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)
Oslo Esports Cup starts with thumping win for Carlsen
The world’s first fully in-person chess e-sports event, the Oslo Esports Cup, got under way on Friday with World Champion Magnus Carlsen in imperious form. Carlsen, who is going for a hat-trick of wins in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, rounded off the challenge of Polish No.1 Jan-Krzysztof Duda with a thumping 2.5-0.5 victory. The Norwegian even managed to survive a second-game experiment on move 1 as he opened with the highly-dubious 1.f3 – not a standard move at the elite level. That game ended in a draw. The $210,000 all-play-all event is being played over seven days at chess24.com’s e-sports arena in Oslo and is the first online chess tournament of its kind. Carlsen, who went into the tournament topping the overall Tour standings, said of his Round 1 result: “It’s pretty good. Three games, that’s the best you can do.” On playing the experimental 1.f3, Carlsen added: “I planned to play that regardless, I’ve been trying to experiment to see what first moves you can make playable. “But I cannot say that experience was too successful because I didn’t remember what to do and had to improvise. “I’ve definitely been trying to play creatively in many of these events so I intend to continue that. Not as a rule, but once in a while and I think it’s been working pretty well getting my opponents a little out of book and keeping them on their toes.” In the other matches, the fast-improving Indian teen Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa also dispatched his opponent, the Dutchman Jorden van Foreest, in only three games. Liem Quang Le, the Airthings Master finalist, had a tough start to the tournament going down 2.5-1.5 to Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov. The final match to finish saw tournament underdog, popular streamer Eric Hansen who is ranked 237 in the world, suffer a first-round loss to Dutch No.1 Anish Giri. Round 2 starts at 18:00 CEST on Saturday with Carlsen taking on Liem in a repeat of the Airthings Masters final. 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
American Cup: Day 2 Recap
An action packed day saw five matches decided in the playoffs and one match (Caruana-Xiong) made it all the way to Armageddon, finishing in a dramatic time scramble. After all was said and done, Aronian, Dominguez, Sevian, and Caruana from the Open Field along with Krush, Tokhirjonova, Lee, and Abrahamyan from the Women’s Field advanced to the next stage of the Champions Bracket. Meanwhile the rest of the players were relegated to the Elimination Bracket, where they will get a second chance to win the tournament starting tomorrow. Classical Results – Open Field Classical Results – Women’s Field Rapid Results – Both Fields 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. OPEN FIELD – CHAMPIONS BRACKET ROBSON – ARONIAN After losing yesterday’s game, Robson needed to strike back today and was gifted a fantastic exchange sacrifice opportunity thanks to a strange slip by Aronian in the opening. Robson then continued well to reach a winning endgame with 6 pawns for a piece, that he went on to eventually convert, forcing a playoff. 12.Rxc6! bxc6 13.Nxe5 left White with a pawn and excellent compensation for the exchange. | 1-0, 73 moves The first game of the playoff saw the players repeat the English Opening from earlier, but this time Aronian was much better prepared, putting serious pressure on the board and on the clock. In a slightly worse position, Robson overlooked a tactical blow that was simply winning for Black on the spot, and Aronian pounced on the chance to win the first game. In the second game Robson managed to get a slightly better position out of the opening, and again went for an exchange sacrifice to create some serious imbalance. However this sacrifice was less promising, and Aronian had few issues defending and securing the draw. Aronian bounced back nicely after losing the second classical game SHANKLAND – DOMINGUEZ The second classical game in this match was fairly solid throughout, with neither player making any significant mistakes on the way to a draw. However Dominguez started to pull away in the rapid playoff, after nearly winning the first game with Black he then managed to outplay Shankland in a very sharp ending in the second game, taking the match. Dominguez was able to show better nerves in the rapid playoff SEVIAN – SO Needing to win today So chose an unusual variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, where White gets a slightly better endgame but with plenty of pieces on the board. Hoping to outplay Sevian in the endgame, So did not succeed and was even worse when the players decided to repeat moves in a rook ending. The draw allowed Sevian to advance to the next stage, as well as cross 2700 FIDE in live rating for the first time in his career, a huge milestone. America’s latest 2700, the 21-year-old GM Sam Sevian XIONG – CARUANA A second draw in the classical meant the players would decide it all in the rapid playoff. While Xiong was not able to get anything in the first rapid game, in the second Caruana gained a nearly strategically winning position right out of the opening. But Xiong held with persistent defense, and the players would head into Armageddon. The Armageddon match saw Caruana having White with 5 minutes against Xiong’s 4 minutes, along with draw odds. A repeat of the previous rapid game gave Caruana another overwhelming position, though again he was unable to convert and even eventually finding himself in a lost endgame. A time scramble ensued and in a completely won ending Xiong ended up flagging while making his 60th move, losing the game. Had he gotten his move down in time, the clock would have activated a 2-second increment starting with the 61st move. After a tense Armageddon, Caruana was visibly relieved WOMEN’S FIELD – CHAMPIONS BRACKET YAN – KRUSH After winning Game 1, Krush surprised her opponent with the Four Knights Sicilian today, an opening she had never played before. Yan quickly faltered out of the opening and soon it was only Black (Krush) who could play for the win, with the game ultimately drawn in the end. Top seed GM Irina Krush had few problems advancing to the next stage TOKHIRJONOVA – NEMCOVA Also needing just a draw to advance, Tokhirjonova found a solid setup with White in a Queen’s Gambit Declined and obtained a small advantage out of the opening. To the commentators’ surprise, Nemcova allowed a repetition of moves early in the middlegame and the game was soon drawn. LEE – TSOLAKIDOU After a rollercoaster draw yesterday, today’s game was less hectic, with Lee missing a chance to gain a decisive advantage out of the opening and later being unable to create serious winning chances, resulting in a draw. The first game of the playoff looked quite drawish as the players entered an endgame with opposite colored bishops. However in time trouble Tsolakidou ended up pushing too hard and blundered away the game. Tsolakidou’s 64…Bxa6 was the losing move, as White reached a winning ending after 65.Kxg6 e1=Q 66.Bxe1 Kxe1 67.Kxh5. Instead 64…e1=Q would save the game, as after 65.Bxe1 Kxe1 66.a7 Be4 Black would be up a tempo compared to the game, and just in time to hold. Thanks to a trendy exchange sacrifice in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Lee was able to control the second game of the playoff and even went on to win it, clinching the playoff 2-0. 12-year-old Alice Lee is the youngest participant in the field ABRAHAMYAN – ZATONSKIH Facing a must-win situation, Abrahamyan seized a serious advantage after Zatonskih misplayed the opening in Petroff Defense. Although Tatev was unable to capitalize effectively, she did manage to reach a heavy piece endgame which was quite unpleasant for Black. Zatonskih held her ground for some time but ended up missing
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51st Mar del Plata Open: Andres Rodriguez clinches the title
The 51st edition Mar del Plata Open, one of the oldest tournaments in Argentina, was held from April 9-16 in the second-largest city in Buenos Aires province. One of many tournaments supported by FIDE under the Open Aid Project, the 9-round Swiss event brought together 282 participants from eight countries, including 35 titled players. The event turned into a very close race among the rating favourites. Suffice it to say that three players, GMs Andres Rodriguez (Uruguay) and two Argentineans, Facundo Pierrot and Leonardo Tristan, were coming into the final round as joint-leaders on 7/8 with six players, including the highest-rated Diego Flores, trailing by a half-point. After Facundo Pierrot fell to Diego Flores in a seesaw game, all eyes were on the leaders’ clash Rodriguez – Tristan. The Uruguayan made the best of the opponent’s mistakes, scored a very important victory and took the first prize with an excellent result of 8/9. Diego Flores, Italian veteran GM Carlos Garcia Palermo and IM Ismael Acosta tied for the second place, with the first two making the podium by dint of better Buchholz. WFM María José Campos (pictured below) turned in the best female performance, whereas FM Marcelo Ibar became the best senior player. The event ran very smoothly, thanks largely to a great job by the tournament director Javier Curilen and AI OI Leandro Plotinsky. Final standings: 1 GM Rodriguez Vila, Andres URU 2435 8 2 GM Flores, Diego ARG 2562 7½ 3 GM Garcia Palermo, Carlos ITA 2403 7½ 4 IM Acosta Pablo, Ismael ARG 2450 7½ 5 FM Cristobal, Manuel ARG 2215 7 6 IM Pierrot, Facundo ARG 2381 7 7 IM Romero Barreto, Jaime VEN 2340 7 8 IM Fiorito, Fabian ARG 2356 7 9 FM Miranda, Rafael ARG 2262 7 10 GM Tristan, Leonardo ARG 2553 7 You can find the complete results here. Official website: mdpajedrez.com.ar/inscripcion/ Photo credit: official website