The match for Women’s World Champion title: Celebration of China and Chess
The forthcoming match for the title of the Women’s World Chess Champion will be a unique event in chess history. China, known for its supremacy in women’s chess, finds itself in a very rare position of holding both the absolute and women’s chess crowns simultaneously. From the 3rd to the 24th July, China will host the match for the title of Women’s World Champion. In a year which saw the country of the Red Dragon clinch the ultimate world chess crown as Ding Liren defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, the forthcoming women’s duel in China adds to the anticipation of a great battle as the eyes of the entire chess world will be on the country. It will be the first major chess event played in China since its player took the ultimate world title. The highly anticipated match between the current World Champion, Ju Wenjun, and the Challenger, Lei Tingjie, is scheduled to take place in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing. These cities hold significance as they are the birthplaces of the respective participants. Ju Wenjun will have the advantage of home turf first, as her native Shanghai will host the first part of the match. Still, it should be noted that playing in front of your home audience is not always an upside and can sometimes be a psychological hurdle. The reigning World Champion and the Challenger Ju Wenjun, the defending Champion, has a lot of experience in major events. With two World Championship matches under her belt and overall seven attempts at the World Championships, her nerves are trained to withstand formidable pressure. It is worth reminding the readers that the previous match ended in a razor-thin victory for Ju. In 2020, playing against Aleksandra Goryachkina, the classical part of the match ended in a tie, 6-6, where the Russian player levelled the score in the last game! Ju Wenjun’s ability to regain her composure and hold steady after a heavy blow in the critical game of the match was manifested in the rapid tiebreak, where she won with 2.5-1.5. The Challenger, Lei Tingjie, had an impressive run to reach the match. Starting with a triumph at the 2021 Grand Swiss, she qualified for the world title tournament cycle. In the process, she scored victories in the Candidates matches over Mariya Muzychuk, Anna Muzychuk, and Tan Zhongyi, confidently securing the Challenger title. While it is expected for the world champion and challenger to ‘disappear’ from public light in the runup to the match, Ju Wenjun took part in the highly competitive Sharjah Open at the end of May. In a very strong competition – with top male grandmasters playing – Ju turned in a very solid performance defeating GMs Karthikeyan and Vidit in the first two rounds and finishing with 4.5/9. The Women’s World Champion’s performance rating stood at an impressive 2680, indicating her strong form. In contrast, Lei Tingjie has not competed since her convincing victory over compatriot Tan Zhongyi in the Candidates final, which concluded in early April. Lei won the match with a round to spare. Her absence from the spotlight after the Candidates suggests Lei is focused on preparation and staging uncomfortable surprises for her opponent. The head-to-head record also suggests a tough challenge for both sides. Since 2011, when their first game was recorded, the two have played 15 times – eight in classical time control, three rapid games, one blitz, as well as three online/exhibition events. The overall score is 10:5 for Ju, but she scored the majority of the victories when Lei was just coming up through the ranks. A more recent look at the results shows that Ju Wenjun has a slight edge at best. What to expect in China? A riveting showdown awaits us this July, brimming with anticipation and excitement. As the defending champion and more experienced player, Ju Wenjun has some advantage, albeit a slight one. But Lei Tingjie, who has been displaying an extraordinary level of play as of late, may prove to deliver in that final mile where Goryachkina failed in 2020 and clinch the title. A clash of this magnitude is bound to captivate chess enthusiasts around the world. Following up on Ding Liren’s victory in the World title match in Astana, the women’s duel in July will be an opportunity for China to showcase its chess tradition and glory to the world, reaffirming its claim to be the new home of chess and returning the game home, closer to its eastern roots. Key facts about the match The match will take place in two Chinese cities, where each of the contestants comes from. The first half of the match will be held in Shanghai, while the second half takes place in Chongqing. The match will consist of 12 games of classical chess. The players will have 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting on move one. Players cannot offer a draw before they reach the 41st move. In case of a tie, there will be the following tiebreaks: Four games with a 25+10 time control.Two games with a 5+3 time control.Two more games with a 5+3 time control.One game with a 3+2 time control until a winner is determined. The event prize fund is €500,000, with €300,000 going to the winner and the remaining €200,000 to the runner-up. If the outcome of the match is decided upon tiebreaks, the winner will take €275,000, while the runner-up will receive €225,000.
Girls Club “Chess for protection” keeps growing
The Girls Club “Chess for protection” was launched by FIDE and UNHCR as part of the Chess for Refugees programme in the Northwestern region of Kenia. Its goal is to help refugees learn the game of chess, acquire new important life skills, socialize, and release stress through it. Spearheaded by Anastasia Sorokina, Chair of the FIDE WOM Commisssion, the project was launched in August 2021. First classes were held in Angelina Jolie Primary School in Kakuma with an attendance of 40 students. In 2023 it runs in three girls’ boarding schools in the region – Angelina Jolie Primary School, Morneau Shepell Secondary School and Bhar-El-Naam Primary School – with 250 refugee schoolgirls attending chess classes twice a week. The program’s second edition is running from March 2023 till the end of July. Female students attend online lessons by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich (UKR) and IM Salome Melia (GEO). They also study and play chess with a local tutor. Modern technologies are used to make lessons entertaining – girls are playing chess against their co-students and tutors, solving puzzles, playing against robots, watching short videos from “Chesskid”, and even doing simple workouts. During the lessons, the social benefits of chess are also discussed. Teachers tell girls inspirational stories and interesting facts about chess. The lessons are based on a Curriculum written by Anastasiya Karlovich, Shohreh Bayat and Martina Skogvall to teach chess in refugee camps. During the months of chess lessons, refugee girls learn the basic rules of chess and continue to practice after the end of the online course. More than that, refugee camp students participate in various competitions, including the schools’ chess tournament in Kakuma, Kenya. Athieng Chol, who attended chess classes during the first year of the project, won the tournament with a perfect score of 5 points in 5 rounds. Ajaa Nyasisi, Nyandeng Deng, Akit Garang and Nyibol Jok finished in the top 10 among 40 participants. In July 2023, the Girls Club students will also participate in the upcoming Queens’ Online Chess Festival, a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments organized by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess. Registration for the event is still running here:wom.fide.com/queens-chess-festival-returns-in-july/
GCL Day 6: Chingari Gulf Titans & upGrad Mumba Masters score crucial victories
Dubai, 27th June 2023 – The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League delivered another round of gripping clashes as the Chingari Gulf Titans triumphed over the event leaders, Ganges Grandmasters, by a score of 9:7. In another intense battle, the upGrad Mumba Masters emerged victorious against the Triveni Continental Kings, securing the win on the final two boards. Despite the defeat, Ganges Grandmasters continue to lead in the Global Chess League, while upGrad Mumba Masters moved one place up and are now third. Chingari Gulf Titans vs Ganges Grandmasters (9:7) The Chingari Gulf Titans clashed with the Ganges Grandmasters in their second encounter of the Global Chess League round-robin. In the previous match, the Ganges Grandmasters had played as white and emerged victorious after winning the coin toss. This time, it was their turn to play with the black pieces. The Ganges Grandmasters entered the match as the slight favourites – they confidently won the first duel with the Titans with 10:4 and have also dominated the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. In contrast, the Titans were struggling and were under pressure to raise through the standings from the bottom of the scoreboard. Being in the position of pressing hard in chess means avoiding calm or drawish lines. It’s never easy to be in that position but at the highest level of chess, this can be extremely dangerous when facing the very best grandmasters in the world. Still, the Titans had to try. As both sides pushed hard, complicated positions transpired on each board. The first break for the Titans came on board five: Polina Shuvalova grabbed the initiative facing Bella Khotenashvilli. In a complicated position, Khotenashvilli made an error in time trouble eventually, lost on time. Soon afterwards two top world heavyweights Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew their game. In a chaotic battle between Daniil Dubov and Leinier Dominguez, where the evaluation changed severa time, Dubov emerged victorious after time trouble, securing four critical points for the Titans. Nihal Sarin drew with Andrey Esipenko despite having the upper hand for the greater part of the game. Vishy Anand of Ganges Grandmasters gave his team a respite when he beat icon player and board one Jan-Kryzsztof Duda, but that wasn’t enough for a victory. Despite her efforts, former World Champion Hou Yifan of Ganges Grandmasters could not wear down the resistance of Alexandra Kosteniuk and the game ended in a draw. With 9:7, the Titans scored a crucial victory which liftted them from the bottom of the scoreboard. Despite the loss, the Ganges Grandmasters retained their lead in the Global Chess League. upGrad Mumba Masters vs Triveni Continental Kings (10:4) In their previous encounter with the Kings, the upGrad Mumba Masters emerged victorious playing with the black pieces, but this time, they played as White. Despite starting the Global Chess League with a win, Mumba Masters have had a challenging journey so far – currently standing on 50%, with two victories, two losses, and one draw. On the other hand, the Triveni Continental Kings have had a bumping road in the Global Chess League. Composed of exceptional players and guided by the well-known GM Loek van Wely, the team has experienced setbacks. Prior to this match, it was revealed that Nana Dzagnidze had withdrawn from the tournament due to personal reasons and would not be returning for the rest of the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League. Stepping in to fill her shoes is another formidable player, Sara Khadem – one of the world’s top female players. Both sides were evenly matched for the greatest time in the match. The only one to gain some initiative from the outset was upGrad Mumba Masters’ Harika Dronavalli who was slightly better in her game with Sara Khadem. As the players were nearing time trouble, things on the boards began to change quickly. Mumba’s Javokhir Sindarov went for a pawn advance on the kingside which proved to be ill-prepared. His opponent – another prodigy – Jonas Buhl Bjerre leapt at the opportunity and soon got into a very strong position. With mutual time trouble looming, both players started to err, exchanging inaccuracies and keeping the game open until the end. By the time Koneru Humpy agreed on a draw with Kateryna Lagno, her compatriot and Mumba teammate Harika Dronavalli was completely winning against Khadem. In the meantime, team Mumba got another strong pin – as Alexander Grischuk was winning against Triveni’s Yu Yangyi. However, it wasn’t a walk in the park: Triveni’s Yu Yangyi is a great defender and as he was better on time, he soon managed to unsettle Grischuk as the famed Russian player threw away his advantage. As tension mounted across the boards, team leaders and icon players Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian decided to settle for a draw. Shortly after, Vidit Gurjathi and Wei Yi also agreed to a draw, bringing a sense of calm to the match. Grischuk lost momentum and had to accept a draw against Grandmaster Yu. The fate of the match hinged on the final two boards: Harika Dronavalli defeated Sara Khadem. In an unfortunate turn for the Kings, Jonas Bjerre misplayed his position, allowing Sindarov to seize the advantage and secure a win. Continuing their unlucky streak, the Kings suffered another loss as the upGrad Mumba Masters emerged triumphant with a final score of 10:4. Match results – 27 June 2023 Match 17 Chingari Gulf Titans 9-7 Ganges GrandmastersQueen of the match–PolinaShuvalovaKing of the match–DaniilDubov Match 18 upGrad Mumba Masters 10-4 Triveni Continental KingsQueen of the match – HarikaDronavalliKing of the match – JavokhirSindarov Text: Milan Dinic Photos: Global Chess League For more match pictures, please click here For other details, please click here About Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: The Global Chess League is the world’s first and largest official franchise league of its kind, with chess players from all over the world competing in a unique joint team format. It is a joint venture between Tech Mahindra, a part of the Mahindra Group, and FIDE. The league will feature male and female chess champions
Alexey Sarana is the Winner of the Inaugural Olympic Esports Series Chess Event
For the first time in what we hope to become the tradition, FIDE and Chess.com brought chess to the Olympic Esports Series (OES). This global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the International Olympic Committee culminated in spectacular Finals in Singapore on June 23-24. 42,000 players from 219 countries participated in qualifying events, but only eight players went through it all to find themselves in beautiful Singapore for the Olympic Esports Series Finals: GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, GM Alexey Sarana, GM Bassem Amin, GM Maksim Chigaev, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov, GM Goh Wei Ming Kevin, GM Tin Jingyao (Singapore wildcard), IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar (female wildcard). The fight in the Pool Stage on Day 1 of the Finals was fierce. Maksim Chigaev and Alexey Sarana won their Pools, and Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen and Aleksandr Rakhmanov emerged as runners-up to enter a knockout stage. In the semis, the future winner Alexey Sarana defeated Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen. He started with two wins in the first two games and needed just a draw in the remaining two. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen bounced back in the third, keeping the intrigue alive. The fourth game was wild. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen playing with the white pieces had a winning position but let the chance slip as Black found a perpetual check and a much needed draw that let Sarana advance to the final. In the final, Alexey Sarana showed excellent chess against the eventual silver trophy winner Maksim Chigaev, winning all three games to confidently claim the overall victory. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen prevailed over Aleksandr Rakhmanov in the match for the third place and brought home a bronze trophy. You can replay the games on Chess.com. Congratulations to the winners and huge thanks to the International Olympic Committee for such an amazing event! ©2023 International Olympic Committee/IOC – All rights reserved. The “Olympic Esports Series” is a property of the IOC and may not be copied, republished, stored in a retrieval system or otherwise reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means whatsoever, without the prior written consent of the IOC. Unauthorized copying, adaptation, rental, lending, distribution, extraction, re-sale, arcade use, charging for use, broadcast, public performance and internet, cable or any telecommunications transmission, access or use of this product or any trademark or copyright work that forms part of this product are prohibited.
PlusCity Grand Prix: All set for the strongest XXI century chess event in Austria
A popular chess festival in the PlusCity shopping center (Linz, Austria) organized by ÖSB President Michael Stöttinger is returning this year even bigger. The PlusCity Rapid and Blitz Grand Prix stretching from June 30 to July, 2023, includes Rapid (10+5) and Blitz (3+2) tournaments and the Open Austrian Team Championship. All three competitions are Swiss tournaments (15, 9 and 9-round respectively). The prize fund amounts to EUR 50,000, surpassing that of the European Rapid and Blitz Championship (EUR 44,000). In the individual competitions, EUR 5,000 is reserved for the winners (EUR 2,500 in both rapid and blitz), with money prizes for the top 10 finishers. In addition, prizes are awarded in eight rating categories as well as to women and young people U12, U14, U16 and U18. The event can boast a strong lineup that includes Etienne Bacrot (FRA), Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI), Eduardo Iturrizaga (SPA), Alan Pichot (ARG), Arkadij Naiditsch (AZE), Zdenko Kozul (CRO), Georg Meier (URU), Anna Muzychuk (UKR) and many other titled players. CONTACT: grandprix@grandmaster.eu Regulations PlusCity Rapid and Blitz Grand Prix (in German and English)
World Schools Team Championship 2023 in Aktau, Kazakhstan: Registration is open
FIDE and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation invite all FIDE member federations and eligible players to participate in the World Schools Team Championship 2023 (WSTC). The competition will be held in Aktau, Kazakhstan (Caspian seaside) from August 3 (arrivals) to August 8 (departures), 2023. The playing venue is Halyk Arena. The championship will be played in two categories: Under 12 (players who shall not have reached the age of 12 before January 1, 2023). Under 18 (players who shall not have reached the age of 18 before January 1, 2023). National Federations may allocate a maximum of three qualifying places to the two categories in total. Each team shall consist of four main players, one reserve, and one non-playing captain. All members of the team must have a FIDE ID. About 50 National Federations first to enter with preliminary confirmation of participation in WSTC have already received the right to nominate one of their teams to have “invited team” status (with free accommodation and a travel grant), and the Organizing Committee will contact them directly. The deadline for registration is July 3, 2023. The registration form is available for all the teams via the following link: https://wstcc2023.fide.com/registration/ FIDE member federations will be able to add data or modify the registration using an edit link before the registration deadline. The edit link will be delivered via an official email provided during the registration. Photos for accreditation and passport data for a visa should be prepared beforehand. Contact email: wstcc@fide.com Regulations and invitation letter (pdf) Photo: welcome.kz
Global Chess League Day 4: SG Alpine Warriors grab the lead
Dubai, 25th June 2023 – The fourth day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League started with a huge upset as the team of Ganges Grandmasters, who have been dominating the first three days of the event suffered a defeat at the hands of Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad Mumba Masters. The heroes of the day are the team of SG Alpine Warriors, who won both of their matches to emerge at the top of the scoreboard. After a tough start, the Chingari Gulf Titans scored their first victory, giving them a chance to reach the finals. It was a busy day in Dubai as a large number of spectators came to follow the matches in the Global Chess League. The crowd exploded with excitement when the famous Indian cricket player Yuzvendra Chahal appeared, to support the team of SG Alpine Warriors. Ganges Grandmasters vs upGrad Mumba Masters (6:11) This was an encounter between the leaders of the Global Chess League and the team in the middle. The Ganges Grandmasters have been dominating the league, having won all three matches played and securing nine match points. The story was somewhat different for upGrad Mumba Masters: they won one match, lost one and drew one, and started day four from the middle of the scoreboard with four match points. Having won the coin toss, the Ganges Grandmasters decided to play with white pieces. Despite the first-move advantage, things didn’t go their way. Harika Dronavalli got the first victory of the match, beating Bella Khotenashvili and gaining important four game points for the upGrad Mumba Masters. As other games ended in a draw, Viswanathan Anand managed to strike back on board one where he was playing the best French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who was leading black pieces. The Frenchman opted to give up a pawn in the opening for some initiative. In a sharp exchange, the Frenchman misplayed when he put his queen on the wrong square and ended in a losing position which he couldn’t save. Despite this victory, the team of Ganges Grandmasters were staring at defeat in the match as Richard Rapport was losing to none other than the great Alexander Grischuk, who became the hero of the match, having sealed the victory and three crucial match points for the upGrad Mumba Masters. The playing hall at the Le Meridien Hotel erupted with excitement and joy after the match, as team upGrad Mumba Masters supporters celebrated their victory. A big blow for Ganges Grandmasters and a huge confidence boost for upGrad Mumba Masters. Chingari Gulf Titans vs SG Alpine Warriors (6:11) In another surprise of the day, the team of SG Alpine Warriors won the coin toss but opted to play as Black. This is the second time it has happened in the Global Chess League that a team winning the coin flip decided to pin their hopes more on Black (due to an extra point in case Black wins) than on the initiative of the first move. On board one, it was Jan-Krzysztof Duda against the reigning world champion in rapid and blitz, Magnus Carlsen. It was Duda who ended Carlsen’s world record run of 125 games unbeaten and who knocked him out of the World Cup back in 2021. Despite Duda’s obtaining a slightly better position, Magnus managed to unsettle the white king and, in the end, and went for a threefold check repetition. It seems Carlsen wanted to avoid taking any risks against the man who broke his longest winning streak. The match was tough as halfway on, neither side managed to make a breakthrough. Mamedyarov was the first to score, defeating Gukesh and bringing Titans first three game points in the match. Then came a giant blow: in a completely winning position, Titans’ Nihal Sarin was under time pressure and made a fatal error giving away the victory to the Warriors and a one-point edge in the match. As three more games ended in a draw, all eyes turned to the game between Polina Shuvalova and Elisabeth Paehtz. In a rook endgame, Paehtz was better and defeated her opponent with black pieces, securing victory for the Warriors. This win launched the SG Alpine Warriors to the top, next to Ganges Grandmasters, with both teams now on nine match points (but team GG has a better game points score – 38 vs 34). The second two matches of the day saw the Chingari Gulf Titans win their first match convincingly, despite playing with black pieces. Balan Alaskan Knights vs Chingari Gulf Titans (3:15) This was the first time in the Global Chess League that a team was playing a round back-to-back. The Balan Alaskan Knights won the coin flip and decided to play as White. Both the Titans and the Knights suffered three defeats in four matches; while the Knights managed to win one team encounter, the Titans were yet to bag their first match victory. The Titans came out swinging from the start – both Mamedyarov and former women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk gained a decisive advantage in their matches, raising hopes for a first victory for the Chingari Gulf Titans. Also, Polina Shuvalova secured an edge against Nino Batsiashvili. The Knights were in trouble as the only board where they achieved some advantage was in the game where Teimour Radjabov was slightly better against Daniil Dubov. In the match of the women’s World Champions – Kosteniuk, playing as Black, forced Tan Zhongyi to surrender. Moments after, Mamedyarov, also as Black, defeated the 2021 World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov, giving more wind to the Titans’ sails. Duda and Nepomniachtchi agreed on a draw, but then also Teimour Radjabov (the only player with a more promising position in this match in the Knights team) drew with Dubov. Things were definitely going south for the Knights. The final blow came when Sadhwani misplayed and allowed Nihal Sarin to score – a third black victory for the Knights! Despite having a better position, Polina Shuvalova wasn’t confident in the
Global Chess League Day 3: Ganges Grandmasters reign supreme
Dubai, 24th June 2023 – The Ganges Grandmasters maintained their dominant streak as they kicked off the third day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL) with yet another impressive victory. They are the only team in the Global Chess League to have three victories out of all three matches. SG Alpine Warriors – Triveni Continental Kings (8:7) The first match of the day was a duel between two teams in the middle of the scoreboard, looking to make a push to the top. Following the first two rounds, both had three Match Points each and 15 Game Points. The coin toss decided that Triveni Continental Kings would play as white. The team achieved the initiative from early on. The most anticipated encounter took place on board one with a faceoff between two icon players, world heavyweight Levon Aronian (as White) and the highest-rated chess player, Magnus Carlsen. Both sides put up a fierce fight, and Carlsen ended up defending an uncomfortable position with a minute on his clock against Aronian’s eighth. Aronian pushed hard, but Magnus, the best endgame player in the world, was confident and held his opponent to a draw. As two other games ended in a draw, the score was 3:3. The first break came when GM Yu defeated Gukesh with white, scoring important three game points for the Kings. The tables turned on the Kings when Indian Praggnanandhaa beat Jonas Bjerre, scoring four game points and erasing the advantage created by Yu. Everything was hanging on the game between Irina Krush (SG Alpine Warriors) and Kateryna Lagno (Continental Kings). Despite Krush’s creating a dominating position, both sides were in serious time trouble. The fact that Lagno is a three-time World Champion in Blitz came in handy as she managed to keep her nerve and get a draw. The final score of the match was 7:8 in Game Points for SG Alpine Warriors, giving them another critical three match points. In the post-game interview, Carlsen noted that “wins with Black are so valuable” (as they bring four instead of three points which White gets for victory), which makes the whole thing more exciting. “People are still trying to find the optimal strategy here and we’re seeing some interesting decisions that you don’t see in team chess”. Ganges Grandmasters Vs Balan Alaskan Knights (11:6) It was an encounter between the two leaders on the scoreboard. The match began with an intriguing prelude as Henrik Carlsen, the father of Magnus Carlsen, conducted the coin toss to determine the colours. The flip favoured the Ganges Grandmasters, and they picked to play with White. Right from the outset, it was clear that the Ganges Grandmasters were not ready to relinquish their hold on the tournament. Board one witnessed a swift draw between Viswanathan Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi, where the leader of the Balan Alaskan Knights made 30 moves without even spending a minute! Simultaneously, things were firing up on board six between two prodigies: GG’s Andrey Esipenko took the initiative early on against Raunak Sadhwani and went on winning. Soon, team Balan Alaskan Knights found themselves in trouble as they were losing on more boards. The only ray of hope for them was in the Chinese matchup on board four. In a game between two former women’s World Champions, Ganges Grandmasters’ Hou Yifan was losing badly to Tan Zhongyi playing as Black, making an important comeback for the Knights. However, at the same time, Ganges’ Leinier Dominguez Perez and Richard Rapport had a significant advantage in their games. While Perez converted his into a victory, Rapport blundered in time trouble, allowing his opponent Abdusattorov to escape with a draw. Despite an impressive rook sacrifice, Balan Alaskan Knights’ Bella Khotenashvili lost to her Georgian compatriot Nino Batsiashvili which was very disappointing. With a commanding score of 11 game points to 6, the Ganges Grandmasters secured yet another triumphant victory, solidifying their position at the top of the leaderboard and earning three valuable match points. After three days of play at the inaugural Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, the team of Ganges Grandmasters is at the top, having won all three matches they played. With 9 match points out of three matches, Ganges Grandmasters have a significant lead. They are chased by Triveni Continental Kings, who are on six match points and have the same number of game points as GG (32) but have played four matches. SG Alpine Warriors are also on six match points but have 23 game points. upGrad Mumba Masters have four match points, and Balan Alaskan Knights have three, but they are the second team in the Global Chess League to have played four matches. Chingari Gulf Titans have a tough challenge ahead. They are at the bottom of the board, with just one match point, having failed to win any of the matches. Here follows a detailed look at the final two matches of the third day of the Global Chess League. upGrad Mumba Masters vs Chingari Gulf Titans (6:6) Chingari Gulf Titans entered this match as the only team without a victory in the Global Chess League after the first two days. Commencing with black pieces, they had a difficult task to tackle. While the teams exhibited equal strength on the top three boards at the outset of the round, the momentum on the bottom three boards was shifting towards upGrad Mumba Masters: India’s top woman player Humpy Koneru managed to take the initiative against the former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk following a slip. India’s second top-rated woman player Harika Dronavalli was pressuring Polina Shuvalova, and Javokhir Sindarov got an edge against Nihal Sarin. As the games on the top boards ended in a draw drama unfolded on the last board, where Sindarov made a grave mistake and found himself in a lost position. However, Nihal Sarin made a blunder in a completely winning position and allowed Sindarov to make a lucky escape with a draw. Following a draw on board five between Shuvalova
European Solving Championship: Polish solvers regain titles, Lithuanians keep rising
Photo: Eddy van Beers (Belgium, bronze), Kacper Piorun (Poland, gold) and Piotr Murdzia (Poland, silver) The season of the official solving competitions organized by the World Federation for Chess Composition is getting closer to its final and the most important stage: the 46th World Chess Solving Championship in Batumi (September 2-9). The 16th European Chess Solving Championship is in the books, and only four more legs of the World Solving Cup 2022/23 remain. The European Chess Solving Championship brought together 75 solvers from 18 countries in sunny and friendly Bratislava at the entrance to the Old City. As usual, the ECSC festival included several solving and composing tournaments. The major event, European Team and Individual Championship, went smoothly, officiated by experienced FIDE Solving Judge Marko Klasinc from Slovenia. Being FIDE Master for Chess Composition and FIDE Solving Master helped him to select a set of 18 solver-friendly compositions of high artistic quality. None of them was too difficult, but all together, they were tough enough to prevent even the best solvers from scoring the maximum of 90 points. Waiting for the new set of problems to solve The problems were spread over six rounds, each including three entries from different genres: 1. twomovers (20 minutes), 2. threemovers (60 minutes), 3. endgames (100 minutes), 4.selfmates (50 minutes), 5. moremovers (80 minutes) and 6. helpmates (50 minutes). The main favourites, multiple world champions Piotr Murdzia and Kacper Piorun, cruised through the first day with perfect results, the same as the 4th seed Marko Filipović from Croatia. The challenges and tension started mounting on the second day. Filipović lost 5 points on selfmates and gave up third place to Vladimir Podinić from Serbia, who in turn lost all 15 points in the next round of moremovers. Meanwhile, the Polish duo kept their cool and had perfect results all the way to the final round. Before three helpmates, later easily solved by several solvers (the shortest time was only 23 out of 50 minutes), Murdzia had a slight advantage in time over Piorun (250:259 minutes) and an excellent chance to win. The last round proved that tension affects even the best of the best. It all came down to the last two problems. The first one was a helpmate in four moves with two intended solutions. 1 Helpmate in 4 moves, 2 solutions Both leaders found only one solution, each of them missing a different one. Since both spent a maximum of 50 minutes and missed one solution each, it looked as if Murdzia won on time tiebreak, but see what happened with one of his solutions in helpmate in 2 moves: 2 Helpmate in 2 moves, 3 solutions This complex position, with three different pawn batteries set to open the lines of wB, wR and wQ, hides unusual regrouping of white guns in each solution. Probably, the trickiest solution is 1.Kf4 Rc4 2.Bxg7! e5# Eight-minute difference decided the tight race between the two favourites in the 2023 Polish Championship, but this time around 9 minutes had no importance as, in a hurry, the 8-time World champion switched the order of two black moves and wrote 1.Bxg7, jumping over the wRc3 on the first move. This rarely-seen blunder (1.5 points) was enough for Kacper Piorun to finally celebrate his first European victory after already having five world champion titles under his belt. Eddy van Beers from Belgium won the bronze medal and completed the expected domination of the top three seeds. Kamila Hryshchenko (GBR; below, center), Denisa-Andreea Bucur (ROU; below, left) and Daria Dvoeglazova (ISR; below, right) became the best female solvers (pictured with WFCC President Marjan Kovačević). With the top two individual scores, the Polish solvers had a massive chance for team victory, but it was not guaranteed since the three best results of four team members count in each round. Piotr Górski, another ex-world champion, was the only team member to have perfect 45 points on the second day, while Jakub Marciniszyn contributed in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th rounds. This lucky combination explains the convincing Polish win with 260 out of possible 270 points: when one of the solvers had a bad round, the other three made up for that! With their sixth European title, Polish solvers matched the record held by Serbian team, but in the meantime, new contenders for team medals emerged. Lithuanian solvers started their rise in 2018 when Martynas Limontas won the World Solving Cup and kept winning medals in this prestigious competition. Thanks to these impressive results, Lithuanian solvers got strong support on the governmental level, and this year another rising star was born. Aged under 18, Kevinas Kuznecovas reeled off several victories at the World Solving Cup to become the overall WSC leader after 13 out of 17 WSC legs. Given that his countryman Limontas holds 2nd WSC place, the silver medal for the Lithuanian team was no surprise, but the two WSC leaders wouldn’t have made it alone. Vidmantas Satkus became a hero of the team climbing to the 5th individual place, while Viktoras Paliulionis also contributed in a tense last round. Checking solutions after a round The bronze medal for the Slovakian team was a great satisfaction for the hosts and their organizing team. Having an average rating much lower than the 4th placed Serbian team, Tomáš Peitl, Richard Dobiáš, Juraj Lörinc and Marek Kolčák leapfrogged the defending champions and put the icing on the cake of their organizing efforts. Once again, the team’s success didn’t come from the sum of individual results but from a lucky match in each round, which usually comes with good team spirit. In fact, Marek Kolčák and Tomáš Peitl weren’t solving only chess problems in Bratislava. They were among the main members of the ECSC organizing committee, together with Marián Križovenský, Tomáš Peitl, Ľubomír Širáň and Milan Šumný. As mentioned before, ECSC is a massive festival, and this time, the organizers had to take care of not less than four different solving events and two thematic tournaments in composing. Marek Kolčák, an architect by profession, engaged several members of his artistically inclined family to help surf through the organizing duties. His daughter Nela Kolčák was on registering desk, his brother-in-low Erik Rothenstein was performing a musical program on saxophone during ceremonies, and his mother Běla Kolčáková inspired the official banner with one of her chess paintings
FIDE World Cup 2023: Official website is launched
The official website of the FIDE World Cup 2023 and FIDE Women’s World Cup 2023 is up. All the information related to these competitions can be found there. The event has seen its combined prize pool boosted to a whopping USD 2.5 million, the single largest one at any chess event in the world. The knock-out chess extravaganza, held every two years, will celebrate its 10th edition in Baku, Azerbaijan, from July 30 to August 24, 2023. The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 29, and all the first-round matches will be played on July 30. Photo: azernews.az/ Both competitions will be held at the Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard. 146 of the 206 participants in the World Cup 2023 in Baku, and 71 of the 103 Women’s World Cup participants, have already been confirmed. The field will be completed between June 15-30, at the conclusion of the Zonal tournaments and the period that eligible federations have been given to submit their nominations. FIDE World Cup 2023 official website: worldcup2023.fide.com/