Argentinean Women’s Championship: Fernandez clinches fifth title
Maria Florencia Fernandez is a new Argentinian Women’s champion. WIM representing UNTREF FAOGBA won the fifth national title in her career, scoring 7½/9. The 73rd edition of the Argentinean Women’s Superior Chess Championship took place at the University of La Punta San Luis from May 1-8. The 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control brought together 44 players from different parts of the country. Maria Florencia Fernandez started off with five straight victories but suffered defeat in Round 6 at the hands of her main competitor, the top-rated Candela Francisco Guecamburu, who grabbed the lead. Still, it came down to the wire in the end with three players coming into the final round as joint leaders on 6½/8. Fernandez scored a very important victory over Florencia Semprevivo and clinched the title after her main rivals Anapaola Borda Rodas and Candela Francisco Guecamburu drew their last-round game and tied for second place. The Buchholz variable favoured Francisco Guecamburu, who took silver, while Borda Rodas had to settle for bronze. Final standings: 1 WIM FERNANDEZ, Maria Florencia 2195 7½ 2 WFM FRANCISCO GUECAMBURU, Candela 2231 7 3 WFM BORDA RODAS, Anapaola 2141 7 4 WIM ZURIEL, Marisa 2151 6½ 5 WFM CAMPOS, Maria Jose 2174 6½ 6 SEMPREVIVO, Florencia 1946 6 7 WFM NEJANKY, Maisa 1929 6 8 WCM BOSCO, Giuliana 1803 6 9 MAYEREGGER, Guadalupe Milagros 1731 6 10 RAMIREZ, Marysol 1714 5½ Photo credit: federacionargentinadeajedrez.org
Timur Gareyev wins XV Americas Individual Championship
GM Timur Gareyev emerged as the winner of the XV Americas Individual Championship, which took place from May 1-11, 2022, at the Best Western Hotel Terraza, San Salvador, El Salvador. The 11-round Swiss tournament organized by the Chess Confederation of the Americas, the Salvadoran Chess Federation and the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador brought together 11 players from 10 countries battling out for four qualification spots in the 2023 FIDE World Cup. The Uzbekistan-born American GM Timur Gareyev completed the event undefeated, scored a whopping 9½/11 (+26 rating points) and won the event with a round to spare. As many as seven players tied for the second place, finishing 1½ points behind the champion. The tie-breaks (average rating of the opponents) favoured IM Christopher Woojin Yoo of the USA (second place), Yasser Quesada Perez of Cuba (third place) and Gregory Kaidanov, also from the USA (fourth place). The top-4 finishers qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. Final standings: 1 GM Gareyev, Timur USA 2565 9½ 2 IM Yoo, Christopher Woojin USA 2535 8 3 GM Quesada Perez, Yasser CUB 2560 8 4 GM Kaidanov, Gregory USA 2556 8 5 FM Proudian, Armen BRA 2418 8 6 IM Figueredo Losada, Leonel MEX 2337 8 7 IM Sarkar, Justin USA 2325 8 8 GM Salinas Herrera, Pablo CHI 2534 8 9 GM Pichot, Alan ARG 2652 7½ 10 GM Hungaski, Robert USA 2521 7½ 11 IM Thavandiran, Shiyam CAN 2399 7½
Jimma and Mongeli win 2022 Zone 4.4 Championship
The 2022 Zone 4.4 Championship has ended in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The event running from May 2-9 and attracted 65 players from six African federation (46 in the open section and 19 n the women’s section). However, notable absentees include Madagascar and Uganda, probably the strongest chess nations in the zone. WFM Sasha Mongeli of Kenya (pictured below) dominated the women’s event and secured the gold medal with a round to spare. She bulldozed her way by winning all nine games and walked away with a cash prize of USD 750. She will also receive are a conditional WIM title and a fully paid trip for the 2022 Sharjah Challengers Chess Championships. Abate Lidet Haile of Ethiopia won the silver medal scoring 7½ points, while her compatriot Aster Melake Batiwalu claimed bronze with 6 points. Essayas Berhane Elshalom of Eritrea deserves a special mention. Despite being unrated and aged just 14, she delivered a good performance to chalk up impressive 5 points tying for the fourth place. Final standings Women: 1 Mongeli Sasha KEN 1634 9 2 Haile Lidet Abate ETH 1611 7½ 3 Bantiwalu Aster Melake ETH 1387 6 4 Elshalom Essayas Berhane ERI 0 5 5 Abera Mekdes Demssie ETH 1272 5 6 Sara Gadalla Karar SUD 1422 5 7 Ayele Hana Mulugeta ETH 1408 5 8 Mekonen Selemawit Kidanemaryam ETH 1127 4½ 9 Weldegebriel Israel Tekeste ETH 1443 4½ 10 Melebo Yenenesh Lukas ETH 1417 4½ CM Desalegn Fekadu Jimma (pictured above) and CM Gezachew Abera Aydagnuhem of Ethiopia scored 7½ points each to tie for first place in the open section. They shared the top two cash prizes of USD 2,100. However, Jimma emerged the winner as his opponent’s average rating (the first tiebreaker variable) was higher. FM Samir Nadir of Sudan came out third with 6½ points. Final standings Open: 1 CM Jimma Desalegn Fekadu ETH 2057 7½ 2 CM Abera Aydagnuhem Gezachew ETH 2097 7½ 3 FM Nadir Samir SUD 2177 6½ 4 Hamed Mohamed SUD 2063 6½ 5 FM Tagelsir Abubaker SUD 2202 6 6 Njoroge Martin KEN 1932 6 7 Omar Abdulrahman SOM 2005 6 8 Gole Habtamu Ashenafi ETH 2054 6 9 Tsige Addisalem Temesgen ETH 2069 5½ 10 FM Abdelazeez Mohamed Abdalla SUD 2180 5½ The event was co-financed by FIDE Development Fund in Africa. The annual allocation for the continental events & projects is €100,000, and it allows the organizers to offer higher prizes and invite foreign players. Text and photos: Kenya Chess Masala
Southeast Asian Games kick off in Ha Long, Vietnam
The Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) 31 officially commenced their chess games on May 10, 2022, in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. This year’s event features 55 top chess players from seven Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The players will compete in individual and team tournaments in standard, rapid, and blitz time controls for both open and women categories. Joining the opening ceremony were Madame Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice President of Quang Ninh province; Mr Nguyen Dong Tien, President of Vietnam Chess Federation; Mr Victor Bologan, Executive Director at FIDE; and Ms Zhu Chen, former Women’s World Chess Champion and FIDE Treasurer.
FIDE elections: Call to Candidates
Dear Candidates, FIDE is pleased to announce that the FIDE Congress will be held in Chennai, India between 31 July 2022 (arrivals) and 09 August 2022 (departures). The Meeting of the General Assembly will take place on 07-08 August 2022, when the elections will be completed. You are welcome to save the dates in your calendar. You can find detailed information on the dedicated website for the FIDE Congress, at https://congress.fide.com. The Elections will take place for the following positions and in accordance with the following timelines in which applications can be submitted: • The positions of President and Deputy President (on a joint ticket)– no later than 07 June 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive• The position of Vice President – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive• The position of Zonal President – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive• The position of a member of Ethics and Disciplinary commission – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive• The position of a member of Constitutional commission – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive FIDE invites all interested persons to submit Candidate Application Forms to office@fide.com. Please note that electronic signatures or even scanned signature on a pdf document can be considered valid if there are no doubts about the origin and the attribution of the document. FIDE also informs that the Candidate Application Forms must be endorsed by letters of support from Member Federations (recommended form attached hereto) under the following rules: • Each candidacy for the Presidential ticket must be endorsed by nominations from at least five (5) Member Federations, among them at least one (1) from each of the four (4) FIDE Continents, but by no more than eight (8) Member Federations in total; • Each candidacy for the position of elected Vice President must be endorsed by nominations from at least three (3) Member Federations; • Each candidacy for the positions of members of commissions must be endorsed by nominations from at least three (3) Member Federations. Please consider that each Member Federation is entitled to endorse only one (1) Presidential ticket, as well as one (1) candidacy for one of the positions listed above. If you have any questions, please email them to FIDE Office at office@fide.com.
FIDE awards grants to Ukrainian seniors and disabled players
A dedicated FIDE panel under the chairmanship of FIDE Director-General Emil Sutovsky awarded grants for an amount of €2,000 each to 5 prominent Ukrainian veteran trainers. The panel would like to thank the leading Ukrainian players for their recommendations, and for their concern about chess veterans. FIDE has also contributed €1,500 to allow the IM Ukrainian Igor Yarmonov to take part in the 21st IPCA World Individual Chess Championship 2022 that is currently being held in Ashdod, Israel. Photo credit: Mark Livshitz
Batumi to host FIDE World Cadets Championships 2022
The FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships 2022, a tournament organized by FIDE, the Georgian Chess Federation and the Georgian Chess Club “64”, will take place in Batumi, Georgia from September 15-28, 2022. The championships will be held in three age groups – Under 8, 10, 12 and 2 sections – open and girls (totally 6 tournaments). All the competitions will be 11-round Swiss tournaments with the time control 90 minutes for each player plus 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Default time is 15 minutes. All FIDE member federations, eligible players and accompanying persons are invited to participate in the Championships in Euphoria Hotel Complex and enjoy excellent playing conditions as well as sunny weather during the swimming season at the seaside. The players placed 1-3 in FIDE Online World Cadets & Youth (under 10–12) Rapid Chess Championships 2020, the winners of the 2019 World Cadets Championships and the Continental Cadets Champions of the year preceding this edition have the personal right to participate in the World Cadets Championships of the corresponding age category or a higher age category if the age stipulation is met. Such players shall also be classified as invited players and have to be registered by the national federation. In addition to standard prizes – commemorative cups, diplomas and medals – top-5 players in all age categories will be awarded with iPhones, computers and photo cameras. The Registration fee of 100 USD for each player (invited, personal or additional) and each accompanying official/person, plus an entry FIDE fee of €70 for each invited (official) player and €140 for each Additional player should be paid. In order to ensure proper tournament standards, FIDE member federations must fully complete the official registration form and send it to batumi2022@fide.com before the registration deadline July 18th, 2022. Incomplete registrations will not be accepted. Individual applications will not be accepted also. Regulations for the FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships 2022 You can find all the information related to the FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships 2022 on the official website of the tournament wccc2022.fide.com. Contact information: E-mail address: batumi2022@fide.com
2022 GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania: Day 5 Recap
Day 5 of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania came with an exciting finish with GM Fabiano Caruana taking down Azeri GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to get back to fifty percent. Today’s games brought some surprise lines and missed opportunities, but was overall a peaceful day. Going into tomorrow’s rest day, Grandmaster Wesley So has drawn his game and maintains half a point advantage from his competitors sharing 2nd place. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave The first game to finish was the one between GM Ian Nepomniachtchi against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, which ended in a draw after some missed opportunities by the French Grandmaster. Ian surprised MVL in the opening with a slight move order change. He played Bb5+ on move 5 instead of move 3. Nevertheless, the position transposed to a typical Maroczy-bind a few moves later. The position looked absolutely equal, and Nepo’s blitzing through his moves resulted in an inaccuracy (25.Qxe7?! instead 25.Rb1 which would have maintained easy equality). MVL played all of the right strategic moves and started putting on the pressure in a Q+R (queen and rook) endgame. He had his best chance to pose real problems for his opponent around move 27, with the h5-h4 idea followed by the infiltration along the c-file, which could have given Black good chances to play for a win. Maxime missed this opportunity and let Nepo escape a little too soon with a perpetual check right after the time control was reached. Ian Nepomniachtchi looking focused and possibly concerned about his game in Round 5 | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Richard Rapport – Leinier Dominguez The start of the game between GM Richard Rapport and GM Leinier Dominguez brought smiles among the players and commentators, as Richie played 2.Ne2!? in order to avoid Dominguez’ Petroff Defense and test the waters in some less explored territories. Dominguez responded in a principled, but ultra-solid fashion. By move 6 all the central pawns were exchanged and as soon as the players developed their pieces, a massive trade off ensued. Although the game did continue for quite a bit, it was clear that the game was heading to a draw, which happened on move 51 in a king and pawn ending. Richard Rapport smiling after his 2.Ne2 against GM Leinier Dominguez | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Fabiano Caruana – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov The players followed a well-known Petroff line where Caruana chose a variation which happened between Nepomniachtchi and Wang Hao in the last Candidates. Mamedyarov played with confidence and after the players reeled off around 20 moves of theory, it seemed that a draw would be the likeliest outcome. However, an inexplicable mistake was played by Mamedyarov on move 21, bringing his knight to a6 (21…Na6), which put him in a very unpleasant position. Caruana in return rushed with 23.f4 which let go of most of his advantage, yet he maintained an ongoing initiative. The pressure became increasingly difficult as the players were approaching move 40, but Shakhriyar survived the time control. Sadly for the Azeri super-GM, he began making inaccuracies after the time control was reached and by move 49 he found himself in a lost position. This time, Caruana showed patience and gradually, but assuredly, converted his advantage into a full point and his first win of the tournament. A calm GM Fabiano Caruana, cruising through to victory in his Round 5 game against GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Bryan Adams Bogdan-Daniel Deac – Alireza Firouzja Desperate for a win before the rest day, GM Firouzja chose the aggressive KID (King’s Indian Defense) to which the Romanian GM Deac responded with the ambitious 6.h4, hinting a promising fight among the two youngest players of the tournament. Firouzja went down a risky road and after some unsound strategic decisions (risky in favor of complications), his position was strategically worse for some time. However, both players burned their time a little too quickly and found themselves with less than 10 minutes at move 21. After a number of inaccuracies and a blunder in time scramble, the tide turned in the favor of Firouzja and he was up a piece. However, after a sequence of inaccurate decisions, most likely due to time trouble, right as they were approaching move 40, Firouzja let go of a simple win and spoiled all of his advantage. After the time control, it was clear that neither side could improve and this topsy-turvy game ended in a draw on move 68. Alireza Firouzja|Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Levon Aronian – Wesley So GM Aronian’s opening choice was a bit surprising. In the post game-interview GM Wesley So mentioned he was expecting 1. e4, although he was of course prepared for 1.c4 as well. On move 4, Wesley played 4…d5 opting for a Maroczy-bind with reversed colors, which Aronian denied later with 7.d4 . The theory considers this line rather harmless and the rest of the game proved so. After a number of quick trades the game ended in a draw with opposite-color bishops, but it was long drawn before it ended. With this draw, Grandmaster Wesley So maintains his half a point advantage from his competitors sharing 2nd place. Wesley So maintaining the sole lead going into the rest day | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The 2022 Superbet Chess Classic continues on Wednesday, May 11th at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler and Alejandro Ramirez in studio. Grandmaster Cristian Chirila with Woman Grandmaster Anastasia Karlovich on location. Watch all the action live on GrandChessTour.org Text: WGM Sabina Foisor Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Superbet Chess Classic Romania Sponsors Further Information: Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue and dates: Sheraton Bucharest Hotel, Bucharest, Romania, May 5 – May 14, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr
Chess in Education online conference announced
Dear Colleagues, FIDE Chess in Education Commission (EDU) in collaboration with the “Chess” Scientific Research Institute of ASPU, organizes another great event to spread the insights about educational chess. The second edition of the “Chess in Education” online conference will take place on June 25-26 at 10 AM CET via Zoom. Main topics of the conference: Social and psychological aspects of chess Methodology of chess teaching and learning Chess and pedagogical training issues Chess and inclusive education Chess and the issues of gender-sensitive education The working languages of the conference are English and Russian. All attendees are required to register for the conference online via the following link: https://forms.gle/eSFmCdEtZ76sdXpQ7 The theses of the presentations and reports must be sent by May 15, 2022. The authors will be informed about the decision of the Organizational commission by May 23, 2022. You can find all the information here: https://edu.fide.com/chess-in-education-international-online-conference-2/ The information on the conference in Russian is available here:https://cloud.fide.com/s/8MGedLq2roFtXaY We would be glad to see you at our upcoming conference. Best regards, Smbat LputianChairman of FIDE EDU commission
Mariano Ortega wins Cape Verde Open 2022
The champion title of the 1st Cape Verde International Chess Open remained in Cape Verde. IM Mariano Ortega, two-time National Champion of Cape Verde and African Champion of Zone 4.2, won the event, one of the 50 competitions in the world and seven in Africa financially supported by FIDE. Mariano Ortega tied for the first place with Yago De Moura Santiago of Brazil but claimed the title and trophy thanks to better tiebreaks. The winner highlighted the excellent level of the tournament that took place between April 25 and 30 in Mindelo, Sao Vicente, with 34 chess players from 10 countries participating. Ortega said his ambition was to make it into the top-3, but he did not expect to win. It was a great honour for him to take the title on his home turf. “It was a tournament of high level, with great masters, including champions from Spain, Portugal and Serbia. And winning the tournament, competing with these masters and emerging as the best feels great. I enjoyed a great deal of support from my compatriots, with messages of encouragement to win.” There was a three-way tie for third place with GM Salvador Del Rio De Angelis of Spain making it to the podium by dint of superior Buchholz. WIM Tilsia Carolina Varela La Madrid from Venezuala (pictured below) became the best woman participant. “For a little over a week, chess was talked about all over the country. I think that after this Open Cape Verde 2022, the national chess and the country itself are strengthened in its image of welcoming and organizing,” Francisco Carapinha, the president of the Cape Verdean Chess Federation, said. He added that all this was achieved through team work and effort, and expressed special thanks to all the staff involved. Without them and financial support from FIDE, it would be impossible to set up and run the tournament, which gave the archipelago considerable media exposure. The Cape Verde Open, he stressed, was not just a chess competition; it was intended to promote the country. With this in mind, a tour to the island of Santo Antão was organized. “The visit was also a promotional card for the island and the municipality of Ribeira Grande”. Partnering in the organization of the International Chess Open of Cape Verde, the Institute of Sports and Youth emphasized the importance of the initiative by the national chess federation. With such competitions, the country can become a platform for international sports events. Francisco Carapinha said that the next International Chess Open would be held in 2023 in Ribeira Grande on the island of Santo Antão. Children of Santo Antão playing with the participants of the Cape Verde Open 2022 Final standings: 1 IM Ortega Amarelle, Mariano CPV 2476 7 2 GM De Moura Santiago, Yago BRA 2490 7 3 GM Del Rio De Angelis, Salvador ESP 2452 6½ 4 GM Fernandes, Antonio POR 2313 6½ 5 GM Strikovic, Aleksa SRB 2489 6½ 6 GM Galego, Luis POR 2474 6 7 WIM Varela La Madrid, Tilsia Carolina VEN 2097 6 8 WGM Maisuradze Nino FRA 2202 6 9 IM L`ami Alina ROU 2287 5½ 10 WIM Caxita Esperanca ANG 1910 5½ You can find the complete results here:https://chess-results.com/tnr586027.aspx?lan=10 Text: Francisco Carapinha, President of the Cape Verdean Chess Federation