National championships records
What follows is an improved version of an article originally published on the FIDE newsletter #7 (June 8, 2020). If you want to receive this biweekly publication directly in your inbox, please subscribe here. ############ Today, Ramon Mateo (pictured above), the only GM from the Dominican Republic, celebrates his 62nd birthday. A few weeks ago, a spontaneous debate sparked on social media when Ramon posted on his Facebook account that he won the National Championship in 1979, and then again in 2010. With a total of eight national titles under his belt, there is an impressive 31-year gap between his first and last victory. “Is this a world record of some kind?”, he wondered. While very praiseworthy, Ramon’s achievement is not a record. To begin with, the World Champion Max Euwe also dominated the chess scene in his country for more than three decades: he won every Dutch championship that he contested from 1921 until 1952, and additionally clinched the title again in 1955. That’s twelve victories in total, over a span of 34 years. Bernardo Roselli improves Euwe’s record by one year, having won the Uruguayan championship 19 times in 35 years. His first victory was in 1984, and the last one, in 2019. So, having won the last edition and being still the fourth highest rated player in the country, Bernardo has very good chances of keeping accumulating titles. In 2013, Roddy McKay won the 120th edition of the Scottish Championship when he was 62 years old, 39 years after first winning his first title (shared with Eric Holt) in 1974. What makes this result very remarkable is the fact that his previous victory had been 25 years before, in 1988, so Roddy’s victory can be seen as a huge comeback, in a country that is home to several Grandmasters. Oscar Panno won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future strong Grandmasters as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Larsen, and Fridrik Olafsson. That same year, he achieved his first victory at the Argentinian Championship. He would only manage to win this competition two more times: in 1985, and in 1992. Between his first and last (for now!) victories, there is a 39-year gap. Oscar Panno However, to find the current holder of the world record for the longest time span between a first and latest title in the national championship of a certain country, we have to go to Oceania. Last January, the International Master Paul Anthony Garbett (Auckland, 1952) shared first place in the New Zealand Open Championship, held in Tauranga. Paul’s 7th title (out of 27 participations) comes a whopping 46 years after his first victory in 1973/74. For 19 years, between 1996 and 2015, victory scaped him, but now he seems to be experiencing a second youth, achieving two more titles when he is already in his sixties. Paul might even be able to catch Anthony F Ker and Ortvin Sarapu, who won the NZ Championship a total of 14 and 20 times respectively. Rani Hamid Among the ladies, Rani Hamid of Bangladesh seems to be the record holder. She won her 19th National Women’s Chess Championship in 2018, thus qualifying for the Batumi Chess Olympiad at 74 years old. She had won the title for the first time 39 years before, in 1979, barely one year after learning how to play at age 34. Rani seems to have instilled some of this competitive spirit on her offspring: one of her sons, Sohel Hamid, was a national squash champion, and the other, Kaiser Hamid, was a professional football player and the captain of the Bangladesh Football Team during the 1980s and 1990s. Whenever we talk about competitive longevity in chess, it is almost impossible not to mention Viktor Korchnoi. The fact that Viktor changed countries at the peak of his career explains that he is not listed above, among those whose victories in a certain national championship spanned over three or four decades. However, Korchnoi could boast a record of his own: between his first victory at the USSR Championship in 1960, and his last victory at the Swiss Championship in 2011, there is more than half a century. Different countries, different eras, but the same winner.
Chess vs Coronavirus: 1-0, Checkmate!
A new world record No other international sports federation and no other official organized sports event, has ever reached the numbers achieved this past month by FIDE’s Checkmate Coronavirus initiative. There were 520,000 entries, 120,000 unique participants from at least 140 countries, in a marathon of 720 non-stop hours, and 2,762 tournaments. These staggering numbers, unprecedented and unthinkable for any sport, speak for themselves. Never before has FIDE or anyone else done so much, for so many in such a short time. Unity and solidarity The message of unity and solidarity was strongly endorsed. 20% of all Grandmasters and 10% of all FIDE titled players, joined their forces saying “Checkmate Coronavirus”. Some top GMs like Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Wang Hao, Peter Svidler, David Navara, and four Women’s World Champions, Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, and Tan Zhongyi, were among the many chess professionals who honored the project with their presence. The unity of the chess world was showcased by thousands of youngsters and amateur players who had a chance not only to win the prizes but also to test their skills against very strong opponents. FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, invited the national chess federations to spread the message and actively engage in the initiative. The President’s letter found an overwhelming response. More than 60 national federations and two associations affiliated with FIDE, organized their own tournaments which were included in the project. Some federations staged more than 25-30 tournaments each, including School Championships and National Team Events! Moscow 2021 Olympiad We have received many stories from the main prize winners who will be invited to the Moscow 2021 Olympiad. Some of them are heart-warming. HisEloquency, an amateur chess player from Serbia said: “I didn’t even consider I would get drawn for a major prize, so I was very surprised, to say the least. I double, triple and quadruple checked everything before I started phoning friends and family. It all felt unreal”. Michael Danny Kurnia, 23 years old, from Indonesia, shared more or less the same exhilarating feelings: ”I was so happy that I couldn’t say any more words, I was just showing my cellphone to my brother, saying “How could I win?” Our winners are aged from 9 the youngest to 64 the oldest and from at least 37 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe! Aftermath Chess was affected by this pandemic like any other sport with tournaments postponed or canceled and clubs temporarily closed. Yet the nature of chess helped players, fans, and enthusiasts of our game to stay active and involved during this crisis whereas online chess got an unprecedented boost. Checkmate Coronavirus became one of many effective initiatives by FIDE in response to the crisis. It gave the chance to everyone, regardless of age, level of play, or any other division a real chance to win in the strict sense of this word and infused a new spirit to the Olympic motto of participation. The aftermath of Checkmate Coronavirus promises to be no less exciting than the chess battles in its tournaments. In July-September, top GMs will be giving masterclasses and play mini-matches with Checkmate Coronavirus winners. Very soon, more than 800 souvenir prize winners will get their FIDE Checkmate Coronavirus memorabilia. The 64 main prize winners are looking forward to visiting the 2021 Moscow Olympiad. And most certainly, we all wait for yet another great online chess initiative, which will unite us once again. Chess vs Coronavirus: 1-0, Checkmate!
WSCC: Vaishali, Cori get through to GP stage
WGMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Deysi Cori punched the tickets to Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix after winning the 5th qualifier. Nearly 200 players took part in a 3+1 Swiss event and after 13 intense rounds of chess, the top 8 made it to the knockout playoff stage: IM Anastasia Bodnaruk – 10.5/13GM Valentina Gunina – 10WIM Vaishali R – 10GM Antoaneta Stefanova – 10IM Alina Kashlinskaya – 9.5GM Nino Batsiashvili – 9.5WGM Elena Tomilova – 9.5WGM Deysi Cori – 9.5 It was the fourth time the strongest Peruvian female player Deysi Cori found herself in a playoff and this one was a charm. In her first match, she knocked out Bodnaruk in the Armageddon game; in the second one, she crushed Stefanova 2-0. The 19-year-old Chennai-native Vaishali R played her third playoff in this competition and she did not miss the opportunity this time. In quarterfinals, Vaishali defeated Kashlinskaya 1,5-0,5 and then prevailed over Gunina 1.5-0.5 in the semi-final match for a spot in the Grand Prix stage. It was a lucky day for siblings. Both Vaishali R and Deysi Cori have prodigy brothers – the fourth-youngest GM in history Praggnanandhaa R and Jorge Cori, who became a GM at 14, respectively. The FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for female players held between June 18 and July 20, 2020. The championship consists of four separate stages, with the first now underway. Six Swiss tournaments, followed by a knockout are played to deliver two qualifiers each for the Grand Prix stage that follows. WSCC Super Final in which two best players of Grand Prix face-off, crowns the competition. The Swiss tournaments are open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/IM/GM). Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner. The prize fund of WSCC Super Final amounts to 10,000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. More information about the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Chessable Masters: Nakamura survives scare, Dubov out
Magnus Carlsen stormed into the Chessable Masters knockout stage today as his main rival overcame an almighty scare. The World Champion turned around a disappointing day 1 to march up the leaderboard and finish joint-top of Group A in the $150,000 online chess super-tournament. Carlsen said: “It was a bit nervy, at least at the very start, but certainly after I made a draw in the third game against Sasha [Alexander Grischuk] I calmed down and after that it was comfortable.” Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura – the #1 in blitz rating seen as Carlsen’s biggest threat – needed a dramatic final round win on demand to make it through. It averted what would have been a huge shock but meant Daniil Dubov, the young Russian who won the last Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event, was dumped out instead. It was harsh on Dubov, who finished level on points with Nakamura and three-time World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk but went out on a tiebreaker. Vladislav Artemiev, the in-form Russian GM who led after the first day, finished level with Carlsen at the top on 6 points. The day’s play started with an eagerly-awaited marquee match between Carlsen and Nakamura which saw the Norwegian score a thumping win. Nakamura was never in it and, having drawn all his previous encounters, sunk below 50 percent and into the drop-zone. In the other games, bottom-of-the-barrel Pentala Harikrishna’s loss to in-form Vladislav Artemiev which also left the Indian teetering on the edge of elimination. Harikrishna badly needed a win against Carlsen to stay in the running but, despite counter-attacking hard, was held to a draw which effectively ended his challenge. Artemiev, who led Group A after the first day, then lost against Dubov and the result left the pair level at the top. Nakamura, meanwhile, split the point with Grischuk. Round 8 was cagey as all three games were also drawn. Nakamura saved a difficult position against Grischuk, who missed a good opportunity to put himself in the top 4. Round 9 set up a fascinating finish. Carlsen put in a virtuoso performance to down Dubov and leapfrog the Russian in a menacing fashion. It took Carlsen to 5.5 points and secured his place in the knockout alongside Artemiev, who safely drew against Grischuk. For Dubov, however, it meant he now needed a draw in the final round to go through. Nakamura, meanwhile, was by now clearly out-of-sorts. But yet again he escaped what seemed like a lost position, this time against Harikrishna, to pick up a fortunate draw. In the final round, Grischuk was fighting it out for one of the final two places with several scenarios possible. Nakamura finally found his form to beat Dubov and sneak into the top 4 on the pair’s head-to-head score while Grischuk powered past Harikrishna to also edge past his fellow Russian. Carlsen, Artemiev, Nakamura, and Grischuk now go through to the quarter-finals which start on Thursday and will be joined by four more players from Group B. About the tournament 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. Players are split into two groups (A and B) of six which play on alternate days for the preliminary stage before eight progress to the knockouts. 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=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com
TTCA stages 1st Regional Online Chess Championship
The Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association (TTCA) recently hosted the 1st Regional Online Chess Championship, a blitz tournament (3 min +2 sec increment) for Under 18 youth with an ELO less than 1800, over the period June 13-17, 2020. There seemed to be vast excitement surrounding this event as 173 players from 14 countries in the Caribbean Region played in the qualifying round on June 13, 2020. The tournament was played in the Arena format where players were paired continuously for 90 minutes. The top 14 players then joined the National Under 18 Champions of Trinidad and Tobago, CM Sean Yearwood from St. Mary’s College and WCM Shemilah James from St. Francois Girls’ College, in the Round of 16. FM Adrian Atwell, FM Ryan Harper, and FM Joshua Johnson provided live commentary throughout the event. The competition was aligned with FIDE and CCA policy to make online chess as an important tool for development. It was also integrated into the FIDE project Checkmate Coronavirus. The competition was dominated by the Jamaican players, with Darren Mc Kennis, Jaden Shawand, and John Stephenson taking the first places. WCM Raehanna Brown became the best-performing female, whereas Rohit Mahtani was the winner in the Under 12 category. The TTCA President was overwhelmed by the success of the tournament: “We felt we needed to engage the community in a positive way and the team supported an online event extended to the Caribbean Region. I could not have anticipated the level of support especially given the very short notice. This was the first time we embarked upon such an initiative, going as far as to have live commentary. A great deal of work had to be done in the back end to facilitate this and I thank TTCA Treasurer, Keelan Hunte, who served as the ‘anchor’, ensuring that the technical details were effectively addressed.” Covid-19 has presented challenges to all sports, while other opportunities emerged. The TTCA will continue to uses these online channels to deliver its mandate as far as possible until it can safely return to over the board play. Videos of the various rounds can be found on the TTCA Youtube channel. The TTCA is committed to hosting more events that seek to further develop chess both locally and throughout the region.
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Michel Nguélé Viang (1948 – 2020)
With profound shock and deep regret, FIDE has learned about the untimely death of Michel Nguélé Viang. Michel, who was President of the Cameroonian Chess Federation and Acting President of Zone 4.3 of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), died last Wednesday, June 17, 2020, at the age of 71 from cancer. Michel was a valuable member of the Board of the African Chess Confederation and he will be greatly missed by the Cameroonian and African chess communities. FIDE extends heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Michel Nguélé Viang.
Chessable Masters: Vachier-Lagrave and Giri lead in group B
Dutch star Anish Giri won a dramatic final round game to level with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on top of Group B in the Chessable Masters today. Giri, who had drawn his first four games, took full advantage of a slip by world number 2 Fabiano Caruana to leapfrog him in the table and finish unbeaten on 3/5. Vachier-Lagrave, meanwhile, closed out a final round draw to end what was an excellent first day for the Frenchman. The 29-year-old, who is ranked fifth in the world, also beat group favorite Caruana as the preliminary stage of the $150,000 super-tournament reached the half-way point. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored the first point of the day in Round 1 to take an early lead of Group B by crashing through against Teimour Radjabov. The other two games, Caruana vs Ding Liren and Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri, ended in draws. In the second, Nepomniachtchi went from hero to zero when Caruana meted out a killer blow against him. Again the other two encounters ended peacefully. Then in Round 3, it was the new sole leader again who lost as Caruana was the victim of a beautiful mate found by Vachier-Lagrave. For the third round in a row, the other two games were drawn. The pattern was broken in Round 4, however, as the leader Vachier-Lagrave kept in front with a draw against Ding Liren. Giri scored his fourth half-point in a row against Nepomniachtchi. But the day’s penultimate round was all about Caruana who showed all his skill to pull off an endgame win from a theoretically drawn position against Radjabov. Yet Caruana came crashing back down in a stunning end to a sharp final game of the day against Giri in which the American fell apart in a difficult position. Giri had taken 15 attempts to score a win when he appeared in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the event that kicked off the tour. In this tournament, however, it was five. Speaking of what’s needed to progress, Giri said afterward: “Fifty percent is pretty much a guarantee to qualify, which definitely isn’t ideal…” Tomorrow Group A is back in action with two players facing elimination before the knockout stage begins. About the tournament 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. Players are split into two groups (A and B) of six which play on alternate days for the preliminary stage before eight progress to the knockouts. 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=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com
WSCC: Assaubayeva, Girya advance to Grand Prix stage
WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva and WGM Olga Girya qualify to the Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix from the 4th qualifier. 172 players joined the Swiss 5+1 blitz tournament held on June 21. After nine rounds, the top eight finishers made it to the knockout stage: WGM Olga Girya (Russia), WGM Elena Tomilova (Russia), WIM Vaishali R (India), WIM Margarita Potapova (Russia), GM Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan), WGM Deysi Cori (Peru), and GM Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia). A young Kazakhstani star Bibisara Assaubayeva is the world’s highest-rated girl in the under-16 age category who has the titles of World Youth Champion (Girls U8) and World Cadets Champion (Girls U12) under her belt. In the quarters, she defeated Vaishali R 2-0. However, her semifinal match against Elena Tomilova was not an easy walk. After a draw in the first game, Assaubayeva managed to win the second one from the lost position – her opponent was a knight up but miscalculated when going for simplifications, erroneously sacrificed her extra piece and found herself in a lost pawn ending. The reigning Russian Women’s Champion, WGM Olga Girya took the second qualifying spot. She started both her matches against Dzagnidze and Stefanova from losing the first game but showed her mettle not only bouncing back both times but also winning the decisive Armageddon games. GM Robert Hess who was commentating on the games even called Olga a “comeback queen” and for a good reason. The position in her “sudden death” game against Stefanova was still unclear in the sharp queens’ endgame when the Bulgarian ex-world champion lost on time. The FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for female players held between June 18 and July 20, 2020. The championship consists of four separate stages, with the first now underway. Two more of these Swiss tournaments, followed by a knockout, will be played and to deliver two qualifiers each for the Grand Prix stage that follows. WSCC Super Final in which two best players of Grand Prix face-off, crowns the competition. The Swiss tournaments are open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/IM/GM). Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner. The prize fund of WSCC Super Final amounts to 10,000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. More information about the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Chessable Masters Day 1: Artemiev tops leaderboard
Vladislav Artemiev crashed the party on day one of the Chessable Masters to finish unbeaten on top of Group A. The 22-year-old Russian, playing in his first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event, burst out of the blocks early with two straight wins. He then cruised through three more rounds bagging draws to leave the big pre-tournament favorites in his wake. Group A features World Champion Magnus Carlsen, speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura and Daniil Dubov, the winner of the last Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event. But none of them got into top gear and will have to play well on Monday to guarantee making it through to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna, the other tour debutant, had a tough time early on but pulled it back in the last two rounds to draw against Nakamura and win against Alexander Grischuk. Harikrishna had earlier missed a clear win against Carlsen. “I can’t complain,” he said afterward. “It was disappointing but of course I was happy to draw against Hikaru. I was completely lost, but it was just lucky.” He added he was “very happy” to win the last round and admitted, “after two games, everyone wanted to win against me”. The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the latest stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize fund of $1 million, a record for online chess. With both players hoping to kick-start their campaign with a win against a key rival, Carlsen had the best of it but Nakamura – sporting a new, clean-shaven look – defended stoutly. Round 2 upped the tempo as Artemiev won again, beating his in-form countryman Dubov to post a 2/2 start and install himself as the early tournament leader. Carlsen overpowered Harikrishna – but not without the scare – to get his first win and leave the Indian pointless. Meanwhile, Alexander Grischuk and Nakamura agreed to a tame draw. Round 3 saw Nakamura and Artemiev end their game early with a draw by repetition. Carlsen ran into trouble against Grischuk but the champion escaped with a draw after the Russian let him off the hook when his clock was down. Meanwhile, Harikrishna’s nightmare start continued as he went down against Dubov. Carlsen’s luck ran out in Round 4 though as he blundered badly against Dubov to tumble down to 50%. Seconds later Nakamura also blundered in a strong position against Harikrishna to clock up another draw. Grischuk-Artemiev also ended in a draw. Nakamura ended a quiet day for him unbeaten with five straight draws on 2.5/5 after sharing the final round point with Dubov, who finished a half-point better. Carlsen drew with Artemiev in the last round to finish on 2.5 alongside Hikaru. Asked how his day went afterward, Carlsen said: “It was… pretty bad.” About the tournament 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. Players are split into two groups (A and B) of six which play on alternate days for the preliminary stage before eight progress to the knockouts. The A Group consists of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Grischuk, Vladislav Artemiev and Pentala Harikrishna. The B Group features Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Teimour Radjabov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Anish Giri. 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=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770