Grand Swiss: A look beyond the individual games and results
The FIDE Chess.com Isle of Man Grand Swiss was a tournament like no other before: it was the first time that such a large number of top world players gathered for a Swiss competition. For 12 days the world chess elite – led by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen and World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, accompanied by a number of top world players – were battling in the Isle of Man for a $430,000 prize fund and (save for the World Champion and World No 2) for one place in the 2020 Candidates tournament. The tournament ended with a Chinese victory, after GM Wang Hao defeated GM David Howell of England in the ultimate round, securing 8 points – the same as the World No 2 Fabiano Caruana – but winning first on better tiebreaks. The second place was taken by US GM Fabiano Caruana while six players tied for the third place (including the World Champion Magnus Carlsen), with Russian Kirill Alekseenko coming as the top among them. Looking beyond individual results and games – what did the tournament show and bring to the chess world? The approach to the games There has been a large number of draws in this tournament – 441 out of 840 (52.5%), while 263 (31.3%) ended in a victory for White and 136 (just over 16%) were won by Black. Some interesting statistics provided by Arno Eliëns help us to see a broader picture. There are many factors impacting the structure of the results: the ambitions of the players, how they felt on a particular day, how the positons developed, pairings, and also, the tournament system. In informal comments during the event, the prevailing view among the players was: the first three rounds were important to advance towards the top boards as much as possible, see how things develop in the middle and then either play safe or go into the games hard until the end. On a few occasions, games ended in a quick draw (with this option being limited by FIDE rules) and the number of quick draws was somewhat more noticeable among those players in the upper part of the standings who were not directly fighting for top places. Interestingly, the number of draws was lowest in rounds two and three (below 50%), reflecting the comments shared by the players about their approach. The tournament was extremely strong, so there were no “lesser” opponents, even though the elite had to face players who were below their rating range. According to GM Aleksander Colovic who analysed the games for the British Chess Magazine, “this led to different approaches: some didn’t mind playing in the same way, thus making a lot of draws (Wesley So being a typical example), while others like Carlsen and Grischuk took risks and were on the verge of losing several times (in Grischuk’s case he even lost twice)”. The format of an open tournament forces most of the elite players out of their comfort zone as it imposes the extra pressure to “have to win” when playing lower-rated opponents and this gives these lower-rated opponents their chances. The second part of the tournament saw an increase in the number of draws as the players were becoming more cautious. “Generally speaking in modern times the tendency to avoid risks in the last rounds is notable. Petrosian was famous to make draws in the last rounds no matter what the tournament situation was and it worked for him. Today it appears as if all of them are like Petrosian”, noted Colovic. This can be attributed to the bigger importance of the prize money, a draw securing a good prize, which is preferable to the risk or playing for glory and first place but then losing and getting nothing. “Perhaps the young players should be reminded of the famous quote by Lasker on what a champion must have: “The passion that whips the blood when great stakes can be gained by resolute and self-confident daring”, argued GM Aleksandar Colovic. Despite the fact that players had 100 minutes each for first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the start, each round saw a number of games in which players ended in time trouble, especially towards the top boards, which, for most players and the media and the wider audience was a source of great excitement. Given the structure of the contestants (especially looking at the top tier of participants), we have seen players demonstrate extremely high levels of preparation, often finishing well after the 20th move. The chess.com live commentary and analysis, which was provided alongside the games, has shown that in the majority of cases, especially on the top 20 boards, players did play similar to the levels of top computers. With 840 games played in what is arguably the strongest Swiss event ever held in chess history, the FIDE Chess.com Grands Swiss will be an abundant resource for chess theory and further game and play analysis. The players Altogether 154 players from 42 countries took part, most notably – Russia (26), India (15), United States (12) and Ukraine (10). When it comes to tiled players, there were 133 GMs, two women GMs, and 16 IMs. With the world’s No 1 and No 2 present and with some of the strongest top players in the world, the tournament had the average ELO of 2630. The tournament has seen a great number of players complete norms, including two countries getting their youngest GMs ever: Vincent Keymer (14) of Germany and Jonas Buhl Bjerre (15) of Denmark. The youngest player to achieve his final GM norm was the 13-year-old Indian Raunak Sadhwani. At 13 years, nine months and 26 days, Sadhwani became the ninth youngest player in the world to reach the GM title and India’s 65th GM. Altogether, 18 women players took part in the event. Indian GM Harika Dronavalli was the most successful female participant, having achieved 5.5 points out of 11 games all played with GMs.
European Team Championship gets underway in Batumi
European Team Chess Championship 2019 kicked off in Batumi, Georgia. Stretching over 10 days, the event takes place 23rd October – 3rd November in the 5-star Hotel Sheraton. Forty teams in Open section and thirty-two squads in Women section will play 9 rounds (Swiss system), with the time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment for every move played, starting from the move one. October 29 is a free day. Each team consists of five players (four main and one reserve player). The defending champion Azerbaijan did not manage to bring the strongest lineup (the World Cup champion Teimur Radjabov opted not to play) but still is among the top contenders. Despite not enlisting its top players the Russian team is entering the competition as the rating-favorite (average rating 2722) and will try to repeat its success from four years ago in Reykjavik. In the Women section, the champion of the last two events Russia recruited all the best and tops the list of the rating favorites followed by Georgia and Ukraine. Top-5 rated teams: Open 1. Russia (2722)2. England (2690)3. Poland (2688)4. Azerbaijan (2679)5. Armenia (2676) Women 1. Russia (2529)2. Georgia (2451)3. Ukraine (2419)4. Poland (2397)5. Azerbaijan (2383)
Chess competitions held as part of the 2019 International Parliamentary Games
From October 17 to 21st Moscow hosted the International Parliamentary Games, with parliamentarians from around the world competing in various disciplines. The history of the international parliamentary games began in 2009 when the first edition of European parliamentary games took place in the capital of Russia. Despite the fact that this year’s competition was held for the tenth time, the objectives of the event did not change – strengthening of friendly ties between parliamentarians of different countries and promoting sports and healthy lifestyle. Traditionally, the program of the international parliamentary games includes sports, official and cultural parts. The sports program included chess, billiards, mini-football, tennis, table tennis, and badminton tournaments. The culmination of the sports part was a friendly gala football match between the national team of Russian parliamentarians and the team their colleagues from the rest of the world. The chess tournament brought together the parliamentarians from 8 countries. In the individual competition saw the triumph of Moldavian parliamentarian Victor Bologan (8); the second place was taken by Alexander Zhukov from Russia (6.5); David ROS (6) representing France rounded out the top three. The team competition was won by the team France (16.5), the team Russia came second (14.5), the team Belarus (12) finished third. The parliamentary tournaments were preceded by children’s competitions, in which the students of the chess school named after M. M. Botvinnik took part. In the “tournament of champions” Rudik Makaryan (6) took the first place, whereas Savva Vetokhin (5.5) and Nikita Voynikonis (5.5) finished just a half-point behind the winner. In the “candidates’ tournament” Igor Prokudin (6) turned out to be the strongest, Vorona Eva got the silver, and Prokhorov Klim ended up with the bronze (4.5). The opening of the international parliamentary games was attended by several honored guests, including the multiple world chess champion, State Duma Deputy Anatoly Karpov, first Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov, three-fold Olympic champion, State Duma Deputy Vyacheslav Tretyak, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Sports Mikhail Degtyarev, President of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergey Lazarev. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Russian Federation Mr. D. B. Venkatesh Varma who visited the event as a special guest, not only welcomed all the participants but also launched the chess tournament, making a symbolic first move in the first round. All participants received awards and prizes; the Moscow Chess Federation prepared special gifts for the winners of children’s tournaments. The Co-Chairman of the Games Organizing committee Dmitry Svishchev noted that such competitions have a unique format, with many advantages over more traditional, official meetings. Every year this international project has attracted more and more participants. “We are united by the desire to win and a sense of belonging to the team. And this is an excellent starting point for strengthening relations between the countries,” – the parliamentarian added. The information is provided by the assistant of the Deputy of the State Duma, member of the Organizing Committee of the Games Ekaterina Kirsanova
Wang Hao wins the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss
The final day of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss turned out to be decisive in determining the winner. The round started with World No 2 Fabiano Caruana being the leader (7.5/10) a half-point ahead of seven players (all of which, save the World Champion, were fighting for the spot in the 2020 Candidates tournament). Caruana drew his game with Hikaru Nakamura and, with 8 points, secured at least a tie for the first place. The game that changed everything was played on board three where Wang Hao of China faced David Howell of England. After the Englishman blundered in an even position and was forced to resign, the Chinese GM secured the top spot (thanks to a better tiebreak than Caruana, who was pushed to the second place) and the slot in the Candidates Tournament. Six players tied for the third place, with Russian Kirill Alekseenko coming on the top among them, again thanks to a better tiebreak. The best-performing women players of the tournament are Harika Dronavalli of India and Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan who both finished on 5.5/11. The key games of the final round On board one Hikaru Nakamura played as White against Fabiano Caruana, who was before the round the sole leader of the tournament. The Petrov Defense was played in which Nakamura chose a side-line with 7.h3 aiming to get off the beaten theoretical paths. Caruana, however, wasn’t caught out unprepared and continued to develop his pieces. (Photo: John Saunders) Both players were fighting for control in the center but the position remained balanced. After an exchange of the queens on move 23 the opponents were heading to an even endgame. Nakamura could not avoid further simplifications in the center and soon two players agreed to split a point. This was the first game to finish among the top eight of the tournament. With even positions on all other boards, it seemed that Caruana will be the sole winner, half a point ahead of everyone else. But things were about the change… Carlsen sets a new unbeaten record It was a make or break moment for Levon Aronian who was playing against the World Champion Magnus Carlsen on board two. It was Aronian’s last realistic chance to qualify for the Candidates and the opportunity to take down Magnus Carlsen. The only way to do this was to defeat the World Champion in the last round of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss. Carlsen, for his part, also had a lot on the line (and it wasn’t just a spot at the top, or the prize money): the World Champion was on the verge of setting a new world record – 101 games without a loss. It all started with a sharp line of the Nimzo-Indian. The game quickly developed into a very dynamic position with both sides creating threats. White sacrificed a pawn in the center for the initiative, trying to exploit black’s lag in development, but Carlsen managed to mobilize his queenside pieces and emerged with an extra pawn. In the following complications, Aronian event won a knight but soon had to return his extra piece to reach an even rook endgame, in which the opponents sealed a draw. (Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com) The last top game to finish Board three saw a Russian derby between Nikita Vitiugov and Kirill Alekseenko. The game was last to finish among the top boards. In a complicated battle in the Italian Game White (Alekseenko) pushed in the center and, after an exchange of rooks, ended up with a dangerous passer on d6. Black, however, had a passing pawn of his own on b6. Vitiugov sacrificed his e5-pawn for some activity which was enough for maintaining equilibrium. However, White managed to exchange queens and preserved his extra pawn in the knight endgame. Alekseenko might not have used all his chances but we have to give credit to Vitiugov, who put a stubborn defense and saved a half-point. After 56 moves and six hours of play, the two players agreed to a draw. The game to determine the tournament winner The key result of the round and maybe of the whole tournament was registered on board four. Wang Hao of China was playing against David Howell of England. (Photo: John Saunders) Wang had a very strong tournament, constantly playing on the top-boards as one of the leaders. In his final game of the tournament, Wang had the advantage of white pieces, but more importantly – the best tiebreak score among all other players with seven points, which meant that he was in the best position to secure a place in the Candidates, even with a draw. He was facing David Howell, the English GM who by the first half of the tournament had only 50 percent and then scored an impressive 4.5/5 in the second part. Out of all of the other top players with seven points after 10 rounds, Howell had the worst tie-break. This meant that – if the Brit wanted to get in a chance to challenge Carlsen for the World Champion title – he needed a victory. Howell played the Grünfeld Defense, but Wang pushed for an exchange of pieces in the center which suggested he was going for a draw. The symmetrical position emerged, with White being slightly better developed. On move 14 Howell went into a deep think – spending more than 25 minutes on the crossroads: to follow the line of simplifications and draw or, to risk it all and go for a win. Howell played 14…Be6 which led to further exchanges, with both white and black pawns falling on the queenside. Howell was, however, worse on time. After over two and a half hours of play, the top two boards drew. This meant that Wang needed a draw to qualify and a win to take the tournament. Then, on move 18, Howell committed a terrible blunder: he moved his bishop on d5, apparently overlooking a simple pin with 19.Rd1. In the next two moves he had to give up his queen for a rook and a bishop, but Black’s position was absolutely hopeless. The game lasted until move 37 when
Grand Swiss: Caruana finally alone at the top
Round ten was a day of decisive games on the top ten boards in the Isle of Man Grand Swiss, with seven wins and three draws. The top players clearly knew there was no more point in holding back anymore and if they wanted to do something in the tournament, then penultimate round was a crucial milestone. After sharing the lead for 9 rounds of the tournament, World No 2 Fabiano Caruana finished round 10 as the sole player on the top. He defeated the Spaniard David Anton as White and enters the final round with a half-point ahead of the other top players. Chasing Caruana is a pack of seven GMs, which includes the World Champion Magnus Carlsen who, after victory in round nine, has also achieved his 100th game without losing. The final round of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss will see eight top players deciding who will be the winner of the $70,000 first prize and, also, who will win the race for the place in the 2020 Candidates’ tournament. On the first board, Fabiano Caruana was playing as white against David Anton of Spain. In the English opening after a quick exchange of queens, a roughly even position emerged on the board. In 20 moves the opponents reached an endgame with a rook and a knight and seven pawns each. Caruana had a slight edge as of his pieces were more active and positioned more naturally, compared to Anton who had doubled pawns on the c and f-files. The World No 2 opted for a push on the kingside, leaving Black to counterattack on the left flank. Caruana obtained a much better position, making it quite uncomfortable for the Spaniard who offered a move repetition but was refused. As the game progressed Caruana was slightly worse on time, but confidently secured his advantage reached the first time control. With his knight firmly planted on e5, and a pawn on c4 (blocking the progress of black’s c5-b6-c7 pawns), Caruana was freer to engage on the kingside. With his advanced pawns, an active king and a rook and knight who were all threatening the black monarch, Caruana seemed on a path to victory. (Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com) The next few moves brought about the exchange of knights and Black winning a pawn, but at a price of his king being further pushed away from White’s passing pawns. With cutting the board in two with his rook on e6, White could effortlessly advance his pawns supported by the king without any serious threats to them. At this point, Black had just one option at his disposal – to push his own pawns on the queenside and hope for a wonder. In the moves that followed, David Anton finally gave up his rook for White’s pawn on g7, putting everything on the queen promotion of his pawns on the queenside. Caruana was, however, one step ahead – although Black did promote a queen as well, white had the decisive check which was a prelude to a deadly attack. The Spaniard resigned and was, effectively, kicked out of the race for the top. With this win, Fabiano Caruana (who is on 7.5/10) became the sole leader of the tournament with just one round to go. The battle of the slow-starters The board two saw a clash in the Rui Lopez between two slow-starters in the tournament: Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian. Black (Aronian) quickly castled on the kingside and launched an attack in the centre, while White’s king was still on the e-file. This was, however, followed by an exchange of pieces in the centre, including the queens, leaving Aronian with an isolated pawn on d6. The two sides were even: Aronian’s position seemed more natural while Nakamura had a bishop on a3 which was somewhat out of action due to his pawns being in front (a4, b4, and c3). On move 16 Levon Aronian thought for over ten minutes, although the position was pretty forced. Further exchanges of pieces in the centre ensued and the two entered a four-rook endgame. The position was slightly better for white but hardly more. The game ended with both players splitting a point after two and a half hours of play. Carlsen achieves a 100-game streak without a loss The World Champion Magnus Carlsen had a somewhat odd tournament: in the beginning, he was very fortunate to escape loses not without help from his opponents missing winning moves; in the second part he picked up speed and found his rhythm, but his top competitors managed to hold him to a draw. The World Champion was always lurking in the background but was missing a key breakthrough to the very top. In the round 10 game against the 2017 European Champion, Maxim Matlakov, history repeated itself: the two met in the Tata Steel tournament in 2018 when Carlsen also had white pieces and played a very long game in which the World Champion managed to edge a win in the very end. Their encounter in the Isle of Man Grand Swiss followed a somewhat similar scenario. (Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com) Carlsen achieved – according to the computer – a completely winning position well before the 40th move, but Matlakov managed to squeeze out and play on. The game started with a complicated position in the Semi-Slav defence which opened up at one point. Matlakov spent significantly more time, which suggests that he walked into a good preparation by Magnus Carlsen. Black managed to create a protected passed pawn on c3 but had only 12 minutes on his clock with 17 moves to the first time control. With a series of precise moves Carlsen obtained a very comfortable position: he opened up the f-file, directly aiming for the black’s weak spot on f7, and centralized his rooks (on d6 and f4). The situation seemed desperate for Black – with less than two minutes on his clock, Matlakov pushed his c3-pawn forward, but Carlsen took on c2 and then progressed with pressing on black’s weak spot on f7. White then took on f7
World Junior Championship crossed the halfway point
FIDE World Junior Championship in New Delhi crossed its halfway mark. The strongest teenagers from all over the world are enjoying the rest day before entering the second part of the tournament with 5 more rounds to go. After six rounds Evgeny Shtembuliak (Ukraine, 2577) and Aram Hakobyan (Armenia, 2561) are tied for the lead in the open section with 5 points each. They are paired to meet in round 7, with Shtembuliak having White. Both leaders have been undefeated so far. There is a big group of players a half-point behind, including the 14-year-old Indian prodigy, the winner of World Youth Chess Championship U18, Praggnanandhaa. Mobina Alinasab (Iran, 2239) is the sole leader in the girls’ section with 5.5 points. She conceded only half-a-point in the encounter with the World Youth Chess Championship U18 winner Polina Shuvalova (Russia, 2412) who is breathing down the leader’s neck with 5 points. Top-10 after 6 rounds: Open 1. Evgeny Shtembuliak (UKR) – 5.02. Aram Hakobyan (ARM) – 5.03. Praggnanandhaa R (IND) – 4.54. Miguel Santos Ruiz (ESP) – 4.55. Murali Karthikeyan (IND) – 4.56. Ravi Haria (ENG) – 4.57. Semen Khanin (RUS) – 4.58. Mihnea Costachi (ROU) – 4.59. Volodar Murzin (RUS) – 4.510. Shant Sargsyan (ARM) – 4.0 Girls 1. Mobina Alinasab (IRI) – 5.52. Polina Shuvalova (RUS) – 5.03. Rakshitta Ravi (IND) – 4.54. Vaishali R (IND) – 4.55. Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) – 4.56. Arpita Mukherjee (IND) – 4.57. Altantuya Boldbaatar (MNG) – 4.58. Divya Deshmukh (IND) – 4.59. Berdnyk Mariia (UKR) – 4.510. Antova Gabriela (BGR) – 4.5 Official site Photo: ChessBase India
Grand Swiss: Four at the top as Nakamura joins the leaders
Round nine of the Isle of Man Fide Grand Swiss saw one more player joining the leaders – Hikaru Nakamura. The American had a slow start to the tournament with four draws and one win in the first part of the event, but then he picked up speed and is now in the leading pack. Levon Aronian and David Anton drew their game on board one in what was a long and sharp battle. The most anticipated game of the day – between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, ended in a draw after perpetual check. Carlsen is now on 6 points and shares fifth to 15th place in a group which is dominated by six Russians. Round nine of the Grand Swiss will be memorable for some of the youngest players at the event as Raunak Sadhwani (13), Vincent Keymer (14) and Jonas Buhl Bjerre (15) all confirmed they had qualified for GM title. One of the toughest battles of the 9th day of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss was on board one where Spaniard David Anton – who made his way to the leading three in round eight – played as Black against Levon Aronian. The opponents played sharply into the opening. It started as a battle of preparations in the Italian – with 19 moves being played in the first 20 minutes. There was even a novelty by Black – 17…c5 – but both played these first 19 moves so confidently that it seemed there were no surprises there. The game developed into a dynamic position with a material imbalance, where White had a knight and a bishop for a rook and two pawns. Black launched an attack on White’s king, but after exchanging pieces the position seemed even. Aronian, however, had two things in his favor: he spent considerably less time than his opponent and, he had a clearer path ahead in terms of play while Anton had to pay attention to several factors – development, control of the center and coordination of his attack on the White king. Aronian then offered an exchange of queens wishing to simplify but also significantly diminish the resources Anton could use in his attack. Black accepted the exchange and the game moved into an endgame. For the greater part of the game, it seemed that Black had to make more of an effort to maintain equality, struggling to coordinate his rooks. At the same time, Aronian did manage to stop Black’s pawn advance on the queenside. But Anton did not allow his position to deteriorate – after returning material in the later stage of the game (giving a rook for a pawn) he was aiming for a rook and knight vs. rook ending, which is a theoretical draw. In the final stage of the game, White was a piece up but Black had two pawns of compensation with the a-pawn on the third rank, supported by the rook from behind. Aronian eventually accepted that further attempts might lead to the tables being turned and the players agreed to draw after more than five hours of play. With this draw, the two maintain their position among the leaders of the tournament. (Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com) World Challenger vs World Champion: The derby of round nine The most anticipated game of the tournament was that between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger for his title, World No 2, Fabiano Caruana. The last time the two played was at the Sinquefield Cup, where they split a point. The game between the two progressed fast in the first nine moves of the English opening. Then Caruana got into a deep think and spent 19 minutes on what appeared on the surface to be a logical move. Carlsen made an interesting decision in the 11th move: despite a somewhat loose pawn structure on the queenside (pawns on a2, doubled pawns on c2 and c3, and with the Black bishop attacking the c3 spot from a5), the World Champion, placed his bishop on f4 (which was a novelty) and opted for castling long. The decision seemed like a sign of World Champion’s determination to go into a sharp play and seek a victory. (Until round 9, Carlsen had five draws and was clearly disappointed in Round 8 when Wang Hao forced a quick draw as White). Carlsen’s decision to castle on the queenside was also founded on a thorough analysis: Black was lacking in development. Nevertheless, it seemed like a risky choice against World No 2. Then, on move 17, after black played 16.Rfe8, Magnus went into a tank (47 minutes long!), and eventually played 17.Rhe1. It was then the American’s turn to think. Having had other choices which would have led to uncertainty, Caruana then decided to sacrifice his bishop on c3 and send his queen to harass the exposed white king. After perpetual checks by the black queen, a draw was sealed on the move 25. Apart from splitting a point and saving faces, both players got something else: Caruana maintained his place in the top leaders, while the World Champion added one more game to his unbeaten streak which is now just one game shy of one hundred. (Photo: David Llada) Anand finally reaches the top three boards After a surprise loss in Round one on board four, Viswanathan Anand was relegated to lower boards but in the past eight days managed to pull himself together, keep his head, and slowly but confidently progressed towards the top. In Round nine he was playing on board three as Black against Russia’s Kirill Alekseenko. The Italian opening was played, like on board two, but a variation in which White puts pressure on black’s e-5 pawn. Alekseenko got out of the opening with a pair of bishops and used them to test Black’s accuracy. Anand, however, defended very well and, in the process, activated his knight which dominated the center and pushed white’s strong pieces back. After 31 moves, in a balanced position, the opponents decided to bury the hatchet.
FIDE Executive Director holds meetings with the Serbian authorities
In early October FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan paid a visit to Serbia to meet with Serbian sport and education officials. The first meeting was held at the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sports, where he met with Mr. Predrag Peruničić, the Deputy Minister and a former world-class handball player. Among the key agenda points discussed at the meeting were the current state of chess in Serbia, its ability to host major chess events, and the possibilities of attracting funding and support for the Serbian Chess Federation. The next stop on Mr. Bologan’s busy schedule was the Institute for Education and Upbringing, where he was greeted by the Institute’s Director Zlatko Grušanović and his associates. Thirteen years ago the Institute played a pivotal role in introducing chess as an optional subject into the official primary school curriculum, spearheading the preparation and implementation of the entire project. The main topic of discussion was the current state of affairs in the education system of Serbia, its ongoing reforms and the status of chess therein. The Institute is currently in the process of forming a committee that will be in charge of creating the new chess curriculum, as well as the teacher training program. A working dinner ensued with representatives of the Serbian Chess Federation, where SCF President Dušan Cogoljević briefly informed Mr. Bologan of the future plans, stating that the main objective was to bring Serbian chess back on the world map by improving the national teams’ results and hosting major chess events. Another meeting took place on the next day, this time at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. The Deputy Minister Milan Pašić expressed his satisfaction with the support Serbia enjoys both from FIDE and the national authorities. The Ministry promised to provide its share of resources – a meeting of their representatives and the Institute for Education and Upbringing’s expert team is scheduled for the upcoming week, with the main goal to start working on the new chess curriculum. Serbian TV made a short report about Mr. Bologan’s visit and those meetings, which was shown in a morning show. It is no secret that people truly love chess in Serbia, missing all the elite level chess events that took place in Serbia and Belgrade many years ago. The general sentiment is that if someone follows in the footsteps of Gligorić, Matanović, Ivkov, Ljubojević, Milunka Lazarević, Vera Nedeljković and Alisa Marić he or she will enjoy great deal support from Serbian fans as a new hope and a harbinger of the renaissance of national chess.
Grand Swiss: David Anton joins Caruana and Aronian at the top
After eight rounds on the Isle of Man Grand Swiss, there are now three players in the lead. The leaders after round seven, Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian drew their games, maintaining the top positions. As of round eight, they are joined by David Anton Guijarro, who defeated Alexander Grischuk after an excellently executed opening preparation, throwing his opponent into trouble from the very start. The second tier consists of 10 players who are on 5.5/8, which includes the World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Wang Hao of China who split a point in round eight. The highlight of the day, however, was on boards seven and eight where identical games were played until move 19, which drew a lot of attention from both other players and the public but also raised some questions for the arbiters. On board one Levon Aronian – who, with a late start, sprang up to the top in round seven – shared a point with the player who has been at the top from the very start, World No 2, Fabiano Caruana. In a balanced position, with the queens exchanged, White (Caruana) pushed the g-pawn in front of his king’s castle in an attempt to break a pesky f5-e4 pawn formation which threatened to develop into a dangerous advance for Black. Aronian responded with g7-g6, protecting the chain. This led to a series of exchanges in which Black planted his pawn on e3, pinning white’s e2-pawn. White secured a 2:1 pawn advantage on the queenside and then both sides wanted to take their chances: black to promote his e3-pawn, white to push his queenside runners, but the game was mostly even. The two players eventually agreed to a draw, not wanting to go for too much, but, also, probably having realized seen that most of the other top games had finished and that there was only one other player joining them at the top. The first game of the day to finish was an encounter between Wang Hao of China and World Champion Magnus Carlsen. After an hour and 15 minutes of play and 31 moves, the game ended in a draw. Wang decided to play an opening which resulted early on in the exchange of queens and a pair of bishops, quickly ending in an equal position. Carlsen was clearly disappointed – not with the position, but with the fact that his opponent played for a draw and forced a situation on the board in which he could maintain equality easily. After the game, Wang Hao told that he intentionally went for a draw as he was exhausted from the two previous games (round six where he managed to turn the tables on Luke McShane after more than six and a half hours of play, and the torturous round seven defeat to Levon Aronian). “El niño” Anton joins the leaders The game between David Anton and Candidates’ hopeful Alexander Grischuk brought more excitement than the top two boards but ended badly for the Russian. A somewhat unusual position developed in the first ten moves, with key action happening on the kingside where both white and black had to sacrifice their knights. Anton did not waste much time in the opening, demonstrating his clearly excellent preparation – for which he thanked his coach, David Martinez. On the other hand, Grischuk – who is known for entering into time trouble – was carefully assessing his moves but gradually moving into a dangerous zone. By move 16 there was a sharp position on the board with White having his queen centralized on d5, his rook on f4 and pieces ready for an active assault, while Black had most of his pieces on the back ranks. Instead of going for the exchange of queens, Grischuk pushed his f-pawn to the fifth rank, further exposing the king. White then offered a bishop sacrifice which Grischuk took, but from that moment on he was completely lost. At one point the situation was so dire that White could choose whether to take an extra rook or go for the king. Desperately low on time, 16 moves before the first control, Grischuk resigned. This win catapulted the Spaniard to the top of the rankings. With six points out of eight, he shares the top position with Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian. With five out of eight, Grischuk is now in the third tier of competitors. On board four Junior World Champion Parham Maghsoodloo was playing the Russian 2700-heavyweight Nikita Vitiugov. In an even position, after 23 moves, the two agreed to draw. With 5.5 out of 8 both players are still among the top 13, and with three more rounds to go still have strong chances to win the tournament. Wesley So had another (altogether, sixth) draw of the tournament, this time with Russian GM Kirill Alekseenko. After the cautious play by both sides, they ended with a bishop and knight and six pawns each in an even endgame, without chances of either side breaking through. A good day for Anand The eighth day at the Isle of Man Grand Swiss was a good day for Vishy Anand who was facing Vladimir Fedoseev. Anand, who was playing as white, immediately went on the offensive: by move 11 all of his pieces were developed and aiming for a kingside attack. One of the key moments of the game came when Anand played g4, launching an attack on the black’s kingside but at some point, after black had castled white lost momentum. Anand made an error, going for an exchange on the e-file and allowing the black rook on f8 to take command of the important f-file. The position was even, according to the computer, but Anand wanted to win: he pushed his remaining kingside pawns forward. Black tried to retaliate with bishop threats against white’s king, but Anand fended them off. By move 33 the Indian had black’s back ranks dangerously disturbed by a rook on c8 and the queen on h3, holding the h3-c8 diagonal under control. Fedoseev made the decisive blunder on the move 35 when he pushed his last
FIDE Trainer Awards 2018: Winners announced
Lausanne, October 18, 2019 The FIDE Trainers’ Commission (TRG) is pleased to announce the Trainer Awards results for the best achievements in 2018. The Mikhail Botvinnik Award, for best trainer of men or a team in an open event, goes to William John Donaldson. William John Donaldson (born in Los Angeles, 1958) has been the Captain of the US Open team for most of the Olympiads since 1986 – which equals to say, for most of his adult life. He retired from his job at San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute earlier in the year, but hopefully not from the US team. In the last two Olympiads, the US took Gold and Silver, with an identical lineup after paper-thin tie-break finishes. The Vakhtang Karseladze Award, for best trainer of women or a team in a women’s event, goes to Yu Shaoteng (余少腾). Yu Shaoteng (Guangzhou, 1979) became China’s 17th Grandmaster at the age of 25. As a coach, he has five World Championships under his belt as a coach: two with Hou Yifan, one with Tan Zhongyi, and two with Ju Wenjun. He is also the coach of the Chinese Women’s team that triumphed at the Batumi Chess Olympiad. Since Ju Wenjun won, not just one but two World Championship titles in 2018, Shaoteng was a clear favorite to win this award. The Mark Dvoretsky Award, for best trainer of juniors or a team in a juniors event, goes to Ramesh RB. Ramachandran Ramesh (born in Chennai, 1976) has coached a total of 39 Gold winners at Junior, Youth and Cadet World Championships, starting with Aarthie Ramesh in 1999, and lately the 14-year-old prodigy Praggnanandhaa, who just won the 2019 World Championship for players U18, and is now among the leaders in the World Junior Championship (U20). The Tigran Petrosian Award, for special achievements, goes to Michal Konopka. Michal Konopka (born in Prague, 1966) has been the captain of the Czech Men National Team, and since 2013 he has been the manager of both Men and Women National teams. Over the past decades, he has coached at many World and European Youth Championships, where his students won several medals. He has also been a second for elite players like David Navara and Viktor Laznicka. The Yuri Razuvaev Award, for Contributions to Trainers Education, goes to Adrian Mikhalchishin. Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin (born in Lviv, 1954) was the TRG chairman for a decade after the death of his mentor and predecessor, GM Yuri Razuvaev. With lots of hard and passionate work, Adrian’s dream of increasing the prestige of chess trainers is quickly becoming a reality. The Awards will be presented on five different dates and locations, according to the wishes of the winners. All the awardees will receive the trophy “The Tree of Chess”, designed by the famous Ukrainian sculptor Volodymyr Odrehivskyj. The final results were voted by the most qualified and diverse panel of judges ever, consisting of both experienced players and trainers. All continents were represented in a gender-balanced jury, which includes four world champions: Word Champion Vladimir KramnikWorld Champion & FIDE Senior Trainer Susan PolgarWorld Champion Zhu ChenWorld Champion & FIDE Senior Trainer Antoaneta StefanovaGM & FIDE Senior Trainer Eugene TorreGM & FIDE Senior Trainer Alonso ZapataGM & FIDE Senior Trainer Slim Bouaziz The Averbakh/Boleslavsky Award for Book of the Year is judged separately. This award has three judges: Nigel Short, Artur Yusupov, and the World’s oldest living grandmaster, Yuri Averbakh. The shortlist is expected out in early November, and the winner will be declared some weeks thereafter. The deadline for submission for the 2019 Awards will be Friday 3rd April 2020. The categories are likely to be slightly altered to reflect new priorities. Eligible to nominate are any FIDE Office Bearers, Continental Chess Federations, National Chess Federations, TRG Commission Members, and FIDE Endorsed Academies. Eligible are all FIDE trainers with a valid license for 2018 and 2019, except for the TRG Chairman (Jacob Aagaard) and Secretary (Peter Long). The same person can not be nominated in more than one category by the same eligible body. The 2020 Awards will be presented at the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. Official site