Mariano Ortega wins 2022 Cape Verde Championship
From 7 to 11 December, the city of Praia hosted the Final Phase of the VI National Individual Absolute Championship of Cape Verde. The “home” of the Cape Verdean Football Federation was the stage for the sixth edition of the national competition, held in the country’s capital for the first time. These days, eight chess players faced each other in the round-robin format to determine the king of Cape Verdean chess in 2022. The reigning champion IM Mariano Ortega did his best and confidently defended his title with a round to spare. Mariano won the national championship for the third time. As Mariano later admitted, the victory in this year’s championship came easier than last year’s tournament, when he secured the title only in the final round. As the other places on the podium, only the final round decided the silver and bronze medal winners. After winning his last game, António David Anes guaranteed the 2nd position, regardless of other outcomes, since he had the best tiebreaks. Gil Teixeira also pulled off a win in the final round and took bronze, relegating the Women’s National Champion, Célia Rodriguez, to 6th place. Final standings: 1. IM Mariano Ortega – 7 points; 2. António David Anes – 5 3. Gil Teixeira – 5 4. José Carlos Vaz – 4 5. António Monteiro – 2½ 6. WCM Célia Rodriguez – 2½ 7. Luís Barros – 1½ 8. Carlos Mőes – ½ The closing ceremony held right after the final round was attended by H.E. the Minister for Sport and Youth, Dr Carlos Monteiro. After a short musical performance, speeches the President of the Cape Verdean Chess Federation, the deputy of the President of the Olympic Committee and the Minister of Sports and Youth gave speeches. Before the final speech, a message by Tshepiso Lopang, President of the African Chess Confederation, was read to the participants. IM Mariano Ortega received the trophy from the hands of Dr Carlos Monteiro. In the end, a small cocktail party was held with everyone socializing. The players and guests agreed that there were no losers, and the big winner was chess and praised the excellent organization of the competition by the Cape Verdean Chess Federation. MEDIA: https://youtu.be/cwZqRkIcslA https://www.rtp.pt/play/p9678/e658297/reporter-africa-1-a-edicao?fbclid=IwAR2Xp3lUyJO5ku0JhwY3F096_2E_XYhYcS31Q0Bk_pfSdzTnjfF3fsQorh0 (after the 30th minute) Photo: Federação Cabo-verdiana de Xadrez Facebook page Official website: fcvx.org
Winners crowned at 2022 European Rapid & Blitz Championship
The 2022 European Rapid and Blitz Championship is in the books. The event was held in Katowice in the Spodek, one of the largest sport arenas in Poland, from December 16-18. Many guests and partners honoured us with their presence at the ceremonial opening of the tournament. ECU Vice-President Gunnar Bjornsson and ECU General Secretary Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou welcomed all players on behalf of the European Chess Union. Maciej Stachura, secretary of the city of Katowice, was also present at the opening. The tournament would not have been held at such a level without the support of the city of Katowice. Łukasz Turlej, the Secretary General of FIDE, also addressed a few words to the participants, who welcomed everyone to one of the largest chess events in the world, once again in Katowice. As many as 830 players from 38 countries participated in the blitz competition, an 11 double rounds Swiss tournament. After several hours of fierce fighting, three contestants, namely David Navara, Maciej Klekowski, and Shant Sargsyan scored 17½/22 and tied for first place. David Navarra took the title thanks to better Buchholz; Maciej Klekowski is the European blitz vice-champion for the second time in a row; the bronze medal goes to Shant Sargsyan. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE) netted 15½/22 and became the best female player. IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL) scored 15/22 and earned silver; GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) took bronze with 14/22. Final standings: 1. Navara, David CZE 2676 17½ 2. Klekowski, Maciej POL 2515 17½ 3. Sargsyan, Shant ARM 2602 17½ 4. Alonso Rosell, Alvar ESP 2514 17 5. Kazakovskiy, Valeriy LTU 2516 17 6. Deac, Bogdan-Daniel ROM 2649 17 7. Gavrilescu, David ROM 2453 17 8. Pultinevicius, Paulius LTU 2486 17 9. Hovhannisyan, Robert ARM 2570 16½ 10. Lagarde, Maxime FRA 2594 16½ You can find the complete results on the official website. GM Jaime Santos Latasa from Spain became the European champion in rapid chess. As many as seven participants came into the final 11th round sharing the first place on 8½/10, but the Spaniard was the only one to notch up a win and grab the title. A huge group of eleven players tied for the second place with David Navara and Daniel Fridman taking silver and bronze respectively by dint of superior Buchholz. Aleksandra Malcewskaya (POL) became the best female player after scoring 2½ points in the last three rounds (8½/11). Alexandra Kosteniuk added the silver medal to her rapid chess title. Another home player WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (POL), earned bronze. Final standings: 1. Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2618 9½ 2. Navara, David CZE 2670 9 3. Fridman, Daniel GER 2618 9 4. Azarov, Sergei FIDE 2550 9 5. Yuffa, Daniil ESP 2509 9 6. Lagarde, Maxime FRA 2638 9 7. Drozdowski, Kacper POL 2451 9 8. Grandelius, Nils SWE 2652 9 9. Bartel, Mateusz POL 2519 9 10. Abdrlauf, Elham NOR 2435 9 You can find the complete results on the official website Three players managed to do something very impressive winning medals of the European Championships in both blitz and rapid: Aleksandra Kosteniuk, Aleksandra Malcewska and David Navara. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz and Michal Walusza Official website: katowice2022.eu/
Judit Polgar: “It is possible for a woman to beat the world champion”
The FIDE Podcast is one of the major initiatives born under the umbrella of the Year of the Woman in Chess, as cooperation between FIDE’s Commission for Women’s Chess, Michael Busse of Schachgeflüster podcast and Lilli Hahn of Chess Sports Association. During 2022 its monthly episodes presented a series of interviews with remarkable women in the chess world – players, officials, influencers, scientists and other outstanding female role models. The guest of the final episode is Judit Polgar, one of the most inspiring persons in chess, the strongest female chess player of all time, the only woman to have surpassed 2700 Elo and to be ranked in the top ten of all chess players. Nowadays, she is a commentator at some of the world’s top tournaments as well as an ambassador to have more females into chess and to use chess as a tool for education. In the podcast, Judit Polgar talked about her childhood and an educational experiment carried out by her father, Laszlo Polgar, proving that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. “We had many difficulties during our upbringing. Hungarian federation was absolutely not supportive of the idea that girls are able to reach the same level as boys and should be playing in the open section. And also, we have quite big challenges with the government because, at the time, it was absolutely uncommon that you decide to have your kids home-schooled. These two things gave so much opposition to my parents’ ideas that we were really for each other. We were extremely supportive.” Polgar doesn’t think she would have reached the heights she did, had it not been for the environment her parents created. “I was raised completely differently from other female chess players. My parents never limited me; they were always encouraging me and my sisters that we should be as good as possible in chess. Meanwhile, most of the girls have a very classical approach from their coaches and parents. If you are a girl, you play in the girls’ section. We are looking for a girl champion. We want you to win a girls’ tournament. Basically, it means you’re limiting girls and putting the bar on the lower level for them. I would be very happy if this could change. I believe that having girls’ and women’s tournaments can be quite ok even these days, but I would prefer the approach when a coach would be saying: You’re talented, so why not become the best you can?” According to Judit, the approach that chess is a purely mental competition and that performance on the board is independent of gender was the key to her success in the future. “I think there were two points in my life clearly when the whole world was taking up this news. The first one was when I broke Bobby Fischer’s record, becoming the youngest grandmaster at the age of 15. And then later on, when I won against Garry Kasparov. It was special for the world, I guess. Suddenly, it was clear it is possible for a woman to beat the world champion.” Talking about the Year of the Woman in Chess, Judit Polgar said that there are a lot of ways to support it. “Of course, it’s great when there is a bigger prize fund for women’s competitions. I also think there could be some seminars for teachers and parents for mindset questions, appreciating women in chess, not only as professional players but also being around in other roles. We need to have more events which are inspiring for girls to become a chess player. To create a safe environment where girls can feel comfortable among boys and men. Also, it’s important to acknowledge the results of girls and women. I was happy that FIDE created the awards for women because it means a lot for ladies and is very encouraging for them to be recognized.” she said. You can listen to the December episode of the FIDE podcast on the following platforms: Podbean Amazon Music Google Podcasts Youtube
Serbian Championship: Velimir Ivić and Irina Chelushkina clinch titles
The 16th Serbian Championship, played in the open and women’s sections, ended on Tuesday, December 14, in Baja Bašta. Both competitions were 10-player round-robin tournaments with classical time control. In the open competition, the reigning champion GM Velimir Ivić scored an impressive 7.5/9 and defended his title. This success came primarily thanks to the eighth-round victory over the top-rated participant and his main competitor GM Aleksandar Indjić, who finished a half-point behind and took silver. GM Aleksandar Kovačević made a great effort at the finish winning three straight games (including two with the black pieces) earned bronze. Finals standings: 1 GM Ivic, Velimir 2572 7½ 2 GM Indjic, Aleksandar 2636 7 3 GM Kovacevic, Aleksandar 2480 6 4 GM Ivanisevic, Ivan 2535 5½ 5 GM Perunovic, Milos 2541 5½ 6 GM Bogosavljevic, Boban 2518 4½ 7 IM Radovanovic, Nikola 2414 3 8 IM Perunovic, Miodrag 2417 2½ 9 FM Martic, Ivan 2270 2 10 IM Djordjevic, Vuk 2394 1½ Despite losing her first-round game in the women’s championship, WGM Irina Chelushkina scored 7 points in the next eight rounds and finished clear first. Interestingly, it is Irina’s fifth country in which she won a national championship. In her long and brilliant chess career, she was the champion of the USSR, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and now Serbia. WIM Marina Gajčin lost the direct encounter to the champion but delivered an overall excellent performance and took silver with 6.5 points. WGM Marija Manakova and the last-year champion WGM Jovana Erić tied for third place on 5 points, with the former claiming bronze thanks to a better Sonneborn-Berger. Final standings: 1 WGM Chelushkina, Irina 2189 7 2 WIM Gajcin, Marina 2188 6½ 3 WGM Manakova, Maria 2201 5 4 WGM Eric, Jovana 2236 5 5 WFM Vujcic, Milena 2048 4½ 6 WIM Drljevic, Ljilja 2175 4½ 7 WIM Srdanovic, Jovana 2190 4 8 WFM Bojicic, Andjela 2112 4 9 Grozdanovic, Anastasia 2009 3½ 10 WCM Dimitrijevic, Andjela 2021 1 Dejan Timotijević presented the cups to the winners on behalf of the municipality of Bajina Bašta and the Sports Association of the municipality of Bajina Bašta. IA Rade Goljović and the deputy head judge, IA Lena Miadinović officiated the championship; IA Saša Jevtić was the tournament director. Photo: Chess Federation of Serbia Official website: serbiachess.org/
World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022 Press Conference: All set in Almaty
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship is due to start on December 25th in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Eleven days before the opening ceremony, a press conference has been held in the host city. Speakers at the press conference were FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich (via video link), Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zharasbayev, Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) Darmen Sadvakasov, KCF Executive Director Gulmira Dauletova and Yerden Khairullin, head of the Almaty Sports Department. Arkady Dvorkovich, who joined the press conference via Zoom, thanked the city authorities and FIDE’s partners from Kazakhstan for holding the tournament: “We are glad that the competition has not disappeared from the calendar this year, and that almost 300 people, the world’s leading grandmasters – both men and women – have already registered to participate in the Championships.” The icing on the cake Dvorkovich described the event as the “icing on the cake in the 2022 FIDE calendar” adding that 95% of the world’s top chess players will take part in the tournament, including world champion Magnus Carlsen and almost all the players from the world’s Top 10. This applies to both men and women. “We are looking forward to the event and we hope that everyone will follow the Championships on TV, over the Internet and, of course, in the hospitable city of Almaty,” Dvorkovich said. The President of FIDE also shared his views on the chess scene in Kazakhstan. “We believe that Kazakhstan is becoming one of the world’s leading chess centres. Success in women’s chess is higher than in men’s… We consider it important that a large number of Kazakhstan players will be able to take part in the championship as representatives of the host country. And, once again, I want to thank our partners. I am glad that organizations in Kazakhstan are striving to support chess,” Dvorkovich concluded. A historic event for Kazakhstan Serik Zharasbayev, Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, emphasised the importance of the highest-level competition for the country and invited chess fans to follow the tournament and support the players. “This is a huge event. For the first time in the history of independent Kazakhstan, the World Rapid and Blitz Championship is taking place here. The national women’s and men’s teams will take part in the World Championship and try their luck. I invite everyone to support our players,” said Zharasbayev. Kazakhstan’s chess boom Gulmira Dauletova, Executive Director of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, noted that the host country of the World Rapid and Blitz Championship can nominate 15 men and 10 women as participants. She highlighted that the country’s national women’s team currently shows better results than the men’s. Right now, Zhansaya Abdumalik, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Dinara Saduakasova are preparing with their coaches. In addition, there are talented young players under 14 years of age in our team, for example, world champion Meruert Kamalidenova, Amina Kairbekova, Assel Serikbay and Nazerke Nurgali, said Dauletova. Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Darmen Sadvakasov stated that in the last 12 years a chess boom has continued in Kazakhstan. “There are many good results in women’s chess and the youth category. The work is going on. Our main task now is to hold the World Rapid & Blitz Championship in Almaty. We are very grateful to FIDE and Arkady Dvorkovich personally for giving us the right to hold this prestigious tournament.” Thousands of girls and boys across the country will closely follow the competition, Sadvakasov said. “Some will come to see all the world’s chess stars in person. When I was a boy, it was an impossible dream for me to personally see the world’s leading chess players, and maybe even get an autograph. For our younger generation, these conditions are created, and we believe that the championship will be a great impetus for the further development of chess in our country,” added the Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. Almaty ready for the big event Yerden Khairullin, head of the Almaty Sports Department, said the city is ready for the competition. “In the city of Almaty, we are ready to host such a large-scale event. If there are 300 players from 70 countries, we will accept them all. The infrastructure is 100 percent ready,” assured Mr Khairullin. The press conference was held on December 14 at the Central Communications Service under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. About the event: The World Championship is held by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation together with the International Chess Federation and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, as well as the Akimat of the city of Almaty. Over 300 elite chess players from 50 countries are expected to attend the event. The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from December 25-31 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace. Tournament schedule: December 25 — Opening CeremonyDecember 26-28 — Rapid competitionsDecember 29-30 — Blitz competitions and Closing Ceremony The total prize fund is one million USD dollars, with 700,000 USD going to the open championships and 300,000 USD to the women’s championships. More information about the championships, including schedule and tickets, can be found on the official website of the event: https://worldrapidandblitz2022.fide.com/ About the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship The World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships and the Women’s World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships have been held annually since 2012. In rapid chess, each player begins the game with 15 minutes, and 10 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move. In blitz chess, each player begins the game with 3 minutes, and 2 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move. The reigning world champions of the event are: Rapid: Open – Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)Women – Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE) Blitz: Open – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)Women – Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) Official website: worldrapidandblitz2022.fide.com/
Hungarian Championship: Péter Prohászka and Zsuzsanna Terbe win titles
GM Péter Prohászka and WFM Zsuzsanna Terbe are the new Hungarian chess champions. Péter became the national champion for the first time, while Zsuzsanna successfully defended the title she had won back in 2021. The 66th women’s and 71st open chess championships took place in Budapest from December 05-13. Both events were 10-player round-robin tournaments with classical time control. A win was worth 3 points, while a draw – just 1 point. Péter Prohászka started slowly with two draws (including one in the game vs Adam Kozak, in which he was completely lost at some point) but then scored two victories in a row and grabbed the lead. Sergey Grigoriants, who made his debut in the Hungarian championship, caught up with the leader after Round 8, and it all came down to the final 9th round. Sergey made a quick draw with Adam Kozak, while Peter rose to the occasion and beat Bence Korpa to clinch his maiden national title. Grigoriants finished second, Adam Kozak took bronze. Final standings: 1 Prohaszka Peter 2563 17 2 Grigoriants Sergey 2553 15 3 Kozak Adam 2549 13 4 Berkes Ferenc 2645 11 5 Nagy Gabor 2488 11 6 Horvath Csaba 2501 10 7 Korpa Bence 2516 9 8 Fodor Tamas Jr. 2506 9 9 Papp Gabor 2557 8 10 Horvath Adam 2485 5 The women’s event was quite a different scenario as the defending champion Zsuzsanna Terbe began with four draws but then reeled off four straight victories and clinched her second national title with a round to spare. The highest-rated player in the event Julianna Terbe finished two points behind the champion and took silver. Bolgarka Erdos had an abysmal start suffering two straight defeats but finished strong, beating the champion in the final round to tie for third place with Kata Karacsonyi and Hanna Krisztina Ivan-Gal. The bronze medal goes to Erdos, thanks to a greater number of victories. Final standings: 1 WFM Terbe Zsuzsanna 2151 16 2 WIM Terbe Julianna 2283 14 3 WFM Erdos Boglarka 2157 13 4 WFM Karacsonyi Kata 2161 13 5 WFM Ivan-Gal Hanna Krisztina 2161 13 6 WFM Demeter Dorina 2174 12 7 WIM Mihok-Juhasz Barbara 2224 9 8 WIM Havanecz Bianka 2202 9 9 WFM Szente-Varga Fruzsina 2071 8 10 WIM Dudas Eszter 2112 8 Photo: sakkblog.reblog.hu/ Official website: chess.hu/
Gorshtein and Shvayger win 2022 Israeli Championship
IM Ido Gorshtein and IM Yuliya Shvayger emerged as the winners of the 2022 Israeli Chess Championship. Held by the Israel Chess Association in collaboration with the Lottery and the Municipality of Arad, the 2022 Israeli Championship (open and women sections) took place in Arad from December 2-13. Arad (not to confuse with the Romanian city Arad) is located on the border of the Negev and the Judean Deserts, 25 kilometers west of the Dead Sea and 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of the city of Beer Sheba. Both events were Swiss tournaments with classical time control. 32 players, including 7 GMs, 9 IMs and 11 FMs competed in a 9 Swiss rounds open category, which saw an impressive success of the “young guns”. Ido Gorshtein took a blistering start in the open event, winning four straight games, including an important victory over the defending champion GM Tamir Nabaty in Round 2. After making draws in Rounds 5 and 6 with his main rivals FM Ori Kochavi and GM Avital Boruchovsky he pulled off another two wins and came to the final round a full point ahead of his closest competitor. The last game vs GM Victor Mikhalevsky was not a walk in the park for the future champion, but eventually, Gorshtein (pictured below) made a hard-fought draw and clinched his maiden national title with an excellent result of 7.5/9. Boruchovsky also split a point with Or Bronstein and allowed Ori Kochavi, who defeated Semen Dvoirys to catch up and tie for second place. The silver medal goes to Kochavi, thanks to better tiebreaks. All three medal-winners completed the event undefeated. Final standings: 1 IM Gorshtein, Ido 2469 7½ 2 FM Kochavi, Ori 2334 6½ 3 GM Boruchovsky, Avital 2547 6½ 4 IM Sokolovsky, Yahli 2415 6 5 IM Bronstein, Or 2442 5½ 6 GM Kobo, Ori 2553 5½ 7 GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2521 5½ 8 GM Zanan, Evgeny 2485 5½ 9 IM Gorodetzky, David 2495 5½ 10 FM Levin, Guy 2382 5 The women’s championship turned into an exciting race of two top-rated Israeli female players, the defending champion IM Yuliya Shvayger (pictured below) and IM Marsel Efroimski, dominating the field. It all came to an abrupt end in the penultimate round when Marsel, trailing Yulia by a half-point, suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of lower-rated Julia Kluchik. Heading into the final a full point ahead of her main rival, Shvayger made a quick draw and secured the title with an impressive score of 7.5/9. Efroimski finished a half-point behind and took silver. WFM Ronit Levitan netted 6.5/9 and earned bronze. Final standings: 1 IM Shvayger, Yuliya 2350 7½ 2 IM Efroimski, Marsel 2470 7 3 WFM Levitan, Ronit 1973 6½ 4 Kluchik, Julia 1887 5 5 Tashkinova, Sofiia 1919 4 6 Ovechkin, Lilia 1680 4 7 WFM Reprun, Nadejda 1979 3½ 8 Kochavi, Dana 2011 3 9 Orian, Noga 1949 3 10 Brusilovski, Lena 1800 1½ Photo: Dr. ML-Photo (Mark Livshitz) Official webpage: chess.org.il/
Kazakhstan Championship 2022: Zhalmakhanov and Kamalidenova win titles
IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov and WIM Meruert Kamalidenova are the new champions of Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstan Chess Championship took place from December 2-11 in Semey, with the open and women’s events (round-robin tournaments with classical time control) running simultaneously. The 9th-rated Ramazan Zhalmakhanov (pictured below) caused a minor sensation in the open championship scoring 9/13 and finishing a full point ahead of Kazybek Nogerbek and Denis Makhnev, who tied for second place. The 20-year-old from Almaty took a practical approach drawing the games with his main competitors and notching up several victories against the participants from the bottom of the standings, which worked perfectly for him. The silver medal goes to Kazybek Nogerbek, thanks to better Sonneborn-Berger; Denis Makhnev took the bronze. The champion and the runner-up became the only unbeaten players in the competition. Final standings: 1 IM Zhalmakhanov, Ramazan 2401 9 2 IM Nogerbek, Kazybek 2468 8 3 GM Makhnev, Denis 2481 8 4 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 2507 7½ 5 IM Agmanov, Zhandos 2442 7½ 6 Utegaliyev, Azamat 2445 7 7 IM Urazayev, Arystanbek 2465 7 8 IM Aitbayev, Aslan 2421 7 9 GM Kostenko, Petr 2374 5½ 10 IM Suleymenov, Alisher 2476 5½ 11 IM Kazakov, Konstantin 2385 5½ 12 IM Ansat, Aldiyar 2291 5 13 FM Abdilkhair, Abilmansur 2278 4½ 14 FM Sapenov, Daniyal 2323 4 The fate of the title in the women’s championship was decided in the final eleventh round. Sitting on 8/10, the rating favourite and the leader Meruert Kamalidenova (pictured below) did not play (due to the odd number of participants) and had to wait for the outcome of the game between her main rival Alua Nurmanova vs Elnaz Kaliakhment. Photo: Niki Riga Trailing Kamalidenova by a full point, Nurmanova needed a victory to catch up with the leader she beat in the direct encounter. Playing with the white pieces, Alua came very close and had a study-like win at some point but missed her chance and had to settle for a draw to finish a half-point behind the champion (7½/10). Xeniya Balabayeva and Amina Kairbekova scored 6½/10 each and tied for third place, with the former taking bronze by dint of slightly better Sonneborn-Berger. Final standings: 1 WIM Kamalidenova, Meruert 2377 8 2 WIM Nurmanova, Alua 2191 7½ 3 WIM Balabayeva, Xeniya 2183 6½ 4 WIM Kairbekova, Amina 2209 6½ 5 WIM Serikbay, Assel 2230 6 6 WIM Nurgali, Nazerke 2168 5½ 7 WIM Sultanbek, Zeinep 1891 5 8 WFM Nurgaliyeva, Zarina 2013 3½ 9 WFM Kaliakhmet, Elnaz 1786 2½ 10 Kaldarova, Ayaulym 1832 2 11 Popandopulo, Kristina 1846 2 Photo: Kazakhstan Chess Federation Facebook page Official website: kazchess.kz/
Greek Championship: Georgios Mitsis and Marina Makropoulou come out on top
Georgios Mitsis and WGM Marina Makropoulou are the 2022 Greek Chess Champions. The championships (round-robin tournaments with classical time control) took place in the headquarters of the Greek Chess Federation in Athens from December 3 to 11. The 4th ranked Georgios Mitsis, rated 2365, clinched his first national title with a round to spare, scoring 7 out 9, 1½ points ahead of FM Nikolaos Koutlas and GM Spyridon Skembris.The 20-year-old got off to a flying start winning the first three games, including against #2 IM Konstantinos Moutousis and #3 GM Spyridon Skembris. Georgios scored five wins and made four draws, had a performance of 2552 and gained 42.4 rating points. FM Nikolaos Koutlas won the silver medal thanks to his greater number of victories (four), while GM Spyridon Skembris (three victories) took the bronze. Final standings: 1 Mitsis, Georgios (2365) 7 2 FM Koutlas, Nikolaos (2267) 5½ 3 GM Skembris, Spyridon (2381) 5½ 4 IM Alexakis, Dimitris (2486) 5 5 FM Trimitzios, Petros (2358) 5 6 FM Markidis, Konstantinos (2290) 4½ 7 FM Alexiadis, Hristos (2342) 4½ 8 IM Moutousis, Konstantinos (2392) 3½ 9 Naoum, Spyridon (2352) 3 10 Marinakis, Hristos (2118) 1½ A first-round win turned out to be a crucial one for WGM Marina Makropoulou. She beat Antonia Christodoulaki, who, however, managed to bounce back and catch up with Marina in the final round. Marina scored 7/10 and claimed the title thanks to the first tiebreak, their direct encounter. The rating favourite, aged 62, clinched her ninth national title in Greece (tenth in total; she also won the 1984 Romanian Women’s Championship) and broke two records: the number of women’s champions titles and the oldest woman to win the national championship in Greece. Antonia Christodoulaki, who also scored 7/10 points, had to settle for the silver medal, and Magdalini Mihailidou, who netted 6/10 and took the bronze. Final standings: 1 WGM Makropoulou, Marina (2130) 7 2 Christodoulaki, Antonia (2063) 7 3 Mihailidou, Magdalini (1815) 6 4 WFM Makka, Evanthia (2008) 5½ 5 WIM Makka, Ioulia (1952) 5½ 6 Androni, Konstantina (1964) 5 7 Gkoutzouki, Aikaterini Argyro (1618) 5 8 Drakaki, Anna-Maria (1956) 5 9 Deli, Eleanna Ratzvika (1718) 3½ 10 Amiridou, Dimitra (1871) 3 11 Kiousi, Panagiota (1818) 2½ Photo: Ioannis Makropoulos
Fernando Peralta wins 2022 Argentine Championship
Fernando Peralta is a new Argentine chess champion. A native of Lomas de Zamora clinched his third national title following his success in 2006 and 2018. The 97th Argentine Championship took place from December 1-10 in San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro. The event brought together the twelve best Argentine players, competing in a round-robin format. The tournament was a very close race among the top-rated participants that came down to the wire. Suffice it to say that three players – Fernando Peralta, Leandro Krysa and Sandro Mareco – shared first place coming into the final eleventh round on 7/10 with Pablo Acosta and top-rated Alan Pichot (pictured below) trailing them by a half-point. Mareco and Krysa playing each other drew their last game and opened the door for Peralta, facing Acosta with the white pieces. Fernando seized the opportunity and wrestled the title after scoring a crucial final-round victory. Meanwhile, Pichot beat Acosta and caught up with Mareco and Krysa but took silver thanks to a greater number of victories. For the same reason, Leonardo Krysa (pictured below) edged out Sandro Mareco and claimed the third place on the podium. Final standings: 1 GM Peralta, Fernando 2587 8 2 GM Pichot, Alan 2637 7½ 3 GM Krysa, Leandro 2524 7½ 4 GM Mareco, Sandro 2619 7½ 5 IM Acosta, Pablo Ismael 2463 6½ 6 FM Fiorito, Joaquin 2328 5½ 7 GM Perez Ponsa, Federico 2538 5½ 8 GM Flores, Diego 2541 5½ 9 GM Valerga, Diego 2438 4 10 IM Paveto, Kevin 2440 3½ 11 GM Sorin, Ariel 2363 3 12 FM Gaitan, Juan Manuel 2358 2 Official website: federacionargentinadeajedrez.org/ Photo: Benjamin Mela