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
American Cup 2022: Day 1 Recap
The inaugural American Cup kicked off today with plenty of decisive action as several players drew first blood in their individual matches within the Champions Bracket. In this exciting new format, the winner of each match will advance to the next stage while the loser will be relegated to the Elimination Bracket, where they will be given a second chance to keep their tournament hopes alive. Champions Bracket – Open Field Champions Bracket – Women’s Field Both GM Levon Aronian and GM Sam Sevian won their first games in the Open Field, while the Women’s Field saw GM Irina Krush, WGM Begim Tokhirjonova, and IM Anna Zatonskih each scoring victories. With each match consisting of two games, So, Robson, Yan, Nemcova, and Abrahamyan will all be in a must-win situation tomorrow in order to force a rapid playoff. 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 The first game of the day to finish took place between GM Leinier Dominguez and GM Sam Shankland, as the players entered a highly theoretical variation of the Italian Game. Showing good preparation, Shankland sacrificed a piece for three pawns and neutralized Dominguez’s pressure, who then forced a draw by repetition. Scoring a huge win with Black was GM Sam Sevian, who managed to overtake the initiative against GM Wesley So in a sharp position with opposite side castling. 28…Qd5! allowed Sevian to launch a devastating counter-attack against White’s king GM Sam Sevian pulled off a big upset over GM Wesley So Also winning was GM Levon Aronian, who gave up his strong fianchettoed bishop in order to snag a pawn against GM Ray Robson. Although Black had serious compensation, Robson failed to generate enough play for the pawn and Aronian was eventually able to convert the full point. After 43.Kh5, White’s winning plan was to break through with f4-f5-f6. | 1-0, 52 moves Current World No. 4 Levon Aronian took an early 1-0 lead against GM Ray Robson The last game to finish was a wild affair between GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Jeffery Xiong, as a quiet Petroff quickly turned into an unbalanced queen vs. two rooks middlegame, with both players missing chances as they approached mutual time trouble. With Black’s king too open for the rooks to create serious counterplay, the game was logically drawn by repetition, keeping the match level going into tomorrow’s round. WOMEN’S FIELD In the Women’s Field, top seed GM Irina Krush earned a smooth win against FM Ruiyang Yan, nursing an extra pawn out of the opening to eventually take over the full board. No. 2 seed IM Anna Zatonskih also won her game, building up a large strategic advantage against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who later blundered in time trouble while in a difficult position. 25.d6! left White with a long-term positional advantage, thanks to the weakness of Black’s king. | 1-0, 37 moves Eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush started off with a clean win against FM Ruiyang Yan Winning with Black was WGM Begim Tokhirjonova, who outplayed WGM Katerina Nemcova out of the opening in order to pick up a clean extra pawn. Although Nemcova had chances to hold in an endgame with opposite colored bishops, a further blunder allowed Tokhirjonova to secure the victory. WGM Begim Tokhirjonova, who plays for the University of Missouri chess team The final game to finish was a rollercoaster draw between IM Stavroula Tsolakidou and WIM Alice Lee. Although Lee held a big advantage out of the opening with an overwhelming majority on the queenside, a timely knight sacrifice allowed Tsolakidou to turn things around with a powerful kingside attack. Amazingly, Lee managed to survive and eventually escape into an endgame with a knight against four pawns, where Tsolakidou was unable to generate any real winning chances. Day 2 of the 2022 American Cup will take place Thursday, April 21 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, Austin Fuller and Crystal 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)
Sandro Mareco and Sandra Guillen win LXVII Mexico Open Championship
The city of Chihuahua, the capital of the northwestern state bearing the same name, hosted one of the largest chess forums in Mexico, the LXVII National Open Championship, from April 12-17, 2022. The festival, with a total prize fund of $80,000, brought together about 900 participants and consisted of several Swiss tournaments in various rating and age categories. The main (Open) event attracted twelve grandmasters from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Cuba, the United States and Mexico, while the women’s tournament was only for local female players. The winners of this event in all categories claimed the titles of national champions. Chihuahua had some sort of a “chess fever” during the LXVII Mexico National Open Championship – according to the president of the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels, hotel occupancy during the event reached 2,000 room nights (for five nights). GM Sandro Mareco of Argentina (pictured below) came as the winner of the open event, a nine-round Swiss tournament with classical time control. One of the two rating favourites scored 7½/9, conceding just three draws. Three players, GMs Pablo Salinas (Chile), Kevin Cory (Peru), and Luis Ibarra Chami (Mexico), finished just a half-point behind and tied for the second place, with the Chilean and Peruvian claiming second and third positions in the final standings respectively in accordance with Buchholz (the first tiebreak criteria). The two best-performing Mexican players, GMs Luis Ibarra Chami and Gilberto Hernández Guerrero, booked the slots in the national team that will represent the country at the Chess Olympiad 2022. Final standings Open: 1 GM Mareco, Sandro ARG 2652 7½ 2 GM Salinas Herrera, Pablo CHI 2521 7 3 GM Cori Quispe Kevin PER 2492 7 4 GM Ibarra Chami, Luis MEX 2441 7 5 GM Cordova, Emilio PER 2544 6½ 6 GM Cori, Jorge PER 2652 6½ 7 GM Hernandez Guerrero, Gilberto MEX 2564 6½ 8 GM Quesada Perez, Luis CUB 2519 6½ 9 GM Gonzalez Zamora, Juan MEX 2532 6 10 FM Galaviz Medina, Sion MEX 2362 6 In the women’s event, an eight-round Swiss tournament with only local players participating, two places in the women’s Olympic team were also at stake. These two spots went to Sandra Guillen from Veracruz (pictured below), who won the event with an excellent score of 7/8 and Ameyalli Ávila Fraire (5½/8) from Durango, who ended up in a large group of players tied for third place. Final standings Women: 1 WNM Guillen Cristobal, Sandra 1947 7 2 WIM Guerrero Rodriguez, Alejandra 2023 6 3 WCM Avila Fraire, Ameyalli 1963 5½ 4 Ortega Beltran, Ximena 1759 5½ 5 Ramirez Toledo, Ayleen 1932 5½ 6 WCM Santiago Gonzalez, Frida 1830 5½ 7 WIM Ancheyta Tejas, Claudinelly 2061 5½ 8 WIM Corrales Jimenez, Zenia 2195 5 9 Montano Vicente, Guadalupe 1698 5 10 Ruiz Villalba, Andrea 1831 5 The program of the LXVII National Open Chamionship included several night Blitz tournaments held in different venues of the hotels in the city of Chihuahua, simultaneous exhibitions and various cultural activities. The games of open and women’s sections were broadcast on Chess 24. It would have been impossible to stage an event of such magnitude without the support and sponsorship of different governmental and private entities, such as the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport, the Mexican Olympic Committee, the State and the municipality of Chihuahua, the State Convention Bureau, the Municipal Economic Support and Development Directorate, the pharmaceutical company Terra Farma, the FENAMAC Chess Development Center in Mexico City, and the Mexican Association of Hoteliers in Chihuahua. Official website: nacionalabierto.fenamacajedrez.com/ Photo credit: the official website and Facebook page
FIDE increases Olympiad travel grants
The International Chess Federation, together with the organizers of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad, is pleased to announce support for teams and delegates from developing federations for travel to Chennai. Targeting to achieve maximum possible participation, the total amount of travel subsidy was increased and reached 1.5 million euros – the highest ever. This support will be shared among up to 150 member federations. Committed to transparency, FIDE is publishing a transparent and fair policy of allocations of travel subsidy, which you can find below. While general principles will be followed duly, FIDE will examine individual cases and requests with due care. Looking forward to seeing you all in Chennai! Travel Subsidies for Participants of Olympiad and Delegates of FIDE Congress 1) FIDE will subsidize travel to Chennai for eligible federations as follows: Development Level 3, 4 and 5 federations will have their travel to Chennai subsidized up to the following limits: – for federations in Africa – 1,000 euros per person (12,000 euros for a full team*) – for federations in Americas – 1,500 euros per person (18,000 euros for a full team*) – for federations in Asia – 500 euros per person (6,000 euros for a full team*) – for federations in Europe – 750 euros per person (9,000 euros for a full team*) – for federations in Oceania – 1,500 euros per person (18,000 euros for a full team*) FIDE Treasurer may, at her own discretion, increase the amount of travel subsidy for certain federations taking into account their particular circumstances. * Note: Full teams mean 12 persons – Open and Women teams each comprised 5 players and a captain. ** Note: The development levels of the federation are listed here: https://pdc.fide.com/fide-development-levels/ 2) In exceptional circumstances, Development Level 1 and 2 federations may apply for travel subsidies. Valid reasons for such applications may be a remote location (and therefore very expensive tickets), the poor economic situation in a country (as evidenced by per capita GDP significantly lower than the world’s average and other relevant economic indicators), etc. Such applications will be reviewed and decided by FIDE Treasurer on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, the travel subsidy limits for Development Level 1 and 2 federations are 50% of the limits stipulated in paragraph 1 for the respective continents. FIDE Treasurer, at her own discretion, may decide to provide lower or higher subsidies depending on particular circumstances of the federations in question. 3) Expenses covered by travel subsidy: economy class air tickets and other essential expenses related to international travel (visas, Covid-19 tests if necessary, etc.). Discretionary expenses (incl. meals) will not be reimbursed. 4) National chess federations shall make travel arrangements on their own and send requests for the travel subsidy together with relevant supporting documents (tickets / receipts / invoices / etc.) to FIDE Office. Travel subsidy will be paid within four weeks after the Olympiad completion taking into account the actual number of persons who arrived at the Olympiad. Expenses incurred with respect to persons who did not arrive at the Olympiad will not be reimbursed. For the avoidance of doubt, if actual travel expenses are lower than the above limits, only actual expenses will be reimbursed. 5)In exceptional cases, federations may apply to receive travel subsidy prior to the Olympiad. FIDE Treasurer will review such applications and decide on the amount of prepayment (if any) on a case-by-case basis. 6) Delegates of FIDE Congress are eligible for travel subsidy on the same principles as described in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. 7) All communications on this matter (applications for travel subsidies, expense reports, etc.) shall be sent to FIDE emails office@fide.com and accounts@fide.com.
Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2022: Registration opens
The Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2022, a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments, starts on June 05, 2022. The event organized by FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in cooperation with FIDE Events Commission, is supported by the Asian Chess Federation, the African Chess Confederation, the European Chess Union, and the Confederation of Chess for Americas. Female players from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas will compete in the Continental Online Blitz Qualification Tournaments first, and those who qualify will advance to the Queens’ Online Individual and Team Finals. The inaugural edition of the Queens’ Festival was held in 2021 and brought together over 460 participants from 82 countries. Many thousands more followed the side events featuring female role model guests and presenters on FIDE social media. With the Year of the Woman in Chess being well underway, the organizers expect even more female players to join this time. The festival welcomes all women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess fans. Each national federation can register four players free of charge; the entry fee for additional players is €10 per person. The competition will run be held in four rating categories: Category A: 2000 and higherCategory B: 1800-1999Category C: 1600-1799Category D: <1600, unrated Regulations for Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2022 (pdf) Registrations for the tournaments are made by the National Federations by filling this form and sending it to the organizers’ email address: queensfestival@fide.com. The deadline for registration: Friday, May 27, 2022 for America; Friday, June 03, 2022 for Africa and Asia; Friday, June 09, 2022 for Europe. Contact Information: General Director: IM/WGM Eva Repkova Tournament Director: IM/WGM Ilaha Kadimova Chief Arbiter: IA Tania Karali E-mail address: queensfestival@fide.com
FIDE announces long-term cooperation with the Scheinberg family
The contract for the FIDE Grand Swiss-2023 to take place in the Isle of Man was signed last week. In addition, the Scheinberg family confirms it will sponsor one major FIDE event every year up to 2026. The cooperation that started a few years ago has already resulted in two Grand Swiss events (2019, 2021), Women Grand Swiss (2021), and forthcoming Candidates (2022), and will help the top-level chess as well as the promotion of the game on all the continents. Photo credit: Pokerstars
FIDE Trainer Seminar for Spanish Americas held online
The first of two FIDE Trainer Online Seminars planned for Spanish Americas this year was held from 15-17 April 2022. A total of 27 participants from 14 countries took part, with FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan welcoming the participants. Victor Bologan expressed hope that the seminar would help the trainers attending become better at their work while highlighting the credentials of the lecturer team. He also had little doubt that their feedback would be excellent. The lecturers for this seminar were led by FST & GM Alonso Zapata together with FST & GM Reinaldo Vera, FT & GM Bernal González, with assistance from FI & WIM Carolina Munoz and WIM Adriana Salazar. The main organizers for TRG were FST & GM Alonso Zapata and FI & WIM Carolina Munoz. FIDE Trainer Online Seminars have been organized by TRG since April 2020, first in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but increasingly for accessibility as it more effectively reaches trainers by region and language, lowers costs of participation and allows lecturers from all parts of the world to share their experience and teaching methods.