Vincent Keymer wins 2022 German Masters
For the fourth year in a row, German Chess Summer in Magdeburg brought together hundreds of local players competing in various tournaments, this time, from August 12-24: German individual championships, German Women’s individual championships, German senior individual championships (+ 50 / + 65), German blitz individual championships, German Women’s Individual Blitz Championships, German Cup Individual Championships and many others. The top of the milk was the most prestigious German Masters, a ten-player round-robin tournament featuring the best German players. The top-rated Vincent Keymer entered the competition as the favourite and did not disappoint. The 17-year-old native of Maintz scored 7/9, conceding his opponents just four draws. Vincent’s result could have been even more impressive had he converted an overwhelming advantage in his final round game against Frederik Svane, who finished second. Keymer picked up 12 rating points and became the only unbeaten player. Frederik Svane’s performance was a pleasant surprise. The eighth-rated player stayed in the race for the top spot for the most part and earned 19 rating points. Arik Braun and Daniel Fridman netted 5 points each and tied for third place, with the former making the podium thanks to a greater number of victories. Frederik Svane facing his brother Rasmus Final standings: 1 GM Keymer, Vincent 2672 7 2 GM Svane, Frederik 2547 6 3 GM Braun, Arik 2594 5 4 GM Fridman, Daniel 2606 5 5 GM Kollars, Dmitrij 2643 4½ 6 FM Kölle, Tobias 2433 4 7 GM Svane, Rasmus 2640 4 8 GM Engel, Luis 2557 4 9 GM Huschenbeth, Niclas 2607 3½ 10 IM Rosner, Jonas 2464 2 The 24-seed Leonardo Costa (pictured above) made a splash in German Championship, claiming the title and punching his ticket to the German Masters 2023. Lara Schulze (pictured below) triumphed in the women’s category. Thilo Ehmann secured victory in the German Cup individual championship. Among the seniors, the new German champions are Arno Zude (50+) and Yuri Boidman (65+). Check out full results on the official website. Photo: Deutscher Schachbund Twitter and Deutscher Schachbund Facebook page
Drama in Round 2 of the Oslo Esports Cup
Teen sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa leads the Oslo Esports Cup after a stunning win over world number 10 Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov. The 16-year-old from Chennai blew away the oldest player in the field with two game wins to take the Round 2 match 2.5 to 0.5. It followed up Pragg’s impressive Round 1 match win over Jorden van Foreest and leaves him out in front as the only player with the maximum 6 tournament points. “He basically beat Shakhriyar with his own trademark attacking style… wonderful game by Pragg!” Grandmaster Peter Leko enthused after the pair’s first encounter. Having recorded his second clean victory in leg 3 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, Pragg picked up another 3-point haul and prize of $7,500. The youngster is fast becoming a real force. Rameshbabu said afterwards that he “definitely didn’t expect a win like this” while Mamedyarov said the India “deserved it, he played better”. While Pragg was on fire, World Champion Magnus Carlsen was far from his best as he crashed to a 2.5-1.5 loss against Airthings Masters finalist Liem Quang Le. The Norwegian was late into the arena after playing in a benefit match for Ukraine and then appeared to fall to pieces against Vietnam’s speed chess specialist. At one point in the first game, Carlsen even appeared to nod off – or at least rest his eyes – before rousing himself to make a move. Carlsen’s weariness was apparent in his play too. A series of small mistakes in game 1 led to the champion walking into a knight-fork and with 39.Qe4 he suffered a horror mouse-slip which lost the game on the spot. It was all very uncharacteristic for the champ and he was 1-0 down. The second game started with Carlsen again late to the board. Liem was left waiting after playing 1.d4. A slower, solid game ended in a draw and Liem still in the lead. It ramped up the pressure on Carlsen who now had no margin for error in the four-game match. But Carlsen is never easily beaten and bounced back in style to take the third. Carlsen and Liem were level-pegging going into the final game of the match with tiebreaks looming if neither player could make the breakthrough. The crucial game did not disappoint. Grandmaster David Howell said it was “chaos from start to finish” before Liem broke through in the endgame to take the 3 points in dramatic fashion. Carlsen gave a thumbs up to say well played to his opponent. “It’s been a struggle,” he said leaving the arena. A clearly overjoyed Liem said: “It means a lot to me. I believe this is the first time I’ve really beaten him in a game and also in a match and I think not too many people can manage to beat Magnus in a match.” He added: “It gives me a lot of joy, and fun and motivation to do better in the rest of the tournament.” The Dutchman Jorden van Foreest also showed off his creativity with an impressive win over Eric Hansen that included a magical move that caught the eye in game 2. Van Foreest played a move that looked like a mouse-slip: 12.Kd2, intending to castle his king by hand with 3.Kc2 and 14.Kb1. But this was no mistake. The 22-year-old had realised he had time to pull off the manoeuvre and it eventually led to a winning position. GM Leko suggested it could be “the novelty of the year!” But in game 3 Van Foreest took his eye off the ball and a 360 turnaround saw Hansen pull of an unlikely win to give him hope going into the final game. Still ahead, Van Foreest only need a draw though and secured it with a composed defence to take the 3 points. The last match to finish was the encounter between the Polish No.1 Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Dutch No.1 Anish Giri which became the first of the tournament to go to tiebreaks after it finished 2-2 following four close draws. Duda eventually forced the match win with victory in the both the blitz games to take a split 2-point win with Giri salvaging 1 point. Round 3 starts at 18:00 CEST on Sunday. Full coverage with commentary from the Oslo arena is available on chess24’s Twitch and YouTube channels. For further comments contact: Leon Watson leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG. www.pmg.me
World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad: Registration deadline extended
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The registration deadline is extended to September 10, 2022. The Azerbaijan Chess Federation provides air transfer Baku-Nakhchivan-Baku free of charge. FIDE, Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Chess Federation of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic invite all the national chess federations to participate in the FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2022, which will take place in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, from October 1-11, 2022. Registration is open until Thursday, September 10, 2022. Each FIDE member federation has the right to send one team, comprising 4 players and a maximum of 2 reserves. At least one female player must be included in a team in each round. All the players not have reached the age of 16 by January 1, 2022 (born 2006 or later) are entitled to participate. The competition is a 9-round Swiss tournament with the time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. Each match will be played over four boards. The Registration fee is 100 Euro for each player, official and each accompanying person. The Registration fee includes transportation from and to Nakhchivan International airport, from and to Igdir (Türkiye), from and to the Culfa transition border, accreditation, identification, badges and organization costs. To take part in the U-16 Olympiad, FIDE member federations shall duly complete the official registration form before the registration deadline of September 10, 2022. Tournament Schedule: Visa information E-visas can be easily obtained via the following link: https://evisa.gov.az/en/ List on eligible e-visa countries is available at https://evisa.gov.az/en/countries Non-eligible countries should e-mail Organizing Committee. National federations whose players, officials and accompanying persons need a visa shall send the Organizing Committee e-mail copies of their passports (copies of pages with photographs and the necessary data) by September 9, 2022. Regulations for FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2022 Official website: http://youtholympiad.fide.com E-mail: youtholympiad@fide.com
Hou Yifan edges out Valentina Gunina to reach the final
GM Hou Yifan narrowly defeated GM Valentina Gunina in the semifinals of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. The top-rated female player reached the final again and will defend her WSCC-2021 title against Kateryna Lagno. It all started as one-way traffic with Gunina stringing six victories and taking the first segment, 6.5-1.5, but Hou staged an impressive comeback in the 3+1 stage (6.5-2.5) and nearly levelled the score. It all came down to a tense 1+1 showdown in which Hou Yifan finally grabbed the lead. Trailing by one point with just about three minutes left on the match clock, Valentina pushed hard with white pieces but made a terrible blunder, and it was all over. “To be honest, I really had no idea what was going on in the match because I had a very poor start. I missed a couple of very good positions, so I thought: it’s not a match. It’s Valentina’s day. I tried to fight back in the segment of 3+1 while I just decided to play something random, and somehow it worked… I felt like I was very lucky to win a match that way. It shouldn’t be like this,” said Hou Yifan in a short interview after the match. The FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online event where titled women players will play a series of blitz and bullet matches for a share of the $70,000 prize fund. To follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship, watch a live broadcast of the event with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com Twitch Channel. More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Belgian Championship 2022: Daniel Dardha wins third title
GM Daniel Dardha tuned in a dominating performance in the 2022 Belgian Chess Championship organized by the Koninklijke Belgische Schaakbond/Fédération Royale Belge des Echecs (Royal Belgium Chess Federation), claiming his third national title. The teenager from Antwerp previously won this event in 2019 and 2021. The champion finished three points ahead of his closest competitor Georgian-born GM Alexandre Dgebuadze. “Won the Belgian Championship for the 3rd time with 8.5/9, exceeding the 2600 mark and becoming #1 Belgium. On the next goal!” the champion wrote on his Facebook page. Photo: Daniel Dardha’s Facebook page Official website: frbe-kbsb-ksb.be/
Harry Grieve wins Chessable British Chess Championship
The Chessable British Chess Championships held in various categories took place at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay from 8th to 21st August 2022. It was the 108th British Chess Championship in a series which has run almost unbroken since 1904, with Torquay having previously hosted the Championships on six occasions, most recently in 2019. The Championship event, a 9-round Swiss tournament, saw a major sensation as the 16th-rated FM Harry Grieve scored a fantastic 7.5/9 and came out on top. Harry completed his final IM, first GM norm and picked up 59 rating points. Photo: Brendan O’Gorman The defending champion Nick Pert finished a half-point behind the champion and took silver; James Jackson tied for third place with David Eggleston but claimed bronze thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 FM Grieve Harry 2390 7½ 2 GM Pert Nicholas 2537 7 3 IM Jackson James 2406 6½ 4 IM Eggleston David 2331 6½ 5 GM Gormally Daniel 2466 6 6 IM Wadsworth Matthew 2418 6 7 GM Arkell Keith 2409 6 8 FM Claridge-Hansen William 2345 6 9 CM Balaji Aaravamudhan 2194 6 10 GM Emms John 2474 5½ The women’s title goes to Lan Yao (pictured below) who netted 5/9; Kata Toma is second (4.5/9); Sheila Jackson came third (3.5/9). Photo: Brendan O’Gorman Midhun P U emerged as the winner in Major Open; Paul Motwani lived up to his rating-favourite status in the Over 50 section and took the title; John Nunn was head and shoulders above the competition in the Over 65 section winning all seven games. Complete results on chess-results.com Official website: britishchesschampionships.co.uk/
Two FIDE Trainer Seminars announced
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission will organise its second online seminar this year for North and Central America from 26-28 August 2022. This seminar is led by FST and GM Melikset Khachiyan, TRG Council Member, and he is assisted by FT and GM Elshan Moradiabadi, FT and IM Joel Banawa. WIM Dr Alexey Root will also be giving a special lecture on addressing Psychological Challenges in Training. Full details can be found at: FIDE Trainer Online Seminar for North and Central America held from 26 to 28 August 2022 – FIDE Trainers’ Commission A second FIDE Trainer Seminar will be held concurrently with the World Youth Championship in Mamaia, Romania. Organised by the Romanian Chess Federation from 7-12 September 2022, this seminar will be conducted on-site by Olympiad medal winning coaches FST and GM Ivan Sokolov and FST and GM Ramesh RB. Full details are available at: FIDE Trainer Seminar in Mamaia, Romania from 7-12 September 2022 – FIDE Trainers’ Commission
Magnus Carlsen clinches FTX Crypto Cup
Magnus Carlsen is the FTX Crypto Cup champion for the second year in a row after holding off a fierce challenge from Indian teen Praggnanandhaa. Norway’s World Champion overcame the talented 17-year-old with a game to spare in their final round shootout for the title. In doing so, Carlsen notched up a third win of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season and his first Major win. The result also stretches his lead at the top of the $1.6 million Tour leaderboard and wins him the tournament’s unique NFT trophy. Pragg and Carlsen were neck-and-neck throughout the whole tournament with the youngster putting in a real statement performance throughout. But in Round 7 of the all-play-all event Pragg faced the real acid test – world number 1 Carlsen. The youngster had chances in the first game and then had to defend like a lion in game 2. Finally, he ran out of steam in the third. Carlsen clinched the win that guaranteed him the title and in classic Magnus-style – with a piece of endgame brilliance and a huge sense of relief. Reacting before the final rapid game, Carlsen said: “This game was very nervy, I think, for both of us. Today I haven’t been able to find a rhythm at all, but hopefully I can relax a bit in the last game.” Carlsen did relax – but it barely mattered to him. In the fourth game the champion looked to be steering the game to a draw but blundered in the endgame. “I think Magnus just wanted to have more fun!” Pragg said, who still had work to do to finish second. In the final tiebreak, Pragg won the first and then ended it in a dramatic second game in which Carlsen blundered badly. Pragg ended the tournament on a high, securing the runner-up spot. Carlsen hailed his tournament win a “great result”. The $210,000 elite esports tournament, held at Florida’s Eden Roc Miami Beach, had gone into its final day with all eyes on Carlsen and Pragg’s eagerly-awaited showdown. But in the other matches, Alireza Firouzja was battling to overtake Pragg at the last hurdle and secured at least a third place finish with a 2.5-1.5 win over Levon Aronian. The struggles continued for 19-year-old New Yorker Hans Niemann, who has entertained everyone throughout with his interviews. Niemann finished pointless as he went down 2.5-1.5 to Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le. However, the newly-crowned “bad boy of chess” can take away from the tournament memorable wins over Carlsen, Pragg and Aronian, plus an army of new fans. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the winner of the Oslo Esports Cup, finished his tournament off with a 2.5-0.5 win over Dutch No.1 Anish Giri. Duda had a tough start to the event but finished with impressive wins over Carlsen, Pragg and then Giri. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will return with its next “Regular” event on September 19. For further comments contact: Leon Watson, Head of PR, Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+447786078770 About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit www.chess24.com/tour.
Felix Blohberger and Annika Fröwis win Austrian Championship
Felix Blohberger and Annika Fröwis emerged as the winners of the Österreichische Staatsmeisterschaft 2022. The 2022 Austrian Chess Championship, a 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control, took place from August 12-19 in the Vienna Chess House. Both men and women competed in one event but were ranked separately, with the highest-scoring female player claiming the title of Austrian Women’s Champion. The tournament was a very close affair, with Felix Blohberger, Christoph Menezes, Andreas Diermair and Dominik Horvath coming into the final round as joint leaders on 6/8. Blohberger and Diermair drew their games against Horvath and Nikolaus Stanec, respectively, while Menezes got an overwhelming position against Johannes Steindl with black pieces but mishandled it and eventually lost. As a result, four players tied for the top position, scoring 6½/9, but the title goes to Felix Blohberger, thanks to superior Buchholz. Felix made himself an excellent gift for his 20th birthday he is celebrating today. Congratulations! Andreas Diermair took silver, and Dominik Horvath claimed bronze. Final standings: 1 GM Blohberger Felix 2492 6½ 2 GM Diermair Andreas 2458 6½ 3 IM Horvath Dominik 2489 6½ 4 FM Steindl Johannes 2312 6½ 5 IM Menezes Christoph 2414 6 6 FM Leisch Lukas 2404 6 7 GM Stanec Nikolaus 2460 6 8 FM Morgunov Marc 2412 6 9 IM Kilgus Georg 2387 6 10 GM Shengelia David 2462 6 Annika Fröwis seemed to be rushing towards a clear victory after scoring four points after five rounds. However, he suffered three straight defeats against strong opponents and allowed Veronika Exler and Barbara Teuschler to catch up with her heading into the final round. All three ladies lost their games in Round 9 and shared first place. Buchholz variable favoured Fröwis, who took the title and completed a WIM norm with a performance of 2267. Official website: chess.at/ Photo: D. Hiermann
FIDE WGP Series 2022-23: Players allocation
IMPORTANT UPDATE:IM Vaishali R will replace GM Humpy Koneru in the first WGP tournament in Nur-Sultan. Koneru withdrew from the event for medical reasons. The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Series 2022-23 will feature a total of 16 players, and each one of them will participate in three out of four WGP tournaments with classical time control. The total prize fund for each leg will be €80,000, with another €80,000 being distributed among the top 8 finishers in the global Women’s Grand Prix Series standings, according to the cumulative points they score across the four events. The two top players in the WGP Series will also qualify for the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2023-24.