History of the Candidates: from Budapest (1950) to Toronto (2024)
The Candidates Tournament, the final test that a player must pass to challenge the World Champion in chess, has a rich history dating back to 1950. This event emerged as a response to the need for a systematic approach to determine a world championship challenger. Prior to 1950, contenders had to navigate a maze of negotiations directly with the champion, secure funding, and organise a match – a process that lacked structure and consistency. The turning point came in 1950 when Budapest hosted the inaugural Candidates Tournament, a 10-player double round-robin to select the Challenger for the then World Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik. This tradition, set in Budapest, continued almost every third year until 1993, alternating between tournaments and matches. However, the early 1990s saw a disruption due to the split in the world championship structure. The Candidates Tournament returned to prominence in 2007 as part of the unified cycle, initially in the form of matches. The modern-day era has witnessed notable tournaments in London 2013, Khanty-Mansiysk 2014, Moscow 2016, Berlin 2018, Yekaterinburg 2020-21 and Madrid in 2022, each contributing to the glorious history of the championship qualification process. Toronto is the next chapter in this great story of chess. The Inaugural Tournament in Budapest (1950) The inaugural Candidates Tournament was held in Budapest from April 11 to May 18, 1950. It was a double round-robin with ten contenders—Bronstein, Boleslavsky, Smyslov, Keres, Najdorf, Kotov, Stahlberg, Lilienthal, Szabo, and Flohr. The event in Budapest became the only Candidates Tournament to end in a tie for first place with no tiebreaker in place. Bronstein and Boleslavsky had to play a playoff match held in Moscow in the summer of 1950. It ended in another tie, but Bronstein won the first decisive game and became the official Challenger. He drew a match with Botvinnik, who retained his title, as an equal score favoured the champion at the time. The Memorable Second Candidates (1953) The second Candidates stands out as one of the most famous chess tournaments ever, thanks to the timeless popularity of excellent tournament books by participants David Bronstein and Miguel Najdorf. The tournament was a massive affair – a double round-robin with 15 contestants, meaning each participant played 28 games. The superb lineup contributed to the rich chess heritage of this event: Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, Geller, Najdorf, Kotov, Taimanov, Averbakh, Boleslavsky, Szabo, Gligoric, Euwe, Stahlberg (named in order of final standings). The clear winner, Vasily Smyslov, went on to draw his first match with Botvinnik, who, therefore, retained the title. Amsterdam 1956 and the Success of Vasily Smyslov Photo: GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL) The 1956 Candidates Tournament in Amsterdam showcased the remarkable success of Vasily Smyslov, who secured victory for the second consecutive time. Finishing 1.5 points above the field of 10 players, he lost only one game – to 19-year-old debutant Boris Spassky. Having reached his prime form, the next year, Smyslov beat Botvinnik 12½-9½ in the match for the title and became the 7th World Chess Champion. Yugoslavia 1959 – A Chess Odyssey After winning the rematch against Smyslov 12½–10½ in 1958, Botvinnik was again the World Champion and awaited a new Challenger. In 1959, Yugoslavia hosted the Candidates Tournament, narrowing down to eight participants. In a quadruple round-robin, meaning each player meeting every opponent four times, 28 games were played in total. Three cities in Yugoslavia hosted the event, with the first half played in Bled and then moving to Zagreb and finally Belgrade. Despite the disastrous result against Keres (1-3), the young 22-year-old debutant Mikhail Tal swept through the rest of the field – Petrosian, Smyslov, Gligoric, the other remarkable newcomer 16-year-old Fischer, Olafsson and Benko. Half a year later, “the magician from Riga” took the title from Botvinnik, defeating the Soviet chess Patriarch 12½–8½. Curacao 1962 – The Caribbean Challenge And again, the World Champion was Mikhail Botvinnik. Like Smyslov, Tal held the title only for a year before handing it back to the Patriarch, who won the rematch 13-8. The next Challenger for the resilient and ever-resourceful but ageing 50-year-old Botvinnik was to be determined in the Caribbean. The eight-player quadruple round-robin format stood another test – Petrosian, Geller, Keres, Fischer, Korchnoi, Benko, Tal and Filip were to stay on the tropical island for two months. Tal’s deteriorating health did not let him finish the event, and he withdrew after 21 rounds. At the height of the Cold War, all eyes were on the performance of 19-year-old Bobby Fischer, but he was not yet ready to stand up against the Soviet chess machine, especially when its players had the benefit of making short draws between each other. Tigran Petrosian won the tournament without losing a single game and went on to become the 9th World Champion. 1965-1968 – The Era of Matches The Candidates Matches of 1965 and 1968 were the golden era of Boris Spassky, who won both events. In their first match, Tigran Petrosian held his title by one point, 12½–11½, but in the second encounter, three years later, he was defeated by the younger opponent (Spassky was eight years his junior) 12½–10½. 1971 – Fischer’s Dominance The next cycle went into the history of chess as Robert (Bobby) Fischer’s crescendo of dominant victories, culminating in the famous 1972 Reykjavik Spassky-Fischer face-off, dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer’s remarkable victories in the Candidates matches, beating Taimanov 6–0, Larsen 6–0, and Petrosian 6½–2½, paved the way for him to face Spassky. In the World Championship Match, he dethroned Spassky with 12½–8½ and became the 11th World Chess Champion. 1977 – 1984 – Anatoly Karpov’s Era In the decade following the Match of the Century, Anatoly Karpov gathered momentum and turned into the chess scene’s leading actor, winning the Candidate Matches 1974 and becoming the 12th World Champion following Fischer’s withdrawal. His historic battles with Victor Korchnoi, winner of the 1977-78 and 1980 Candidate Matches, and later with Garry Kasparov, winner of the 1983-84 Candidate Matches, are some of the 20th-century chess saga’s most
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Firouzja rejoins the leaders
Gukesh D, Anish Giri and Alireza Firouzja are going to the rest day as joint leaders of the Tata Steel Masters 2024 after the French GM beat the World Champion with white pieces. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored a very important victory over Nodirbek Abdusattorov and joined his opponent, Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa R. With just a half point between the leaders and this quartet tied for fourth place, the event is still wide open. Alireza Firouzja – Ding Liren | 1-0, 43 moves The game saw a rare line of the QGA in which White sacrificed a pawn and got more than sufficient compensation. The World Champion tried to disentangle with b5-b4, which Alireza met with an exchange sacrifice. In this critical position, Black could have held his ground with either 18…Nfd5 or 18…Ned5. Instead, Ding played 18…Qc7? most likely missing 19. Ne4! and after 19…Qxc2 White captured the f6-knight with check. With two minor pieces for a rook, it did not take Alireza long to wrap up the game. Anish Giri – Wei Yi | ½-½, 33 moves The Chinese GM comfortably equalized in the Gruenfeld Defence and after Anish’s sluggish maneuver Nf3-d1-d3-f4 got a real chance to grab the initiative. After a simple 19… Nxd5 20. exd5 Bf5, it is not that easy for White to complete the development of his queenside. Wei, however, sacrificed a pawn with 19…Be6 but after 20. Nxe7+ Kh8 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Qxe5 Bxe5 24. Re1 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Rd5 26. Re2 Kg7 27. Be3, the position became dead-equal. A draw was agreed upon three moves down the road. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 1-0, 65 moves In a calm line of the Two Knights, Ian got a slight edge, which he increased by sacrificing a pawn to shatter Black’s pawn structure. 18. c5! dxc5 19. Nb2 Nd4 20. Qd3 Qb8 21. Rea1 At this point, Black should have regrouped with Bd8-c7, but after missing this maneuver, Nodirbek fell under heavy pressure. On move 34, Ian could have won a pawn, but he preferred not to rush things, offering Nodirbek some drawing chances. However, instead of 35…g5, Black played pseudo-active 35…e4+? and after 36. Kf4 Ke7 37. Rd6 Rc8 38. h3 Ne8 39. Rd1 Nf6 40. Rd6 Ne8 41. Rd2 Nf6 42. Nd6 Ra8 43. Nxe4 Ian won a pawn. The rest was smooth sailing for Nepomniachtchi, who confidently converted his advantage. Vidit Gujrathi – Alexander Donchenko | ½-½, 43 moves Interestingly, up to move 14, the opponents followed the game Bu Xiangzhi – Vidit (2019), which ended in a draw. Now, playing on the white side, the Indian introduced a novelty 14.Rfe1, and after advancing his d5-pawn, managed to sideline Black’s knight. White then pressed on the queenside, but Alexander was up to the task. Following a tactical skirmish, most of the pieces were swept from the board, and the opponents agreed upon a draw in a dead-even position. Max Warmerdam – Praggnanandhaa R | 1-0, 43 moves The Dutchman obtained a very promising position on the wide side of the Bogo-Indian and exerted heavy pressure on Black’s backward pawns. Most likely, White’s best chance was 28. Bh3, tying Black’s bishop to f5-pawn and gradually preparing Rc1-c6. After Max missed this chance, Pragg managed to trade his a7-pawn to White’s d5-pawn and reached a draw in a rook endgame. Ju Wenjun – Gukesh D | ½-½, 52 moves Gukesh essayed a rare line of Bogo-Indian trying to outplay the Women’s World Champion in an unbalanced position. After some complicated maneuvering the opponents liquidated into an endgame in which Black had a dangerous initiative. To Ju’s credit, she found several the only moves to maintain the balance. After the precise 33. g3! f3 34. Re3 Ke6 35. Nf4+! Kf5 36. Nh5 Rd2+ 37. Kf1 Rd1+ 38. Kf2 Rd2+ 39. Kf1 Rd5 40. g4+ Kg6 41. Ng3 White avoided all the dangers, and the players split a point ten moves later. Jorden Van Foreest – Parham Maghsoodloo | ½-½, 41 moves True to his active style, Parham sacrificed a pawn on the black side of the Moscow Variation of Sicilian for an active play. However, with several natural but imprecise moves, he allowed Jorden to consolidate while Black’s activity petered out. Soon, the Dutchman returned the favour by unforcedly damaging his pawn structure with 26.f4, and Black almost equalized. In the end, Van Foreest made his last attempt to break through, but Maghsoodloo was on his guard and forced drawing exchanges with several precise moves. Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Armenian Championship 2024: Hovhannisyan and Gaboyan clinch titles
GM Robert Hovhannisyan and WIM Susanna Gaboyan are the new champions of Armenia, winning their second and third national titles, respectively. Both winners qualified for the Armenian national team. The 84rd Armenian Championship and the 79th Women’s Armenian Сhampionship were held simultaneously in the Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan from January 12-20. Both events were 10-player round robins with classical time control. As it often the case in the open event, the race for the championship remained tight until the very last round. Heading into Round 9 Samvel Ter-Sahakyan was narrowly leading with 5.5/8, a half-point ahead of Robert Hovhannisyan and Mamikon Charibyan. However, a costly loss to Tigran Haryutunyan dashed the leader’s hopes for the title, while Hovhannisyan (pictured below) notched up a crucial victory over Artur Davtyan and clinched gold, scoring 6/9 as another contender Charibyan lost to Manuel Petrosyan. Three players tied for second place with 5.5/9 with Manuel Petrosyan and Zaven Andriasian taking silver and bronze, respectively, based on their superior Sonnenborn-Berger. Final standings open: 1 GM Hovhannisyan, Robert 2611 6 2 GM Petrosyan, Manuel 2627 5½ 3 GM Andriasian, Zaven 2581 5½ 4 GM Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel 2649 5½ 5 GM Harutyunyan, Tigran K. 2523 5 6 GM Gharibyan, Mamikon 2504 5 7 IM Davtyan, Artur 2477 4 8 FM Piliposyan, Robert 2367 3 9 FM Chaqryan, Erik 2308 3 10 Tiraturyan, David 2258 2½ In the women’s championship, WIM Susanna Gaboyan (pictured below) dominated the field conceding the opponents just three draws and won the title with an excellent score of 7.5/9. WFM Mariam Avetisyan provided a spirited challenge to the champion but lost the direct encounter, ultimately finishing half a point behind in second place. Milena Gasparyan came third, netting 5.5 points. Final standings women: 1 WIM Gaboyan, Susanna 2179 7½ 2 WFM Avetisyan, Mariam 2043 7 3 Gasparyan, Milena 1802 5½ 4 WFM Khachatryan, Anna 2022 5 5 WFM Grigoryan, Arpine 2025 4½ 6 Stepanyan, Alvard 1514 4 7 Kobak, Polina 2120 4 8 Harutyunyan, Meline 1536 3½ 9 WGM Gevorgyan, Maria 2272 2½ 10 Khachatryan, Mariam 1567 1½ Photos: official website Official website: chessfed.am/en
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Three-way tie on the top
Nodirbek Abdusattorov used his chance to stop and join the leader by defeating Anish Giri in Round 7 of Tata Steel Masters 2024. Closer to the end of the day, Gukesh D prevailed over Max Warmerdam and caught up with Giri and Abdusattorov. This trio is leading the race with 4.5/7. Alireza Firouzja fell to Vidit Gujrathi and now shares fourth place with his opponent and Praggnanandhaa. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Anish Giri | 1-0, 60 moves Anish Giri obtained a comfortable position on the black side of the Petroff Defence, but with an inaccurate 22…b5?! He allowed his opponent to seize control over the light squares in the center. After trading the queens, Nodirbek converted his endgame advantage in an exemplary fashion. After 34. c4! bxc4 35. bxc5 dxc5 36. Rxd7+ Kxd7 37. Kc3 Kc6 38. Kxc4 Kb6 39. a4 White got an overwhelming position with a remote passer and sealed the deal twenty moves later. Vidit Gujrathi – Alireza Firouzja | 1-0, 42 moves Alireza Firouzja either forgot or mixed up his preparation as he made the decisive mistake in a position tested in 2014-2015. Here Black invariably played 14…d5! with decent compensation for the sacrificed piece. Alireza, however, opted for 14…Qa4+? but after 15.Kd3! White’s king escaped to the center. Firouzja added fuel to the fire by sacrificing an exchange, but it did not help, and Vidit comfortably wrapped it up right after the time control. Wei Yi – Ding Liren | ½-½, 32 moves The game saw a popular line of the Scotch, known for its drawish tendencies. After making just a few original moves in a dead-drawn endgame with opposite-coloured bishops, the opponents shook hands. Alexander Donchenko – Ju Wenjun | ½-½, 30 moves The opponents had a discussion in a well-known line of the QGD Carlsbad. Both played very sensibly, arranging their pieces in the center. On move 23, White carried out the thematic e3-e4, but Black was very well prepared for this push in the center and emerged slightly better. Alexander demonstrated accuracy at this stage of the game as he temporarily sacrificed a pawn to activate his rook. Soon, White restored material balance, and the players signed a peace in an equal and symmetrical position. Gukesh D – Max Warmerdam | 1-0, 66 moves Playing with Black, Max Warmerdam essayed a sharp line of the Tarrasch Defence in which he got sufficient compensation for a pawn. The Dutchman was holding his ground for most of the game but tripped over his feet in an equal rook endgame. After the correct 53…Kf6! covering the g5-square, White can make any progress. However, having about 15 min on his clock, Max played 53…Rg1? and after 54. Kf2 Rb1 55. Kg3 Rb2 56. Rg5 Ra2 57. Rxg4 Gukesh won the g-pawn and converted his advantage on move 66. The young Indian scored his third straight win and joined the leaders. Praggnanandhaa R – Jorden Van Foreest | ½-½, 33 moves The young Indian got an edge playing on the white side of the QGD Carlsbad, but instead of maintaining the tension, he opted for closing the position on the kingside and giving up an important f5-square. Jorden immediately jumped on this opportunity and, by skillfully maneuvering with his knights, equalized completely. At this point, probably feeling that the tide had changed, Pragg offered a draw, which was accepted. Parham Maghsoodloo – Ian Nepomniachtchi | ½-½, 56 moves Once again, Ian Nepomniachtchi played the Petroff Defence against 1.e4 and reached a comfortable position. After a clash in the center the opponents traded the queens and transitioned into a roughly equal endgame. Both played with great accuracy, and a draw came as a logical outcome. Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Firouzja closes the gap
In Round 6 of Tata Steel Masters 2024, Anish Giri missed a chance to win facing Parham Maghsoodloo, and but preserved his leading position. Alireza Firouzja scored an important victory over Wei Yi and moved up to second position, trailing the leader by a half-point. Max Warmerdam defeated Alexander Donchenko and reached the +1 mark. Alireza Firouzja – Wei Yi | 1-0, 42 moves Wei Yi comfortably equalized in the QGA following the game Aronian – Gukesh D (Chennai Masters 2023). However, the Chinese GM let his guard down for a minute, which eventually cost him the game. Instead of 22…Rxd1 23. Rxd1 g5 Black played 22…g5 straight away but after 22. Kxe3 g5 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Nc5! Bc8? 25. a4 White exerted dangerous pressure on the queenside and eventually won a pawn. Black could have resisted much more resiliently but probably upset by this turn of events Wei went down meekly. Anish Giri – Parham Maghsoodloo | ½-½, 52 moves Parham did a poor job on the black side of the Reti Opening and, by move 17, found himself in a very bad, virtually lost position. Luckily for the Iranian, instead of 20. Qa3 (20. Qa5) Anish simply snatched the e4-pawn, which proved to be a serious inaccuracy. After 20. Qxe4 fxe5 21. fxe5? (21.f5 was much better) Rd5 22. Bd4 Nd7 23. Rf2 Re8 Black regained the e5-pawn and got serious counterplay. Right before the time control, the opponents traded grave mistakes, with White missing a clear, although not-so-easy-to-find, win. Anish could have wrapped it up with 38. Qf6! The point is that 38…Rxg6 fails to 39. Qh8+ Kb7 40. Rf7+ Ka6 (40… Kc6 41. Qc3+ Kd5 42. Qf3+ Kc4 43. Qb3+) 41. Qc8+ Kb5 42. Rf5+ Kxb4 43. a3+. Giri however, played 38. Qxg3 which lead to a draw in a rook endgame after 38… Qxg3+ 39. Kxg3 Rxg6+ 40. Kf4 Rf6+ 41. Ke3 Re6+ 42. Kd4 Rd6+ 43. Ke5 Rd2, and so on. Jorden Van Foreest – Gukesh D | 1-0, 42 moves The Dutch GM sacrificed a pawn in the Scotch Game, for which he got sufficient compensation in a fresh, unbalanced position. With his 20th move, Gukesh committed a serious inaccuracy, but Jorden returned the favor, missing a great opportunity and handing the advantage to his opponent. After the correct 22. Qe3, Black would have had a hard time finding a safe place for his king. The Dutchman, however, overoptimistically played 22. Qf2? and after 22… Nbxd3 23. cxd3 Nxd3 24. Qd4 Rg8 25. Ng3 Nc5 26. e5 Ne6 27. Qb2 Bc6 28. exd6 O-O-O Black launched a vicious attack. The final portion of the game was somewhat hectic with the opponents trading errors, but when the dust settled, Black came off victorious on move 45. Ju Venjun – Vidit Gujrathi | ½-½, 27 moves Playing on the black side of the Nimzo-Indian Vidit went for a position with so-called hanging pawns in the center, which does not offer White much. Most likely, the Women’s World Champion did not feel like fighting today as instead of transferring her queen to the queenside with some interesting options, she forced a draw by repetition on move 27. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Praggnanandhaa R | ½-½, 44 moves The opponents followed the footsteps of Gukesh and Narayanan (Sharja Open 2023) for quite a while, but the young Indian deviated with seemingly dangerous but possible 9…b6. In subsequent complex maneuvering, Black planted his knight to d3 and captured the h6-pawn, but White got more than sufficient compensation in the form of two bishops and unpleasant pressure on the queenside. When it looked like Ian was tipping the balance in his favor, Pragg came up with an excellent positional sacrifice. In the normal course of events, Black is doomed for a tough defence. For this very reason, Pragg uncorked 33…Nxd4! and after 34. exd4 Bxd4 35. Kh1 Qf6 36. Qf3 Qxf3 37. Bxf3 Rc2 38. Kg2 Ra2 Black got sufficient compensation for the knight. Five moves down the road, the opponents split a point in an equal position. Ding Liren – Nodirbek Abdusattorov| ½-½, 30 moves The game saw a popular line of the QGA tested on the highest level. The World Champion introduced a new move 13. Re1, but after massive exchanges in the center, Black managed to trade his c5-pawn for White’s d-passer, which resulted in a draw in a symmetrical endgame. Max Warmerdam – Alexander Donchenko | 1-0, 42 moves Warmerdam introduced a novelty in a popular line of the King’s Indian Petrosian (the first line of Stockfish), ignoring Black’s clamp on the queenside with a5-a4 and emerged clearly better. White eventually besieged and captured Black’s a4 pawn, but Black transferred his knight to d4 and got some counterplay. It was still wide open at that point, but Alexander blundered on move 27, completely ruining his position. Max picked up two pawns, sacrificed an exchange and cruised to victory. Final standings after Round 6: 1 Giri, Anish NED 2749 4½ 2 Firouzja, Alireza FRA 2759 4 3-6 Praggnanandhaa, R IND 2743 3½ 3-6 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek UZB 2727 3½ 3-6 Gukesh, D IND 2725 3½ 3-6 Warmerdam, Max NED 2625 3½ 7-10 Wei, Yi CHN 2740 3 7-10 Ding, Liren CHN 2780 3 7-10 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi IND 2742 3 7-10 Nepomniachtchi, Ian FID 2769 3 11 Ju, Wenjun CHN 2549 2½ 12 Van Foreest, Jorden NED 2682 2 13-14 Maghsoodloo, Parham IRI 2740 1½ 13-14 Donchenko, Alexander GER 2643 1½ Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Updated Tie-break Regulations effective from April 1, 2024 published
We are thrilled to inform you that the revised Tie-Break Regulations have been officially ratified and are now available in the FIDE Handbook’s Section C.07. Tie-Break Regulations (effective from April 1, 2024). We extend our sincere appreciation to Mr Roberto Ricca and the entire SPP Department for their dedicated efforts in enhancing the tie-break rules and their accompanying explanations. In this latest version, no alterations have been made to the tie-break definitions themselves. However, we have taken the opportunity to refine the explanations in cases where it was apparent that some confusion or misinterpretation still existed within the chess community. We are grateful to the community for their invaluable assistance in identifying these areas that needed clarification. For any inquiries or further information, please contact Hendrik du Toit at secretary.tec@fide.com.
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Giri extends his lead
Anish Giri consolidated his lead in Round 5 of the Tata Steel Masters after drawing his game with Praggnanandhaa R as his closest rival, Alireza Firouzja, suffered a defeat at the hands of Ju Wenjun. Gukesh D toppled Ian Nepomiachtchi and joined a group of players trailing the leader by a point. Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri | ½-½, 41 moves Playing on the black side of the Queen’s Pawn Opening, Anish Giri used the idea of knight retreat (Nf6-g8-e7) introduced by Praggnanandhaa in his game with Erigaisi back in 2022, but one move later. Being ahead in development, White immediately advanced on the queenside and got an advantage in the form of Black’s weaknesses on this wing. Trying to foil White’s plans, Giri struck in the center, and it eventually worked very well for him as Pragg discarded the most active continuations, traded the rooks and forced a draw by perpetual. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Wei Yi | ½-½, 63 moves In the Classical Variation of Gruenfeld, Nodirbek essayed 12.Bx7+ line, which was extremely popular in the Karpov – Kasparov title match (Sevilla, 1987). White emerged slightly better and pressured Black throughout the game, eventually winning a pawn in an ending. To his credit, Wei found a couple of excellent defensive manoeuvres, timely advanced his kingside pawns and engineered a counterplay that was sufficient for a draw. Parham Maghsoodloo – Ding Liren | ½-½, 31 moves Ding Liren employed his favourite g7-g5 in the Giocco Piano, castled short, but prematurely pushed his g-pawn further with 13…g5-g4. In this position, Parham stunned the World Champion with 14.Bh4! leaving the knight en prise. Black accepted the challenge and captured the knight, but after 14…gxf4 15. Qxf3 Kg7 16. Nf1, the pin along the h4-d8 diagonal was highly unpleasant for Black. After some thought Ding found the only defense parrying both threats Nf1-e3-d5 and Nf1-g3-h5, namely 16…Rh8! 17. Ne3 Raf8 18. Kh1 h5! After some interesting complications, White restored the material balance and forced a draw by repetition on move 31. Ju Wenjun – Alireza Firouzja | 1-0, 64 moves The Women’s World Champion got some initiative at the queenside as White in the Exchange Variation of French Defense, but Alireza created sufficient counterplay in the center. On move 22, he overambitiously advanced his e-passer, but Ju did not take a chance to get a very promising endgame. Surprisingly, Firouzja erred on the very next move, and the Women’s World Champion did not miss this opportunity. After 23…Qf7 (instead of 23…Bxf3 with a roughly equal position) 24. Ng5! Qg6 25. Qxg6 Bxg6 26. Rxe2 h6 27. Nf3 Be4 28. Ne5 White liquidated into a technically winning endgame. Ju’s conversion was not optimal, while Alireza mounted stubborn resistance and had a chance to save the game or at least make White’s task much more difficult. After precise 52…Kc6, it is not easy for White to make progress. Unluckily for Firouzja, he got tempted by the active 52…Rf3? but it failed to 53. Nxe4 dxe4 54. Kg2 Rxa3 55. Rxe4 Rd3 56. Kf2 c6 57. Kg2 and the rook ending was hopeless for Black due to zugzwang. As soon as White activated both her rook and the king Alireza admitted his defeat. Vidit Gujrathi – Max Warmerdam | ½-½, 34 moves The opponents tested a popular line of Ruy Lopez, following a recent game between Gukesh D and Andrey Esipenko but the Dutchman deviated first with 13…Bg4, preserving his light-squared bishop. This novelty helped Max to maintain balance after a tactical skirmish in the centre, where he demonstrated precise calculation. Black then sacrificed a pawn to liquidate into an opposite-colour bishop ending, in which he safely reached draw on move 34. Gukesh D – Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1-0, 49 moves Ian essayed the Dutch-Peruvian Gambit of QGD, sacrificed a pawn and got sufficient compensation in the form of two bishops and some pressure on the queenside. After complex manoeuvring, Black made a seemingly active move with his dark-squared bishop 34…Bb4? but missed a crushing blow by his opponent. 35. Nxc6! and Black’s position collapsed. After 35. Nxc6 Rcxc6 36. Rxd5 h5 37. Qf4 Rd6 38. Rxd6 Bxd6 39. Rxd6 Rxd6 40. Qxd6 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qxf2 42. Nc3 Gukesh emerged with two passers on the queenside. At his point, Ian had a chance to regain one of the pawns and resist tenaciously in a queen ending with 42… Qxe3 (with the idea of 43. Nd5 Qf2 44. Ne7+ Kh7 45. Nxg6 fxg6), but after he turned it away, White quickly converted his advantage. Alexander Donchenko – Jorden Van Foreest | ½-½, 34 moves The game saw a rare line of the English Opening with an early d7-d5 by Black, who achieved a comfortable position. The subsequent play revolved around the White’s e4-e5 advance in the center, which Jorden met with a timely pawn sacrifice, activating his pieces. After Black regained the pawn and traded the queens, the players split a point in an equal endgame. Standings after Round 5: 1 Giri, Anish NED 2749 4 2-5 Praggnanandhaa, R IND 2743 3 2-5 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek UZB 2727 3 2-5 Wei, Yi CHN 2740 3 2-5 Firouzja, Alireza FRA 2759 3 6-10 Gukesh, D IND 2725 2½ 6-10 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi IND 2742 2½ 6-10 Ding, Liren CHN 2780 2½ 6-10 Warmerdam, Max NED 2625 2½ 6-10 Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2769 2½ 11-12 Ju, Wenjun CHN 2549 2 11-12 Van Foreest, Jorden NED 2682 2 13 Donchenko, Alexander GER 2643 1½ 14 Maghsoodloo, Parham IRI 2740 1 Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Queens’ Online Chess Festival returns in March 2024
The Queens’ Online Chess Festival, a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments, is returning this spring! The fourth edition of the popular event, organised by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess, will take place from March 09-30, 2024, on the Tornelo online platform. In 2023, over 800 female players from 124 countries participated in the third edition of the festival. Organisers hope that this time, the number of female players joining the event will exceed one thousand. The festival welcomes all women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess enthusiasts. Participation is free of charge. The festival is comprised of two competitions: Queens’ Women Open Tournament (open to all female participants with FIDE ID). Continental qualifying events running from Match 09-17 and Semi-Final and Final scheduled on March 24 and 30, respectively; Unrated Princesses’ tournaments (for U16 (born on 1.1.2008 or later) female players with no FIDE rating). The qualification stage is scheduled for March 24, and finals will be held on March 30. The Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2024’s main prizes are worth fighting for. Like in the previous edition, the winners of the World Queens’ Open 2024 and Princess’ Tournament (both U9 and U16 ) will be invited to the 45th World Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest, Hungary, this September. Air tickets, full-board accommodation for three days and invitations to the Opening Ceremony of the Chess Olympiad 2024 for the winner and one accompanying person will be covered. Queens’ Women Open Tournament Registration form: forms.gle/Bs9swcu5zkuEY4T87 Registration deadlines: Africa – March 02, 2024 Europe – March 03, 2024 Asia – March 09, 2024 Americas – March 10, 2024 The qualification tournaments and semi-finals will be 9 or 11-round Swiss tournaments with 3+2 time control, depending on the number of participants, while the final will be a round-robin with 5+5 time control (7 rounds). Unrated Princesses’ Tournament Registration form: forms.gle/gqSM1nkUfR6m1LhWA Registration deadline: March 17, 2024 Unrated players U16 (born on 01.01.2008 or later) can play in both the Queens’ Women’s Open tournament and the Unrated Princesses’ tournament. Regulations for the Queens’ Chess Festival (pdf)
20th International Solving Contest (ISC) announced
The 20th International Solving Contest (ISC) will take place on January 21st starting at 11:00 AM CET. This one-day event will feature participants simultaneously solving the same set of chess problems in over 50 locations worldwide. The tournament will be held in three categories: Category I – Main, open to everyone (but dedicated to experienced solvers) Category II – For players with U2000 rating or without a rating (in solving!) Category III – U13 Youth category (born after December 31, 2010) Categories I and II consist of two rounds, while Category III comprises a single round. Each round lasts for two hours. Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, stands out as one of the most prestigious ISC locations, having previously hosted the World Chess Solving Championship in 2022. The lineup there includes top finishers from the 2023 World Chess Solving Championship, including Danila Pavlov, the world’s best solver for three consecutive years. The participation of former solving world champions Kacper Piorun and Piotr Murdzia from Poland will further intensify the competition for the title. Over-the-board (OTB) chess grandmasters are adding to the competitive landscape, with names like Raunak Sadhwani, the ninth-youngest GM in chess history, and Arkady Naiditsch, a former elite chess professional ranked within the top 20 in the FIDE rating list in 2013. The complete starting list is available here. You can see three checkmates in two moves from each category from the previous year’s competition below. Good luck with the challenge! 1. White to play and mate in 2 moves (cat.I) 2. White to play and mate in 2 moves (cat.II) 3. White to play and mate in 2 moves (cat.III) Important links: General information about ISC and rules: wfcc.ch/invitation-20th-isc/ Fujairah location starting list : chess-results.com/tnr863164.aspx?lan=3 Solutions: 1. Pavel Murashev, Moscow championship 2013: 1.Rc4! (2.Re4#) 1…Kd5 2.Rc5#; 1…Nf6/Nf2 2.Nb7# 2. Pavel Murashev, Schweizerische Schachzeitung, 2015: 1.Qc1! (2.Ne3#) 1…Kxd5 2.Nb4#; 1…Bxd5 2.Ne5#; 1…Nxc5+ 2.Rxc5# 3. Poul Hage, Magasinet, 1941: 1.Bh8! – zugzwang Written by: GM Kacper Piorun Photos from the previous ISC competitions: solving in Fujairah (Photo Fujairah CCC) and Bangalore (Photo Shankar Ram) Official website: WFCC – World Federation for Chess Composition
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Anish Giri pulls ahead
Anish Giri notched up a second win in a row in Round 4 of the Tata Steel Masters 204 and leapfrogged Alireza Firouzja, who split a point with Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The Dutchman is going to the rest day as the sole leader of the event. Wei Yi and Praggnanandhaa R also scored victories and moved up in the standings. Alexander Donchenko was very close to his first win but allowed Ian Nepomniachtchi to escape with a draw. Anish Giri – Gukesh D | 1-0, 72 moves Gukesh comfortably equalized on the black side of English Opening but somewhat straightforwardly forced exchanges, apparently underestimating the dangers of the position with opposite-coloured bishops that emerged on the board. Interestingly, the first line of Stockfish is 25…e4!? sacrificing the pawn, followed by Qe5. Gukesh played 25…Qd8 instead, but after 26. h4! h5 27. Rb5 White got a long-lasting pressure that is very hard to withstand in a practical game. The young Indian tried to escape in an endgame, but Anish slowly but surely got to Black’s weak pawns and sealed the deal on move 72. Alireza Firouzja – Nodirbek Abdusattorov | ½-½, 30 moves The opponents tested a topical line of the Open Ruy Lopez in which Alireza lost to Vidit three years ago. Firouzja was first to deviate with 18.cxd4, but Nodirbek demonstrated his opening preparation, reeling off several best moves and reaching equality. Shortly after trading the queens, the players split a point in a balanced endgame. Max Wanderdam – Ju Wenjun | ½-½, 30 moves In a popular line of the Catalan, the players followed the encounter Nepomniachtchi – Firouzja (2022) up to move 19. Max opted for a new move 19.Qa3 but it did not change the evaluation of the position as roughly equal. As soon as the last pair of minor pieces left the board, a draw was agreed on move 31. Wei Yi – Parham Maghsoodloo | 1-0, 69 moves Parham went for complications and sacrificed an exchange for two pawns in the Advanced Caro-Kann, which led to a very interesting unbalanced position. The opponents traded inaccuracies in a complicated struggle, with Wei spurning a draw by repetition closer to the time control. The position remained in balance after trading the queens, but shortly after, Maghsoodloo made a nonchalant move that cost him the game. Black has to deal with e3-e4, driving the bishop away and white rook’s potential penetration to the seventh rank. The only move addressing both issues is 44…f5! with the idea of meeting 45.g5 with 45…Rb7, followed by 46…h6 with sufficient counterplay. Parham, however, played 44…Be4? and after 45.Ra7+ it was all over for Black. Wei transferred his rooks to the seven rank, traded the rooks and advanced his a-pawn, forcing Maghsoodloo’s capitulation. Jorden Van Foreest – Vidit Gujrathi | ½-½, 30 moves The players tested the Rubinstein variation of Four Knights in which Black sacrifices a pawn for initiative. Usually, it is sufficient to maintain equilibrium, and this game was no exception. Vidit regained a pawn, but most of the pieces were exchanged in a process, and the opponents signed a peace in an equal rook endgame. Ding Liren – Praggnanandhaa R | 0-1, 62 moves Things unfolded slowly in the Arkhangelsk Variation of Ruy Lopez, but with his fifteenth move, the World Champion allowed Praggnanandhaa to push in the center with c5-c4 getting some initiative. Several moves down the road, it snowballed into serious pressure on White’s b2-pawn, which eventually fell. Black gradually exchanged most of the pieces liquidating into a knight endgame. Ding had some chances for a draw, but his 43rd move made things much easier for Pragg. White should have played 43.Ke3 (or 43.Ne3) keeping his pawn structure intact, whereas 43.f4? played by Ding was tantamount to chess suicide. Black effortlessly converted his extra pawn twenty moves later. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Alexander Donchenko | ½-½, 56 moves In a topical line of the Sicilian Dragon, Alexander used a pawn sacrifice introduced by Nikita Vitiugov in his game with David Navara at the recent European Team Championship and got sufficient compensation. Ian boldly castled long, which led to a very interesting double-edged but roughly equal position. However, with his 28th move, Ian recklessly snatched the b4-pawn, missing a spectacular but simple blow. 28… Rxc2+! 29. Kxc2 Rc8+ According to chess engines, after 30. Kd3 Qxd5+ 31. Ke3, the position is equal, but this line is very hard to venture upon for a human. Ian played more natural 30.Nc3, but after 30…Qf3! Black was winning despite White’s extra rook. Soon, Alexander restored the material balance, but fatigue took its toll at this point as he gradually let his advantage slip away and forced a draw by perpetual. Standings after Round 4: 1 Giri, Anish NED 2749 3½ 2 Firouzja, Alireza FRA 2759 3 3-6 Praggnanandhaa, R IND 2743 2½ 3-6 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek UZB 2727 2½ 3-6 Wei, Yi CHN 2740 2½ 3-6 Nepomniachtchi, Ian FID 2769 2½ 7-9 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi IND 2742 2 7-9 Ding, Liren CHN 2780 2 7-9 Warmerdam, Max NED 2625 2 10-11 Gukesh, D IND 2725 1½ 10-11 Van Foreest, Jorden NED 2682 1½ 12-13 Donchenko, Alexander GER 2643 1 12-13 Ju, Wenjun CHN 2549 1 14 Maghsoodloo, Parham IRI 2740 ½ Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com