FIDE Word Cup 2023 Round 2 Game 2: Surprising knockouts and intense battles
Two surprising eliminations in the Open, as the Women’s World Champion forced into the tiebreaks for round three The World Cup continued today, with the second game of Round 2 taking place. While the favourites Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, Duda and Caruana qualified, some of the other top players, such as Nakamura and So, will have to fight in the tiebreaks. The biggest surprise of the day is the knockout of the 2021 World Rapid winner Nodirbek Abdusattorov. In a shocking surprise, super GM and Azerbaijani star Shakhriyar Mamedyarov lost to Singapore’s Tin Jingyao and failed to qualify for the next stage. Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun and 2021 Women’s World Cup winner Alexandra Kosteniuk also head for the tiebreaks. Just before the beginning of the games, a small award ceremony took place for the winners of the online Queens’ Women Open, held in July. The event consisted of a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments. All women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess enthusiasts, could take place. The winner of the Open tournament was IM Deysi Cori from Peru, while the Continental European crown went to WFM Malak Ismayil from Azerbaijan. The Open Tournament: Slips in the knockout format of the World Cup could be devastating as the 2021 World Rapid winner Nodirbek Abdusattorov learnt. After drawing in game one against 2585-rated Vahap Sanal, Abdusattorov (2725) lost in game two as White. In an even position, he overpressed, sacrificing an exchange, after which he ended up in a lost position. A similar fate befell Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who lost to Singapore’s Tin Jingyao after making errors in an even position and then completely blundering. Mamedyarov’s elimination is a huge upset for Azerbaijan as he was one of their top hopes for the event. The world’s highest-rated player, Magnus Carlsen, scored his second victory. Despite Carlsen being slightly better, Levan Pantsulaia had some chances, but in a tense moment, he made a crucial mistake. It was all Magnus needed to finish off his opponent in style. The winner of the 2021 World Cup, Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda, drew as Black against Peru’s Emilio Cordova. As Duda won in game one, a draw was enough to get him through to round three. Among other top seeds who move to round three are Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Teimour Radjabov, Yu Yagnyi, Parham Maghsoodloo, Wei Yi, Daniil Dubov, Gukesh D, Wang Hao, Amin Tabatabaei, Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov as well as the rising global chess stars Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Kirill Shevchenko and Alexey Sarana. There were a lot of draws in game two among the favourites who won the first encounter (Nepomniachtchi, Dubov, Praggnanandhaa, Maghsoodloo, Wei, Yu, Svidler), suggesting they did not feel the need to press hard. There were other surprising upsets of the day: After losing a drawn endgame yesterday, American Sam Shankland failed to qualify as he could not make a breakthrough as Black against Moldovan Ivan Schitco and drew. Former World Champion Candidate Boris Gelfand is also out after underestimating Ferenc Berkes’ activity on the kingside. Wesley So (2769) was on the brink of defeat against the 2570-rated Turkish GM Emre Can. In the game, Can created a passer on the b-file and was dominating. So was in dire straits, ending a piece down. In an endgame where White had two bishops and a pawn and Black had two pawns and a bishop, Can was winning, but he could not find the optimal plan and allowed Wesley to escape. The two will now be playing a tiebreaker. In another lucky escape of the day, Vladimir Fedoseev saved a lost endgame against Jergus Pechac and now goes into the tiebreaks. Several other super-strong Grandmasters will have to fight for round three in the tiebreaks. The list includes the likes of Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Vidit Santos Gujrathi, Alexander Grischuk, David Anton Guijarro (who drew both games against more than 200 points lower-rated Azeri GM Gadimbayli), Andrey Esipenko, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Arjun Erigaisi. The legendary Vasyl Ivanchuk will also play the tiebreak after two draws with Chile’s Cristobal Henriquez Villagra. The Women’s Tournament: In a huge upset for the women’s tournament, former world champion and 2021 World Cup winner Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to 250 points lower-rated Yan Tianqi from China. In the Marshall Attack of the Ruy Lopez, Kosteniuk entered a weaker position in the middlegame and then completely misplayed an inferior ending. She resisted but, in the end, was forced to resign. With both players winning a game each, they will decide the round three qualifiers in the tiebreaks. Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun drew again today against the 200+ points lower-rated Eva Repkova in a game where neither side had any advantage. Former World Champion Candidate and one of the tournament favourites, Aleksandra Goryachkina, defeated Cuba’s Lisandra Teresa Ordaz Valdes to secure her place in round three. The other top favourites to qualify for the next stage are Elisabeth Paehtz, Anna Muzychuk, Polina Shuvalova, Koneru Humpy, Zhu Jiner, Tan Zhongyi, Harika Dronavalli, as well as former women’s world champions Anna Ushenina and Marya Muzychuk. Kateryna Lagno drew again against Mary Ann Gomes and will take a shot in the tiebreaks. Fighting for a chance to get to Round 3 will be Nana Dzagnidze, who was held to a draw by Poland’s Klaudia Kulon in both games. The tiebreaks of the second round of the World Cup will take place on Friday, August 4, at 3 PM local time in Baku, Azerbaijan. Here follows a closer look at some of the positions from game two of the second round of the World Cup: Magnus Carlsen won his game against Levan Pantsulaia after the Georgian made a huge blunder in the following position: The best option for Black is to place his bishop on f6. Instead, Levan played 27…Qg6?? to which White responded with 28.Bc7! Rd7 29.Re8+! and Pantsulaia surrendered facing checkmate: 30.Qe4+ Ne6 31.Qa8+ Nd8 32.Qxd8+ Rxd8 33.Rxd8#. 1-0 Nodirbek Abdusattorov got knocked out after going too far in an
FIDE World Cup 2023 Round 2 Day 1: A lot of draws as top seeds enter the race
The second round of the World Cup saw the world chess elite enter the field. While a lot of the favourites won, many of them – in both the Open and the Women’s tournament – were held to a draw The world’s strongest chess players played their first game in the World Cup today, as the top 50 in the Open and the top 25 in the Women’s group entered the tournament. Despite being the strong favourites based on their rating and achievements, many of the top world players were having a difficult time and had to satisfy with a draw. The world’s highest-rated player (2835) and former World Champion Magnus Carlsen – who had never won the World Cup before – started the tournament with a victory. On the other hand, in the Women’s World Cup, defending World Champion Ju Wenjun started with a 16-move draw with white pieces. The biggest upset of the day is the loss of the US 2018 champion and super GM Sam Shankland to a 200 points lower-rated GM Ivan Schito from Moldova. In the Women’s tournament, Sara Khadem was the only favourite to suffer a defeat. After misplaying in the early stages of the game facing Medina Warda Aulia from Indonesia, Khadem found herself in a lost position and ultimately had to resign. There were two honorary guests of the day making the first move. In the Open event, on board one where Magnus Carlsen was playing against Georgia’s Levan Pantsulaia, the first move was made by Madat Guliyev, the Minister of Defence Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a National Hero of Azerbaijan and a Colonel General. In the Women’s event, the first move was made on the board Bibisara Assaubayeva – Qianyun Gong, by Timur Turlov, the President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the CEO of Freedom Holding Corp, partner of the FIDE World Cup 2023. The Open tournament: US 2018 Champion and super GM Sam Shankland suffered a surprising defeat as White at the hands of GM Ivan Schitco from Moldova. In a slightly better position in a rook endgame, Shankland first dropped the advantage and then blundered and ended up facing checkmate. A heavy blow for Shankland, who will have to win the second game in order to reach the tiebreak. Magnus Carlsen won as Black in 44 moves against Georgia’s Levan Pantsulaia. Despite Pantsulaia’s managing to hold the position steady through the middlegame, Carlsen gradually increased his pressure and as the game simplified, entered a queen and knight endgame where he was a pawn up. Pantsulaia had two chances to make a comeback but failed. A good start for Carlsen, who, despite winning, said he felt ‘a little bit rusty going in’. Other top favourites also started with a victory: Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Gukesh D, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Nikita Vitiugov and Daniil Dubov. The winner of the 2021 World Cup, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, had a lucky break as his opponent went for an unsound sacrifice and was immediately lost. In a game which was played until the bare kings were the only pieces left standing, Hikaru Nakamura split a point with India’s Venkataraman Karthik. Despite Nakamura creating a 2:1 pawn advantage on the kingside, Karthik held out until all the pieces were removed from the board. There were some other notable surprises in the Open: super GM Anish Giri was pressured by the tiebreak qualifier, 221 points lower-rated Arseniy Nesterov, and had to deliver perpetual. Wesley So (2769) allowed Turkey’s Emre Can (2570) to get a slightly better position as Black, but the game ended in a draw. Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov also drew against 200 points lower-rated Viktor Erdos from Hungary. Despite leading the white pieces, Alexander Grischuk could not inch any advantage against Iran’s Bardiya Daneshvar, and the two agreed to split a point. Super GM and Azeri hope Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also drew against Tin Jingyao of Singapore. The former World Champion Candidate, Boris Gelfand, had a tangible advantage against Ferenc Berkes but dropped it in a critical moment, with the game ending in a draw. Super GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2739) drew with white pieces with 2576-rated Valentin Dragnev. The Women’s tournament The Women’s World Cup saw a series of surprising draws between the favourites and significantly lower-rated players. The reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun – who came to Baku directly after defending her world title in a match in China – joined the tournament today along with 24 other top-seed women players. Ju (rated 2564) was up against more than 200 points lower-rated Slovak IM Eva Repkova (2312). It was an underwhelming performance by the World Champion as she entered a drawish line in the Catalan, and the game ended in threefold repetition after just 16 moves. The biggest upset of the day in the Women’s tournament was Sara Khadem. Playing under the Spanish flag, lost to Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia. Sara made several errors early on and allowed her opponent to create an advanced passer on the c-file and dominate. One of the longest games of the day was played between former Women’s World Champion Mariya Muzychuk and her Ukrainian compatriot Anastasiya Rakhmangulova. Mariya achieved an advantage in the opening, but in an attempt to organise a deadly attack on the black king, she miscalculated and ended up in an even position. The two transitioned to a drawn opposite-coloured bishops endgame where Black was a pawn up. After playing it for quite some time, the two decided to call it a day and split a point. There were other relatively surprising draws among women: Former World Champion Tan Zhongyi did not manage to make progress against the 250 points lower-rated Julia Ryjanova playing for Australia. Former Women’s World Champion Candidate Aleksandra Goryachkina also drew, as Black, against the more than 200-points lower rated IM Ordaz Valdes from Cuba. Kateryna Lagno dropped a significant advantage in the endgame against Mary Gomez of India and also had to settle for a
Second FIDE Council Meeting of 2023 took place in Baku
The second FIDE Council Meeting of 2023 took place in Baku on August 1, 2023, alongside the World Cup. The meeting adopted a hybrid format, allowing the Council members to attend through Zoom. As usual, the meeting started with the reports of the FIDE President, Treasurer, followed by updates to the chess calendar. Discussions centred on the tournaments for the current year and the bidding process for competitions in 2024 and beyond. While no approvals were granted during the meeting, FIDE has undertaken to conduct the necessary inspections, with decisions expected to be finalized by the end of the year. The Qualification Commission presented an important proposal regarding changes in rating regulations aiming to address rating deflation concerns. We wrote about it here. This proposal, formulated by Mr Sonas and the working group, will be subject to public discussion. We encourage the chess community to send us their comments and suggestions at qualification@fide.com until September 30, 2023. There are exciting developments in FIDE membership. The Council approved the New Caledonia Chess Federation as an Affiliated Organization and welcomed the Tonga Chess Federation as the newest member of FIDE. These additions signify a historic milestone, as FIDE will reach the inspiring mark of 200 member federations by the end of 2023, pending General Assembly approval. For the first time in history, FIDE Council has approved 92 School Instructor titles, putting them on par with other official FIDE titles. The credit for this achievement goes to the FIDE Chess in Education Commission, whose successful “Preparation of Teachers” course, based on a new and revised training program, will soon see its 9th edition. The translation of the program from English to other languages, primarily Arabic, Portuguese, and French, is being actively discussed and is likely to be implemented soon. We congratulate 17 new Grandmasters whose titles have been approved at this meeting! The list includes Zhu Jiner from China, who proudly joins the ranks as the world’s 41st female player to earn a GM title. We are also exceptionally happy for Lukasz Nowak from Poland as he officially becomes an International Master. The remarkable journey of this 25-year-old overcoming a spinal disease serves as a shining example to the chess community. We will publish the complete list of decisions shortly.
3rd Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners: Registration continues
FIDE will host the third Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners, scheduled for October 11-13, 2023. The project, aimed at introducing chess as a tool for education and social inclusion in prisons of different countries, is open for teams made of 4 players. The competition is held in three categories – men’s, women’s and juvenile correctional facilities. Fifteen teams from 9 countries – Argentina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Philippines, Portugal, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the USA – have already confirmed their participation. Among them, two teams represent Kansas, USA. Topeka Correctional Facility, a Kansas Department of Corrections state prison for women, is going to compete in the women’s event, while the chess squad from the Ellsworth Correctional Facility will be fighting for medals in the males’ section. Only recently, the Chess in Prisons project has been launched in Kansas. Less than a year ago, the Kansas Department of Corrections partnered with the Gift of Chess, a nonprofit organization transforming the lives of people, including those currently and formerly incarcerated, through the universal language of chess. For the past months, the game of chess has been instrumental in helping residents of Kansas prisons to see the benefits of using critical thinking skills attained through learning chess strategies. The partnership with the Kansas Department of Corrections was steered under Secretary of Corrections Jeff Zmuda and organized by Statewide Gift of Chess coordinator Captain Kevin Oneth. The State of Kansas has 16 Adult Correctional facilities and one Juvenile facility. Fourteen of them were already visited by Oneth. “I went to most facilities and brought a resident, Tony Ballard, with me. He discussed his story on the benefits of chess and how it changed his life for the better. All the residents that participated became members of the United States Chess Federation. Residents were pleased when we came and actively participated in the lessons that were provided,” he says. In June 2023, the KDOC Online Chess Championship was held, featuring the top four players from each facility. Besides, GM Timur Gareyev attended two correctional facilities, where he spoke to the prisoners, played simuls with them and took time to answer questions and sign autographs. According to prison officials, keeping residents busy playing chess and competing in a non-contact sport is a brilliant idea to curb prison violence, gang activity and drug usage. The registration deadline for the third Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is September 22, 2023. Participation in the event is free and open via an online registration form: forms.office.com/g/xPqGaWbR4Q Tournament regulations (pdf) More info about the event can be found on chessforfreedom.fide.com Photo: thegiftofchess.org
FIDE August 2023 rating list: Gukesh, Le Quang Liem and Praggnanandhaa reach career-high
The top 10 saw no significant changes this past month, but there were shifts in the women’s top 10 due to the FIDE Women’s World Championship match. Ironically, the winner of the 2023 Dutch Championship, Anish Giri, dropped six points, but it did not affect his position in the top 10 Open. Gukesh D keeps climbing in the rankings, steadily increasing his rating since March 2023. Following his solid performance in the Isbank of Turkiye Chess Super League, he became the youngest player ever to cross a 2750 mark – the distinction previously achieved by world #1 Magnus Carlsen. The 17-year-old of India is knocking on the top 10 Open door, currently sitting in the 11th position. Photo: Lennart Ootes Biggest gains in top 100 Open and Women Wagner, Dinara WGM GER 2468 (+21) Vaishali R IM IND 2452 (+21) Praggnanandhaa R GM IND 2707 (+17) Donchenko, Alexander GM GER 2684 (+16) Bu, Xiangzhi GM CHN 2690 (+14) Sukandar, Irine Kharisma IM INA 2371 (+13) Le, Quang Liem GM VIE 2740 (+12) Keymer, Vincent GM GER 2701 (+11) Robson, Ray GM USA 2699 (+10) Dinara Wagner and Vaishali Rameshbabu shared the top position in this nomination, both improving their rating by 21 points. Dinara triumphed in the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2023 Sportland NRW Cup, while Vaishali R did a great job in the Isbank of Turkiye Chess Super League and Torneo Internacional Orillas de Mar. In addition to Gukesh D, three more players – Le Quang Liem, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and Alexander Donchenko – reached their career high in August. Photo: bielchessfestival.ch/ Le Quang Liem successfully defended his title in Biel Triathlon and moved up to 15th place in the rating list while his rating peaked at 2740. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu gained 17 points following his victory in the 5th Dr Hetenyi Geza Super GM Memorial and cleared a 2700 rating bar for the first time in his career. It also means that the young Indian is making his debut in the top 30 Open. Photo: Lennart Ootes Alexander Donchenko emerged as the winner of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2023 A-Open, which translates into 16 rating points and 52nd place, his highest-ever position in the top 100 Open. Vincent Keymer might feel disappointed after stumbling in the final round of Biel Triathlon and letting the overall victory slip away, but he may find some comfort in an 11 rating point hike. Bu Xiangzhi and Irine Kharisma Sukandar also performed very well in Biel side events picking 14 and 13 rating points, respectively. The winner of the Prague International Chess Festival 2023 Masters Ray Robson picked up 10 rating points and is about to return to the 2700+ elite group.
FIDE World Cup 2023 Round 1 Tiebreaks: A lot of drama and a few upsets
The tiebreaks of round one of the World Cup saw a lot of drama, particularly in the Open tournament. While the favourites mostly won, a few notable surprises made it to the second round of the World Cup After six hours of play, four rounds of tiebreaks in the Open and two in the Women’s tournament, the full list of qualifiers for the second stage of the 2023 FIDE World Cup in both the Open and the Women’s tournament was determined. Altogether – 24 boards in the Open and 9 in the Women’s World Cup played the round one tiebreaks. While all the top favourites qualified, there have been a few upsets, such as Azerbaijan’s GM Gadimbayli and Argentinean IM Pablo Acosta, who knocked out significantly higher-rated opponents. In the women’s tournament, all the favourites moved to round two, with just one match (Guichard vs Serikbay) entering the second tiebreaker. The first move in today’s tiebreaks was made by Romeo Mikautadze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. The rapid playoffs The regulations for both the Open and the Women’s World Cup stipulate that if the score is level after the two regular games, after a new drawing of colours done immediately after Game 2, two tiebreak games shall be played with the time control of 25 minutes for each player + 10 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. The first to qualify in the Open section was Indian GM Adhiban who, after two draws in the regular part of round one, won both rapid games against GM Lance Henderson de La Fuente from Andorra. Adhiban will play against Daniil Dubov in Round 2. In a notable surprise, Abdulla Gadimbayli of Azerbaijan managed to defeat the over 100-points higher rated Uzbek GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov in the rapid playoff and qualify for round two. Some of the top grandmasters who faced upsets in the first games made strong comebacks: Serbian GM Velimir Ivic won both of his rapid games against the 14-year-old Ediz Gurel from Turkey. (Gurel stunned Ivic in the first game of round one with a quick victory.) The Serbian will face Spain’s Vallejo Pons in round two. Azeri GM Eltaj Safarli came strong against IM Roberto Carlos Sanchez Alvarez from Panama, winning both games in the tiebreak rapid. He will be facing Andrey Esipenko in Round 2. Hungarian GM Ferenc Berkes also qualified, having won in the first and drawn in the second tiebreak game against Iranian Darini Pouria. Berkes will now have a tough challenge in round two, facing former World Champion Candidate, Boris Gelfand. After drawing both games with 2369-rated Kareim Wageih, Austrian GM Markus Ragger (2624) won by 1.5:0.5 in the rapid and qualified. Playing Magnus Carlsen in the second round will be Georgian GM Levan Pantsulaia, who bested Indian Bharathakoti Harsha by 1.5:0.5. The other players who qualified for round two after the first tiebreaker were: Mchedlishvili (Georgia), Supi (Brazil), Can (Turkey), Iskandarov (Azerbaijan), Janik (Poland), Asadli (Azerbaijan), Albornoz (Cuba), Bartel (Poland), and Iturrizaga Bonelli (Spain). Among the notable qualifiers in the Women’s section, IM Salome Melia from Georgia (rated 2377) won her rapid tiebreaker against Brazilian 2182-rated Kathie Librelato, with 1.5:0.5. In the first rapid game, Librelato made a basic mistake as early as move eight and was completely lost. The great Peruvian hope, Deysi Cori, qualified after defeating Brazilian Julia Albaredo in the second rapid game. The same applies to Indian Nutakki Priyanka who eliminated Italian IM Marina Brunello. Priyanka will be playing compatriot Humpy Koneru in the second round. The other qualifiers from the first rapid cycle in the women’s event were: Cyfka (Poland), Rudzinska (Poland), Francisco Guecamburu (Argentina), Munguntuul (Mongolia) and Rakhmangulova (Ukraine). The second rapid tiebreaker Players who were still levelled after the first rapid played a second rapid match, but the time control was further shortened to 10 minutes for each player + 10 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. IM Pablo Acosta qualified after defeating the 100-points higher rated GM Kacper Piorun from Poland in the final game. In an even position in the endgame, Kacper misplayed, which cost him a place in the next round. GM Rinat Jumabayev outplayed Luka Paichadze, winning 1.5:0.5. Emre Can from Turkey won the final game against Queseda to qualify after the Cuban made a huge blunder entering a lost position. Ilia Smirin was struggling: In the Sicilian, Santiago Avila Pavas (playing as White) got an extra pawn after an oversight by Smirin and was significantly better, ending with a victory. In the second game, Smirin staged an impressive comeback and won, forcing a third tiebreaker of the day. Three more pairs in the Open section moved to the next stage of tiebreaks. The only pair to go to the second rapid in the Women’s Cup were Pauline Guichard from France (2384) and Assel Serikbay (2139) from Kazakhstan. In the regular part of round one, both sides won a game each, while in the first rapid – both games ended in a draw. Guichard won game five. She was then dominating in the sixth game but in the end, misplayed and entered a drawn opposite-coloured bishops endgame which finished in a draw. In the second round, she will be playing against Vaishali Rameshbabu. The blitz tiebreaks Eight players ended in the third tiebreak. In this tiebreak, the players had five minutes each plus a three-second increment from move one, and they played a mini-match of two games. In the first blitz game, Ilia Smirin scored a victory in just 30 moves, finishing the game with an effective rook sacrifice leading to checkmate. Smirin also won the second game and punched his ticket to the next round, where he will be playing Kirill Shevchenko. Turkey’s Vahap Sanal beat Croatia’s Zdrenko Kozul in both Blitz games to reach the second round. The rapid and the blitz playoffs might prove to be a good training experience for Sanal as in Round 2 he will be playing the 2021 World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Croatia’s Ante Brkic managed to qualify after winning a nerve-racking second blitz game against Carlos Matamoros Franco. Although he was dominating, towards the end, Brkic made an error in time trouble, handing the advantage to Black. However, in just one move, Matamoros Franco threw it all away and surrendered. The fourth (and final) tiebreaker: A victory after nine draws There was just one pair of players
FIDE Word Cup R01 Day 02: Favourites push forward
Round one of the World Cup finished without huge upsets on top boards, but some significantly lower-rated players managed to spring a surprise and knock out strong Grandmasters The opening move on the second day of the World Cup was made by the former World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. With just two more days before the top-world players play their first games, many have started arriving in Baku and were seen inspecting the playing hall and getting ready for the matches. The top favourites in this early stage of the World Cup secured the pass to the next round, but there were some upsets: Chile’s Pablo Salinas Herrera (rated 2468) proved that it was no surprise as he defeated the significantly higher-rated Montenegrin GM Denis Kadric (rated 2601) in the first game, and repeated it in the second, this time with black pieces. Herrera will now go up against Iran’s Amin M. Tabatabaei in the second round. Also, after a draw in game one, Moldova’s Schitco defeated the higher-rated Azeri Grandmaster Nidjat Mamedov in the second game and will now be playing against the 2018 US Champion, Sam Shankland, in the second round. After a surprising draw in the first game, Croatia’s Ivan Saric (rated 2657) dominated the Namibian IM Dante Beukes (rated 2180), who caused him a lot of problems on day one. Saric took the initiative early on and eventually won the game to qualify for the second round. There were two notable draws on the top boards on day two. Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov drew with 663 points lower-rated Yousef A Alhassadi from Libya. Despite being better on time, Cheparinov decided not to force the position as he had already won in their first game. One of the top-rated players in round one, Gadir Guseinov (rated 2661), was having a tough challenge against Rupesh Jaiswal (rated 2122) from Nepal in game two. After more than six hours of play, the game ended in a draw on move 68, with just the kings left on the board. Guseinov moves on thanks to his victory in the first game, but the resistance showed by Jaiswal in both games is impressive. Guseinov will be facing Jonas Bjerre in the second round, who won the first but drew in the second game with IM Al Qudaimi from Yemen. Among the other top favourites of the first round, Etienne Bacrot, Saleh Salem, Javokhir Sindarov, Aleksandr Predke, and Arjan Tari all came out victorious, winning both games and proceeding comfortably to round two. Predke will take on local and strong Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov, who won both games. The Women’s Tournament: When it comes to surprises in the women’s section, Natalya Buksa failed to qualify – she lost her first game against 140 points lower-rated Turmunkh Munkhzul from Mongolia and then failed to achieve more than a draw in the second game. Munkhzul will be playing Grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz in round two. The women’s top seed in round one, Eline Roebers, continued confidently and scored a second victory against Yamama Asif Abdula Al-Fayyadh. In Round 2, she will be playing Egypt’s Mona Khaled. Irina Bulmaga also won both games and comfortably moved to Round 2. Serbia’s Teodora Injac (pictured below) won against Nurai Sovetbekova, despite being weaker as the two transitioned to the endgame. With two victories, she will be playing against France’s Sophie Millet (who also won both of her games) in the second round. Among the other favourites from round one – Olga Badelka and Alina Bivol won their games and advanced to the next stage with a 100 per cent score. Round two will see the strongest women players enter the field, making it a real test for the qualifiers from round one. Slovakian IM Eva Repkova will go against the freshly-confirmed four-time Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun. WGM Qianyun Gong will play the two-time Women’s World Blitz Chess Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva. Round one tiebreaks will be played on Tuesday, 1st of August at 3 PM. Here follows a closer look at some of the games and positions in the second match-day of round one of the World Cup: In the Open section, Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov drew his second game against 633 points lower-rated Yousef A. Alhassadi. The player from Libya posed problems to Cheparinov in the first game but lost. Now in the second game, playing as White, Alhassadi opted for the Vienna Game, creating a solid position in the opening where neither side had much chance. Despite making a mistake in the middlegame, Cheparinov did not choose the most optimal continuation, but the position was still comfortable for Black. In the end, following a lot of exchanges on the board, the two transitioned to a knight and bishop endgame. Cheparinov was significantly better on time but decided not to force and accept a draw in the following position: FM Rupesh Jaiswal from Nepal sprang a huge surprise as he managed to hold Azerbaijan’s Gadir Guseinov to a draw, with Black pieces. In the Sicilian, Jaiswal came equal out of the opening but made an imprecision in the middlegame. Guseinov was slightly better, but following an exchange of queens, the game was even. But gradually, Black was beginning to take the initiative. Guseinov went for a promising exchange sacrifice 34.Rxe5, which was the best move he had in this position. In the endgame that transpired, the FM from Nepal showed great technical skills and comfortably held the position. Guesinov was trying everything to unsettle his opponent, but after more than six hours of playing and with just the kings left on the board, the GM from Azerbaijan had to settle for a draw. After a stunning loss in the first game to 14-year-old Ediz Gurel, Velimir Ivic of Serbia won his second game and made it to the tiebreaks. In the Caro-Kann, slightly better after the opening, Ivic gradually outplayed his young opponent and emerged with two extra passers on the queenside in the end. This was the final position where
Michael Adams wins British Championship 2023
The 2023 British Chess Championships were held at The Venue, De Montfort University in Leicester, with several events taking place from July 20-30 2023. It was the 109th British Chess Championship in a series, which has run almost unbroken since 1904. The British Championship, a 9-round Swiss event, brought together 64 players and saw the triumph of GM Michael Adams, who confirmed his status as a pre-tournament favourite. The top seed scored an impressive 7.5/9 and clinched the title in a very convincing fashion. Despite losing to the champion in the first round, 32nd seed untitled Steven Jones somewhat surprisingly netted 6.5/9 and finished clear second picking up 62 (!) rating points along the way. As many as four players tied for third place, with GM Daniel Fernandez completing the podium thanks to superior tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 GM Adams, Michael ENG 2666 7½ 2 Jones, Steven A ENG 2175 6½ 3 GM Fernandez, Daniel H ENG 2518 6 4 IM Grieve, Harry ENG 2459 6 5 IM Wadsworth, Matthew ENG 2431 6 6 FM Han, Yichen NED 2413 6 7 GM Pert, Nicholas ENG 2536 5½ 8 GM Gasanov, Eldar UKR 2481 5½ 9 GM Hebden, Mark ENG 2436 5½ 10 IM Pert, Richard ENG 2421 5½ Complete results Photo: ECF Women’s Chess Congratulations to WIM Lan Yao (pictured above) who won the British Women’s Championship and gained a WGM norm. Photos: Brendan O’Gorman Official website: britishchesschampionships.co.uk/
FIDE World Cup 2023: Round 1 Day 1 Report
The first round of the World Cup started in Baku, with 114 games taking place in the Open and the Women’s section Amidst the expected victories of the favourites, the World Cup’s opening showcased a hint of unpredictability, as a handful of upsets set the stage for potential surprises in the games ahead. At 3 PM sharp local time in Baku (Azerbaijan), the first round of the World Cup began, where altogether 228 players in the Open and the Women’s tournament are fighting for the top three places in each group leading to the Candidates tournament, the final qualifying stage to select the next challenger for the title of World Champion. Not all of the players are taking part in the first round. As per regulation, the top 50 players in the Open and the top 25 in the Women’s section will join the event from the second round. Altogether, 114 games were played in round one – 76 in the Open tournament and 38 in the Women’s. Three players did not manage to show up in Baku despite being registered – Eric Hansen and Christopher Yoo in the Open, and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya in the Women’s tournament. In line with chess tradition, the first round started with the ceremonial making of the first move on board one in each section. In the Open event, the first move was made by Farid Gayibov, Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, while FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move in the Women’s section. Both the Open and the Women’s tournament are taking place in the same hall, at the Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard, situated right on the Caspian coastline. The Open tournament The first victory in the 2023 World Cup was scored by the youngest player in the tournament. The 14-year-old Turkish IM Ediz Gurel (rated 2500) defeated the more experienced Serbian Grandmaster Velimir Ivic (2590), who made a terrible mistake on move 21, allowing a piece sacrifice which led to unavoidable checkmate. Black has just captured the c5-pawn, completely overlooking 22. Bxh7+! Kxh7 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Qh6 g6 25. Ne4 Be7 26. Rf3! – Black has no defence against Nf6+ – 26…Bf5 27. Rxf5 Ra6 28. Rf3 1-0 If he manages to pass Ivic, Gurel is going to face the super-strong Spanish GM Vallejo Pons. On the top two boards in round one, Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov and France’s Etienne Bacrot were somewhat struggling against their significantly lower-rated opponents. In the Queen’s Gambit Declined, 18-year-old Lybian Yousef A. Alhassadi, who played Black, was posing problems to Cheparinov. Reaching a knight endgame with a pawn down but where Black could hold if he played precisely, Alhassadi blundered. Here Black made a fatal error. Instead of 42…Kc5, he played 42.Kb5? and lost several moves down the road 1-0. In the end, experience prevailed, and Cheparinov won, but Alhassadi – who is rated just 2030 – put on strong resistance to his 630+ higher-rated opponent. On board two, French Number Three, Etienne Bacrot (rated 2662) was playing as Black against Myanmar’s Nay Lin Tun (rated 2055). In the transition to the queen endgame, Bacrot won a pawn, but the position was even. Still, Bacrot was an hour ahead of his opponent. White completely misplayed in time trouble, allowing Bacrot to win, but it wasn’t simple for the Frenchman. Ivan Saric from Croatia was facing difficulties against nearly 500 points lower-rated International Master Dante Beukes from Namibia. After a tense struggle in the middlegame, Beukes offered a move repetition, but Saric refused, entering an inferior position. At one point, after Saric sacrificed an exchange, Beukes was winning, but he misplayed, and the game ended in a draw. When it comes to other top players who took part in this round – Salem, Guseinov, Sindarov, Predke, and Tari (pictured below) – all scored victories. Apart from Velimir Ivic, another negative surprise among the 2600-rated players was Denis Kadric of Montenegro, who lost to significantly lower-rated Chilean Grandmaster Pablo Salinas Herrera, who won a piece in the middlegame. There were a few more upsets in the Open section. Mongolia’s Ganzorig Amartuvshin (rated 2407) defeated the top Spanish Grandmaster Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli (rated 2612) with Black pieces, while Iran’s Pouria Darini (rated 2412) prevailed over Hungary’s Ferenc Berkes (rated 2615). The Women’s tournament In the Women’s tournament, there were no big surprises. The Dutch Women’s Champion, Eline Roebers, defeated Yamama Asif Abdula Al-Fayyadh of Iraq after the latter played 20 moves with a piece down. White is winning as her kingside attack is way too dangerous. Here Black opted to give up a piece with 19…Nxf5 and managed to hold on for the next 20 moves but eventually lost. All other frontrunners in the women’s section won their games. As was the case in the Open section, some of the lower-rated players posed considerable challenges to the favourites. Serbia’s top-rated woman player Teodora Injac (rated 2415) was clinched in an even endgame against Kyrgyzstan’s 1823 rate player, Nurai Sovetbekova. The Kyrgyz player made an imprecision in the endgame and was slightly weaker, but then she blundered, allowing Injac an effective finish. Black just played 41…Kh6-g5? (41…Nxf2 was the only chance) allowing White a nice winning combination. 42.Nxe4! Kg4 (42…fxe4 43.Qd8+Kf5 44.Qc8+ winning the queen) 43.f3+!! and Black resigned in view of 43…Kxf3 44.Ng5+ 1-0. Munkhzul Turmunkh from Mongolia (rated 2226) stunned Ukraine’s Woman Grandmaster Natalia Buksa, defeating her with a spectacular mating combination. 36.Nh6! (36…gxh6 37.Qxg8!+) Ng3+ 37.Qxg3 Qxg3 38.Nf7# While there have not been any major surprises in the first part of the first round, the strong resistance and some upsets set by the lesser-known players announce a lot of tension ahead of game two. The event continues on Monday, 31st of July, at 3 PM, with game two of the first round. Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Stev Bonhage, Anna Shtourman and Maria Emelianova (chess.com) About the event The FIDE World Cup 2023 is taking place from 29 July to 25 August 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the Open tournament, 206 players were eligible to take part and
FIDE World Cup 2023: Opening ceremony and press conference
With a magnificent display of light and sound, digital computer chess merging with actors dressed-up as real-life chess pieces, the 2023 FIDE World Cup kicked off this afternoon with the opening ceremony in Baku, Azerbaijan. Packed to the brim with players, guests, officials and staff, the breath-taking Baku Convention Centre hosted the festivities, including speeches, music, dance, and most importantly for all the players, the drawing of colours – 5-times World Champion Vishy Anand and former chess star and politician Aynur Sofiyeva performed the honours. In the Open section, Ivan Cheparinov, the top player starting in Round 1, will start with White in the first game, whereas Magnus Carlsen, the top player overall and joining in Round 2, will start with Black in the first game. In the women’s section, Eline Roebers, the top player starting in Round 1, will have the White pieces in the first game, so will the overall top player in the women’s section, Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in Round 2. The chess afternoon also featured the first official press conference, with the presence of the officials Farid Gayibov, Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President and Mahir Mammedov, President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation. Two of Azerbaijan’s top players, both of them World Cup participants, also attended the conference to answer the questions of the media; Teimour Radjabov, winner of the 2019 FIDE World Cup and Gunay Mammadzada. Gayibov wished the best of success to all the participants in the event and reminded everyone that they were planning to host many more international events in Azerbaijan. Arkady Dvorkovich was very thankful to the local organizers: “It’s a tough job to put together such a big competition, with tens of countries and hundreds of players. We would like to thank all the staff for their efforts to organize the event… I expect that fair play will prevail, with role models playing their best chess and having fun”. He also added: “I am sure Magnus Carlsen plans to win the World Cup, but the competition is very strong, and it won’t be easy. It’s his own decision to play or not in the Candidates”. Teimour Radjabov mentioned that “the hardest thing is to compete for the whole month, but I am pleased to stay in my country. FIDE is doing a great job; I am happy to be here and hope to make it as far as possible. I missed the feeling of being a superstar here in Azerbaijan.” Gunay Mammadzada hoped that the event might encourage new players to take up the game. “This tournament is a festivity for me, and I will do my best to make it to the final. I also hope it encourages many more young players to compete in the future”. Day one of Round 1 will start tomorrow, July 30th, at 3 pm. The games will be played in the Marriott Hotel Boulevard and broadcast live with expert commentary on the FIDE Youtube Channel. Text: Michael Rahal Photo: Stev Bonhage, Anna Shtourman About the event The FIDE World Cup has been held since 2005 and takes place every two years. The first Women’s World Cup was organized in 2021. The regulations for this year’s events, as well as the breakdown of the prize fund, can be found on the Official Information section of the event website: worldcup2023.fide.com/.