accumulates the most cumulative points wins the match. The final has a prize fund of 10.000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. These amounts are free of taxes. Photo: David Llada
Chessable Masters: Giri makes it to semis as Nakamura hangs on
Anish Giri gave himself a big birthday present by ensuring a semi-final spot in the $150,000 Chessable Masters. The Dutch star rolled over three-time World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk with two wins to take today’s second set 3-1 and the tie 2-0. Giri, who turned 26, then hit back at World Champion Magnus Carlsen who has been goading him on Twitter, by declaring: “The karma is real!” It came after Giri scored a casual bullet chess win over Carlsen while the Norwegian was streaming last night. Asked what he got for his birthday, Giri added: “I’ve got so many gifts, my wife is like a gift pro – she’s like a professional.” Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura overcame a stunning mistake against Ding Liren to take their match to a deciding set tomorrow. The popular American streamer, who boasts 435,000 followers on Twitch, had looked in complete control with the score at 2-1. But on the verge of completing his comeback after losing Friday’s encounter, Nakamura collapsed in the final game of the set. It allowed Ding, China’s top player, a chance to level the score and take it to a two-game blitz tiebreak which also finished level. Nakamura, the noted speed chess specialist, finally won the rubber in an Armageddon tiebreak after beating his opponent with white pieces. With the match now squared, the pair will play a deciding set tomorrow. The eventual winner will face a marquee match against Carlsen, world number 1, in the last four. About the tournament The Chessable Masters, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game. The event, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer. The final winner will take home top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharing FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770