Biel Grandmaster Triathlon 2023: Lê Quang Liêm defends his title
He has not participated in any rated competition for one year since his victory at Grandmaster Triathlon in Biel (2022). But in the last ten days, he has shown that he still belongs to the chess elite: Lê Quang Liêm emerged as the winner of the Grandmaster Triathlon at the Biel International Chess Festival 2023. The Grandmaster Triathlon was a centrepiece of the Biel Chess Festival, which also included several side events. The 8-player tournament combined three different time formats (blitz, rapid and classic), counting towards the final score. A win in a classical game was worth 4 points, with 1½ points for a draw. In the Rapid (15min+5s) segment, a victory was worth 2 points and a draw 1 point. The blitz (3+2) was played as a double round-robin with 1 point for a win and ½ points for a draw. The event was a close race between Lê Quang Liêm, David Navara, and Vincent Keymer, who took turns on the top throughout the tournament. The final round draw against David Navara, who finished the tournament in third place, was enough for Lê to successfully defend his title. The outcome of the tournament is bitter for Vincent Keymer, although, in his fourth showing, he achieved his best placing in the Biel Grandmaster Tournament, finishing second. A draw would have been enough for him to win the title as Vincent went into the last round as the leader – but on the final day, he suffered his only defeat in the classical games at the hands of Arjun Erigaisi, and allowed Lê Quang Liêm to leapfrog him on the finish line. Lê, who now teaches chess for the largest part, has not played a single competitive game since the 2022 Biel tournament. Nevertheless, he proved to be the strongest player in the field in the classical games with 19 points and, thanks to this result, will most likely achieve his career high in the August 2023 FIDE rating list. Final standings: Alexey Khanabiev won the Main Tournament, while Thomas Mani triumphed in the Amateur Tournament. The Master Tournament MTO goes into a tenth and final round today with Bu Xiangzhi in the lead, a half-point ahead of Aryan Chopra. Text and photos: official website Official website: bielchessfestival.ch/
GCL Day 5: Triveni Continental Kings fail to stop Ganges Grandmasters’ charge
Dubai, 26th June 2023 – Tech Mahindra Global Chess League has hit a significant milestone on its fifth day. With half of the matches already in the books, the competition now embarks on the crucial second phase of the round-robin tournament. After day five, Ganges Grandmasters and SG Alpine Warriors are on top with 12 match points. The team of Ganges Grandmasters is in the first place due to a better difference in game points – 52:51, upGrad Mumba Masters are third, with 8 Match Points. This was a day of big hope for Triveni Continental Kings. The team, which features top-world players such as Levon Aronian, Yu Yangyi, and three-time women blitz champion Kateryna Lagno had high hopes ahead of the match with Gangese Grandmasters. With two victories in four matches, they needed to win to have strong chances of reaching the finals. However, this wasn’t their day. Ganges Grandmasters vs Triveni Continental Kings (14:2) This was the last match in the event where the colour of pieces was determined following a coin toss. After this match, the teams start the second phase of the round-robin, where those who have been white in the first encounter now play black, and vice versa. The final coin toss was won by the team of Ganges Grandmasters who, after three successive victories, suffered a defeat in the fourth round, which removed them from the lead in the League. They were up against the team of Triveni Continental Kings, who won two out of the four matches played. The Ganges Grandmasters took the initiative early in the match thanks to Georgian GM Bella Khotenashvili, who achieved a strong position against compatriot Nana Dzagnidze in the first stages of the opening. Soon, team Ganges Grandmasters were dominating all over the place. While the first game to finish ended in a draw – between Rapport and Yu on board two – all other boards but one saw results in favour of Ganges Grandmasters. First, Khotenashvili scored against Dzagnidze. This was quickly followed by Hou Yifan’s victory over Kateryna Lagno on board four. Then, on board three, Dominguez was better against China’s Wei Yi. The only two left holding in the team Triveni Continental Kings were Jonas Buhl Bjerre (who turned 19 today) and Levon Aronian. The birthday boy did a good job maintaining the balance against the very strong Andrey Esipenko. On board one, former World Champion Viswanathan Anand got the upper hand against Levon Aronian and wasn’t letting it go. Despite his best efforts to complicate things and prolong the game to finish last of all boards, Aronian threw in the towel. With four victories as White and two draws, the team of Ganges Grandmasters won the match, 14:2. A great comeback from Ganges Grandmasters. With another three match points and a large number of game points, team GG once again reached the top. Loek van Wely, manager of Triveni Continental Kings, was blunt after the game: “It was a crushing defeat for us. I think the rest day and the visit to the Dubai Mall was a bit overwhelming for some of the team, and they still haven’t recovered. We will seriously need to think about what to do next”. Balan Alaskan Knights vs SG Alpine Warriors (10:9) This was a duel between one of the tournament leaders and the team at the bottom of the scoreboard. SG Alpine Warriors have won four of the five matches played, while the Balan Alaskan Knights scored just a single match victory. The standings don’t do justice to the strength of the Balan Alaskan Knights, who have a tremendous team led by none other than one of the currently best players in the world, Ian Nepomniachtchi. While the Warriors had two matches on Sunday, the Knights had an advantage of a day of rest. They were leading white pieces. The two sides were evenly matched at the outset. Knowing they needed to make a push, the Knights opted for more sharp play, avoiding drawish lines. On board five BAK’s Nino Batsiashvili achieved a winning position against the strongest German woman player Elisabeth Paehtz and won. On board four, Tan Zhongyi got a sizable space advantage over America’s eight-time women’s champion, Irina Krush. On board two, 2021 World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov was pressing hard against Gukesh D and managed to win. One of the top performers in the BAK team, Praggnananadhaa notched up another important victory for his squad against Raunak Sadhawani. Some glimmer of hope for SG Alpine Warriors came with a draw on board three between Radjabov and Erigaisi. The victory of the Balan Alaskan Knights was dependent on what Tan Zhongyi did against Irina Krush. Despite entering time trouble, the former Women’s World Champion from China managed to convert her advantage against Krush, securing her team a victory in the match. It was noticeable that Tan was shaking after the game from the excitement. The match was already decided as the board one game was still going on. Ian Nepomniachtchi was playing against Magnus Carlsen. (The two know each other well, and Dubai was the home of their 2021 match for the World Championship title, which Carlsen won.) Nepomniachtchi gave up a pawn early to get some initiative, however, Carlsen coordinated his pieces well, and as they were moving towards the endgame, he started raising the pressure on White. Nepomniachtchi was on the back foot and gradually started falling behind. Once again, Carlsen demonstrated his superb endgame technique and pulled off another victory in an endgame with a slight edge, but that wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the match. The final result was 10:9 for the Balan Alaskan Knights. Balan Alaskan Knights have won the match and made a strong comeback. A huge success for the team, raising hopes for the second part of the event. Match results – 26 June 2023 Match 15 Ganges Grandmasters 14-2 Triveni Continental KingsQueen of the match – Viswanathan AnandKing of the match – Hou
Call of Interest for Arbiters in World Events 2024-2025
Dear chess friends, International and FIDE arbiters, According to the new Regulation B.06.4 FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (effective from July 20, 2023), the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission is proud to release a new process for the selection of arbiters in the Panels (Green, Blue, Red, and Yellow) for the next cycle 2024-2025. The Call of Interest for Arbiters in World Events 2024-2025 is open for one month, from July 25, 2023, to August 24, 2023, 23:59 CEST, for all FIDE Arbiters and International Arbiters with a valid FIDE license. All arbiters who wish to officiate in World Events have to submit their application via Chamilo* (https://arb-learn.fide.com/). * Chamilo is the ARB Training Portal, which we are using to support the process. We will take advantage of the call of interest to include colleagues who haven’t followed training sessions yet under this new system. Survey link >>> Please complete this survey to help us identify your wishes and availability for the World Events scheduled in 2024-2025. Arbiters will be assigned, according to the Regulations (B06.4), depending on their experience, to panels, which will be used to assign positions in tournaments. GENS UNA SUMUS! IA Ivan SYROVYChairmanFIDE Arbiters’ Commission IA Nebojsa BARALICSecretaryFIDE Arbiters’ Commission
Chess for Refugees Project: Rohingya School Teachers Chess Training
Rohingya School Teachers Chess Training organized by the Bangladesh Chess Federation, under the financial support of FIDE and the Asian Chess Federation, was held at the Refugee and Repatriation Camp-5, Ukhiya, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, last weekend. The Chess for Refugees social project has been carried out in cooperation with the South Asian Chess Council, Office of Refugees and Repatriation Commissioner’s (RRRC), UNICEF and Jagoani Chakra Foundation. The main objective of this training program is to teach the game of chess to the students studying in Rohingya camp schools. Md. Ahsan Habib, Senior Assistant Secretary, attached to the Refugees Relief & Repatriation Commissioner‘s Office (RRRC) of Camp In Charge of Camp-5, inaugurated the three-day training program as the chief guest at CiC conference room, Camp-5. National Chess Champion of Bangladesh, FIDE Trainer and Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Razib, International Chess Arbiter Md. Haroon Or Rashid, Md. Tanvir Rahman Bhuiyan, UNICEF Education Officer, Md. Abul Kashem Mozumder, Project Focal of Jagorni Chakra Foundation Mehedi Kaiser, and Program Coordinator of Johns Hopkins Center Communication program spoke on the occasion. UNICEF’s Communication Officers Alam Farvis and Md Pavlo and UNICEF’s Special Visitor Chris Henderson from Teachers College Cilumba University of New Zealand were present at the time. A total of 30 school teachers from different Rohingya school camps participated in this training program. FIDE Trainer GM Enamul Hossain Razib, International Chess Arbiter Md. Haroon Or Rashid and FIDE Instructor Showkat Hossain Pollab gave training on different subjects of how to learn chess. Rohingya school teachers who participated in this event showed great interest. Books on chess and the laws of chess were given to participating school teachers. Organizers hope that students studying in Rohingya schools will learn chess and will enjoy playing the game. At the same time, by practising chess, they will be more focused on studying the game. At the end of the training, each of the 30 schools was presented with ten sets of pieces and chessboards. Text and photos: asianchess.com
Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2023: preliminary lineups and World Cup passes
Photo above by Mark Livshitz For its highly anticipated third edition in 2023, the world’s strongest Swiss-system event is making a triumphant return to the Isle of Man from October 23 to November 6. As of July 2023, 100 players have already confirmed their participation in the Grand Swiss and 40 players in the Women’s Grand Swiss. Apart from their share of the USD 600,000 combined prize fund, the top two finishers in each event will earn qualification for the prestigious 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournaments. The impressive list of participants includes Alireza Firouzja, the winner of Grand Swiss 2021, as well as Fabiano Caruana, who has been a runner-up twice in this event. The world’s number 2, Hikaru Nakamura, and the world’s number 7, Anish Giri, will also be taking part, along with many other prominent Grandmasters, the likes of Rapport, Gukesh D, and Aronian. On the women’s side, Aleksandra Goryachkina, ranked 3rd in the world, and Humpy Koneru, ranked 5th, will lead the starting list. The event will also feature Harika Dronavalli, who won the best woman trophy in the 2019 edition, Grandmasters Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tan Zhongyi, and sisters Muzychuk. It’s important to note that the lineups are not yet final. More spots will be filled with wild cards and additional qualifications from the World Cup, set to begin on July 29 in Azerbaijan. FIDE will invite up to three players from those who reach the Round of 16 in the World Cup, and up to two players from the Women’s World Cup Round of 16. Moreover, one spot in each event will be offered to the top-rated players who were previously unqualified, according to the September 1 FIDE rating list. Only players who played at least 10 rated games counted in any of the 12 standard rating lists from July 2022 to June 2023 or appeared “active” in all 6 FIDE standard rating lists from January to June 2023 are eligible. The lineups are expected to be finalised in September and comprise 114 players in Grand Swiss and 50 in the Women’s Grand Swiss. You can find the current player lists by the links below. Open: https://chess-results.com/tnr793016.aspx Women: https://chess-results.com/tnr793017.aspx Lei Tingjie, the winner of Women’s Grand Swiss 2021. Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich About Grand Swiss The Grand Swiss tournament was initially organized in 2019 on the Isle of Man, introducing a revolutionary path to enter the World Championship race through a Swiss-system tournament that brought together all the top chess players and granted qualifications to the FIDE Candidates Tournament. Due to Covid-related restrictions, the Isle of Man was unable to host the 2021 edition, which was relocated to Riga, Latvia. The Women’s Grand Swiss was added to the event for the first time. For its 2023 edition, the world’s strongest Swiss-system event returns to the Isle of Man, made possible by sponsorship from the Scheinberg Family. These tournaments’ inclusive nature offers a golden opportunity for underdogs in their pursuit of the chess crown. In the 2019 edition, the Chinese grandmaster Wang Hao, initially ranked 15th in the starting list, emerged victorious among 154 players, sharing first place with Caruana and securing the trophy due to better tiebreaks. Kirill Alekseenko, who finished third and qualified for a Candidates’ wild card, which he eventually received, started with an initial rank of 38th. In 2021, clear winner Alireza Firouzja and runner-up Fabiano Caruana earned two coveted tickets to the Candidates. Lei Tingjie emerged triumphant in the women’s tournament, securing a pass to the Women’s Candidates. With two Candidates’ seats at stake in each event, the 2023 Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss undoubtedly stand out as the most significant Swiss tournaments of the year. Apart from the opportunity to qualify for the Candidates, a substantial pool of players has the chance to claim a piece of the impressive USD 600,000 combined prize fund, with 46 prizes set for the Grand Swiss and 23 prizes for the Women’s Grand Swiss. It is worth mentioning that all participants enjoy accommodation, meals, and travel allowances.
US Senior and Juniors’ Championship 2023: Khachiyan, Mishra and Lee win titles
After drawing their games, both GM Melik Khachiyan and IM-elect Alice Lee clinched national titles with a round to spare in the 2023 US Senior and US Girls’ Junior Championships. Their victory was secured after they both reached 6.5/8 points, with their key rivals no longer able to catch them in the standings. The 2023 U.S. Junior Chess Championship came down to the wire and saw GM Abhimanyu Mishra come out on top after drawing his last round game to reach 6.0/9 points, half a point ahead of four players who tied for second, GM Brandon Jacobson, GM Andrew Hong, GM Balaji Daggupati, and IM Arthur Guo. All three tournaments, 10-player round robins with classical time control, took place simultaneously in the World Chess Hall of Fame, Saint-Louis Chess Club from July 16-24, 2023. US Senior Championship Despite Khachiyan having already secured tournament victory, in the final round, the fight for second and third place was still on the table between Vladimir Akopian and Alex Shabalov, the latter having an extra half-point going into the round. Shabalov forced a quick draw against Khachiyan, while Akopian tried for a win against Gurevich, although he was ultimately unsuccessful, leaving Shabalov in second place. U.S. Junior Championship With the US Senior and US Girls’ Junior already decided in the penultimate round, all eyes were on the U.S. Junior, with no less than five players in contention for first place. Top seed and co-leader Mishra played a hectic game against Daggupati, one of three players a half-point behind, which featured a very sharp Najdorf that ended up drawn by perpetual check. The draw would end up clinching the title for Mishra, as fellow co-leader IM Arthur Guo got into serious trouble against Ghazarian, going on to lose in a sharp middlegame with opposite-coloured bishops. In the meantime, the key matchup Jacobson-Hong was drawn, leaving both players, along with Guo and Daggupati finished tied for second place. US Girls’ Junior Championship With Alice Lee having clinched the event after Round 8, on the final day, the focus was on FMs Ruiyang Yan and Zoey Tang, who were vying for second place. Tang got in trouble and had to survive a worse position to draw against WIM Iris Mou, while Yan scored a full point against Prasanna, winning a technical endgame to secure second. Winning and catching up to tie for third place was top seed IM Carissa Yip, who turned a very dangerous position around to defeat WGM Rochelle Wu. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr
All eyes on Baku as the chess elite descends on Azerbaijan for the World Cup
The event will feature an unprecedented prize fund of 2.5 million US dollars. For the first time, the top three players from both the Open and the Women’s section will qualify for the Candidates tournaments For nearly one whole month, the centre of the chess world will move to Baku, Azerbaijan. From 30 July to 24 August 2023, the Caucasus country will be host to the chess elite vying for the top places, qualifying for the 2024 Candidates tournaments. With an unprecedented prize fund of 2.5 million US dollars, the stakes are higher than ever before. Both the Open and the Women’s competitions of the World Cup will be held together at the same time. The format of the event was changed in the previous one (Sochi, 2021) by adding an extra round, which allowed to increase the Open section from 128 to 206 contestants. The Women’s section will feature 103 players. The 2023 event brings another change: instead of the top two, the top three players from each event will qualify for the forthcoming Candidates tournament, which will take place next April in Toronto, Canada. This event will be of special focus for Magnus Carlsen. The current World Number One rated player finished third in the previous tournament. Carlsen never won the World Cup, and he even never made it to the final – a surprising miss given that he has won everything else in chess there is to win. While this will be the tenth competition in the Open section, the event in Azerbaijan will only be the second event of its kind for women (the first one was in Sochi in 2021). Magnus Carlsen at the 2021 World Cup Photo: FIDE/Anastasiia Korolkova The frontrunners The 2021 decision to increase the number of players meant that the top seeds would be joining the event from Round 2. The list of top seeds features all the world’s best and strongest, save the current world champion, Ding Liren and the #6 on the July 2023 FIDE rating list Alireza Firouzja. The leaders in the Open section of its 10th jubilee event include Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura (who was granted a wild card), Anish Giri, Wesley So, Gukesh D and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave as well as the local favourites – Azerbaijan’s heavyweights and the top world players – the 2019 World Cup winner Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Joining the star-studded lineup will be the defending champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda (pictured below). Having won the 2021 event, Duda will be looking to score a second victory. It has been achieved only once before – by Levon Aronian, who won the World Cup in 2006 and 2017. Photo: Eric Rosen Among the more seasoned participants, the event will feature the likes of Etienne Bacrot and the FIDE World Cup winners Boris Gelfand (2009) and Peter Svidler (2011, who was awarded a wild card for the 2023 event). At the time of writing, it is still unclear if the legendary Ukrainian player Vasyl Ivanchuk will attend, as he was denied permission to leave the country. The chess world has called on Ukrainian authorities to grant him an exemption – which you can read more about here. In the Women’s section, all eyes will be on Ju Wenjun, the reigning Women’s World Champion (pictured below), and the 2020 Candidate Aleksandra Goryachkina. They will face tough competition from former women’s world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (who won the inaugural Women’s World Cup, in 2021), Tan Zhongyi, Mariya Muzychuk and Anna Ushenina, as well as top players such as Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno, Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze and others. Photo: David Llada The pairings and potential notable clashes With the pairings tree already published (here), some exciting match-ups can already be anticipated. Top seed Carlsen has a relatively straightforward path in the first two rounds before coming up against either the young German GM Vincent Keymer or the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei. Former World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov will likely face Anton Korobov, while Ivanchuk (assuming he plays) is going up against Wei Yi. The winner of the spectacular 2019 Isle of Man Grand Swiss, Wang Hao will clash with England’s David Howell, assuming both make it to the third round. Peter Svidler also has a relatively easy path to round three, where his biggest challenge is likely to be Jorden Van Foreest. Nepomniachtchi, Caruana, Nakamura, Duda, So and Vachier-Lagrave also seem to have a light task in the first two rounds. All attention in the women’s section will be riveted to the World Champion Ju Wenjun and 2020 candidate Aleksandra Goryachkina, who should not have too many difficulties in the first rounds. The other potential top match-ups in the Women’s section are likely to be Assaubayeva vs Paehtz, the Ukrainian face-off between Anna Muzychuk and Anna Ushenina, as well as a duel between Irina Krush and Polina Shuvalova. The best and only opportunity for many The forthcoming World Cup in Baku will be the only opportunity for many players to qualify for the Candidates and get a chance to vie for the prestigious World Championship crown. For the chess world, this will be the opportunity to witness some of the most unlikely match-ups, as lesser-known players from across the globe will have a chance to fight – and upset – the top world heavyweights. This unprecedented opportunity will ignite hope and a fighting spirit among the participants. But greatness awaits only a select few. 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 organised 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/. For information about arrivals and accommodation, go here here.
The Queen of the chess world: Ju Wenjun defends Women’s World Championship title
Ju Wenjun (32) claimed her fourth Women’s World Champion title after clinching a crucial victory in the decisive, final, 12th game of the match against challenger Lei Tingjie With this victory, Ju has now equalled the record set by her compatriot Hou Yifan, both having won the world crown four times. Apart from defending the title, Ju also won €300,000 in prize money, while €200,000 went to the runner-up Lei Tingjie. Arkady Dvorkovich, the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) congratulated Ju on her victory: “To win a world crown is an amazing success, but to do it for a fourth consecutive time as Ju Wenjun did is something else. Congratulations to Ju for her victory but also to Lei for putting up a great fight. The chess world has another fantastic memorable event, and it was great to be a witness to it”. “This spectacular and tense match showed the best of women’s chess. The games played by the two Chinese players, the atmosphere and the excellent organisation of our Chinese hosts will be remembered”, Dvorkovich added. How the final game unfolded: This was the first time Ju Wenjun reached a final of a world championship match with a tied score – 5.5:5.5. In all three previous matches, she was either leading or trailing. Despite holding the world champion to a tie after 11 games, springing several surprises during the match and showing excellent opening preparation and tactical skills, the 26-year-old challenger Lei Tingjie cracked under pressure in the final round. Playing as White in what turned out to be the final game in the match, the defending World Champion Ju Wenjun punished her opponent’s errors in the middlegame to emerge significantly better. In the Queen’s Gambit Reversed Lei Tingjie opted for a lesser known line. Despite the position demanding Black plays more aggressively, Lei chose a more cautious approach. In an even position in the middlegame, Lei made a critical error after which White had a strong advantage. Luckily for Lei, the defending champion did not punish her but, instead, returned a mistake, by going for an exchange of material where White had a bishop and a knight for a pawn and a rook. Now Black was more comfortable. However, Lei’s luck ran out on move 22 when she made a positional blunder which gave the decisive advantage to White. This time, Ju executed a series of precise moves to secure victory. Following the exchange of queens, the two were in an endgame where Black had very weak pawns in the centre and no real counterplay. By move 29 she was in dire straits. As the world champion laid back in her seat, the challenger sank into deep thought, head in hand, realising this is the end. Following the famous chess quote that no one ever won a game by resigning, Lei fought on, hoping for a chance to make a comeback. Finally, on move 62, she had to resign. In all three games in this match that resulted in a victory, it was the player leading the white pieces who scored. Although she took the lead in the match in game five, Lei suffered a defeat in game eight after which her confidence somewhat cracked. In the final encounter of the match, she just fell apart in the middlegame. Despite this defeat, Lei Tingjie made history as one of the strongest challengers for the title of World Champion and is likely to make a comeback and fight for the crown again. Here follows a closer look at game 12 of the match: The first move in today’s game was made by Wang Yongquan, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Changshou District People’s Congress and Yang Shengyu, the President of Chongqing Chess Association. This game was the final chance for either side to make a push for the crown in the classical part of the match. The defending world champion Ju Wenjun was leading white pieces in her attempt to win the crown for the fourth time. As noted by Chinese Grandmaster Xu Yi, Ju Wenjun has never reached the final game of a world championship match with an even score! In the previous three matches, she was either leading or chasing the score by the final game. After 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Lei went for 3…c5 entering the Queen’s Gambit Reversed. With 4.dxc5 Ju took the most straightforward approach. An alternative was to play 4.c4 and offer an option to transition into different theoretical lines. The opponents quickly made a series of well-known moves. 4…e6 5.b4 a5 6.c3 axb4 7.cxb4 b6 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7 Nbxd7 10.a4 bxc5 11.b5 The position is roughly even. White has two passers on the a-and-b-files but slightly lags in development. Black is to develop the bishop and castle and is going to play in the centre and try holding White’s queenside advance. White will put her bishop on b2, on a powerful diagonal, aiming at the black king’s fortress. Wesley So has played this position three times with Black. He lost to Alireza Firouzja in 2020 but then won against Le Quang Lien and Bluebaum the following year. An interesting move for Black to consider here was 11… g5 to go for an extremely sharp game. 11…Qc7 A better place for the queen is on b8, as with being on c7, Black can lose a tempo if White manages to make a b6 push. 12.Bb2 Bd6 13.0-0 Black still had the opportunity to proceed here with the aggressive move 13…g5. In fact, 13… g5 was played in all the three previous games that reached that position – but they all ended in a draw. It seems that the position was inviting Black to play more aggressively or risk entering a slightly inferior game. Was this Ju Wenjun’s intention all along, assuming that Lei would not dare to play the gutsy moves like this one? 13…0-0 Lei played this move after 18 minutes of thinking. 14.Nbd2 Rfc8 14…e5 was considered a better move here for Black, increasing the pressure
Top players sign an open letter in support of GM Ivanchuk
Vasyl Ivanchuk at the World Team Chess Championship 2022 in Jerusalem Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz The FIDE World Cup will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from July 29 to August 25, 2023. The World Rapid Champion (2016) and four-time Olympiad gold-winner (1988, 1990, 2004 and 2010), Ukrainian Grandmaster Vasyl Ivanchuk received a wild card from FIDE to participate in this major competition. Vasyl Ivanchuk resides in Lviv, Ukraine. According to current legislation, he needs permission from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to leave the country for sports purposes as he is under the age of 60 (he is currently 54 years old). Such permission was not granted. The official request from the organizers of the World Cup, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, was also declined. To address this situation, some of the world’s top Grandmasters signed an open letter to the Minister of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, Mr. Vadym Gutzeit. The signatories include Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Boris Gelfand. We are asking the chess community to support this motion by sharing the letter and hope that more Grandmasters will voice their support for GM Ivanchuk. Open letter in support of GM Ivanchuk (pdf)
FIDE seeks public discussion about proposed rating changes
One of the essential chess assets that FIDE is overseeing is FIDE ratings. Since adopting the Elo rating system in 1970, the rules and formulas for calculating ratings have undergone numerous changes, and the number of rated players has grown exponentially. In the past decade, certain innovations have caused rating deflation, a concern that has been raised by professional players and mathematicians and did not go unnoticed by FIDE. Players’ ratings are spread out too widely, and the situation is deteriorating with each passing year. The problem arises due to various factors, including the minimal rating being set too low at 1000 points, changes to the famous 400-point rule and the way the initial ratings are calculated. FIDE Qualification Commission and mathematician Jeff Sonas put significant effort into analysing the situation. As a result of this work, they propose two corrective measures. The first measure, which they called compression, aims to adjust for deflation. All players rated below 2000, which constitutes the bottom 85% of all rated players, shall be given a one-time rating increase on the January 2024 rating list. The additional points awarded will gradually decrease from 400 (for those rated 1000) to 0 for those rated 2000. For instance, a player with a rating of 1600 will receive an additional 160 points. The second measure, calculation improvements, focuses on improving the rating regulations to prevent future deflation. This includes raising the minimum rating from 1000 to 1400, restoring the 400-point rule to its earlier state so that it can apply multiple times in an event, and adjusting the formula for calculating initial ratings to incorporate two additional draws against hypothetical 1800-rated opponents. Understanding the significance of resolving the issue of rating deflation, we are sharing these proposals and inviting the chess community to engage in a public discussion. You can read the full text of Jeff Sonas’ suggestions here. We encourage the chess community to express their thoughts on this proposal and send us their comments, suggestions, ideas, and mathematical calculations. Please address your correspondence to Qualification Commission at qualification@fide.com until 30 September 2023. The Qualification Commission will thoroughly review all communication, analyse your suggestions, and present the final version of the rating regulation changes to the FIDE Council in October 2023. Once approved, the changes will be communicated to the public in December 2023 and will come into effect starting January 2024.