The 31st edition of the Independence Cup, a traditional chess forum, took place from 26-28 August 2022 in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv and brought together 176 players from 4 countries (Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, including 12 GMs, 12 IMs, 5 FMs, 2 WFM and 2 NM.

The program of the festival, organized by BF “Ridna Obolon”, Kyiv Chess Federation, Lviv Chess Federation, included two 9-round Swiss tournaments with blitz (3+2) and rapid time (15+10) control. 

GM Vadim Malakhatko, a well-known organizer of the most prestigious chess events in Ukraine in recent years, served as the tournament director.

Both tournaments were very close affairs that came down to the wire. To the delight of local fans, IM Valeriy Grinev from Kyiv, Ukraine, emerged as the winner in both events.  The blitz tournament ended with a 5-way tie for first place, with Grinev coming out on top thanks to a slightly better Buchholz.

This scenario repeated itself in the rapid tournament with one slight difference. As many as seven players scored 7/9 each and shared the first place, and again Buchholz favoured Grinev. 

Check out full results on the Сhess Results page:

Blitz - https://cutt.ly/2XNF6SX

Rapid - https://cutt.ly/AX6h52D

Check out all the games:

Blitz

Chess.com
https://www.chess.com/events/2022-memorial-sergiy-shystariov-blitz
ChessBase
https://live.chessbase.com/watch/Cup-Independence-Blitz-2022/

Rapid

Chess.com
chess.com/uk/events/2022-memorial-sergiy-shystariov-rapid/games

ChessBase
live.chessbase.com/en/Watch?id=Cup-Independence-Rapid-2022

Lichess.org
lichess.org/broadcast/independence-cup-2022--3th-sergiy-shystari ov-memorial-rapid/round-9/e8yrUOTh

Watch the closing ceremony on YouTube: https://cutt.ly/ZX6j7WX

Text and photos: IA IO Olexandr Prohorov, Ukraine