Prague welcomes World Senior Team Chess Championship
World Senior Team Chess Championship starts in Prague on March 5. The competition is held in two age categories: 65+ with 61 registered teams and 50+ with 57 teams. Last year’s champions in the elder section, the Russian team is the rating favorite with 2452 average. GMs Yuri Balashov and Evgeny Sveshnikov (who just celebrated his 70s anniversary) are the leaders of this squad. Photo: Mark Livshitz The defending champion and the rating favorite (2536) in the 50+ category is bringing to Prague its winning lineup. All the players are 2500+ grandmasters: Alexander Shabalov, Gregory Kaidanov, Larry Christiansen, Joel Benjamin, and Igor Novikov. Photo: https://new.uschess.org The tournament’s list of participants boasts of such legendary names as John Nunn, Ulf Andersson, Anatoly Vaisser, Vlastimil Hort, Alexander Graf, Artur Jussupow, Tamaz Giorgadze, Jonathan Speelman, Zbynek Hracek, and Lubomir Ftacnik to name a few. Although this event does not have a separate women’s section, it traditionally attracts a perceptible number of female players. The 50+ team of Scotland has Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant at its helm; Russia, Mongolia, England, Germany, and the Czech Republic brought teams made up entirely of women. The Russian women’s team put the former world senior champion Galina Strutinskaia on board one. Recently FIDE has made several important steps towards supporting senior chess: starting in 2019, all veteran fees were waived and the championships’ prizes were increased. Official website: http://www.wstcc2020.net/#chess #SeniorChess #ChessForAll #Prague
WGP Lausanne Round 1: A peaceful start
The first round of the Lausanne Grand Prix witnesses six balanced encounters, which all end in a draw. The event is gaining in popularity worldwide. The third leg of the Series is taking place in the Mövenpick Hotel in Ouchy, a beautiful area by the lake in Lausanne. Quite a few spectators gathered at the venue for the start of the first round, but the organizers are particularly enthusiastic about the growing interest which arouses from the online broadcast. Live commentary, interviews with guests and players, everything is made to satisfy the audience online. The games of the inaugural round were mostly tense, even though all of them ended in a draw. World Champion Ju Wenjun played the Berlin Defense against newcomer Zhansaya Abdumalik. In spite of the symmetrical pawn structure which appeared early on, things were anything but clear. The talented Kazakhstani got a slight initiative at the cost of misplacing her rook on the f file. The strategic battle turned around this awkward piece, and it slowly looked as if the Chinese would be able to outplay her young opponent. Yet, Abdumalik sensed the right moment to simplify and offer a draw. Aleksandra Goryachkina, the other proclaimed favorite of the event, played an interesting game with white pieces against her countrywoman Alina Kashlinskaya. She could have secured an edge with 21.Bb5, with the idea to use her passed pawn later on. She simplified instead and had to suffer a little to make a draw. The first ceremonial move in the game Kosteniuk – Dzagnidze was made by Renato Frick, Vice-President and General Secretary of the Liechtenstein Chess Federation. The winner of the second Grand Prix leg in Monaco, Alexandra Kosteniuk, somewhat misplayed the opening. The Russian soon lagged in development, and Nana Dzagnidze might have played in a more forceful way to try and use her initiative. After the exchange of some pieces, the game dried up and both players agreed to a draw on the move 42. The encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Pia Cramling was quite balanced. True to her typical classical style, the Swedish legend got a solid position with the black pieces. The apparent passivity was compensated for by the long-term asset of the two bishops. As both grandmasters played with care, none of them managed to outfox the other and the game ended peacefully. In hindsight, Marie Sebag regretted accepting her opponent´s draw offer. It is true that Antoaneta Stefanova kept some pressure throughout the game, but after simplifications, the French suddenly emerged with a better ending. As usual, the Muzychuk sisters opted not to fight in a classical tournament game and quickly repeated moves after the opening. Results of the first round: Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) ½-½Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) ½-½Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Ju Wenjun (CHN) ½-½Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Marie Sebag (FRA) ½-½Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Pia Cramling (SWE) ½-½Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) ½-½ Program of round 2, 3 March at 3 pm: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)Pia Cramling (SWE) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR)Marie Sebag (FRA) – Harika Dronavalli (IND)Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG)Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ)Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) All the action can be followed 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 Pelletier Photos: David Llada Contact: press@fide.com
Women’s Grand Prix launched in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne
The third leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2020 is officially open. The tournament, running until March 14 at the Mövenpick Hotel in Lausanne features the strongest female chess players in the world. The event has been launched on the evening of March 1st on the premises of the prestigious Olympic Museum, on the shore of Geneva Lake. The same venue had already hosted the FIDE Knockout World Championship Final 1998 between Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand. The opening ceremony was attended by some prestigious guests, such as Lausanne Mayor Grégoire Junod and Andrew Hoffer of the International Olympic Committee. In his speech, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich expressed his gratitude to the Olympic Museum and stressed the importance of presenting chess in world-famous places such as this one. Barely a year after settling into Lausanne, the International Chess Federation stages one of its major events in the Olympic Capital. The President of the Swiss Chess Federation Peter Wyss stated that the Women Grand Prix was a worthy addition to the long list of historic chess tournaments held in the country. Lausanne is the third of the four-event Grand Prix Series. The leader of the race, Indian grandmaster Humpy Koneru, has a rest during the Swiss leg. This will certainly allow her nearest pursuers to close in and position themselves advantageously before the final event in Sardinia in May. Two qualifying places for the Candidates Tournament are stake in Women’s Grand Prix. Out of contention for qualification are of course the reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, who appear in Lausanne as the two clear favorites. The first round starts on March 2 at 3 pm at the Mövenpick Hotel. Round 01 pairings: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Alina Kashlinskaya (Rus)Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo)Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kaz) – Ju Wenjun (Chn)Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul) – Marie Sebag (Fra)Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Pia Cramling (Swe)Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) All the action can be followed 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. Photo: David Llada Contact:Press officer: Yannick Pelletier+35 2691760922press@fide.com
March rating list: Koneru overtakes Ju Wenjun
Photo: Austin Fuller FIDE March 1 rating listAll Top-100 listsAll rating lists – download February was a quiet month for the top players as most of them are intensively preparing for the upcoming Candidates tournaments in Yekaterinburg. As a result, the top-10 Open remained almost the same. There were some up and down movements in the middle and lower echelons of the top-100 Open though caused by the Gibraltar Masters (the results of this tournament were calculated only in February), Prague International Chess Festival and Aeroflot Open. OPEN TOP-10 1.Magnus Carlsen – 2862 (0)2. Fabiano Caruana – 2842 (0)3. Ding Liren – 2805 (0)4. Alexander Grischuk – 2777 (0)5. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 2774 (0)6. Levon Aronian – 2773 (0)7. Wesley So – 2770 (0)8. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 2767 (-3)9. Teimour Radjabov – 2765 (0)10. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – 2764 (-6) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov lost 6 rating points in Gibraltar and slid down to 10th position. It allowed Maxiam Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov to move up one notch. Out of all the Candidates, only Kirill Alekseenko and Wang Hao opted to play in Gibraltar Masters most likely with training purposes. The former picked up four rating points whereas the latter lost the same amount. Biggest gains David Paravyan – 2653 (+24)Andrey Esipenko – 2672 (+18)Pavel Eljanov – 2672 (+16)Jorden Van Foreest – 2678 (+11)Rauf Mamedov – 2654 (+11)Rinat Jumabayev – 2654 (+11)Sam Shankland – 2691 (+8)Karen Grigoryan – 2662 (+8)Vladimir Fedoseev – 2678 (+7)Francisco Vallejo Pons – 2710 (+6)Pentala Harikrishna – 2719 (+6)Ferenc Berkes – 2661 (+6)David Anton Guijarro – 2703 (+6) The winners of Gibraltar Masters David Paravyan and Andrey Esipenko are two biggest stars in this category (within the top-100 Open) gaining 24 and 18 points respectively. After the event in Gibraltar Andrey turned in a decent performance in the Challengers tournament at the Prague International Chess Festival where he tied for the second place. Subsequently, Esipenko moved up in the top-100 Juniors list where he occupies 4th position. Photo: John Saunders Pavel Eljanov picked up 16 points playing for two Israeli teams in the local championship and PRO League and mounted to 67th position in the top-100 Open. Despite a slow start in the Prague Challengers Jorden Van Foreest won the event, accumulated 11 rated points and continues his ascending in the rating list. Photo: Vladimir Jagr Rauf Mamedov and Rinat Jumabaev tied for first place in Aeroflot Open 2020 and synchronously netted 11 rating points each. The winner of the event, 14-year old whizz-kid Aydin Suleymanli is still way beyond the top-100 Open but it’s safe to say that we will see him there in the nearest future. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili Vladimir Fedoseev came by 7 rating points after his good run in Bundesliga, whereas Karen Grigoryan got rewarded with 8 rating points for his victory in the Santiago Masters (Santiago de Campostella, Spain). Sam Shankland and David Anton Guijarro picked up some points in the Prague Masters. Welcome to top-100 It is no coincidence that all our three newcomers did well in the “Biggest gains” category. Rauf Mamedov is no stranger to the top-100, whereas David Paravyan and Rinat Jumabayev are making their debut in this elite club. Photo: John Saunders The Cairns Cup 2020 became the centerpiece in women’s chess February calendar. The event saw another triumph of Humpy Koneru, who won or tied for the first place in three elite tournaments in a row. Consistency at the very high level always pays off – the Indian GM overtook the reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun and now sits on the second position in the top-100 Women rating list. Photo: Austin Fuller This year the Aeroflot Open became a real breeding ground for young players. Indeed, two youngsters really shined at the end of February in Moscow. Aydin Suleymanli not only took the title but also improved his rating by a whopping 38 points. This substantial increase means 31 positions up in the top-100 Juniors. Meanwhile, Bharath Subramaniyam finished one point behind the winner but also netted impressive 35 points.
90th FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi: Days 2-3, Live updates
Update: February 29, 08:30 GMT Yuri Averbakh, Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi, and Maya Chiburdanidze have been elected FIDE honorary members, as a recognition to their career and their outstanding contributions to chess. Update: February 29, 07:40 GMT Regarding the 2024 Chess Olympiad, the FIDE President reports that Hungary and Argentina/Brazil (jointly) have expressed their interest in hosting this event. They haven’t submitted a bid yet but they sent a delegation to Abu Dhabi to gather information. Update: February 29, 07:15 GMT Day three at the 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly Agenda and Executive Board Agenda begins with the Report of the FIDE Treasurer and the Financial Statements for 2018. The financial statements for 2019 won’t be available until late March since they have to be first audited by Ernst & Young The FIDE budget for 2020 is available in the following link: https://doc.fide.com/docs/90%20Congress%20Agenda%20and%20Annexes/Annex%203.5.pdf Update: February 28, 17:00 GMT FIDE General Assembly in Abu Dhabi approved the new FIDE Charter by an overwhelming majority. Only two delegates did not support a new legislation. Update: February 28, 09:00 GMT Spain has chosen chess as one of the main themes for its Pavilion at the World Expo 2020. In cooperation with Chess24, they are also organizing a World Online School Chess Tournament for players under 16. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich took the chance to meet with the Spanish ambassador in Abu Dhabi, Antonio Alvarez, to express his support to this initiative. Update: February 28, 08:05 GMT The FIDE family keeps growing: today we have confirmed Cayman Islands, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, new member federations. That brings total membership to 195, making FIDE the 4th largest sports federation by the number of member countries. Update: February 28, 07:25 GMT His Highness, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan: “It is an honor for me to welcome you all to the 90th FIDE Congress here in Abu Dhabi – my home. UAE and chess share a long association. Chess is a passion shared by all of us, including myself.” FIDE Congress – Live video broadcast
Aydin Suleymanli wins Aeroflot Open 2020
From February 19 until February 27, 2020, Kosmos Hotel in Moscow hosted one of the most prestigious Swiss tournaments in the word Aeroflot Open with the total prize fund of €120,000. The tournament A that brought together 97 players (mostly GMs) saw a sensational triumph of the Juniors U-14 Champion Aydin Suleymanli (Azerbaijan) The young talent who doesn’t have the GM title yet was just 71st rated player in the starting list. Nevertheless, he went through the tournament unbeaten and shared the first place with Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan), Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan) and Aravindh Chithambaram (India). Moreover, thanks to better tiebreaks Aydin Suleymanli became the winner of the event. In early rounds, another rising star, 12-year old (!) Bharath Subramaniyam from India started with three victories in four games defeating among others the “second-seeded” Gabriel Sargissian. In Round 5 he clashed with Rauf Mamedov – the more experienced player won confidently and took the lead. Although after the setback the Indian youngster was out of the race for the title, he finished with an excellent score 5.5/9 especially given his age and rating. Suffices it to say that he improved his live-rating by 35 points. With 4.5 points after 5 games, Mamedov turned into a real favorite but by drawing his four last encounters he allowed three pursuers to catch up with him. His 14-year old compatriot was the first – playing in a highly original and entertaining style in the penultimate round, Suleymanli downed a young but already extremely strong Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo and reached a 6/8 mark. After the Azerbaijani leaders drew their last round game Aravindh and Jumabayev scored very important victories and joined them at the top of the final standings. The players tied for the first place are ranked in the following order: Suleymanli, Jumabayev, Mamedov, Chithambaram. The key tiebreak indicator, used in Aeroflot Open is the number of games with black. The prize fund is divided according to the Hort system. Thus, Aydin Suleymanli received €13,875 for his first place. Many experts agree that this is one the most unexpected outcome of a Swiss tournament in recent years. The event will be remembered for its tough field and fierce competition throughout. Take as an illustration the performance by the only 2700+ rated player in the tournament Vladislav Artemiev – the rating-favorite did not take part in the battle for the main prizes and finished with a modest 5/9 score. Tigran Harutyunian (Armenia), Nikita Afanasiev (Russia) and Stanislav Bogdanovich (Ukraine) tied for the first place in the tournament B with 7.5/9 each. Erdenepurev Boldoo (Mongolia) and Maksad Sapaev (Uzbekistan) shared the victory in the tournament C. The next day after the completion of Aeroflot Open, a traditional blitz tournament with the prizes, established by the company group Region, was held. The participants of the Swiss tournaments A, B, and C were joined by the Russian chess stars, real blitz-experts Ian Nepomniachtchi, Sergey Karjakin, and Daniil Dubov. As many expected, all three were among the main contenders for the first place. Eventually, it all boiled down to a two-round showdown of Ian Nepomniachtchi and another rising star, 15-year old Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan). In the penultimate round, Nepomniachtich won his key micro-match against Karjakin 1.5:0.5 but Abdusattorov crushed Baadur Jobava 2:0 and caught up with Ian – both had 12.5/16. In the final round, the leaders met over the board and drew both games but their competitors failed to draw up with them. As a result, Ian and Nodirbek had to play a tiebreak which was dominated by Nepomniachtchi – he won both games and took the title. Nodirbek Abdusattorov is second; Baadur Jobava, Vladislav Artemiev, and Adhiban B. tied for third place. Karjakin and Dubov finished in a large group of players just a point behind the winners. Aeroflot Russian Airlines is one of the oldest chess sponsors in the world. FIDE hopes that the cooperation between Aeroflot and the tournament organizers will continue for many years to come helping to discover new chess stars from all around the world. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Candidates in Ethics Commission election
FIDE announces herewith the names and profile details, as well as the curriculum vitae (CV’s), of all candidates in the elections to be held during the General Assembly meeting on Friday, 28 February 2020 to fill the vacancy or vacancies in the FIDE Ethics Commission. The list of candidates can be found here. Please click CV for downloading. Essoh J.M.C. Essis CV (Cote d’Ivoire) Arun Muthusamy CV (England) Ralph Alt CV (Germany) Yoram Sabary CV (Israel) Yumiko Hiebert CV (Japan) Milan Turpanov CV (Kyrgyzstan) Arthur Schuering CV (Netherlands) Casto Abundo CV (Philippines) Jose Claudio Vinas Racionero CV (Spain) Johan Sigeman CV (Sweden) Abby Edah Ndjelle CV (Togo) Khaled Arfa CV (Tunisia) David Hater CV (USA) Yuliya Levitan CV (USA)
FIDE Chess Olympiad 2020, Competition for Disabled: Selected Federations
The first Chess Olympiad 2020, Competition for disabled will take place from July 28 until August 5, 2020, in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. According to the Regulations, thirty (30) federations are entitled to participate in the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2020, Competition for Disabled. FIDE is happy to announce that the selection based on the rating system is over. The entire process is covered in detail in the Regulations. The host country is entitled to have one team: 1. Russia Europe will be represented by 9 teams: 1. Poland 2. Israel 3. Hungary 4. Croatia 5. Germany 6. Czech Republic 7. Belarus 8. Romania 9. Montenegro Asia will be represented by 7 teams. 1. Kazakhstan 2. India 3. Philippines 4. Iran 5. Bangladesh 6. Uzbekistan 7. Kyrgyzstan America will be represented by 6 teams. 1. Cuba 2. Venezuela 3. Colombia 4. Brazil 5. USA 6. Panama Africa will be represented by 5 teams. 1. Egypt 2. Zambia 3. Uganda 4. Zimbabwe 5. Kenya Two teams will be nominated by the FIDE President.
Rating analytics: True chess grinders of 2019
Kaspars Migla is the creator and founder of chessratings.top. In his column, he analyzes monthly FIDE standard rating changes, career-high ratings, rating distribution by country, continent, region, and other rating-related statistics. In this edition, he identifies the most active players of 2019, who can be called true chess grinders. According to data, collected by FIDE and chessratings.top in 2019 for the first time in history the number of classical games surpassed the 3,000,000 barrier (the sum of individual games by all the players). Last year 174,363 players played at least one game, whereas the total number of games reached 3,009,829. In 2018 this number was equal to 2 882 235 games, in 2017 – 2 785 460, in 2016 – 2 629 460. Since any chess game is played by two people we can estimate the total number of games – 1,500,000. It is a very rough estimation because only games played by rated players in classical chess are taken into account. Consequently, on average more than 4,100 games played daily and roughly 170 games every hour. Impressive, isn’t it? And those are only games with classical time control! The portal chessratings.top also identified the most active players. Let’s start with professionals. In 2018 Igor Naumkin (RUS, 2417) and Oleg Korneev (ESP, 2505) shared the top position with 233 games each, but a year later the former became the undisputable #1 with even more impressive figure of 258 games, played in 41 tournaments in 10 different European countries. Two Ukrainian players Vitaly Sivuk (2557) and Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2615) occupy second and third positions with 227 and 223 games respectively. TOP-20 most active GMs Nhat Minh To (2368) the most active IM from Hungary has played at least one game a month for 28 months in a row. As chess life in his home country runs high, Nhat Minh To climbed to the top position barely leaving Hungary. TOP-20 most active IMs In the TOP-20 the most active juniors we see a quite repetitive picture as all the players in the list represent India. Although Spanish players are the most active overall (in all age groups), when it comes to individual statistics their Indian colleagues have the upper hand. The list includes two GMs; overall, the range of ratings and titles is very wide. TOP-20 most active juniors As the table below demonstrates, seniors are very active players. At least for the second time in a row, the most active senior player in the world is Subramanian T.V. from India (born in 1934!). In 2018 he played 246 games, but a year later Subramanian ramped it up to 290. Somewhat sadly, this sheer increase in the number of games did not translate into his rating improvement. In 2007 his rating was 2052 but now dropped to 1167 mark. TOP-20 most active seniours In 2019 Subramanian, T.V. became the absolute leader among active players in all age groups. Back 2018 the #1 in the list was IM Balasubramaniam Ramnathan (IND, 1971), who did not qualify for the top ten after playing “mere” 213 games. Interestingly enough, there are 8 GMs in the top 20 and all of them are from Europe. Maxime Lagarde (FRA, 2659) became the most active member of the top-100 Open after playing 144 games. TOP-20 most active players (all age groups) When analyzing the activity of female chess players with titles of WGM and higher, it is easy to notice that men are roughly twice as active. Anda Safranska (2001) who was born and gained her WGM title in Latvia, but currently represents France, tops our list of the most active female players. One particular player really stands out in this list, namely Pia Cramling (SWE, 2470) holding the second position. The experienced Swede from Women’s top-100 plays a lot but manages to maintain a high rating. Back in 2018, the first position belonged to WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (IND) with 173 games played. Last year she was not as active though, sitting over the board only 117 times. TOP-20 most active female players (WGM, IM, and GM) Three things strike immediately when we run through in the list of all active female players: domination of Indian players, no GM in the top echelon, and players’ age. Take a look at CM Wiktoria Smietanska (POL, 1661), for example. Last year she played 168 games, although she was not even 10 years old. Indeed, a road to the top is never easy – one should not only work hard on his or her game but also play a lot. TOP-20 all active women Looking at the geographic distribution, we see no surprises. The most active players live in Asia (mostly India) followed by Europe, America, and Africa. Africa has great growth potential – its TOP-20 players are rated nearly twice as low as their colleagues from Asia and Europe. TOP-20 most active players from Asia TOP-20 most active players from Europe TOP-20 most active players from America TOP-20 most active players from Africa
90th FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi: Day 1
Update: February 28, 08:05 GMT The FIDE family keeps growing: today we have confirmed Cayman Islands, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, a new member federations. That brings total membership to 195, making FIDE the 4th largest sports federation by number of member countries. Update: February 28, 07: 25 GMT His Highness, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan: “It is an honor for me to welcome you all to the 90th FIDE Congress here in Abu Dhabi – my home. UAE and chess share a long association. Chess is a passion shared by all of us, including myself.” https://t.co/paqcMPTGBu?amp=1 Update: February 27, 12:05 GMT The Planning and Development Commission (https://pdc.fide.com) organized a federation management workshop. Marco Verdoia, who recently joined FIDE’s marketing department, gave a brief speech in which he highlighted the importance of brand-building. The workshop also included some guidelines for how to pitch potential partners with an event sponsorship proposal. Update: February 27, 11:05 GMT The Presidential Board meeting started at 15:00 local time (GMT+4). Update: February 27, 10:45 GMT FIDE’s Executive Director Victor Bologan presented to the attendants the “Chess-ID” project, aimed at uniting all chess players, officials and other stakeholders involved in chess activities around the world, under one/unique FIDE umbrella. This project is FIDE’s response to a serious issue: the lack of big data and global figures. The chess community needs to tackle this problem in order to access new sources of funding. Update: February 27, 10:20 GMT The President of the International Chess Federation Arkady Dvorkovich addressed the attendees of the 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly. He thanked the Federations for their work, highlighting that FIDE is about to reach the 200-member federations milestone. Update: February 27, 09:30 GMT The 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly and Executive Board kicks off Abu Dhabi with the Final Report from the Planning and Development Commission, led by Sonja Johnson. 77 Federations have already benefited from this funding program, totaling $ 1,1 million. February 27, 09:05 GMT The 90th FIDE Congress has just started in Abu Dhabi with the participation of 195 delegates from 195 countries, organized by the Asian Chess Federation.