WGP: Gunina emerges as the sole leader
FIDE Vice-President and a great supporter of chess Mahir Mammedov paid a visit at the Skolkovo Women’s Grand Prix and made the first move in the game between World Champion Ju Wenjun and Indian top-seeded player Harika Dronavalli. Mr Mahir brought equal luck to the opponents and the game ended up in a drawish rook-endgame. Valentina Gunina managed to beat her countryman Alexandra Kosteniuk with black pieces. After Alexandra refused to go for the principal continuation and then missed the winning move g5 twice, she ended up blundering an exchange. Rapid activation of the black pieces brought the whole point and sole lead to Gunina. Later, at the press conference, Valentina admitted that she disliked her position at the beginning, but later on she declined a three-time repetition. She added that having Women Grand Prix next to her home brings her great benefits. Valentina also shared her secret of alleviating stress – she does it with a little help from her lovely pets (a cat and a dog). A spectacular game was played in another Russian derby, in which Alina Kashlinskaya’s king was under heavy fire from Katerina Lagno, who obtained a significant advantage after her aggressive advances on the kingside. However, at the key moment of the game, Katerina did not demonstrate the necessary accuracy. Alina sacrificed one of her rooks and forced a perpetual check. Aleksandra Goryachkina went to the Slav Defense Exchange Variation in her game with Elisabeth Paethz. Black managed to mobilize her pieces and equalized position, but on the move 21 Paethz captured automatically on c6 with a queen and found herself in a quandary. To her credit, Elizabeth put up a stubborn resistance and held her unpleasant position. Pia Cramling and Antoaneta Stefanova also played a very entertaining game. The Swedish GM obtained a decisive advantage but missed the precise way 27.c4 Rb3 28. Bc5 +- to win some material. The game between French GM Marie Sebag and Indian number one female player Koneru Humpy was the most peaceful encounter of the second round. The players shook hands on the move 26. The third-round games will be played on September 13, at 3 pm local time (GMT +3). Spectators can follow the games with English and Russian commentaries: https://www.youtube.com/fidechannel Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.com
Round 1 of FIDE World Cup is in the books
The tie-breaks of the First Round of the FIDE World Cup were played on September 12. A large group of participants secured the overall victory already in rapid chess: Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Evgeny Tomashevsky, Dmitry Andreikin, Maxim Matlakov, Sanan Sjugirov, Alexandr Predke (all from Russia), Benjamin Bok (Netherlands), David Anton Guijarro (Spain), Tamir Nabaty (Israel), Luke McShane (England), Igor Kovalenko (Latvia), Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Germany), Le Quang Liem (Vietnam), and Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei (Iran). Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), Yu Yangyi, Wang Hao (both from China), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Anton Korobov (Ukraine), and Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan) were more successful than their rivals in 10-minute games and also advanced to the second round. An amazing instance of “chess blindness was evidenced in the Shankland – Safarli match. Sam had to win the 2nd 10-min rapid game at any cost but blundered a bishop in a slightly better endgame. Somehow Safarli missed this opportunity and then Shankland decided to continue his bluff leaving the bishop under attack for one more move. Safarli missed a clear win once again, but still managed to secure a draw that punched his ticket into the second round. Bu Xiangzhi (China) suffered a rather surprising loss to his compatriot Xu Xiangyu in this stage. Young Chithambaram Aravindh (India) defeated the experienced Michael Adams (England): after seven draws in a row, the Indian grandmaster managed to win in a second blitz game. The dramatic match between Kacper Piorun (Poland) and Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan) also reached the blitz stage. The players exchanged blows in rapid and 10-minute games, but Abasov proved stronger in blitz. The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. Round 2, Game 1 pairings Videos Official website: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/ General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC.Official airline – Utair.Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft.FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”.General media partner – News Agency TASS.Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRC “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru News of Ugra regional newspaper, AIF-Ugra newspaper.
WGP Skolkovo: Ju Wenjun, Goryachkina and Gunina take the lead
The participants of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix hit the ground running: the current world women’s champion Ju Wenjun and the Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina won the first-round games with black pieces. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move in the game GM Cramling Pia (2487) – GM Ju Wenjun (2576). In the game mentioned above, the position went into an early endgame where black got a pair of bishops. The Chinese GM managed to turn this slight positional edge into material advantage which she gradually converted. The game of former World women’s champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2491) and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2564) ended dramatically. Having an enormous amount of time on the clock Stefanova eventually found herself in a time trouble and made a fatal blunder on then move 31st. Indian derby GM Koneru Humpy (2560) – GM Harika Dronavalli (2503) ended up in drawish rook endgame, although the former had a significant advantage throughout the game. Unfortunately for Hampy, time pressure did not allow her to achieve more than a half-point. Another sharp position arose in the game of IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2479) and the 14th world women’s champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2495). With 22.Bg5 white sacrificed a piece for two pawns in return for a sharp attack on the kingside. Kosteniuk found the most precise way to defend the position and the game ended up with a perpetual check. Valentina Gunina (2502) sacrificed two pawns in order to gain the initiative in her encounter with Alina Kashlinskaya (2487). Alina was holding tight but eventually buckled under pressure making a deadly mistake on the move 30. The game between GM Kateryna Lagno (2545) – GM Marie Sebag (2450) was rather peaceful. Players agreed on draw on the move 34th. The second-round games start on September 12, at 3 pm (GMT +3). Spectators can follow the games with English and Russian commentaries: https://www.youtube.com/fidechannel Official site: https://wgp2019.fide.com
World Cup: 41 Players through to the second round
Second games of the FIDE World Cup’s first round were played on September 11 in Khanty-Mansiysk. The World Cup newcomer Johan-Sebastian Christiansen from Norway (pictured above) delivered a major sensation by knocking out one of the rating favorites, Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland). The Norwegian won both games of the match. Another unexpected result was observed in a match between Daniil Yuffa (Russia) and David Navara (Czech Republic): the Russian checkmated his experienced opponent and won the match 1.5-0.5. Ding Liren (China), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk, Dmitry Jakovenko (all from Russia), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Wesley So, Lenier Dominguez, Jeffrey Xiong (all from USA), Pentala Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin (both from India), Niclas Huschenbeth (Germany), and Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) advanced to the second round upon winning both games in their matches. The following players advanced with a win and a draw: the Russians Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Vladislav Artemiev, Daniil Dubov, Nikita Vitiugov, Ernesto Inarkiev, Evgeniy Najer, Anton Demchenko, Kirill Alekseenko, Alexandr Rakhmanov, Andrey Esipenko (he defeated the former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov), Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian (both from Armenia), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Santosh Vidit, Baskaran Adhiban (both from India), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Maxim Rodshtein (Israel), Samuel Sevian (USA), Wei Yi (China), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Gawain Jones (England), Rinat Jumbayev (Kazakhstan), Ivan Cheparinov (Georgia), and Alireza Firouzja (Iran). S.P. Sethuraman (India) managed to come back in a match with Tamir Nabaty (Israel). Constantin Lupulescu also managed to level the score after losing the first game to Igor Kovalenko (Latvia). Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) lost the second game to Surya Ganguly (India), allowing the opponent to tie the match. S.L. Narayanan (India) also came back against David Anton Guijarro (Spain). In the longest game of the day, the Iranian Ehsan Ghaem Maghami defeated Yu Yangyi (China). All these players will continue on tie-break tomorrow. In the matches Gelfand-Lu Shanglei, Nakamura-Bellahcene, Piorun-Abasov, Sarana-Predke, Safarli-Shankland, McShane-Delgado Ramirez, Adams-Aravindh, Amin-Tabatabaei, Bu Xiangzhi-Xu Xiangyu, Tomashevsky-Petrov, Wang Hao-Pridorozhni, Bok-Saric, Andreikin-Mekhitarian, Mareco-Sjugirov, Parligras-Nisipeanu, Matlakov-Abdusattorov, Le Quang Liem-Alexandrov, and Gupta-Korobov both game were drawn. The first round tie-break with 23 matches scheduled will be played on Thursday, September 12. Tie-break Pairings Official website
World Junior Blitz and Rapid Championships start in Salobrena, Spain
Photo: President of the Spanish Chess Federation Javier Ochoa made a first symbolic move The World Junior Blitz and Rapid Championships U-14, U-16 and U18 in open and girls categories are underway in Salobrena, Hotel Salobreña Suites (Granada, Andalucia, Spain) The event will stretch over four 5 days (10-14 of September). 182 players from the USA, Netherlands, India, Israel, Portugal, Austria, Vietnam, Slovenia, Italy, Algeria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Greece, Russia, Kazakhstan, Chile, Germany, Tajikistan, and Spain are contesting for the coveted medals. The strongest players are in the U-18 category are Lucas Van Foreest from the Netherlands, a current Absolute Dutch champion, Juan Plazuelo Pascual from Spain, the Spanish champion in different categories, Nguyen Anh Khoi from Vietnam and an Italian Francesco Sonis. The strongest girl comes from Russia – WFM Anna Afonasieva who is playing in the category U-18. Maria Eizagerri Floris, champion of Spain and the absolute Blitz champion of Spain will take part in the section U-16 boys. Official site: https://wyrbcc2019.com/
First games of FIDE World Cup finished in Khanty-Mansiysk
First games of the First Round of the FIDE World Cup were played in Ugra Chess Academy on September 10. Vasily Filipenko, President of the Ugra Chess Federation, and Konstantin Penchukov, Chairman of the city parliament, made ceremonial first moves in Press – Ding Liren game on the Board 1. Most of the higher-rated players achieved victories. There were, however, a few upsets, as it often happens at the World Cups. Radoslaw Wojtaszek lost to Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, whereas young Andrey Esipenko defeated Ruslan Ponomariov. Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Peter Svidler, Dmitry Adnreikin, Bu Xiangzhi, Wang Hao, Vladislav Artemiev, David Navara, Maxim Matlakov, Le Quang Liem, Santos Vidit, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Boris Gelfand, Wei Yi, Samuel Shanckland and some other players were held to draws, facing much lower-rated opponents. The games between players with more or less similar ratings were very closely contested. Rustam Kasimdzhanov defeated Evgeny Bareev, Ivan Cheparinov beat Ahmed Adly, Maksim Chigaev lost to Parham Maghsoodloo, David Anton Guijarro was stronger than S.L.Narayanan, Baskaran Adhiban outplayed Eduardo Iturrizaga, Vladimir Fedoseev prevailed over Surya Ganguly, Maxim Rodshtein forced resignation of Mateusz Bartel, Arkadij Naiditsch bowed down to Niclas Huschenbeth, while Jorge Cori lost to Nihal Sarin. Second games of the First Round will be played on Wednesday, September 11. The players will play against their today’s opponents with colours reversed. Full results
Chess Clock Contract: All Bids Submitted
As per the timeline established by the Chess Clock Contract Bidding Procedure, the bid opening meeting took place at FIDE Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The bid opening panel included Mr. Victor Bologan, the FIDE Executive Director and Ms. Sava Stoisavljevic, Assistant to the FIDE COO. Further, Mr. Robert Hinterberger, Senior Manager, Internal Audit Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers SA, served as an independent observer. FIDE thanks all participants who sent their offers. We will now proceed with the evaluation as scheduled. FIDE Procurement Department
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix kicks off in Skolkovo
The first of four legs of the 2019-20 FIDE Women Grand Prix (WGP) kicked off in Skolkovo, Russia. The participation of the current world women’s champion GM Ju Wenjun and the Challenger GM Aleksandra Goryachkina makes the tournament even more interesting. The opening ceremony was held at the MATREX Center, the venue for the tournament that will stretch over two weeks (September 10-23). The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment from move one. No draw offers are allowed before move 30. The games start every day at 3 pm (Moscow time). The rest day is scheduled for or September 17. The prize fund amounts to 80,000 Euros, with 15,000 Euros and 160 Grand Prix points for the winner. General Director of Magnit Company Jan Dunning and FIDE President Vladimir Dvorkovich made speeches in front of the participants and guests. Jan Dunning: “Planning, taking decisions and strategy – Chess looks a lot like a business. Supporting chess, getting initiative from our employees to start playing this game. Potentially we might invite out employees to the championship, who knows, because18% from 3,000 are women at work. Let the best one win. Arkady Dvorkovich: “The first series of Grand Prix is very important for us. We start the tournament after a long time of non-existence. Hopefully, all participants will show their best and also to show the beauty of chess and bring intellectual satisfaction to all chess lovers in the world. We will continue to focus on the development of women chess. We are looking forward World championship in January next year, which will be held in Shanghai and Vladivostok. Let me assure you that here in Skolkovo you will see the best possible hospitality. I wish you all success, fair play and yes let’s best win. Gens Una Sumus.” Women’s FIDE Grand Prix Series 2019-2020 consist of four Women’ Grand Prix tournaments held over two years (2019-20) Sixteen players compete in four WGP tournaments. Each of the sixteen players participate in three (3) out of four WGP tournaments. Each WGP tournament is played with twelve (12) players round-robin. In each WGP tournament, every player scores WGP points according to her position in the final standings; the winner of WGP Series is a player who scores the greatest number of cumulative points earned in all three WGP tournaments she participated. Two players who score the most number of cumulative points in WGP Series qualify to the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament to be held in the first half of 2021. Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.com
FIDE World Cup starts in Khanty-Mansiysk
The opening ceremony of the FIDE World Cup took place in the Arts Center for Gifted Children of the North on September 9. It started with a chess-themed laser show followed by “Heart of taiga” dance performance with the colorful introduction of countries participating in the event. The protocol part of the ceremony started with speeches by Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. Pavel Kolobkov, Russian Minister of Sport, greeted everyone in the capital of Ugra and wished the participants of the World Cup exciting games and brilliant victories. “I am happy that Russia got the right to carry out such a significant event, thus making Khanty-Mansiysk a chess capital of the world. I wish everyone a good contest, and may the strongest win”, said the Minister. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, speaking on behalf of the International Chess Federation, congratulated the players on the start of the World Cup, and thanked the organizers – Government of Ugra and Governor Natalya Komarova – for hosting such an important tournament. Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are all familiar with a wonderful chess tradition of Ugra, the region that organized almost all the most important chess tournaments, including the Olympiad. It is wonderful that this region develops chess for everyone regardless of occupation or age. Still, everybody loves to watch games of the strongest players, and the strongest players are present here tonight. I wish you excellent play and best of luck, and declare the 2019 FIDE World Cup open!” Mr. Dvorkovich also announced that on September 8 FIDE Presidential Board approved a bid for the 2020 Candidates Tournament from Yekaterinburg and Russian Chess Federation. For the drawing of lots, Ding Liren, the highest-rated player of the tournament, was assisted by Chief Arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan two actors dressed as chess kings. The Chinese grandmaster picked a black piece. Therefore, all players with odd numbers will be playing Black in the first game of the first rounds. The protocol part was followed by an art show by the Art Center for Gifted Children of North, “Grotesque” Theater of Plastic Arts and Pantomime, “Light It” modern dance studio, and Youth Theater. The evening was concluded by the Million Voices song performed by White and Black chess queens. A press briefing with Natalya Komarova, Pavel Kolobkov, and Arkady Dvorkovich took place after the conclusion of the opening ceremony. Natalya Komarova, Governor of Ugra: “In chess community, FIDE World Cup is strongly associated with Khanty-Mansiysk. Four out of nine World Cups were carried out in Ugra, and today we are starting the fifth one. One can safely call Khanty-Mansiysk home of this tournament. The organizers do their best to make our guests feel at home. The World Cup is not only a major sporting event but also an opportunity to experience being a part of a large and close-knit chess family. Ugra and chess are inseparable. We wish to present the exciting world of chess to thousands of Ugra people. By 2024 we want 55% of them engaged in various sports activities, in accordance with the national project “Sport is the way of life”. The first games of the FIDE World Cup will be played on Tuesday, September 10. The Ugra Chess Academy (Loparev street, 6) is a playing venue. Schedule: Rounds 1-3 – September 10-18 Rounds 4-6 – September 20-28 Final and Match for 3rd place – September 30 – October 4 Rest days: September 19 and 29. All rounds start at 3 pm local time. The total prize fund of the tournament: 1,600,000 USD. The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC. Official airline – Utair. Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft. FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”. General media partner – News Agency TASS. Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRK “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru, “News of Ugra” regional newspaper, “AIF-Ugra” newspaper. Official site
FIDE World Cup: Press Conference and Draw
FIDE World Cup starts on September 9 in Khanty-Mansiysk. Prior to the opening ceremony, its organizers, honored guests, and participants answered questions from the media at the press conference. According to Pavel Kolobkov, Russian Minister of Sport, Ugra is a territory of chess development: “Not only they organize many events of various caliber, they also actively develop chess at schools. Judging by a number of people actively studying chess, Ugra is one of the leaders in our country. They promote chess among children, which is very important. I am very happy that Ugra is hosting the World Cup”. The Minister added that he frequently visits the region thanks to two kinds of sport – biathlon and chess. Mr. Kolobkov stressed the importance of preserving winning chess traditions. “In Russia, chess is more than just a sport. We are proud of our champions and their glorious victories. We must preserve this pride and develop this passion. Every year our Ministry together with Russian Chess Federation organizes about 80 major competitions of different level. I am quite happy about our chess development at the moment”, added the Minister. Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, agrees with him. He reminded that Khanty-Maniysk is hosting the Chess World Cup for the fifth time. “On multiple occasions, the region demonstrated that it is capable of hosting a tournament of any magnitude”, said the FIDE President. “The World Cup is a significant event for the world chess calendar. The lineup consists of the best players of different countries as well as the highest ranked players in the rating list. Don’t forget that the World Cup provides an opportunity to qualify to the Candidates Tournament, the winner of which will challenge the chess crown. Both World Cup finalists will qualify directly, and the bronze medal winner also has a chance, if he is nominated by the organizer. The competition is going to be fierce”, said Mr. Dvorkovich. Vasily Filipenko, President of the Ugra Chess Federation, said that the region prepared for this important event very seriously, utilizing its vast experience in organizing major sports events. Boris Gelfand, grandmaster from Israel, always enjoys coming to Khanty-Mansiysk – back in 2009 he won the World Cup on Ugra soil. “If we count days I stayed in Khanty-Mansiysk playing different tournaments, it will add up to three months. Once I even hosted an excursion for other players”, recalled Boris Gelfand. The Israeli grandmaster took part in the very first World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2000 and is participating in the World Cup this year as well. Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin also took part in the press conference. Mr. Karjakin pointed out that the capital of Ugra is a very special place for him: “I came here to my first World Cup in 2005 when I was just 15 years old.” The Russian also has a World Cup title under his belt – he prevailed in the 2015 World Cup in Baku. The first round of the FIDE World Cup will be played on September 10. 128 players from 47 countries will compete for the main trophy. The youngest participant is 14 years old, and the eldest is 53. FIDE World Cup top seed Ding Liren got black at the color draw during the opening ceremony. Ding and all the players with odd numbers will start with black pieces. The tournament starts tomorrow. Full pairing: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/results/pairings/ Schedule: Rounds 1-3 – September 10-18 Rounds 4-6 – September 20-28 Final and Match for 3rd place – September 30 – October 4 Rest days: September 19 and 29. All rounds start at 3 pm local time. The total prize fund of the tournament: 1,600,000 USD. The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC. Official airline – Utair. Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft. FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”. General media partner – News Agency TASS. Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRK “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru, “News of Ugra” regional newspaper, “AIF-Ugra” newspaper.