FIDE Candidates Tournament starts in Yekaterinburg on March 16
The 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament will officially open on March 16, 2020 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. One of the most important chess events of the year, it will bring together eight top world players competing to become the challenger to Magnus Carlsen at the FIDE World Chess Championship Match at the end of this year. The participants of the tournament are Fabiano Caruana (USA), Ding Liren (China), Wang Hao (China), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia), Kirill Alekseenko (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), who replaced Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) after the latter decided to drop out of the event. The eight players will play a double round-robin tournament (14 rounds). The rounds will be held between March 17 and April 3. The Opening Ceremony: The official opening of the Tournament will take place on March 16 at 7 PM at the Congress Centre – Ekaterinburg Expo (Address: 2, Expo Boulevard). Before the beginning of the ceremony, between 6.15 and 6.45 PM, members of the media will be able to meet with officials and the participants. On the same day, at 1 PM, there will be a pre-start press event mainly for Russian media, attended by the officials, organizers and some of the players. The event will be held at the Sverdlovsk Journalists’ Union, (Address: 1, Clara Zetkin Street). The Tournament: The games will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (Address: 8, Borisa Yeltsina Street) from the 17th March to 3rd April. The First Round will begin at 4 PM local time (noon CET; 4 AM PST). Pairings for the First Round are: M. Vachier-Lagrave – F. Caruana; Ding Liren – Wang Hao; A. Giri – I. Nepomniachtchi; A. Grischuk – K. Alekseenko. The games will take place on the following dates: March 17-19; March 21-23; March 25-27; March 29-31, March 2 – April 3. Free days: March 20, 24, 28 and April 1. The beginning of all rounds will be at 4 PM local time, except for the 14th round, which will start at 3 PM local time on April 3. The closing ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 3 at 9.30 PM at Sima-Land (Address: 86, bld. 8, Chernyakhovsky Street). The Prize fund: The prize fund for the event is 500,000 Euros. This is the largest ever prize fund for a Candidates Tournament. The commentary: There will be live commentary in English, Russian and Chinese. The live broadcast will be on the main page of the official tournament website: https://en.candidates-2020.com/main. GM Danil Dubov and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko will lead the English commentary. GM Sergey Shipov will lead the Russian commentary. The Chinese commentators will be ex-world champion Hou Yifan and three-time champion of China and 14-time champion of The Netherlands, Peng Zhaoqing. Spectators who come to the venue at the Hyatt Hotel will be able to listen to the live commentary of GM Sergey Shipov, which will take place in the activities zone. Health and safety: The following health and safety measures will be in force: 1. A check-point with a qualified nurse will be created for all participants of the tournament, and officials and visitors in the auditorium. At this point, visitors will be checked for symptoms of Covid-19 before entering the game room, including checking their body temperature. 2. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers will be available at all times. 3. N95 face-masks will always be available in the required quantity. Depending on the assessment of the situation, the wearing of masks may become mandatory for visitors in the auditorium. 4. Handshakes before and after the game are optional. 5. Spectators who come to the venue will not have access to the playing area. 6. Preventive measures (masks, disinfectants) must also be provided in all hotel rooms where participants and officials will be staying, as well as in all vehicles used for the tournament. Other preventive measures may be put in place, depending on requirements. The media: Camera-crews and photographers will be allowed in the playing hall for the first five minutes of play for each round. The length of time the photographers and camera crews have in the playing area is subject to FIDE regulations and decisions of the Chief Arbiter. For the duration of the event, all media organizations will have access to the official FIDE photos free of charge. The organizers: The organizers of the 2020 Candidates Tournament are the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) as well as the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region. The Partners: Sima Land – the title sponsor of the FIDE Candidates Tournament Algorand – official blockchain partner Kaspersky – official cybersecurity partner PJSC PhosAgro – General partner of the CFR Pine Creek Golf Resort and SILA International Lawyers – partners Relevant links and contacts: Official website: https://en.candidates-2020.com/ FIDE website: https://www.fide.com Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region: http://www.ural-chess.com Information about the partners: https://en.candidates-2020.com/partners Press inquiries: press@fide.com
2020 World Senior Team Chess Championship Ends in Prague
2020 World Senior Team Chess Championship, organized in Prague under the auspices of Mayor MUDr. Zdeněk Hřib, has come to an abrupt but necessary end after the 7th round, following the prohibition of all public events with more than 30 attendees due to the state of emergency declared in the Czech Republic today to combat the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier, on Tuesday, March 10th, the National Security Council of the Czech Republic had banned all public events with more than 100 people attending. Following the advice of the Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic Mr. Roman Prymula, the World Senior Team Chess Championship was split across smaller venues to be able to comply with the ban. However, the latest measures have made it a sad necessity to end the championship immediately. FIDE would like to use this opportunity to thank Mr. Roman Prymula for his personal involvement and invaluable support. It should also not go unmentioned that Mr. Prymula is no stranger to the world of chess, besides being a prominent epidemiologist, he is also an experienced chess player who holds the title of FIDE Master! The 7th and – as it happened – the final round was to be an interesting one, with difficult matchups in both categories. This happened to be indeed the case and there was even more drama added because of the extraordinary times we all find ourselves in. In the 50+ category, USA was leading by one point over Czech Republic 1 and Iceland before today’s round. A quick match draw with the latter secured the championship for them since the Czechs also agreed to a quick draw with Team Yamal from Russia. But this wasn’t the end of the story. The President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump announced that a travel ban from Europe to the USA will be put into effect on Friday which caused the team USA TOO to buy tickets and leave the championship at midnight in a rush to be able to go back home before the ban sets in. It later transpired that the ban does not apply to US citizens but by then it was already too late according to a post by Mikhail Koganov on Facebook. This resulted in a forfeit for USA TOO obviously and their strong opponents Lasker Schachstiftung GK moved with this much easier than expected 4-0 win into the second position, just above Czech Republic 1 and Island thanks to their better tiebreaks. Of the five teams with 10 points, the Czech team 1960-1961 and the Russian Yamal had better tiebreakers and they ended as 4th and 5th, respectively. The top three finishers among the women teams in the 50+ category are Russia Women (9 pts) who surged ahead of Czech Republic Women (8 pts) with the last round win and finally Latvia Women (6 pts). It was clear that the 65+ category would see an exciting finish as five teams were sharing the first place with 10 points after the sixth round! Their matchups were obviously critical for the final standings and the two teams who managed to win in the 7th round, Russia (d. Die Franken) and France (d. Israel), have got the top two places in the end, in that order. The 3rd and 4th places are shared by two German teams, Schachfreunde Leipzig and Germany 1 with 11 points. They are followed by a pack of five teams having 10 points with Israel as the team with the best tiebreaks among them getting the 5th place and Sweden the 6th. The two women teams in this category, Germany Women and Czech Republic, have also put up good fights and finished with 8 and 4 points respectively. 2020 World Senior Team Chess Championship ended with the official prize ceremony where the money prizes, medals, and cups were awarded to their deserved winners. The first and foremost thanks go to all the players and teams who have participated obviously. They showed tremendous enthusiasm and sportsmanship in an extraordinary time and deserve the highest praise. FIDE would also like to thank the Tournament Director Jan Mazuch, the Deputy Director Petr Laušman, the tournament managers Jiří Petružálek and Michal Horáček, and all the organization team for their professionalism and their efforts into keeping this tournament going, despite all the difficulties. 50+ final standings: 1. USA – 122. LASKERSCHACHSTIFTUNGGK – 113. CZECHREPUBLIC1 – 114. ICELAND – 115. 1960-61 – 106. YAMAL – 107. ENGLAND1 – 108. CANADA – 109. SLOVAKIA – 1010. MOSCOW – 9 65+ final standings: 1. RUSSIA – 122. FRANCE – 123. SCHACHFREUNDE LEIPZIG – 114. GERMANY 1 – 115. ISRAEL – 106. SWEDEN 1 – 107. SSC GRAAL-MUERITZ & FRIENDS – 108. CZECH REPUBLIC 1 – 109. DIE FRANKEN – 1010. GERMANY 3 – 9 Photo: Vladimir Jagr Official site of the 2020 World Senior Team Chess Championship: http://wstcc2020.net/
WGP Lausanne: Goryachkina and Dzagnidze lead with one round to go
The tenth round brought some crucial results in the fight for the tournament victory. Aleksandra Goryachkina joins Nana Dzagnidze in the lead, while Zhansaya Abdumalik trails by half a point. The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix is reaching its climax. Round 10 was extremely tense and some results had a crucial impact on the standings. The first symbolic move in the game between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ju Wenjun was made by Lausanne Mayor Grégoire Junod. Both World Championship contenders followed a fashionable line where they felt comfortable in. The Chinese found herself under pressure after her opponent broke through in the center with the typical 19.d5 and 20.e5. Goryachkina played energetically and pushed the World Champion to collapse with a final mistake on move 34. The Russian joined Nana Dzagnidze in the lead with 6½ points. The Georgian had to defend an unpleasant position against Alina Kashlinskaya and eventually held a draw. The younger participant Zhansaya Abdumalik is having a great event. Today she beat Pia Cramling and moved to a sole third place before the last round. After playing several solid long games, the Swedish legend seems to get out steam, as she blundered mate in one. The third decisive outcome the round was registered in the game between Antoaneta Stefanova and Mariya Muzychuk. The Bulgarian managed to outplay the Ukrainian in a slightly better endgame and scored her second victory in the event. Alexandra Kosteniuk and Marie Sebag delivered a very interesting fight. The French sacrificed a pawn for wonderful compensation, but the former World Champion handled the situation very well and managed to draw by perpetual check. The encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Anna Muzychuk was a balanced battle, that ended peacefully on the 31st move. The last round starts at 11.30 on Friday. The tournament is raising to a climax ending, as both leaders Nana Dzagnidze and Aleksandra Goryachkina face each other. Zhansaya Abdumalik also has a chance to catch up with them if she beats Marie Sebag. Results of round 10: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) ½-½Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Ju Wenjun (CHN) 1-0Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Marie Sebag (FRA) ½-½Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Pia Cramling (SWE) 1-0Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 1-0Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR) ½-½ Standings after round 10: 1-2. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 6½ points3. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 64-5. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) and Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – 5½6-8. Mariya Muzychuk (UKR), Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) and Harika Dronavalli (IND) – 5 9-10. Pia Cramling (SUE) and Ju Wenjun (CHN) – 4 11-12. Marie Sebag (FRA) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 3½ Program of the 11th and last round, 13 March at 11:30 am: Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS)Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) – Harika Dronavalli (IND)Pia Cramling (SWE) – Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG)Marie Sebag (FRA) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ)Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) Follow all the action live with commentary by grandmasters Mikhail Gurevich and Keti Tsatsalashvili on the tournament website http://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
Introducing Candidates: Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk (Russia)Born October 31, 1983 (36 years old)Rating 2777Competed in four Candidates Tournaments (2007, 2011, 2013 and 2018). Born in Moscow, Sasha (a common diminutive for Alexander in Russia) learned the rules of chess at the age of four and almost immediately showed great promise. Mikhail Godvinsky became the first mentor for the talented boy; later Grishuk worked with renowned chess trainers Maxim Blokh and Anatoly Bykhovsky. Alexander won the Russian Junior championship in various age groups, but never took the title in the World and European Junior events. Nevertheless, by January of 1998, he became FIDE Master and eighteen months later completed all the required GM norms. The first major success came to Grischuk in 1999 when he tied for first place in the strong Chigorin Memorial. This victory paved his way into the national team, for which Alexander has been playing for more than 20 years, winning all kinds of medals at Olympiads (two golds in 2000 and 2002), European and World (two golds in 2005 and 2010) Team Championships. Grischuk joined the chess elite in the early 2000s, after making it into the semifinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, at the age of 17. Later on, he demonstrated very good, stable results in many prestigious tournaments, including the Aeroflot Open (second), Wijk aan Zee 2002 (second), Poikovsky 2004 (tied for first), the Elista Grand Prix (tied for first), the Russian Championship 2009 (became the champion), Linares 2009 and 2010 (first and second places respectively), the Petrosian Memorial 2014. Alexander has the reputation of a great master in rapid and blitz chess formats, which he treats as seriously as classical chess. Indeed, Grischuk has three World Blitz Champion titles under his belt (2006, 2012, 2016), a record beaten only by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Somewhat counter-intuitively, Grischuk is also known for his constant time trouble in classical chess with much longer control, which he calls his chief shortcoming. Nevertheless, Alexander’s level of play under time pressure is good enough to rank him among the top GMs. Arguably, the year 2011 was a pinnacle of Grischuk’s career as he reached the finals in the two most important competitions: the FIDE World Cup and the Candidates Matches. Only brilliant play by Boris Gelfand prevented Alexander from challenging the World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Grischuk had two more chances in the Candidates Tournaments (2013 and 2018) but came sixth both times. Grischuk has not lost heart; he stepped up his game and braced himself for a new campaign. He got back into the top-5 and turned in a very strong performance in the FIDE Grand Prix 2019. Alexander secured his spot in the Candidates Tournament before the last leg in Jerusalem, in which he did not play. Who knows, maybe fifth time the charm? Grischuk – Adams (Euro-Cup Kallithea, 2002) 24. Rf1! (“The best move in my life” – Alexander Grischuk) 24…Qxg3? 25. fxg3 Rc8 26. h5! Bd3 27. Bxf7+ Kf8 28. Rf2 Ke7 29. Bd5 Rf8 30. Nf4 + – 1-0
Introducing Candidates: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)Born: October 21, 1990 (29 years old)Rating: 2767Replaced Teimour Radjabov as the highest-rated reserve player. It will be his debut in a Candidates Tournament. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was born on October 21, 1990, in Nogent-sur-Marne, just outside of Paris. Often referred to as ‘MVL’, he quickly gained the reputation of a chess prodigy after winning his first French championship (in the Under-8 category) at the age of six. This was the first in a series of four titles in the youth French championships, which ended with a title in the Under-20 category in 2004, achieved when Maxime was just 13. Just a year earlier, in 2003, Vachier-Lagrave took second place in the World Youth Chess Championship in the Under-14 category. Aged 16, Vachier-Lagrave won the adult French Championship (2007). He has repeated this success twice more, in 2011 and 2012. In October 2008, following a streak of strong performances, the Frenchman joined the elite 2700-rating club. In 2009 Vachier-Lagrave became the World Junior Champion. That same year, playing in Biel, he beat Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Morozevich, and – another rising star – Fabiano Caruana, making his mark in the elite chess circles. Vachier-Lagrave has won the Biel International five times so far – in 2009 and four years in a row from 2013 to 2016. After obtaining a BA in mathematics in 2010, Vachier-Lagrave decided to take up chess professionally. The victory in the Hoogeveen (2010) that followed, justified the path he had chosen. In December 2010, the Frenchman won the European Blitz Championship in Warsaw (a success which he repeated in 2012). So far, Maxime has taken part in seven Chess Olympiads (2006–2018) and four European Team Chess Championships (2007, and from 2011 to 2015). His most prominent result so far is a clear first place in the Dortmund Sparkassen (2016), where he finished ahead of the previous winners Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik. Thanks to his performance in Dortmund, Vachier-Lagrave crossed the 2800 rating mark (reaching maximum ELO of 2819 in the August 2016 FIDE Rating list) and rose to #2 in the rating list. In the past three years, however, Vachier-Lagrave narrowly missed chances to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. In the 2017 World Cup, he lost to Levon Aronian in the semi-finals and then also failed to take the FIDE Grand Prix the same year (he finished sixth), which left him out of the 2018 Candidates. Similar misfortunes befell the Frenchman in 2019 when he finished third both in the Grand Prix (then only the top two qualified – Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi) & World Cup. After Teimour Radjabov decided to drop out of the 2020 Candidates, Vachier-Lagrave became eligible to take part in the event as the next highest-rated player who was not initially a participant. Vachier-Lagrave – Vaisser (French Team Championship, 2014) 16. Nxd5! cxd5 17. Rxd5! Bxe5 18. Rxd8+ Kh7 19. Bd3+ g6 20.Rxa8 Bf4+ 21.Kb1 Rxa8 22.Bxf6 1-0
WSTCC 2020: The winners declared after the 7th round
In connection with the current development of the situation in Europe, the government of the Czech Republic and the National Security Council have declared preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday 10th, the National Security Council banned all cultural, sport, and social events with above 100 participants. Following the advice of the Czech Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic Roman Prymula, the World Senior Team Championship was split across several smaller venues to be able to continue. It must be noted that Mr. Prymula, apart from being a FIDE Master, is an epidemiologist – the biggest national authority in this field. FIDE would like to take the chance to thank him for his personal involvement and support. However, as the situation worsened, new measures have been put in place, effective today. The authorities have decided to cancel any event that involves the gathering of 30 or more people. In view of this new measure, the winners were declared after the seventh round. The final ceremony was moved to 12th March 2020, 10 PM. FIDE would like to thank the Tournament Director Jan Mazuch, the Deputy Director Petr Laušman, the tournament managers Jiří Petružálek and Michal Horacek, and all their team, for their professionalism and their many efforts into keeping this tournament going despite the difficulties. 50+ final standings: 1. USA – 122. LASKERSCHACHSTIFTUNGGK – 113. CZECHREPUBLIC1 – 114. ISLAND – 115. 1960-61 – 106. YAMAL – 107. ENGLAND1 – 108. CANADA – 109. SLOVAKIA – 1010. MOSCOW – 9 65+ final standings: 65+ final standings: 1. RUSSIA – 122. FRANCE – 123. SCHACHFREUNDE LEIPZIG – 114. GERMANY 1 – 115. ISRAEL – 106. SWEDEN 1 – 107. SSC GRAAL-MUERITZ & FRIENDS – 108. CZECH REPUBLIC 1 – 109. DIE FRANKEN – 1010. GERMANY 3 – 9 Official site: http://wstcc2020.net/
TRG Forward Chess Discount Program
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission Forward Chess Discount Program provides an exclusive discount for all FIDE Licensed Trainers at the e-book store Forward Chess, www.ForwardChess.com. What Is Forward Chess? Forward Chess combines e-books, the chessboard, and a powerful engine in the palm of the player’s hand. They have partnered with all the major chess book publishers and have developed a proprietary system where the reader can purchase chess e-books either via the web or mobile apps and play through the moves in the book interactively. It’s a powerful tool often used by players preparing for matches or tournaments. FIDE Licensed Trainers who are interested in taking advantage of this special arrangement with Forward Chess will need to register an account with Forward Chess (either in any of their apps or on the website) and let TRG know under what name and email it is registered. TRG then will confirm your eligibility with Forward Chess. (Please note: limited numbers of books are available as prizes for tournaments and events). Forward Chess is an interactive Chess e-book reader for mobile (iOS and Android) and desktop (Windows and Mac). You can purchase your favorite e-books from leading publishers, play through the moves in the book, try out your own lines and even analyze with the powerful Stockfish engine. Why Buy A Book From Forward Chess? Forward Chess allows you to take your chess library with you anywhere you go. You can sync your books between your favorite mobile (iOS / Android) and desktop (Windows / Mac) devices. You don’t need a physical chess board. The built-in chess board and engine help you study your favorite books. Other advantages include instant delivery, no shipping cost and free publisher corrections and book updates. How Many Books Are On Forward Chess? There are nearly 500 titles available with more titles constantly being scheduled for release every month. Each book featured on Forward Chess also offers free samples. E-mail: trainers@fide.com to learn more!
WGP Round 9: Dzagnidze beats Ju Wenjun and takes the lead
The Mövenpick Hotel was overcrowded at the start of the ninth round of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix. Two special guests opened the round in front of the cameras of national TV. The Councillor of State and Head of the Canton of Vaud Department for Economics, Innovation and Sport, Philippe Leuba, played the symbolic first move for Ju Wenjun. A few seconds later, the racing cyclist European Champion Théry Schir opened the game for Marie Sebag. Both decisive games of the day were also the longest. Nana Dzagnidze neutralized the World Champion’s aggressive intentions and took the advantage after the exchange of Queens. The Georgian correctly spurned a threefold repetition after the time-control and slowly but surely crushed Ju Wenjun. She crowned her game with a study-like flourish and overtook Aleksandra Goryachkina at the top of the standings. The Russian played a Berlin Defence against Marie Sebag and seemed happy with the same early move repetition that already had occurred in her third round with Abdumalik. Pia Cramling went through another long battle but her opponent Alexandra Kosteniuk is known as a trained marathon runner. The Russian eventually squeezed a full point from a drawish endgame and inflicted the first defeat on the Swedish legend. The encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Alina Kashlinskaya was as balanced as a true Exchange French can be. Nothing really happened there and both players shared the point on move 31. Anna Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova produced some action in the middle game, but everything simplified quickly after the central advance 18…d5. Zhansaya Abdumalik sacrificed a pawn with Black on move 16 but failed to obtain full compensation for it. Her opponent Mariya Muzychuk did not play actively enough and suddenly had to proceed with caution to keep the balance. She was up to the task and secured a draw on move 40. The long-awaited remake of the World Championship final between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ju Wenjun will take place on Thursday’s round 10. Given Ju’s poor shape in Lausanne, the Russian will certainly try to take small revenge in her fight for the first place. Results of round 9: Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) ½-½Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Antoaneta Stefanova(BLG) ½-½Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) ½-½Pia Cramling (SWE) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 0-1Marie Sebag (FRA) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) ½-½Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) 0-1 Standings after round 9: 1. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – 6 points2. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 5½3-6. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS), Anna Muzychuk (UKR), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) and Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 57. Harika Dronavalli (IND) – 4½8-10. Pia Cramling (SWE), Ju Wenjun (CHN) and Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 411-12. Marie Sebag (FRA) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 3 Program of round 10, March 12 at 3 pm: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Ju Wenjun (CHN)Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Marie Sebag (FRA)Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Pia Cramling (SWE)Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Follow all the action live with commentary by grandmasters Mikhail Gurevich and Keti Tsatsalashvili on the tournament website http://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
WSTCC 2020 crossed the halfway mark
The participants of the World Senior Teams Chess Championship in Prague passed the halfway mark. In these complicated days, organizers had to expend much more effort to ensure the smooth running of this important event. The resolution by the Czech government on COVID-19 caused some doubts and worries among the players and resulted in dozens of telephone calls and questions. But the perfect preparation for the event and the flexible attitude of the organizers allowed an undisturbed continuation of the battles on chessboards. To comply with the resolution (which restricts all events with more than 100 people), some changes in the arrangement of the tables had to be made. Playing halls are now divided into smaller, separated venues. Visitors are not allowed to go into the playing halls, but can still watch the games online, or on the projection in front of the playing hall. On Tuesday, March 10th the weather was good for chess – showers and mostly cloudy. One more reason for 34 chess players to stay indoors and play a Blitz tournament in the Hotel Olympic in Prague. The format was nine rounds with 2 x 4 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. IM Yuri Boidman from Germany scored 7 points and won the event. Second place went to FM Viktor Plotkin from Canada, GM Jouni Yrjola from Finland finished third, followed by FM Adolf Denk from Austria (4th) and FM Frantisek Vrana from Czech Republic (5th). The fifth round featured the duels of the leaders in both age categories. In the 50+ category, team USA prevailed over Czech Republic 1 2.5 – 1.5 thanks to the victory of Gregory Kaidanov on the first board. On the other tables, five matches, namely Yamal – Lasker Schachstiftung GK, Slovakia – England 1, Sk Ziguda Turnov – Moscow, Canada – Czech Republic 2, and USA Too – Russia Women 2:2 were drawn. After five rounds, the USA is clear first with a perfect team score, followed by the Czech Republic 1, Island, and Slovakia. In the 65+ category, Germany 1 and Russia were pitted one against another on the first table. Germany 1 won 2.5:1.5 and pulled away. Schachfreunde Leipzig lost to Czech Republic 1 1.5 – 2.5, France edged out Germany 3 2.5 – 1.5. After five rounds, Germany 1 is leading the field, with Germany 2, Russia, Israel, Hungary, Czech Republic 1, Die Franken trailing by two points. With four rounds left to play, we look forward to more exciting chess games and hope for less exciting life circumstances. Chess must go on! All results you can find at Chess-Results. All photos are available at Zonerama. Text: Marta Motuzova, Venuse Souralova Photos: Vladimir Jagr
List of Key Decisions by FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi
List of Key Decisions of the Executive Board at Abu Dhabi Congress – Financial matters EB/01 The Treasurer’s report for 2018 was unanimously approved. EB/02 The Verification Commission report was unanimously approved. EB/03 The Treasurer was discharged from her responsibilities for the financial year 2018. EB/04 The Budget for the financial year 2020 was unanimously approved. – Reports of the Continental Associations EB/05 The Reports of the Continental Associations were approved. – Assessment of Сommissions’ achievements for 2019 EB/06 The Arbiters’ Commission report was approved. EB/07 The title application recommendations presented in the Arbiters’ Commission report were approved with three (3) corrections given by the Chairman in his speech on the floor. EB/08 The Chess in Education Commission report was approved. EB/09 The Commission for the Disabled report was approved. EB/10 The Commission for the Women’s Chess report was approved. EB/11 The Constitutional Commission report was approved. EB/12 The Ethics Commission report was approved. EB/13 The Events Commission report was approved. EB/14 The title application recommendations presented in the Events Commission report were approved. EB/15 It is decided that the bids for the year 2022 will be opened in March. EB/16 The bid from Russia for the World Senior Championships 2021 was approved. EB/17 The bid from Malta for the World Amateur 2021 was approved. EB/18 The bid from Italy for the World Senior Team Championship 50+ and 65+ 2021 was approved. EB/19 The bid from Italy for the World Junior and Girls U-20 Championship 2021 was approved. EB/20 The bid from Egypt for the World Cadet Championship U-8, U-10, U-12 2021 was approved. EB/21 Two bids were received for the World Youth Championships U-14, U-16, U-18 2021, respectively from Italy and Russia. The EB was called to vote and the results of the voting were the following: 2 votes for Italy and 30 for Russia, 7 abstentions. Therefore, these Championships were awarded to Russia. EB/22 Two bids were received for the World Cadet & Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships U-8, U-10, U-12 2021, respectively from Georgia and Croatia. The EB was called to vote and the results of the voting were the following: for 15 Croatia and 24 for Georgia. Therefore, these Championships were awarded to Georgia. EB/23 A bid from Mexico for the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2021 was received when the prescribed bidding period was already over. It was approved to extend the bidding period for two weeks so that the Mexican Chess Federation could properly submit its bid. EB/24 The Fair Play Commission report was approved. EB/25 The following fair play procedures were approved: anti-cheating measures were proposed by the Fair Play Commission and FIDE is ready to support (by providing equipment and a commission of experts) the federations which intend to introduce such measures during the next most important tournaments. EB/26 The Global Strategy Commission report was approved. EB/27 The Medical Commission report was approved. EB/28 The Online Commission report was approved. EB/29 The Planning and Development Commission report was approved. EB/30 The Qualification Commission report was approved. EB/31 The title application recommendations presented by the Qualification Commission were approved. EB/32 The proposal of taking note of the Rules Commission report and the request to the Commission to improve the recommendations was approved. EB/33 It was acknowledged that the Social Commission report was not submitted and requested to the Commission to submit it soon. EB/34 The Systems of Pairings and Programs report was approved. EB/35 The Technical Commission report was approved. EB/36 The Trainers’ Commission report was approved. EB/37 The Trainers’ Commission’s recommendations on title applications and new FIDE academies were approved. EB/38 The Data Protection Commission report was approved. – FIDE Awards EB/39 The EB approved the recommendations of three new FIDE Honorary Members: Yuri Averbakh (Russia), Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi (Qatar) and Maia Chiburdanidze (Georgia). – Miscellaneous EB/40 The EB members are requested to send their comments about the creation of the Athletes Commission in the following days. EB/41 FIDE activities regarding the organization of Fischer Random Chess Tournaments were approved. List of Key Decisions of 90th Extraordinary General Assembly – FIDE President’s report EGA/01 The President’s report was approved. – Admission of new Federations EGA/02 The admission of the following new Federations as FIDE full members was unanimously approved: St. Lucia Chess Federation, Guinea Equatorial Chess Federation, Cayman Islands Chess Federation, St Kitts and Nevis Chess Federation, Grenada Chess Federation, Chad Chess Federation and Bulgaria Chess Federation*. – Admission of new affiliated members EGA/03 The admission of the following associations as new affiliated members was unanimously approved: Portuguese-speaking Federations Association and South Asian Chess Council (SACC). – New FIDE Charter EGA/04 The new Charter was approved and comes into force on March 01, 2020. The vote results were: 112 votes in favour, 1 abstention and 1 voted against. – Financial matters EGA/05 The amendments to the Financial Regulations (abolition of fees for participation in seniors’ events and those for Level 5 development countries, excluding membership fees) were unanimously approved and will be effective already for the second half of 2019. EGA/06 It was decided that the Council will prepare a final version of the Financial Regulations by the next General Assembly to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) and start working on a new version of the FIDE Handbook. EGA/07 The appointment of E&Y as the External Auditor for the annual audit of the FIDE accounts for 2019 was unanimously approved. – Elections for the vacant positions of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission EGA/08 The following appointees for the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission were elected: Khaled Arfa (Tunisia), David Hater (USA) and Johan Sigeman (Sweden). *Please find the correct name of the Bulgarian Federation on the following link: https://fide.com/directory/member-federations List of Key Decisions of Q1 2020 Presidential Board – Financial matters Q1PB-2020/01 The Treasurer’s report for the year 2018 and the budget proposal for the year 2020 were approved. – Amendments to the Financial Regulations Q1PB-2020/02 The draft amendments to the financial Regulations were recommended to the EGA for final approval. – Report