WGP Munich: Kosteniuk 3/3 at full steam
By IM Michael Rahal (Munich, Germany) Alexandra Kosteniuk, playing under the neutral FIDE flag, scored her third consecutive win against tailender Dinara Wagner this afternoon in the Women’s Grand Prix. Kosteniuk dominated her opponent and took advantage of the time-trouble phase to transition into a winning ending. “It was a very difficult game with a lot of calculation,” were the first words after the game. The round started as usual at 3 PM in the central Munich Kempinski Hotel. The ceremonial first move was performed by GM Stefan Kindermann, Founder of the Munich Chess Academy, who advanced the e-pawn two squares after Mariya Muzychuk whispered the move to him secretly in her game against Humpy Koneru. Kindermann was accompanied by Roman Krulich (CEO of Krulich Immobilien) and his wife, Natalie Kröcker. Krulich is the main sponsor of the event and one of the drivers behind the chess scene in Munich. Also present in today’s round was Helmut Pfleger, a well-known grandmaster, who not only played for Germany in seven Olympiads from 1964 to 1982 but also hosted a series of chess programs on German public TV, including “Chess of the Grandmasters”. GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra – WGM Wagner, Dinara (1-0) By means of a subtle move order, Kosteniuk was able to deviate from Wagner’s Sicilian Defence and achieve a nice space advantage with the Marozcy structure. On move 17, Wagner went for the thematic …d5 pawn break, albeit at an untimely moment. Kosteniuk used up most of her time calculating deep lines with multiple sacrifices but ultimately decided to play it safe, taking the full point after dominating her opponent in a very favourable rook ending. “I am quite tired. It was a very difficult game with a lot of calculations. In time trouble, I wasn’t able to finish the game by tactics, but the position was still better,” Kosteniuk explained to commentator WIM Veronika Exler on the live broadcast. GM Muzychuk, Mariya – GM Koneru, Humpy (0.5-0.5) Humpy Koneru has an excellent record against Mariya Muzychuk – she has won 12 of the 24 games they have played. However, Humpy was very satisfied with the draw today. Playing with Black, Humpy chose the solid Four Knights Opening, a line in which the queens are quickly exchanged in the opening. Although Muzychuk won a pawn, the nature of the opposite-coloured bishop ending proved to be equal, and a draw was agreed on move 31. “I have got six games with Black out of eleven in this tournament. I’m just trying to keep on playing. Yesterday was a good opportunity for me, but I missed out. And in the two Black games, I played quite solidly. So, I’ll try my best to come back,” she explained in an interesting interview, in which she also went into detail regarding yesterday’s rollercoaster game against Abdumalik. GM Tan, Zhongyi – GM Paehtz, Elisabeth (0.5-0.5) According to my database, Tan Zhongyi and Elisabeth Paehtz had played a total of 15 games in the past, with the Chinese female player leading by a significant margin, having won none less than 11 of those encounters. Paehtz was definitely eager to make an impression this afternoon and leave behind yesterday’s blunder against Kosteniuk. Her opening choice, the aggressive King’s Indian Defence, was ideal. Already on move eight she surprised her opponent with a new pawn sacrifice, which, although thematic, had never been played before. For the pawn, the Paehtz enjoyed great piece play and dark-square domination, which ultimately allowed her to recover the material and go into a slightly better endgame. The key moment came about on move 37. Paehtz had a difficult choice between two seemingly promising continuations: 37…a3 or 37…Bxc4. Paehtz went for the second option, allowing her opponent to exchange some pawns and narrowly escape defeat. The engine suggests that 37…a3 should lead to a win, but the calculation is far from human. A heart-breaking result for the German player, who was leading the way for most of the game. GM Harika, Dronavalli – IM Kashlinskaya, Alina (0.5-0.5) Having played together eight times in the past – four wins to one for Harika with three draws – and based on the tournament situation, both players were eager to go for a fight. Kashlinskaya selected the solid Rubinstein variation in the French defence in an attempt to force her opponent into unknown territory. Well-prepared, Harika followed the steps of Ponomariov and Korchnoi, exchanging queens and pushing a small edge in development in the late middlegame. Under certain pressure, Kashlinskaya opted to sacrifice a pawn to finish her development and go into an ending with two bishops against a bishop and knight – a pawn down but with good drawing chances. By exchanging one of the bishops for her opponent’s knight, Kashlinskaya forced an opposite-coloured bishop ending, legendarily known for their drawing tendency. GM Abdumalik, Zhansaya – WGM Zhu, Jiner (0-1) Recently, most Chinese players notoriously travel to tournaments by themselves. Due to the pandemic, it’s been increasingly hard to get permission to travel outside the country. Zhu Jiner is by herself in Munich, connecting only by Zoom with her coach in China for game preparation. Even so, today, she displayed all her skills, defeating Zhansaya Abdumalik with Black in a model Sicilian Sveshnikov game. Zhu Jiner turned down a draw offer on move twenty. “My position had a lot of playability,” she explained in her post-game interview. She went on to launch a fierce attack, culminating in an elegant rook sacrifice that forced resignation. Zhu Jiner doesn’t socialize much during the rest of the day: “I don’t have much free time here. For the most part, I am preparing the games with my coach”. GM Muzychuk, Anna – GM Dzagnidze, Nana (0.5-0.5) A very equal game from start to finish. Playing with White, Anna Muzychuk was able to construct a satisfactory Marozcy structure but inaccurate 21.Qb1 allowed Dzagnidze to equalize with the thematic pawn break 23…d5! However, the game continued, and a few moves later, Muzychuk was enjoying more time on the
Poland makes history at Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities
The Polish team won all six matches in Belgrade and took their first Olympic gold in chess since 1930. IPCA got the silver, and the Philippines won the bronze Like many times during the 20th century, the Serbian capital Belgrade was a place where (again) chess history had been made, as players with disabilities showed their chess skills on a global stage in a first-ever Olympiad dedicated to them. The inaugural event celebrating diversity and competition has been a milestone moment for chess. During the past six days, 26 teams with participants from 33 countries competed for the title. Poland achieved huge success as the team led by GM Marcin Tazbir confidently won the Olympiad, defeating all of their opponents and scoring 12 match points. The team of Physically disabled chess players (IPCA) won second place with 10 match points. Four teams: the Philipines, India, Serbia 1 and Uzbekistan, shared third to sixth place with eight match points. The cheerful squad of the Philipines came in third after a better tie-break. Croatia – who had a bad start to the tournament – finished seventh, while second-seed Israel finished eighth and third-seed Hungary took the modest 9th place. Poland’s Marcin Tazbir: “A great success for our country and our chess society” Marcin Tazbir is visually impaired. He started losing his eyesight when he was 16. He was already a good player, an IM, by that point. He had a demanding role in this event, playing board one in all matches (winning two games and drawing four). “I believe that people in our country will say this is a great success. Poland has medals from the Olympiads but before the [Second World] war. So, this type of event is also a great success for our country and our chess society”, Marcin Tazibir said in an interview for FIDE. The Polish team was the favourite to win. They had the highest average ELO (2327) and proved their status in every match. Poland’s journey to the top started with a 3:1 victory over Germany in the first round. In Round 2, they narrowly defeated the team IPCA (2,5:1,5) and then crushed the international team of FIDE 3,5:0,5. They then defeated the Philippines (2,5:1,5) and India (3:1). In the last round, the Poles were up against their biggest rivals in this event – Israel. Despite having an average lower rating than Poland, Israel (2171), led by Grandmaster Yehuda Gruenfeld, put on a strong performance and – with India and IPCA – were always in the race for the top place. One of the heroes of the Polish team is FM Marcin Molenda (pictured below), who played on board two. Molenda had an amazing score of 5,5 out of six, drawing just one game in the last round against Israel. Poland’s team was a class above anyone else. Out of 24 games played, they won 17,5 points! Altogether, the Polish team lost just three games! “I strongly believe that this event is a great opportunity for people with disabilities to feel the atmosphere of the Olympiad and a great event… To be able to come together, play and compete is something special for all of us and a great chance to overcome our limits,” Tazbir said. The foundation of future Olympiads for people with disabilities Grandmaster Thomas Luther had a pivotal role in making the first Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities happen. As the head of the FIDE Commission for people with disabilities, Luther and his team worked hard to get attention and support from across the chess world. “I’m very happy! We worked on this for such a long time, and finally, we have done it. Successfully! This event is the foundation of future Olympiads for people with disabilities, and I am so proud and happy to have taken part in this”. Pulling everything together and organising the event wasn’t easy. “There were many challenges and questions about the event”, Luther noted. “Do we need this event? Will it be successful? Will people accept it? Will the players come? Will there be exceptional difficulties…? But all went very fine and smoothly. We are looking forward to making the next Olympiad happen – we will increase the participation of countries and use the lessons learnt in Belgrade to improve.” Speaking about how he will remember the past six days in Belgrade, Luther said: “I will remember Belgrade as a very special place. So much chess history is tied to Belgrade and Serbia. Now, another piece of chess history is made in this beautiful country. We are very grateful to everyone here in Serbia who were working so hard to make this event a success.” The closing ceremony: “One special dream has come true” The closing ceremony of the first Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities took place at 7 PM, in the same hall of the Crown Plaza hotel where the matches were played over the past six days. Present at the ceremony were high-ranking officials of the City of Belgrade, as well as the deputy chairperson of the Management Board of FIDE, Dana Reizniece-Ozola and FIDE Special Tasks Director, Akaki Iashvili. “This is a very special moment. They say that a true dream is not the one you leave when the morning comes, but the one that fills in every living moment of yours… One special dream has come true,” Dana Reizniece-Ozola said. “We are extremely proud to have managed to organise this Olympiad! FIDE would like to thank the sponsors – the Serbian Government, the Serbian energy giant NIS, Coca-Cola, Rossety, the Serbian Chess Federation, the arbiters, volunteers and everyone else involved for playing a huge role in making this event happen and for making it a huge success.” Reizniece-Ozola applauded the FIDE Commission for people with disabilities as well as other organisations and federation members working in this field. “I am grateful to them for being agile and for providing honest feedback and helpful suggestions on how to make future Olympiads and events for people with disabilities even better.” She noted that in the
2023 1st FIDE Players with Disabilities Commission meeting: Minutes
FIDE publishes the Minutes of the 2023 1st FIDE Players with Disabilities Commission meeting, which was held on February 3 in Belgrade, Serbia. Download Minutes of the Meeting
FIDE Players with Disabilities Commission holds meeting in Belgrade
During the penultimate fifth round of the first FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, one of the most active FIDE Commissions and the organizing force behind this significant event in chess life held its meeting. Members, councillors, and friends of the Players with Disabilities Commission (DIS) gathered in Crowne Plaza Hotel on February 3, 2023, in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Some of the players participating in the Chess Olympiad joined the meeting to contribute their ideas and provide feedback. In 2023, DIS Commission welcomed 11 new members, seven of them were in attendance and presented new approaches related to chess players with disabilities. One of the main topics of discussion was the ongoing Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, the flagman tournament of the commission. This tournament is held for the first time, and this presents a unique learning opportunity. Taking into account the current experience of organizers and players, changes were proposed for future editions of the event. The Commissions will take into consideration all proposals. One of the main aims is to accommodate the certain needs that different disabilities present and do it in the best possible way. The system for team registration shall be improved too. To facilitate this process, it is proposed that every National Chess Federation appoints a point-of-contact officer who can provide support specifically for chess players with disabilities and register their team in cooperation with any local organizations for such players. GM Thomas Luther, DIS Chairman, and Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of FIDE Management Board The commission has great plans for the future. Later this year, in August, it aims to organize the Individual World Championship for People with Disabilities. The Polish Chess Federation is interested in hosting the event and has submitted a bid which is now going through the necessary procedures. Another 2023 initiative is to organize the workshop “Equal Opportunities” and “Sensitivity Seminars”. The latter is a new idea introduced by DIS member James Infiesto, who offered to volunteer and assist. In sharing his experience with these types of seminars in his country, he provides a valuable contribution to the DIS Commission. The Sensitivity Seminar will focus on talks and lectures dedicated to various disabilities, all in one venue. The goal of this seminar is to improve understanding and interaction between chess players with different disabilities — a chance to better understand the needs of others when attending events like the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities. “We want to do our part in helping provide better conditions and equal opportunities in chess for players with disabilities. We are on the right track, but there is still a long road ahead of us. The Olympiad for People with Disabilities, organized every two years, will be our event to connect, inform, celebrate and educate the chess world on the needs of chess players with disabilities,” were the words with which Nikos Kalesis, DIS Secretary, finished his report on the meeting. In attendance were: DIS Chair, GM Thomas Luther (Germany), Secretary Nikolaos Kalesis (Greece), Kema Goryaeva, Councillor Dora Martinez (USA), Councillor James Infiesto (Philippines), Member Serpil Turgay Seckin (Turkey), Member Handenur Sahin who is playing on Board 1 for Team Turkey, Member Natasha Morales Santos (Puerto Rico) who is also playing in Team FIDE, Member Dominique Dervieux (France), Member Rahman Mallick Masudur (Bangladesh), Phillip K Gardner (England), Member Piotr Dukaczewski (Poland), Member Tapiwa Gora, Member Andrei Gurbanov, Ewa Kamierczak. You can download the Minutes of the Meeting here. Photos by Mark Livshitz
WGP Munich: Kosteniuk takes the lead
Alexandra Kosteniuk is the early leader of the Munich leg of the 2023 Women’s Grand Prix after scoring her second consecutive win this afternoon against local player Elisabeth Paehtz. Playing under the FIDE flag, Kosteniuk took advantage of an unexpected blunder by her opponent and makes her claim for the tournament title. Nonetheless, three players – Tan Zhongyi, Anna Muzychuk and Nana Dzagnidze – are just behind the leader, on one and a half points. The ceremonial first move, played on the Paehtz-Kosteniuk board, was made by Dr Peer Friess, representing the Bavarian State Chancellery. Being a strong club player himself, rated 1895 FIDE, Friess had no trouble at all advancing Paehtz’s e-pawn to e4. Kashlinskaya, Alina vs Tan, Zhongyi (0,5-0,5) The first game to finish ended in a solid draw. They had previously played nine games with an overall score of 5.5-3.5 in favour of the Chinese player. Although Tan Zhongyi went for the Sicilian defence, the position transposed to the Advance Variation of the French. Kashlinskaya had prepared an interesting pawn sacrifice (8.Re1!?) which Tan Zhongyi declined after a few minutes of thought. White insisted and ultimately achieved some positional compensation for the pawn. With her king still stranded in the centre, Tan Zhongyi intelligently preferred to return the extra pawn and exchange queens in an attempt to steer the game towards the ending. After mass exchanges, both players agreed to a draw on move thirty-one. This a good result for the Chinese player, who rapidly returned to her room to participate in the preliminary stage of the Online Champions Chess Tour! Paehtz, Elisabeth — Kosteniuk, Alexandra (0-1) One of the most interesting match-ups of the day. These two players have a long-playing history, with more than 72 games against each other, according to my database (43-29 for Kosteniuk). Paehtz opened the game with the Evans Gambit, a bold choice for this type of event but very much in the aggressive style of German’s number one female player. Kosteniuk came to the game well-prepared: she had practiced this variation previously in blitz. However, with everything to play for, on move 23, Paehtz developed her bishop to the unprotected f4 square. Kosteniuk couldn’t believe her eyes, but didn’t take long to capture the bishop with her rook, forcing her opponent to resign. “Today’s game finished unexpectedly because apparently she just blundered,” Kosteniuk explained in her post-game interview with Press Officer IM Michael Rahal. “The e8 square was a blind spot for her”. Zhu, Jiner – Dronavalli Harika (0.5-0.5) A complicated battle. Both players ended up in a position which probably neither of them had planned to be in before the game. Zhu Jiner achieved the middlegame advantage of two connected passed pawns on the sixth and seventh ranks, a force to be reckoned with. In exchange, Harika obtained a couple of extra pawns which, going into the ending, might prove to be decisive. After missing a couple of solid opportunities to increase her advantage, Zhu Jiner went for a forced line that won a piece but only left her with the option of forcing a perpetual due to the lack of material. “Will I play this tricky line again in the future? I will keep that as a secret. I didn’t expect to land into this position, so it will be a good experience for the future” said Harika with a smile on her face in her post-game interview. Humpy Koneru – Abdumalik, Zhansaya (0.5-0.5) What a rollercoaster of a game! I am sure that neither of the players can be completely satisfied with the end result. The opening and middlegame were all Humpy. Her two bishops on a2 and b2, pointing in the direction of her opponent’s king, should have proven decisive – the engine suggests 24.Bxf6 as the beginning of a winning variation. However, low on time, Humpy blundered the exchange, and Abdumalik turned the tables. By move 50, she had an extra rook, and it looked like Humpy would have to resign very soon. But India’s number one female player bravely fought on, advancing her three connected passed pawns. Unable to find a way to win, a draw was agreed on move 75, just before Abdumalik would have been forced to give up her extra pieces for the pawns. Dzagnidze, Nana – Muzychuk, Mariya (0.5-0.5) A missed opportunity for the younger of the Muzychuk sisters. Dzagnidze sacrificed a pawn in the opening for active piece play, and an attack on the king but Mariya defended with precision and netted another two pawns deep into the middlegame. With three extra pawns, things were looking very grim for Dzagnidze, but in time trouble, Mariya blundered most of her advantage with 36…Nd6 (36…Ra8 was the way to go) and Dzagnidze got back into the game, recovering two of the pawns and holding a queen ending to a draw. Wagner, Dinara – Muzychuk, Anna (0-1) One of the most exciting games of the round. Wagner went all out for the win today with enterprising and aggressive play. She could have rounded off an excellent game by finding 34.Qe6+! exchanging queens, with a completely won rook ending. But once again, time trouble came into play. Wagner blundered with 34.d6? dropping a full pawn – Black quickly snatched it after 34…Qc6+ 35. Re4 Qxd6. Anna correctly rejected her opponent’s draw offer, understanding that the tide had turned. Maybe the queen ending could have been played better – the engines suggest that 66.Kg1 (instead of 66.Kh2) is a table-base draw – but low on time, this type of ending is typically very hard to defend. The third round will be played on Saturday, February 4th at 3pm at the Kempinski Hotel venue. The games can be followed live with commentary by GM Stefan Kindermann and WIM Veronika Exler on the FIDE Youtube channel. Standings after Round 2: Text: IM Michael Rahal (Munich, Germany) Photos: David Llada Official website: womengrandprix.fide.com/ Partners:
Olympiad for People with Disabilities: Poland one step away from the gold
Poland defeated their direct competitor for first place, India, and are one round away from clinching gold at the first Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities As the event in Belgrade nears its end, key games on top boards are getting longer, and tiredness is starting to kick in. While this is usual in any tournament, for some of the participants of the first Olympiad for People with Disabilities, this can be particularly hard because of their health. Uzbekistan’s board number one, Sirojiddin Zaynidinov and Hungary’s Zoltan Zambo spent nearly six hours playing their round five game – a strain that even the elite chess players would find challenging to manage. Given the various types and levels of health issues players with disabilities have, there is a special health team dedicated to looking after them. Does having a disability make it harder to play chess? The medical perspective Dr Sofija Jovanovic is the Medical Doctor of the Olympiad, and she is in charge of looking after the health and well-being of all the participants. She says that the quantity of attention paid to the general health status of the players with disabilities is larger than in regular events. “We have a finer line to meet here”. Dr Jovanovic notes that because of their disabilities, the players are well in tune with their health conditions, and they take good care of the rest of themselves, which makes things easier. “We don’t have large health problems here. We have a disability we try to match in every area of the competition: so, we have the volunteers who are helping them play chess, and we have people who are supported in all other areas.” In terms of health issues that have most commonly come up – “it’s headaches, flu symptoms, and nose bleeds. Here, however, we have to be extra careful with the symptomatology as it might correlate with something bigger,” notes Dr Jovanovic. However, the players can sometimes overreact: “It’s refreshing to see someone so in tune with their health. At the same time, it’s also a bit overbearing, but sometimes a headache is just a headache”. Medicine highlights the benefits of cognitive challenges such as doing sudoku, crosswords and anything of that variety. It also notes the value of competitive sports for general well-being. Chess is the overlap of these two spheres. “Different studies show that being part of a competitive sport – no matter your health, gender, ethnicity background – is going to help you deal with personal loss or defeat in sports or other things you will have to overcome in life later on”, dr Jovanovic notes. Can spending too much time on chess be bad for your health? “It depends”, the doctor says. “It depends on what else you can do with your free time and how you prefer to spend it. Some prefer cognitive over physical or vice versa. You’re not supposed to ignore your health, of course.” You can watch the full interview with Dr Sofija Jovanovic – here. Games and results of Round Five The penultimate round brought four key matches between the leading teams: Poland (8) – India (7), Philippines (6) – Israel (6), Cuba (6) – IPCA (6), and Uzbekistan (6) – Hungary (5). The rise of Asian chess has been visible in their results so far, exceeding rating predictions, but in the 5th round, they had to pass the most challenging tests against the top three favourites: Poland, Israel and Hungary. For the encounter with the Polish leaders, the Indian selection opted to have Soundarya Kumar Pradhan (1881), the lowest-rated member of the team, against the GM Marcin Tazbir (2.507), the strongest player in the Belgrade field. Such an experiment worked well in the second round match vs Cuba (3:1), thanks to all three wins on lower boards, but this time the Polish players had a significant advantage in rating even against the most successful Indian players – Shashikant Kutwai (3.5 points out of 4 games), Kishan Gangolli (4) and Naveen Kumar (two out of three). As it might have been expected, Marcin Tazbir was the first one to score. Black was desperately low on time and in a weaker position. Tazibir used his advantage and, with a nice sacrifice, went for the mating attack: 27.Nf6+ gxg6 28.exf6 Kf8 29.Qg5 Qb7 30.Qg7+ Ke8 31.Qg8+ Kd7 32.Qxf7+ Kd6 33.Be5+ Kc6 34.Rc1+ Kb6 33.Bd4+ Nc5 34.Bxc5+ and Black resigned. The most anticipated game was on the second board, between two players who collected together 7.5/8. Disturbed by the loss on the first board, Shashikant Kutwal missed the right plan (30.h4 Bh6 31.Nd6) in the sharp tactical battle, and the advantage instantly went to the other side: 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.h4 Bh6 32.Nd6 Qe3 33.Nxf7 Kxf7 34.Rd8 Qc1+ 35.Qe1 Qxb2 36.Rf8+ Kg6 37.h5+ Kxh5 38.Qd1+ Kg6 39.Qg4+ Bg5 40.Rh8 f5 41.Qx3 Qxb4, and the Polish FM Marcin Molenda celebrated his 5th consecutive win, the same as his team did (3:1) after peaceful outcomes were signed on the lower boards. After the most important win in this Olympiad, the team Poland leads two match points ahead of the squad of the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA). The two teams met in the 2nd round when Poland celebrated a close win 2.5:1.5, but the race isn’t over yet. The 7th seeded IPCA got into the last round with another surprise, a very convincing victory against Cuba 3.5:0.5 that keeps their hope for gold alive. If they win and Poland loses their last match, the IPCA team will have a clear advantage in the first tiebreak criteria, the number of board points (at the moment, it is equal – 14.5:14.5). The match Cuba – IPCA was the most balanced one in average rating, with slight advantages of each team on separate boards. However, IPCA won without a single defeat, with the half point earned by Stanislav Mikheev (Serbia) and the wins of Sargis Sargissyan (Armenia), Eugenio Campos (Angola) and Artom Andriienko (Ukraine). In another derby of the fifth round, Israel was a clear favourite on the 2nd and 3rd
Olympiad for People with Disabilities: The link between chess, football and Royalty
It’s not every day that a world-famous footballer comes to follow a chess event, but that’s just what happened in Belgrade on the fourth round of the first Olympiad for People with Disabilities The first move ceremony in chess is a peculiar affair. A lot of things need to come together: the honorary guests need to be there on time and in the right place; if they’re not chess players, they need to be told how to make the first move and what to do; and everything needs to happen right when the round is due to start or, otherwise – and this also happens sometimes – if the guest is late, the round starts late. All of this somehow amplifies the already present tension ahead of the round, especially for those players on top boards where the first-move ceremony usually takes place. While many players will often brush this off and say they don’t mind, for some, it’s not pleasant. In the Olympiad in Belgrade, the person with the most experience with this issue is Poland’s first board, Grandmaster Marcin Tazbir (pictured above). His team is the favourite to win the event, and they are proving that with good performance. Tazibir has a score of 2.5 out of four – it would therefore seem it’s not impacting him much as he always seems calm and focused. The start of the fourth round of the first Olympiad for people with disabilities will be one of the highlights of the event as the famous Serbian and world footballer Nemanja Vidic came to make the first move. The round started a bit late because of the number of people – including players and team members from participating countries – who wanted to shake the hand or take a photo with one of the greatest defenders in football history. Nemanja Vidic earnt the respect of the football world for being the captain of Manchester United. During his eight-year spell at Old Trafford, Vidic won five Premier League titles and the 2007-08 Champions League. In an interview for FIDE, Vidic said that he doesn’t play much chess nowadays but acknowledged a strong link between football and chess: “Tactics always exist. You have to think about your opponent and do your preparation well. You need to anticipate their quantities. Any sport is psychologically very important. In football, as in chess, concentration is very important”. Vidic pointed out that in football and many other sports, “it’s the mind and the concentration that comes first and then the physical abilities”. The Royal game at the Royal Palace FIDE President Arkady Dvokovich, accompanied by the FIDE Managing board member Sava Stoisavljevic and Chief Arbiter of the Olympiad, Nebojsa Baralic, paid a visit to the Royal Palace in Belgrade today. The Palace is the home of Serbia’s Royal Family. Although a Republic, Serbia/Yugoslavia was a monarchy before the Second World War. Following the fall of communism in the early 1990s, Crowne Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and his family were allowed to come back to the country and to live on the property built by their forefathers. FIDE officials were given exclusive access to the historic complex (including areas closed off to the public), which spreads on the area three times greater than Vatican City. The Palace also includes an underground level which features wall paintings and decorations depicting details from Serbian medieval tales and stories from One Thousand and One Nights. In that area, where back in the day, young princes would come to play games, relax or share secrets in the ‘Room of whispers’, there is a small nook with a large chess table, with pieces carved out of oak. Someone who set the pieces obviously knows chess, as the position on the board resembled the first ten moves of the closed variation of the Sicilian! The Royal Game truly has admirers in the circles of Royalty! The Games of Round Four: Poland alone on the top Two rounds before the end, the Polish team stands where it was expected to be – alone on the top. The brave Philippine players had a realistic chance to split the points with the main favourites, but Henry Lopez made a wrong decision to look for a draw in a pawn ending: After 43…Nc4+? (43…Kf7 or 44…exf4 were much better options) 44.Bxc4 dxc4 Black’s position became hopeless. Now, the white king can calmly walk to the g-line and use the weakness of two pairs of double pawns. Marcin Molenda did it, for the fourth team win (2.5:1.5) and his perfect score of four consecutive wins. As a small consolation, Darry Bernardo kept shining in the Philippine team (3.5 out of four), as illustrated by the dominance of black pieces in the final position of his game with Piotr Dukazcewski: 52…Rg2. White resigns. The next obstacle for the leaders will be India which is alone in second place after sharing points 2:2 with the higher-rated team of Hungary. Second-seed Israel recovered from the shocking loss against India and passed by the FIDE selection 3.5:0.5. Aleksandra Aleksandrova (Israel) showed her tactical skills in another swift attack: 26…Qh5 27.hxg4 Bxg4 28.Qf1 Bf3 29.Qg2 Bxg2 30.Kxg2 Qf3 31.Kg1 Qxc3, and the huge material advantage brought her one more win. After draws agreed on three boards, the first selection of Serbia was hoping for a match win 2.5:1.5 against Uzbekistan. It was quite realistic, given the attacking position Milos Tonic had with the black pieces: However, the situation started to change during the next few moves: 33…Nd3 34.Qe2 Rh3 35.Qf1 Re3 36.Rxa7 Rf8. Now, Sardorbek Mamarajabov launched a sharp counter-attack: 37.Nd5 exd5 38.Qxf8 Kxf8 39.Rxc6 Re1+ 40.Kc2, and the 2.5 points went to the team of Uzbekistan, whose results in Belgrade largely exceed the expected 20th place in the starting rating list. The hopes of hosts to celebrate a good result in the inaugural completion were significantly reduced in the fourth round since the second team of Serbia suffered also suffered another defeat. The IPCA won 3:1 thanks to the successes on the lower boards. Eugenio Campos contributed with another win for a convincing score of 3.5 points out of the four games. While there
Kuybokarov, Ryjanova win Oceania Zonal Championships
The 2023 Oceania Zonal Championships (FIDE Zone 3.6) took place from 23-28 January 2023 in Melbourne, Australia with nearly 300 players from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Guam, Nauru participating. Both open and women’s sections were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control. In the open section as many as six players scored 7.5/9 games and play off was required. The 2023 Australian Open Champion GM Temur Kuybokarov defeated IM Gary Lane by a score of 2-0 to win the event. Kuybokarov will represent Oceania in the World Cup. Final standings: 1 GM Kuybokarov, Temur WA 2558 7½ 2 IM Lane, Gary NSW 2343 7½ 3 FM Gong, Patrick WA 2292 7½ 4 FM Liu Yi QLD 2303 7½ 5 IM Solomon, Stephen QLD 2279 7½ 6 IM Morris, James, VIC 2456 7½ 7 GM Zhao Zong-Yuan NSW 2488 7 8 Soo Kai, Jie VIC 2046 7 9 IM Sardana, Rishi ACT 2459 6½ 10 IM Bjelobrk, Igor NSW 2405 6½ In the Women’s Zonal Championship two top Australian ladies dominated with Melbournian WGM Julia Ryjanova winning, after scoring 8 points in 9 games. Second place went to WGM Zhang Jilin from Sydney who finished a half-point behind. Third place on tie-break goes to WFM from New Zealand Vyanla Punsalan (6 points). Julia Ryjanova will represent Oceania in the Women’s World Cup. Final standings: 1 WGM Ryjanova, Julia VIC 2288 8 2 WGM Zhang, Jilin NSW 2212 7½ 3 WFM Punsalan, Vyanla NZL 1989 6 4 Vincent, Alaina NSW 1897 6 5 Fan, Chloe VIC 1554 6 6 WFM Quek, Kristine NSW 1807 6 7 O’Carroll, Om VIC 1525 6 8 Cheng, Chao Xin VIC 1806 5½ 9 Zeng, Vera VIC 1527 5½ 10 WFM Hardegen, Kathryn WA 1887 5½ Newly elected Oceania Chess Confederation Zone 3.6 President Shaun Press announced at the closing ceremony the plan to have more countries in our region. Full results can be seen in various websites including here and here. Text: asianchess.com Photo: asianchess.com and Chess Victoria Facebook
FIDE WGP Munich starts with a bang
The first round of the second leg of the 2022-2023 Women’s Grand Prix kicked off this afternoon in the Kempinski hotel with four decisive results in the six games. After the introductions and reminders, Chief Arbiter Jens Wolter initiated the clocks punctually at three o’clock, and, after the customary handshakes and pre-game smiles, the twelve players sat down to battle it out. The traditional ceremonial first move was performed on three different boards at the same time. Dana Reizniece Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE management board, opened the game between Kosteniuk and Kashlinskaya; Roman Krulich, CEO of the Krulich Immobilien Group and main sponsor, opened the Muzychuk vs Muzychuk game and finally, Manuel Pretzl, CSU leader for Munich, opened the local game between Paehtz and Wagner. As in the first leg in Astana, the Munich Grand Prix is repeating the 30-move special regulation, much appreciated by chess fans all over the world. Notwithstanding the fact that women’s events are traditionally extremely hard-fought, the regulations of the tournament expressly forbid draw agreements before Black’s 30th has been played on the board, with the exception of move repetition or stalemate. Adding to this the 90-minute for 40 moves plus 30 extra minutes time control, exciting games are to be expected, and no less than four decisive results were scored in today’s first round. Muzychuk, Mariya — Muzychuk, Anna (0.5-0.5) Although most of the encounters between the two Ukrainian sisters happily end in a draw – and today wasn’t an exception – this afternoon’s game proved to be most exciting. Playing with Black, Anna chose the very active Benoni defence, maybe in an attempt to unbalance her sister’s opening preparation. After the key theoretical move 15.f4, Anna sacrificed a piece for two pawns and a dangerous initiative against Mariya’s castled king. Mariya went into the tank for a few minutes and decided to avoid most of the complicated lines. She chose the solid option, which ultimately ended in a move repetition around move thirty. According to the engines, the final position is balanced, although White does enjoy the advantage of a piece for three pawns – there is still a lot of play in the position. Paehtz, Elisabeth — Wagner, Dinara (1-0) Something went wrong for Wagner in the opening. Out prepared in a side-line of the Sicilian defence, she spent nearly an hour on her sixth move, quickly falling into a completely lost position. In conversation with IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer for the event, Paehtz explained the reasoning behind her opening choice: “My coach prepared an opening for me. Meanwhile, my dad also worked on something totally different. Then, my dad said that I can’t play other stuff because he typed everything for three or four hours and it shouldn’t be for nothing. I said to my dad that I will play his stuff, and basically I won the game because of him.” Paehtz took her time to convert the advantage but finished off the game with a very cool tactical motif beginning with 22.Rd7! Black has no way out since 22…Bxd7 fails to 23. Nf6+ Kg8 24. Qc5+. Dinara tried 22…Qb6 but capitulated after 23.Bc4! h6 24. Nf6+ 1-0 Harika Dronavalli — Humpy Koneru (0.5-0.5) The game between India’s top two female players was a solid affair. Humpy Koneru uncorked the Petroff Defence and proceeded to exchange off all of her opponent’s minor pieces. Nonetheless, Dronavalli Harika retained a small edge thanks to the control of the only open file, but that alone is seldom enough to win the game. She might have missed an opportunity on move nineteen: the engine suggests 19.Nh4 instead of the mass simplification initiated with her choice 19.Ne5. After neutralizing the pressure, Humpy Koneru forced an equal rook plus three pawn ending, and both players agreed to a draw on move forty-one. Kosteniuk, Alexandra — Kashlinskaya, Alina (1-0) Representing FIDE, Alexandra Kosteniuk notched up her first win in the tournament by defeating Poland’s number one female player, Alina Kashlinskaya. “Alina opted for the Petroff defence choosing a different line today, very solid. I noticed that Koneru vs Harika was the same kind of structure with a different piece setup. I didn’t remember my opening preparation, and I was unsure of some moves, but I think that she should have played …Qf5 to exchange queens, and maybe I am very slightly better but definitely not much,” were Kosteniuk’s feelings in her brief post-game press conference. Kosteniuk opened up the position and combined the domination of the e-file with a direct attack against Kashlinskaya’s weakened kingside position, ultimately winning a piece and the game. “One thing is to get a good position; another thing is to actually get through,” were her final words before leaving the venue. Tan, Zhongyi — Zhu, Jiner (1-0) In the bout between the two Chinese players – a theoretically symmetrical English opening – Tan Zhongyi quickly took the upper hand damaging her opponent’s castled king. Unfazed, Zhu Jiner struck back with rapid centre piece development, ultimately winning a pawn but weakening her king. But Tan Zhongyi was clearly in for a long struggle. She gradually transferred her pieces to the kingside and initiated a direct attack, strongly supported by a tremendous bishop on c3, pointing towards the black king on h8. Under pressure, Zhu Jiner miscalculated on move twenty-four and lost her way: a few moves later, she was forced to sacrifice the exchange and resigned shortly afterwards. Abdumalik, Zhansaya — Dzagnidze, Nana (0-1) The game saw a fierce battle in a double-edged opposite-side castled kings Sicilian defence. Dzagnidze thematically sacrificed an exchange, destroying the pawn protection of Adbumalik’s castled king, achieving huge positional compensation for the material. “I got a very pleasant position in the opening as my opponent lost several tempi. After I sacrificed on c3 I have a huge advantage: I have an easy play, and it’s not at all easy for my opponent to defend,” said Dzagnidze in a brief post-game interview. Asked about her expectations in the tournament, Dzagnidze was quite frank: “I usually don’t like to talk about expectations. This WGP is very strong, and I
The centenary of the birth of Svetozar Gligoric celebrated in Belgrade
By Milan Dinic A hundred years since the birth of one of the greatest names in the history of chess, friends, players, officials and lovers of the game gathered in the Serbian capital to remember Svetozar Gligoric Grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric, who died in 2012, would have turned 100 today. Gligoric was born on 2nd February 1923 in Belgrade and rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s as one of the strongest chess players of that time. He was instrumental in helping Yugoslavia become the second chess nation in the world, after the USSR – the place it firmly held for three decades. In honour of Gligoric’s 100th birthday, over a hundred guests, including FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Grandmaster Aleksandar Matanovic, attended the chess ceremony in Belgrade’s Veterans’ Club where once Gligoric’s chess club – Partizan – was based. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who is in Serbia for the first Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities, praised Gligoric for his contribution to the game. “When we discussed the organisation of this Olympiad, it was quite natural for us to have it coincide with the centenary of the birth of the Great Svetozar Gligoric”, Dvorkovich said. Speaking at the event was Grandmaster Aleksandar Matanovic, another great name of Yugoslav and Serbian chess from the second part of the 20th century, a chess author and one of the founders of Chess Informant. At the age of 92, Matanovic is the world’s oldest living Grandmaster. Matanovic spoke about his 64-year-long friendship with Gligoric, from the early days of youth competitions to chess Olympiads, matches and tournaments. “We were mischievous opponents on the chess board, friends, for 64 years. These 64 black and white squares brought us together and decided both his and my life path”. Matanovic reminded those present about Gligoric’s motto – embedded in the title of one of his books – “I play against the pieces”. The original sentence reads: “Chess, that is a struggle with oneself. I never play against the opponent; I play against his pieces”. Matanovic evoked the memory of a game he witnessed between Gligoric and the then-rising US chess star, Bobby Fischer, in the early 1960s. “After some thirty moves, Fischer said to Gliga – ‘draw’. Head in his hands, deeply focused on the position, without even raising his look, Gligoric just responded ‘no’ and went on to win the game”. The guests were shown an inspiring 13-minute video by the journalist Marko Maksimovic featuring clips from Gligoric’s interviews, appearances at events (including the famous photo of Che Guevarra watching Gligoric play at the 1966 Olympiad in Havana), radio talk shows (he was also a radio journalist), and photos from his private archive. When he turned 80, Svetozar Gligoric decided to give up competitive chess and – unlike most people well before that age – he didn’t retire. Instead – he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to music. In his final years, Gligoric composed music ranging from jazz, funk and soul to rap. Some of his published work was played at the event, and you can listen to one of his tunes here. A memory: The day Gligoric died (A memory by Vladan Dinic, a Serbian journalist and author) I knew Gliga for many decades, and our wives used to play cards as we would travel and meet in tournaments – he, a great player and me, a reporter for a national newspaper covering politics and chess. It was a Tuesday, 14th August 2012, and I was sitting in a café in the centre of Belgrade with Ljubomir Ljubojevic, another household chess name in Yugoslavia and the world. We were discussing some old names from the Yugoslav chess scene – Andrija Fuderer, Milan Matulovic, Dragoljub Velimirovic, Bora Ivkov, Beka – Aleksandar Matanovic, Milunka Lazarevic, dr Petar Trifunovic… At one point, my phone rang – it was someone from the Serbian chess federation. The voice told me: “Just to let you know that Gliga has died. Please pass this on to Ljubo (Ljubojevic)”. I’m not sure how I reacted or looked, but Ljubojevic overheard me saying “Gliga” in a surprised tone and probably noticed my reaction. As I hung up, I looked at Ljubojevic, who responded with a teary voice – “Gliga has died?! Is that possible” as I noticed his eyes going red. The news spread around quickly, and the disbelief. An old person dying is not a surprise, of course, but living legends and heroes – especially if you had a chance to know them or even live in their time – they never die! Suddenly, I remembered what Gliga told me about a sad but telling event from 2003, when a burglar broke into his home while he was there! The masked burglar tied Gligoric up to the chair and started ransacking his home until, at one point, he turned around and said – “are you Gligoric, the chess player”? Gliga confirmed and, as he told me, the burglar all of a sudden showed uneasiness, as if he was almost embarrassed and quickly left, taking a few belongings but giving up on ransacking the whole house. But not even that horrible experience deterred Gligoric. That was the year he started dedicating himself to music. One night he invited me to his home to give me a CD with his songs and compositions. We discussed co-authoring a book, “Gliga against the Russian chess school”. He even gave me some initial ideas written on paper. I asked him: “How do you find the time to do all of this?” He said: “Dinja, music is my passion nowadays, not chess. But, I planned on living until I’m 102, so we’ll see”. When I heard those words, I was sure Gliga would go on to live to see his 100th birthday. But he didn’t. That is life. When he gave me one of his books – “Playing against the pieces”, he wrote: “To Vladan Dinic, my younger colleague…”. I used to tease other