FIDE Arbiters’ Commission releases Arbiters’ Manual 2020
The FIDE Arbiters’ Commission is pleased to release the edition 2020 of the FIDE Arbiters’ Manual. The document includes welcome word by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and an introduction written by Laurent FREYD Chairman FIDE – Arbiters Commission. This version contains updated regulations from the FIDE Handbook: – C02 and C05, by the Technical Commission about Tournaments – B02, by the Qualification Commission, about Rapid and Blitz rating Structured in 12 Chapters, the topics have been reorganized to follow the preoccupations of the arbiters: 1. Governing play: Roles and duties, Laws of Chess, Anti-Cheating, Pairings 2. Players’ focus: Ratings and norms 3. Technical references: Tournaments and tie-breaks 4. Administrative: titles and classifications of arbiters, application forms Since the new FIDE ARB Commission was nominated, Councilor IA Shohreh Bayat took the lead on the Manual. She closely worked with one of our valuable members IA Alex McFarlane in a real marathon of reviews, proposals and improvements. They also got notable contributions from IA Tomasz Delega (Chairman of the ECU Arbiters’ Council), IA Aris Marghetis (Former Secretary of the ARB and FIDE Lecturer), IA Alex Holowczak (Secretary of the Qualification Commission), IA Gopakumar MS (Member of the Fair Play Commission and FIDE Lecturer, IA Hal Bond (Member of the Planning and Development Commission and FIDE Lecturer). Many thanks to all contributors! Any feedback, comments, proposals to continue improving the Arbiters’ Manual are welcome! Feel free to address them to the ARB Commission (secretary.arbiters@fide.com & shohreh_b1987@yahoo.com)
FIDE distributes €35,000 among veterans
As it was previously announced, the International Chess Federation has budgeted the sum of €50,000 for a program to support chess veterans in 2020. Combined with the decision of waiving fees to our seniors, this is FIDE’s contribution towards giving back a little to those who devoted their entire life to chess. Like in 2019, the initial plan was to allocate €20.000 to provide stipends to individual nominees, and €30,000 to increase the prize fund of the World Seniors Championship. However, due to the ongoing uncertainty created by the global spread of the new Coronavirus, we still don’t know if this event will go ahead as planned, or it will have to be canceled/postponed. In view of these uncertainties, the dedicated panel working on the assignment by FIDE Council found advisable to redistribute this amount, allocating a record total amount of €35,000 directly to stipends. The general consensus was that this was much needed in these difficult times. After carefully considering the numerous applications received, the Council decided that these will be the 17 chess players, coaches, and promoters who will benefit from FIDE’s support: Alexander Nikitin (RUS)Heikki Westerinen (FIN)Viktor Zheliandinov (UKR)Vlastimil Jansa (CZE)Evgeni Melikset-Begi (GEO)Gabriela Olarasu (ROM)Viacheslav Dydyshko (BLR)Qi Jingxuan (CHN)Yaacov Zilberman (ISR)Slim Bouaziz (TUN)Gerry Walsh (ENG)Boris Itkis (MLD/ROM)Lyudmila Belavenets (RUS)Jesus Gonzales Bayolo (CUB)Dmitry Kayumov (UZB)Lkhamsuren Myagmarsuren (MGL)Emmanuel Omuku (NGR) Among the recipients, there are individuals from 16 different countries, representing 4 continents. The Council has also tried to have all bodies and categories represented: players, coaches, and arbiters. In terms of their dedication and contribution to chess, all the aforementioned individuals demonstrated outstanding merits, and they deserve not only this financial help but also the unanimous recognition of the chess community. About some of the recipients: Alexander Nikitin will always be remembered as one of Kasparov’s first mentors, but he also trained Etienne Bacrot, and coached Boris Spassky for his rematch against Bobby Fischer in 1992. Nikitin was also the head of the young chess players’ school of Spartak Sports Society, attended by many famous grandmasters including Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Yakovenko. Heikki Westerinen was Finland’s first-ever Grandmaster (1975) and a four-time national champion (1965, 1966, 1970). Thanks to him the popularity of chess grew in this country, and he also left his mark in the international arena by virtue of his sharp style – being the King’s Gambit and the king hunts part of his personal trademark. Viktor Zheliandinov (17 March 1935) a Soviet-Ukrainian Chess player, International Master and coach. He achieved very good results in the strong Championship of the Soviet Armies, winning this event in Prague 1966 and coming out third in Gavana 1967. As a coach, he was a member of Karpov’s team during the 1985 match, but what he enjoyed the most was working with young players. His most famous pupil was Vassily Ivanchuk, whom he started coaching when he was a schoolboy, and continued to do so during his participation in the famous Linares tournament. More recently, he has worked with Mateusz Bartel. Daughter of master Sergey Belavenets who fell in a battle in 1942, Liudmila Belavenets (June 7, 1940) chose her field of work in his honor. Liudmila Belavenets was a strong player, winning the Women’s Soviet Chess Championship in 1975 and obtaining the Woman International Master in 1977. She achieved the highest results in correspondence chess, too: in 1990 she became the Women’s World Champion in this discipline. However, she won the hearts of many generations of young chess players as one of the most famous Moscow coaches. In 1973 she started to work in “Young pioneers” center, but is most known for her work in “Spartak” chess club named after Petrosian. She was the first coach of GMs Alexander Morozevich, Alexey Vyzmanavin, Andrei Sokolov. In 2010, Belavenets was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. Now, at 79, she is still active and surrounded by a new generation of young players. Slim Bouaziz became the first African person to earn International Grandmaster title. The leading Tunisian player for over 30 years, he participated in five Interzonal Tournaments and sixteen Chess Olympiads. During his long and prolific chess career, he has won the Arab Chess Championship twice (1986 and 1991) and shared first place in the international tournaments in Belgrade (1977) and Bucharest (1992). In 2014 Slim Bouaziz also became a FIDE International Organizer. Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren was the first player to represent Mongolia in an Interzonal Tournament. After winning the West Asian zonal tournament in 1966, he competed in the Interzonal Tournament in Sousse (1967). Four-time Mongolian champion (1965, 1980, 1981, 1982), he participated in 10 Chess Olympiads and won the individual gold medal at the fourth board in Leipzig (1960). Vlastimil Jansa won the Czechoslovak Chess Championship in 1964, 1974 and 1984. He represented his country at the Chess Olympiad on a number of occasions, winning a team silver medal in 1982. He is an author of several books and many theoretical articles, as well as a very active coach. Jansa played an important role in the development of David Navara, among others. At 77, he is still very active, having won the 2018 World Senior Championship in the 65+ category. Photo: DENÍK/Jaroslav Bílek
FIDE Trainers Commission announces a series of online seminars
The FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) is pleased to announce a series of FIDE Trainer Online Seminars – no less than twenty are planned in the period between April 1 and September 30, 2020 – which will cover all geographical regions and accommodate all major languages. In particular, TRG acknowledges the interest and plans of the European Chess Union (ECU) to organize four seminars in June and another four in September 2020. TRG works with FIDE Affiliated Organizations and FIDE on promoting these FIDE Trainer Online Seminars and invites all parties concerned to cooperate with us and contribute to this initiative. Our first seminar was held for Europe (April 3-5) and was led by FIDE Senior Trainers Thomas Luther and Artur Jussupow. The next one will be for Asia – East Asia and Oceania (April 24-26) facilitated by the Philippine Academy for Chess Excellence le FIDE Senior Trainer Jayson Gonzales. The list of lecturers includes the biggest names in Asia, such as FIDE Trainer Awards winners Ramesh RB (India) and Yu Saoteng (China) and two chess legends, Asia’s first grandmaster Eugenio Torre (Philippines) and Asia’s first World Champion Xie Jun (China). May will see a German language seminar from (May 1-3) led by FIDE Senior Trainer Uwe Boensch who will be assisted by Artur Yussupow and Thomas Luther and a Spanish language seminar (May 22-24) led by FIDE Senior Trainer Alonso Zapata. The seminar schedule is available on the official website. Full details of each seminar are also published one the TRG website. All the questions regarding the seminars can be directed to trainers@fide.com.
CALL FOR BIDS: FIDE World Championships 2022
IMPORTANT: Please note that FIDE is considering an option to postpone the 2020 competitions to 2021, and the 2021 competitions to 2022. Thus, all those bidding for the 2022 events shall be prepared that their bids will be considered for 2023. Deadline 4th of September 2020 1. World Junior Chess Championships 2022 2. World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2022 3. World Youth (U14, U16 & U18) Chess Championships 2022 (Europe) 4. World Cadets (U08, U10 & U12) Chess Championships 2022 (Europe) 5. World Youth & Cadets Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2022 6. World School Chess Championships 2022 7. World Senior Chess Championships 2022 8. Word Senior Team Chess Championships 2022 9. World Amateur Chess Championships 2022 A bid for any FIDE Competitions onwards shall include the name of a FIDE licensed International Organizer. All bids should be submitted by the due date in a sealed envelope to the FIDE Secretariat, postal address: Avenue de Rhodanie 54, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland. Alternatively, or scanned documents can be sent to the email: office@fide.com, by 4th of September 2020, 16:00 local time. Related documents: Full document with the call for bids (pdf) Bid form (pdf) Bid form annex (pdf)
World School Chess Championship is postponed
The International Chess Federation has decided to postpone the World School Chess Championship, which was scheduled to take place in Panama City, from May 28th to June 7th. The new dates are November 1-11, 2020. The Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall Hotel & Convention Center remains as the official hotel and playing venue, as it was initially planned: this hotel is located within 35 minutes from the two main airports: Tocumen International Airport (one of the main hubs in Central America), and the Panama Pacifico Airport. We regret the inconveniences that this may cause to the participants, but both FIDE and the Panama Chess Federation understand we have no option but to postpone the event in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The decision was made following the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the national sports authorities in Panama, and also attending to the concerns expressed by many participants and National Federations. Our top priority is the protection of public health. Bookings and deposits will be transferred to the new dates, and in case any participant is not able to attend the event in these new dates, he will be fully refunded for their hotel bookings and registration fees. We would like to note that since the reason for the postponement is force majeure and a recognized worldwide serious threat for public health, neither FIDE nor the organizers can be responsible for other expenses incurred by participants, including travel expenses and air tickets. However, since this is a global issue, most airlines are offering free changes or full refunds to all passengers who were supposed to travel during this period. FIDE is also considering the possibility to postpone all the remaining 2020 competitions to 2021, and the 2021 competitions to 2022. We will keep monitoring the situation, and an announcement will be made a minimum of 4 months prior to the planned starting date of the event.
Grand Chess Tour cancels 2020 season due to COVID-19
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) regretfully announces the cancellation of its 2020 season. The global pandemic known as COVID-19 is impacting our lives, and all sporting events around the world are being canceled or postponed. “The Grand Chess Tour’s priority is the health and well-being of our participants, spectators, staff and partners,” said GCT Executive Director Michael Khodarkovsky. “The GCT board of directors reached this decision in collaboration with partners and sponsors based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).” “We would like to reassure players and the world chess community that all our sponsors and partners: Superbet Group and Superbet Foundation, Vivendi SA, Colliers International, and the Saint Louis Chess Club have confirmed their commitment for the 2021 season,” said legendary World Champion and GCT President Garry Kasparov. “The sixth season is now to be held in 2021, and fans around the world can expect an expanded tour.” The Saint Louis Chess Club will await further developments and recommendations from medical and civic authorities before determining the fate of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and Champions Showdown: Chess9LX, currently scheduled for August 24 – September 14 collectively. “The Saint Louis Chess Club hopes for the best global outcome possible,“ said Rex Sinquefield, founder of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “Our goal is to host these events as scheduled.” Details on dates and format for the Grand Chess Tour 2021 season will be announced in the coming months. Official site: grandchesstour.org.
2020 Extraordinary General Assembly Minutes
FIDE publishes the Minutes of 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly which was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE on February 28th. Download 2020 Extraordinary General Assembly Minutes (pdf)
Dzagnidze and Abdumalik shoot up in April rating list
FIDE April 1 rating listAll Top-100 listsAll rating lists – download Although chess competitions all around the world were suspended in March due to the outbreak of COVID-19, some tournaments were played at the beginning of the month (FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Lausanne and the traditional Nutcracker in Moscow) with their results being incorporated into the April ratings. Moreover, the first part of the FIDE 2020 Candidates also found its way into the list, which slightly influenced the standings in the TOP 10 Open. TOP 10 Open: 1. Magnus Carlsen – 2863 (+1)2. Fabianо Caruana – 2835 (-7)3. Ding Liren – 2791 (-14)4. Nepomniachtchi Ian – 2784 (+10)5. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 2778 (+11)6. Alexander Grischuk – 2777 (0)7. Levon Aronian – 2773 (0)8. Wesley So – 2770 (0)9. Teimour Radjabov – 2765 (0)10. Anish Giri – 2764 (+1) Photo: Maria Emelianova The leaders after the first part of the Candidates Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi scored 4.5/7 each and picked 11 and 10 points respectively with the former moving 3 positions up. The pre-event favorites Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren found themselves in the red zone rating wise but kept their spots in the top 3. Anish Giri netted just one rating point but even this small increase allowed him to tie for 10th place with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Biggest gains: 1. Bassem Amin – 2686 (+19)2. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 2778 (+11)3. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 2784 (+10)4. Andrey Esipenko – 2682 (+10)5. David W L Howell – 2663 (+10)6. Evgeny Tomashevsky – 2706 (+5)7. Luke J McShane – 2680 (+5)8. Jorden Van Foreest – 2682 (+4)9. Markus Ragger – 2679 (+4)10. Constantin Lupulescu – 2656 (+4) A rising star of African chess Bassem Amin was very productive in March. The GM from Egypt crushed the competition in the Arab Cities Chess Championship and Arab Chess Club Championship and earned 19 rating points – by far the biggest gain in the TOP 100 Open. Photo: Amruta Mokal, ChessBase India A young Russian GM Andrey Esipenko keeps climbing in the rating lists. This month he became one of the players to make the biggest progress thanks to his strong performance in the above mentioned Nutcracker tournament in which a team of Kings (Gelfand, Shirov, Tomashevsky, and Najer) played Princes (Sarana, Esipenko, Yuffa, and Lomasov) in classical and rapid chess. Eventually, Kings prevailed but it was not Esipenko to blame – Andrey scored solid +2 in classical games, netted 10 rating points and broke into the TOP 3 of the juniors rating list. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili Ironically, two “Kings”, namely Alexei Shirov and Evgeniy Najer dropped some rating points in March (in Sweden and in Moscow respectively) and had to leave the TOP 100 Open. On the other hand, their teammate Yevgeny Tomashevsky did very well in classical games in the Nutcracker 2020 and rose by 5 notches in the April rating list. Welcome to TOP 100 Open: Romain Edouard (2649)Sergei Movsesian (2649)Dariusz Swiercz (2649) We have three only three newcomers in April which hardly surprises anyone given the slump in chess activity around the globe. It is worth noting that two of them (Movsesian and Swiercz) did not play a single game in March. Photo: David Llada The third leg of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Lausanne saw the triumph of Nana Dzagnidze who scored the most important tournament victory in her career and picked up 15 rating points along the way. Maybe even bigger surprise was the performance by the 20-year old Kazakhstani Zhansaya Abdumalik. The #1 female junior finished third (+17 rating points) list and reached her career-high in the TOP 100 Women list. Photo: David Llada The participants of the recent Women’s World Championship match Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina had quite different tournament paths in Lausanne. The World Champion was far from her best which cost her 23 rating points, whereas the recent challenger turned in a strong performance and shared first place with Nana Dzagnidze. As a result, Goryachkina surpassed Ju Wenjun and returned into the top 3.
First Kazakhstan online tournament Uide Bol Cup 2020 to start on April 11
The first Kazakhstan national online blitz tournament Uide Bol (translated as Stay Home) Cup 2020 organized by Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) in partnership with Kcell mobile telecom will start on April 11, 2020, on chess.com website. The registration started yesterday on the official website and will be open until April 10, 2020. Only citizens and residents of Kazakhstan are eligible to take part in the event. The participants (the total number shall not exceed 1,000 people) will have a chance to fight over virtual boards for the total prize fund of 2 million KZT (about USD 4,500). There will be separate prizes for women, seniors, juniors and children. “The overwhelming majority of the population of Kazakhstan is now under quarantine conditions caused by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. This tournament provides an excellent opportunity for its participants to have fun and even earn money with their chess skills. We hope that the KCF initiative supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Kazakhstan, Qazaq Cybersport Federation, and Kcell JSC will bring together a record number of participants. I wish them good luck and success,” – Mr. Zhandos Abishev, Executive director of Kazakhstan Chess Federation, said.
Arianne Caoili dies at 33
Dreadful news came from Yerevan. Levon Aronian‘s wife, Arianne Caoili passed away following the tragic car accident two weeks earlier. Our deepest condolences to Levon Aronian. No words can describe our shock and grief. In this dark time of life, we are sending all the strength in the world to Levon, the couple’s family, and friends. “I have no words to express the grievance over my wife Arianne’s death. She was intelligent, hard working and joyous person that lived a beautiful life. I love you honeybun, sleep tight….” wrote Levon Aronian on Twitter.