Teen star Praggnanandhaa in pole position
A day of thrilling all-action chess from every player saw boy wonder Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa regain the lead as Magnus Carlsen suffered a shock loss in the Oslo Esports Cup. With just two rounds to go, 16-year-old Pragg kept up the pressure with a dominant 3-point win against the lowest-ranked player in the event Eric Hansen. Carlsen, meanwhile, lost for the first time to the dangerous Dutchman Jorden van Foreest, a player once jokingly described as the World Champion’s “punching bag”. It leaves Pragg as the sole leader in the first Major in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season. The youngster was the first to finish and his 2.5-0.5 win sent a clear message that, despite losing to Carlsen in their head-to-head yesterday, Pragg is a major threat to the champ. Explaining his mindset going into today’s match after his setback against Carlsen, the boy from Chennai said: “It’s ok because I played well, and let me play my best chess in the remaining tournament.” The youngster has now won four of five matches in the event, having lost only to Carlsen. Pragg has also picked up $30,000 in prize money. Incredibly, all Pragg’s matches so far have ended with a game to spare. In contrast, Carlsen did not exude his normal confidence against a player he has never lost to. It didn’t help that Van Foreest, who acted as an advisor to Carlsen at the last World Championship, showed the Tour leader absolutely no respect and took the fight to his former boss right from the word go. Carlsen quickly found himself in trouble after a blunder lost him the second game left him 1.5-0.5 down. The Norwegian shook his head in disgust when he realised he’d missed the winning move 20.Bxa6! “It turns out the World Champion is apparently human!” said IM Tania Sachdev, commentating. Carlsen again found himself on the defensive in the third before the game ended in a second draw. Now 2-1 behind going into the final game, Carlsen was left in the unfamiliar territory of being a must-win situation. It didn’t happen as van Foreest got the draw to secure the match. The Dutchman said: “It’s just complete shock right now. I didn’t expect I would beat Magnus in a game let alone in a match. So it’s just shock. “I was definitely very lucky, I was lost in I think three of the four games but he has been feeling ill here and he blundered a rook in one game. “Of course, you need a lot of luck to beat Magnus but still it’s a major achievement in my career and I would rate it very highly.” The two other matches in Round 5 went to tiebreaks with Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov launching a big comeback to beat Anish Giri. Birthday boy Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 24 today, had his party ruined by Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le who won both blitz games in the tiebreaker. Round 6 of 7 starts at 18:00 CEST on Tuesday. 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
Invitation: 44th Chess Olympiad & FIDE Congress 2022
Dear Member Federations, Please find enclosed the official invitation to the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, as well as the FIDE Congress 2022. DOWNLOAD INVITATION: Along with welcome messages by Tournament Director Bharat Singh Chauhan and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, in this document prepared by the All India Chess Federation you will find all the basic information regarding this event: Venue, schedule, hotels, tournament regulations, dress code, travel subsidies for participants of the Olympiad and delegates of the FIDE Congress. The document also includes practical information on how to get to Chennai, climate, currency, transportation, visa information, et cetera. All this information, along with the registration for players, arbiters, and participants in the FIDE Congress, will be soon available at the official website. You can contact the Organizing Committee at olympiad@aicf.in, and they also have a dedicated support line for visa enquiries: visa@aicf.in. A call centre will be operating two months before the Olympiad, just after the closing of the registration system, at +91-8100003030. The working hours for this hotline will be from 10:00 to 18:00 (GMT +5:30), and then, during the Olympiad, it will be operational 24/7. However, the Organizers request that federations use the call centre only in case of strict necessity or emergencies. Otherwise, the preferred way to contact the organizers will still be the email indicated above. Looking forward to seeing you in Chennai, International Chess Federation & Olympiad Organizing Committee DOWNLOAD INVITATION:
American Cup: Day 6 Recap
Both GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Irina Krush managed to qualify to the finals of the American Cup, after drawing the second game and avoiding a playoff in their Champions Bracket matches against GM Leinier Dominguez and FM Alice Lee. In the Elimination Bracket, GM Levon Aronian defeated GM Ray Robson 2-0, while WGM Tatev Abrahamyan ended up winning a playoff against WGM Begim Tokhirjonova. Taking place tomorrow will be the finals of the Elimination Bracket, with Aronian facing Dominguez and Lee taking on Abrahamyan for one more chance at overall tournament victory. The time control for the event is 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment for all games in the Champions Bracket, with a rapid time control of 25+10 for the Elimination Bracket and a 10+5 time control for all playoff matches. CHAMPIONS BRACKET DOMINGUEZ – CARUANA 1/2-1/2 After winning the first game, Fabiano Caruana needed just a draw to win the match, but a good preparation by Dominguez in the Italian Game earned him a serious advantage on the clock, as well as a clearly better position where he could play against Black’s isolated pawn. But a very practical pawn sacrifice by Caruana changed the character of the game, not letting Dominguez to simply improve his position. Dominguez was then unable to keep his edge as the players entered a rook and knight endgame where Black always had enough counterplay to survive. Further good defense by Caruana allowed him to hold the game, clinching the classical match 1.5-0.5. 23…e3! threw a wrench into White’s plans, as there was no comfortable way to capture the pawn. | ½-½, 56 moves GM Fabiano Caruana | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes LEE – KRUSH 1/2-1/2 Also needing just a draw to clinch the match was Krush, who opted for the solid Cambridge Springs Variation against her young opponent. Lee played quite solidly in the middlegame, but wasn’t able to outplay Krush, who slowly managed to trade down into a drawish heavy piece endgame. Krush even ended up with an extra pawn in a rook endging, but the position offered no winning chances for Black and the players soon repeated moves to draw the game. GM Irina Krush | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ELIMINATION BRACKET ARONIAN – ROBSON | 2-0 In a rematch of the Champions Bracket, Aronian started out the first playoff game with an interesting setup in a Reverse Benoni, forcing Robson to burn a lot of time in the opening. Unfortunately for Robson, his time-trouble would end up being the deciding factor in the match, as he eventually went down to 1 minute versus 15 and couldn’t maintain his accuracy. A few moves later, Aronian setup a nice tactic to win the exchange and converted the first game with ease. 37.Nxc5! was Aronian’s winning trick, with idea 37…Qxc5 38.d4 and 37…Qxf4 38.Nxd7+ | 1-0, 45 moves In the second game Robson again started spending a lot of time out of the opening, looking to keep the position as complicated as possible. But Aronian played quickly and confidently, even sacrificing an exchange for a strong initiative on the kingside. Robson was then forced to enter a position with two rooks for the queen, but his king was too exposed and a further blunder allowed Aronian to win the second game as well. GM Levon Aronian | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes TOKHIRJONOVA – ABRAHAMYAN | 1-3 The initial two games in the Elimination Match both came down to a complicated rook endgame. First Abrahamyan missed a serious chance to win as Black, allowing a draw–then Tokhirjonova was better in the next game but couldn’t make anything of her advantage, leading to a 1-1 tie and forcing a playoff. The first game of the playoff was quite a sharp struggle in the Italian Game, with very few pieces getting traded before the players entered time-trouble. As the clocks ticked down, the position opened up, with many possible tactics under the surface. A strategic blunder by Tokhirjonova allowed Abrahamyan to trade off the light-squared bishops, leaving Black’s kingside extremely vulnerable. Abrahamyan pounced on the chance and immediately decided the game with a powerful attack. 34.Qc2+! was the game-winner, taking control over the light-squares on the kingside. After 34…f5 35.Ne5+ Black could not go 35…Kf6 in view of 36.Nh5 mate! | 1-0, 36 moves In the second game Tokhirjonova got a bit of pressure as White out of the opening, but it was quickly neutralized as Abrahamyan generated decent counterplay on the queenside. The players then traded down into a heavy-piece endgame where only Black (Abrahamyan) had chances to push for the win. In the ensuing time scramble Tokhirjonova ended up blundering her queen, and was forced to resign on the spot. Abrahamyan vs. Tokhirjonova during their Elimination Match | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Austin Fuller Day 7 of the 2022 American Cup will take place Tuesday April 26 starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Alejandro Ramirez on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Watch all the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo credit: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes and Austin Fuller Dates & Location:April 20 – 29, 2022, Saint Louis Chess Club Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClub Instagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClub YouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Press Contact:Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)
Carlsen beats Praggnanandhaa to go joint-top of leaderboard
Magnus Carlsen upped his game for the big occasion today as he ended young pretender Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa’s unbeaten streak to go level at the top of the Oslo Esports Cup leaderboard. The World Champion shrugged off the illness he has suffered since the start of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event to brush aside the challenge of the in-form Indian teen with a dominant 3-0 win. With a game to spare, Carlsen grabbed the maximum 3 points and $7,500 win bonus to move alongside Praggnanandhaa on 9/12. It also took the Norwegian to five straight wins in rapid chess. Carlsen, when asked whether he was feeling extra determination playing Praggnanandhaa, said: “I am the best — I don’t have any doubt about that, but you gotta prove it when you play!” Praggnanandhaa had gone into the Round 4 match ahead of Carlsen having played fantastic chess on his way to three match-wins in a row. In doing so, Rameshbabu had also chalked up $22,500 in earnings and ignited hope he could win the first Major of the Tour season overall. But against world No.1 Carlsen, the supremely-talented 16-year-old found himself up against next-level opposition. Carlsen went into the match with a spring in his step that has been missing over the last couple of days during which he has complained about feeling under the weather. In the first game, the young Indian showed no fear whatsoever as he opted for a Sicilian. But it was Carlsen who went on to take first blood. The champ overcame Pragg in a brilliant game that went right down to the wire when the champ showed his endgame prowess with the excellent 60.Qd6! Magnus Carlsen – Praggnanandhaa RWhite advances his pawn to a6 as both 60…Qxa5 and 60…Qe3+ fail to 61.Qe6+| 1-0, 76 moves In between games, Carlsen said he was feeling “quite a lot better” – and it showed. Pragg had to hit back. The youngster pushed aggressively in the second but then suffered an agonising mistake with 31.Bxd8 that lost a rook for a piece. It was a killer blow that lost the game and left him in a must-win situation going into the third game. Try as he might, Pragg could not hold back the tide and Carlsen broke through to finish him off in style. The champ shook his young opponent’s hand when the victory was secured before saying Pragg still has a “great chance” to win the event. Pragg said: “I think my play in the first and second games was good, but then in less time I started to play bad moves. Then in the third game I just didn’t get the position. “But I think it’s a great experience for me and I always enjoy playing top players.” He added: “Next time I’d like to put up more resistance against Magnus!” Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le also won his match against Eric Hansen with a game to spare, recording two wins in a 2.5-0.5 victory. The two other R4 matches both went to nervy tiebreaks after the regular matches finished 2-2. Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda, moved into contention after he beat Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov in a close match that went to tiebreaks. It was Duda’s third win in a row and took him to 7/12. Meanwhile, the tiebreak in the all-Dutch encounter between Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest started dramatically as a mouse-slip from Giri in the first blitz game left him behind. Giri then made a huge blunder in the second to hand the match to his countryman. Round 5 of 7 starts at 18:00 CEST on Tuesday. 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
Second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners announced
The International Chess Federation is excited to announce the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners, to be held from 13-14 October 2022, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Being a part of the Chess for Freedom program and continuing the international championship first held in 2019 and the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners 2021, the event aims to introduce chess as a tool for education social inclusion in prisons of different countries. The championship, organized by FIDE and the Cook County (Chicago, IL, USA) Sheriff’s Office and hosted by Chess.com, is open for teams made of 4 players representing any correctional facility (jail or prison) without any specification by age and gender of prisoners. The tournament will be played online and live-streamed on FIDE’s Youtube channel. “In Autumn 2021, the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners became the largest event of its kind ever. It attracted teams from 31 countries representing all continents. Our plans are even bigger this year: we aim to expand the event to at least 64 teams,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola added that FIDE’s role was not limited to hosting chess events among prisoners: “We are inviting new countries, even those that have not yet started their chess in prisons activities, to join us. We are ready to assist with any advice, sharing methodologies and best practices. Chess is an excellent educational tool for everyone. Together we can give inmates around the world a chance to get back to normal lives.” In addition to covering the games, the broadcast will include interviews with special guests of the event – FIDE officials, government officers, members of the penitentiary administration and policymakers sharing the best practices of introducing chess to inmates, as well as former convicts proving from their own experience the positive impact of the game on prisoners. The second edition of the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is expected to bring together over 200 players from 50+ countries, encouraging communication and positive use of leisure time, and motivating them to change for the better. Each country can have up to three teams for the event: – main team – team representing a female correctional facility with all four female team players – team representing juvenoid correctional facility (under the age of 20). Each correctional facility shall apply by filling out an online registration form. The registration deadline is September 21, 2022. There is no entry fee. Tournament regulations (pdf) For more information about the tournament, schedule and regulations, visit chessforfreedom.fide.com/tournament Contact person: Mikhail Korenman, Chess Program Coordinator at Cook County Department of Corrections, FIDE International Chess Organizer and Member of FIDE Social Commission Email Mikhail.Korenman@ccsheriff.org Tel.: 1-785-906-0402 About the 1st Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners Forty-two teams representing 31 countries played in the group stage of the inaugural event held in the autumn of 2021. Prisoners from Italy, England, Armenia, Spain, Palestine, Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Portugal, Philippines, Australia, Norway, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Mongolia, Uruguay, Ukraine, Serbia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Turks & Caicos Islands, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, Cyprus, The Netherlands, USA and Macedonia were divided into six groups. Two top teams from each group proceeded to the Championship round. Mongolia became the winner of the 1st Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners, while Georgia dominated the women’s tournament.
Praggnanandhaa wins third straight match in Oslo Esports Cup
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is “having fun” after recording a third straight match-win today to continue his perfect start to the elite Oslo Esports Cup. India’s 16-year-old superstar-in-the-making is the only player with 9/9 points and has won the maximum $22,500 so far after he crushed Liem Quang Le with a game to spare. Pragg now faces World Champion Magnus Carlsen in Round 4. Beat Carlsen, as he did two months ago, and the youngster will be the hot favourite to win the first Major of the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season. That would be a huge shock, regardless of Pragg’s immense undoubted talent. As Grandmaster David Howell said: “Imagine if he beats Magnus, that would be the biggest sensation we’ve seen on the Tour!” The teenager was overjoyed with his win against the speed chess specialist Liem, who beat Carlsen yesterday. Pragg has now played only 9 games to win three matches and has a 3-point cushion ahead of Carlsen on the tournament leaderboard. The boy from Chennai’s event could not have gone better up to this point. Pragg said: “Today it was difficult. In the first game, I was winning and then I played b3 quite quickly and he got counter-play. In the second game it was very complicated and in time-trouble I didn’t know what was happening.” He added: “In the last game definitely I didn’t play so well but in time trouble he definitely made some mistakes.” “When you win of course you have a lot of fun! In general I’m having a lot of fun playing these players… It’s always a very good experience.” Carlsen, meanwhile, has complained of feeling under the weather during this event. He looked ill again going into his Round 3 match against his old rival Anish Giri. But on the board the world No.1 was in fine fettle as he got back in the groove after his loss to Liem with a smooth 2.5-0.5 win over Giri. There were no moments of concern for the champ who needs to beat Pragg tomorrow. Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda picked up his second match-win in a row with a dominant 2.5-0.5 win over the Dutchman Jorden van Foreest. In the final match to finish, the “ChessBrah” streamer Eric Hansen, by far the lowest-ranked player in the event at world No. 237, stunned world No.10 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The 29-year-old Canadian took the first game before Mamedyarov hit back but then Hansen dominated his Azeri opponent and then overcame some final-game nerves to pick up his first $7,500 match-win pay packet and 3 points. Round 4 starts at 18:00 CEST on Monday. 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
Ukraine wins over Norway in solidarity match
This Saturday, April 23, 2022, a solidarity match between teams from Norway and Ukraine was played. The competition is a joint initiative by the Good Knight Pub (Kristoffer Gressli), the Lviv Chess Federation (Oleksandr Prohorov), the Offerspill Chess Club (Jon Kristian Haar) and ChessTech (Stefan Löffler). Magnus Carlsen led the Norwegian team (Aryan Tari, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen and Lars Oskar Hauge) that met in the Good Knight Pub in the centre of Oslo. Former world number two Vasyl Ivanchuk was at the helm of the Ukrainian squad (Kirill Shevchenko, Yuriy Kuzubov and Alexander Moiseenko). Esports Cup participant Anish Giri and his second Erwin L’Ami drew lots to decide the colours for the match. Every player played each player from the other side once for four rounds of rapid chess with 10 minutes each plus ten seconds per move. On paper match had seemed a close affair but the Ukrainian team came off with flying colors winning by a score of 11-5. Kirill Shevchenko and Yuriy Kuzubov became the main contributors to this victory, netting 3½/4 each. The match was streamed in English from the Good Knight pub on the channel of the Offerspill chess club. Viewers were invited to donate to the war relief in Ukraine via their smartphone (if in Norway) or via Twitch. Ukraine 1 Ivanchuk, Vasyl 2678 0 1 0 1 2 2 Shevchenko, Kirill 2652 ½ 1 1 1 3½ 3 Kuzubov, Yuriy 2639 1 1 1 ½ 3½ 4 Moiseenko, Alexander 2602 1 0 ½ ½ 2 Norway 1 Carlsen, Magnus 2864 1 1 0 0 2 2 Tari, Aryan 2650 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1½ 3 Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian 2590 0 0 1 ½ 1½ 4 Hauge, Lars Oskar 2530 0 0 0 0 0 The complete results can be found here. Offerspill stream (English): https://www.twitch.tv/offerspillsk Ukrainian stream: https://www.twitch.tv/im_skliarov YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaCKWG0hmPMgXxYYiUZoJ YouTube stream (Ukrainian): https://youtu.be/NVwqw4-yD5Q Enquiries: sl@chesstech.org, gressli@hotmail.com, prohorov@chessclub.lviv.ua
American Cup: Day 4 Recap
GM Leinier Dominguez, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Irina Krush, and FM Alice Lee all advanced to the finals of the Champions Bracket today, after defeating their respective opponents in the semifinals, relegating them to the Elimination Bracket. While the finalists get a rest day tomorrow, the second round of the Elimination Bracket will feature the matches Aronian – So, Sevian – Robson, Tsolakidou – Tokhirjonova, and Nemcova – Abrahamyan as the players fight to avoid double-elimination. The time control for the event is 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment for all games in the Champions Bracket, with a rapid time control of 25+10 for the Elimination Bracket and a 10+5 time control for all playoff matches. CHAMPIONS BRACKET Day 4 Results – Champions Bracket DOMINGUEZ – ARONIAN Needing to win to force a playoff, Aronian chose the surprising Caro-Kann defense rather than his usual 1.e4 e5, to which Dominguez reacted with the principled Advance Variation. A sharp struggle ensued but Dominguez was able to remain in control, despite some time trouble. Aronian tried to complicate matters by sacrificing a pawn, but Dominguez found all the right moves to liquidate a drawn ending, clinching the match. Leinier Dominguez has been one of the most consistent players in the event, having not lost a single game. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes CARUANA – SEVIAN The second classical game in this match saw simplifications out of the opening, as Sevian could not remember his preparation in a sharp line of the English and opted for a safe alternative instead. Soon the players found themselves in an opposite colored bishop endgame with no winning chances for either side. In the playoff Caruana won the first game as Black, outplaying Sevian in a surprisingly sharp London System, winning a pawn before eventually converting his advantage in mutual time trouble. The second game saw Sevian opt for a Modern Defense, reaching a very double-edged position out of the opening. A wild battle followed where both players missed several chances and even traded opportunities to deliver forced mate, but in the end it was Caruana who managed to get the upper hand and win the playoff 2-0. One of the key moments in the second playoff game, where Sevian played 54…Qd4+, after which 55.Bc4 allowed Caruana to survive Black’s attack. Instead, 54…Qb1+! would win, as after 55.Kc4 Qc1+! 56.Kb4 Qb2+ 57.Kc4 Black has 57…Qd4 checkmate. | 1-0, 66 moves GM Fabiano Caruana survived another incredibly tense playoff match. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes KRUSH – TOKHIRJONOVA After yesterday’s draw neither player was in a must-win situation, but Krush was able to obtain a much more pleasant position on the Black side of an English Opening. Further strategic play allowed Krush to build up an overwhelming positional advantage, along with a healthy extra pawn. Despite Tokhirjonova’s efforts to change the character of the game, Krush managed to keep control over the position and converted without serious difficulties. GM Irina Krush is the only player in either field to advance to the Champions Bracket finals without needing a playoff. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ABRAHAMYAN – LEE Another excellent game by Lee ended up in a 2-0 match victory for the 12-year-old phenom. A sharp line of the Sveshnikov saw Abrahamyan end up with strong pressure on the kingside, but a flawed decision gave Black serious counterplay against White’s own king in the center. A further mistake by Abrahamyan in time trouble gave Lee the chance to turn things around with a powerful counter, which she seized and quickly decided the game. 30…Rxe2+! was the winning shot, with a decisive advantage after 31.Qxe2 Re8 or 31.Kxe2 Bf3+ | 0-1, 34 moves A sensational result for FM Alice Lee, who will face Krush in the next stage of the tournament. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Day 5 of the 2022 American Cup will take place Sunday, April 24 starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Alejandro Ramirez on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Watch all the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo credit: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Dates & Location:April 20 – 29, 2022, Saint Louis Chess Club Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClub Instagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClub YouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Press Contact:Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)
World Book Day: Chess Perspective
A few days ago, on the occasion of World Book Day on April 23, we devoted a series of social media posts to chess books and their history, that we have decided to compile here. It has often been said that there have been more books published on chess than all other sports combined. While this statement should be taken with a grain of salt, a fair estimation is that more than 100,000 chess books have been published since the invention of the print.A few days ago, on the occasion of World Book Day on April 23, we devoted a series of social media posts to chess books and their history, that we have decided to compile here. It has often been said that there have been more books published on chess than all other sports combined. While this statement should be taken with a grain of salt, a fair estimation is that more than 100,000 chess books have been published since the invention of the print. Some of the problems contained in the Kitab ash-shatranj The first comprehensive book dealing with chess was the Kitab ash-shatranj (Book of the chess), written in Arabic by Al-Adli ar Rumi around the year 850. The original is long lost, but we know of it through later works that preserved some of its texts and chess problems.The first comprehensive book dealing with chess was the Kitab ash-shatranj (Book of the chess), written in Arabic by Al-Adli ar Rumi around the year 850. The original is long lost, but we know of it through later works that preserved some of its texts and chess problems. “Book of the Games”, dated 1283″Book of the Games”, dated 1283 The “Book of Games” commissioned by Spanish King Alfonso X, contains the earliest European treatise on chess as well as being the oldest document on European table games. It was finished in 1283, and it is kept in El Escorial, a few kilometres north of Madrid.The “Book of Games” commissioned by Spanish King Alfonso X, contains the earliest European treatise on chess as well as being the oldest document on European table games. It was finished in 1283, and it is kept in El Escorial, a few kilometres north of Madrid. “Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess with 150 Games”, by Luis Ramírez de Lucena Not far from El Escorial, in the bustling university city of Salamanca, a copy of Lucena’s book is kept at the Historical Library of the University. Published in 1497, this is the oldest surviving document on “modern chess”, with the game being played with the current rules, exactly as we know it today. There is little doubt that this book is basically a copy of a previous one, published in Valencia some years before by a certain Francesch Vicent, but this original went lost long ago, never to be found again, despite the efforts of many historians – and wealthy collectors. With the invention of the mechanical print in Europe, multiple copies of a book would be produced. With that, the chances of a work simply vanishing like Vincent’s incunable were greatly reduced. A curious fact is that it was often the case that whenever a new printer was built, chess books were often among the first ones to come out, along with the bible. In fact, the second book ever printed in English language was a chess book!Not far from El Escorial, in the bustling university city of Salamanca, a copy of Lucena’s book is kept at the Historical Library of the University. Published in 1497, this is the oldest surviving document on “modern chess”, with the game being played with the current rules, exactly as we know it today. There is little doubt that this book is basically a copy of a previous one, published in Valencia some years before by a certain Francesch Vicent, but this original went lost long ago, never to be found again, despite the efforts of many historians – and wealthy collectors. With the invention of the mechanical print in Europe, multiple copies of a book would be produced. With that, the chances of a work simply vanishing like Vincent’s incunable were greatly reduced. A curious fact is that it was often the case that whenever a new printer was built, chess books were often among the first ones to come out, along with the bible. In fact, the second book ever printed in English language was a chess book! “The Game of Chess”, circa 1483 “The Game of Chess” was the second* book ever printed in the English language, in 1483, by William Caxton (1422 – 1491), an English merchant, diplomat, and writer. Caxton is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476. That made him the first English retailer of printed books. “The Game of Chess” was Caxton’s own translation of “De Ludo Scachorum”, originally written in Italian around 1280, that spread all over Europe through a French translation made in 1347. Extremely popular, two early English versions were of poor quality and hadn’t succeeded. But Caxton’s translation, which he created from several French sources, became the authoritative English version. This work is not exactly a chess book, but a series of sermons metaphorically using chess to depict the relationships between a King and the various estates of his Kingdom. However, the author decided to include the complete rules of chess to make the metaphor accessible to all readers. *[For those wondering, the first book in English ever printed, was “The Recuyell of the Historyes” of Troye, also printed by Claxton from a French translation, and also in 1474. Caxton printed almost 100 books, and of these 20 were translations from French or Dutch into English.]
American Cup: Day 3 Recap
Four players were knocked out of the American Cup as the first day of Elimination matches took place, with Robson – Shankland and Nemcova – Yan lasting all the way until Armageddon. In the Champions Bracket, GM Leinier Dominguez dealt a lethal blow to GM Levon Aronian, while FM Alice Lee won a fine technical game to also take the lead against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. The time control for the event is 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment for all games in the Champions Bracket, with a rapid time control of 25+10 for the Elimination Bracket and a 10+5 time control for all playoff matches. CHAMPIONS BRACKET ARONIAN – DOMINGUEZ Excellent preparation in the Petroff Defense gave Dominguez a very comfortable position out of the opening, as things quickly turned sour for Aronian, whose king found itself under heavy fire on the queenside. Dominguez was ruthless in the onslaught, and after a further blunder by Aronian Black’s attack was simply irresistible. 26…Bb2! was the clincher, setting up all kinds of mating threats such as Qxa2+ and Ra6 | 0-1, 28 moves GM Leinier Dominguez | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes CARUANA – SEVIAN An interesting treatment of the 4.e3 Nimzo allowed Caruana to seize the initiative out of the opening, but Sevian defended well, creating just enough counterplay on the queenside to stave off White’s attack. After some further complications, the players soon simplified into a drawn endgame, ending in a three-time repetition. GM Fabiano Caruana | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes KRUSH – TOKHIRJONOVA A dynamic battle saw Tokhirjonova accept an isolated queen pawn in exchange for active piece play. As the players approached time trouble, the position opened up and a complex material imbalance was reached with a rook and knight for Krush versus two bishops and two pawns for Tokhirjonova. A nervy time-scramble saw Tokhirjonova missing some chances, including a forced win, as the game eventually simplified into a draw. WGM Begim Tokhirjonova | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes LEE – ABRAHAMYAN Despite reaching a slightly more comfortable position out of the opening, Abrahamyan started to burn a lot of time and put all her hopes on a speculative kingside attack. Keeping her cool, Lee was able to neutralize Black’s play, and calmly refuted a flawed bishop sacrifice by Abrahamyan, taking a 1-0 lead in the match. FM Alice Lee | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams ELIMINATION BRACKET Elimination Bracket – Open Field Elimination Bracket – Women’s Field SO – XIONG After an early opening blunder by Xiong, So won two minor pieces for a rook and obtained a decisive advantage. Showing good technique, Wesley managed to convert his advantage with relative ease. In the second game Xiong seemed to have good chances to bounce back, even having two extra pawns in an endgame with rooks and opposite colored bishops, but tricky defense allowed So to miraculously escape into a drawn ending, clinching the match. GM Wesley So | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams SHANKLAND – ROBSON A very even match saw the first two games drawn without much room for fireworks, leading to a hotly contested playoff match. Robson was able to strike first, winning the initial playoff game thanks to a flurry of nice endgame tactics, but Shankland managed to level the score with a clean win in the very next game, taking the match to Armageddon. In Armageddon, Robson won the coin toss and chose the White pieces, once again playing into Shankland’s ultra-solid Berlin Defense. Neither side was able to get a significant edge until the game came down to a sharp time-scramble with both players having under a minute on the clock. But it was Robson who would get the upper hand, finding a clutch fork in the end to win the exchange and the match. GM Ray Robson | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NEMCOVA – YAN An incredibly dramatic match saw Nemcova needing to win on demand twice in order to stay in contention, first with Black in the 25+10 elimination games, then with White in the 10+5 rapid playoff, forcing an Armageddon. In the final game Yan built up a nice advantage with White out of the opening, but would end up overextending and losing control over the game in the endging. Nemcova pounced on the chance and ended up winning as Black in the Armageddon, knocking Yan out of the tournament. WGM Katerina Nemcova | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams ZATONSKIH – TSOLAKIDOU Another topsy-turvy match started with the players exchanging wins as Black in the initial rapid games, taking the encounter to another playoff. Playing for the initiative right out of the opening, Tsolakidou managed to win a sharp struggle after Zatonskih overstepped the time limit in the first playoff game. Needing to win the next game, Zatonskih did gain an advantage with White, but soon lost her edge as Tsolakidou created sufficient counterplay and eventually went on to hold the game, winning the match. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Day 4 of The 2022 American Cup will take place Saturday, April 23rd starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Alejandro Ramirez on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Watch all the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo credit: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Dates & Location:April 20 – 29, 2022, Saint Louis Chess Club Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClub Instagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClub YouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Press Contact:Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)