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.
Martin Haubro wins 2022 Danish Championship
IM Martin Haubro is a new champion of Denmark. The 28-year-old IM netted 7/9 (no draws!), won his maiden national title and picked up impressive 61 rating points. With this result, Martin completed his first GM norm. The Danish Championship (Masters), a 10-player round-robin tournament with classical time control, took place from April 9-17 in Svendborg, a small town that has hosted this event for the last three years. The town Mayor Bo Hansen opened the tournament by making a symbolic first move Lars Schandorff’s – Bjørn Møller Ochsner. Danish championships are known for competitive spirit and close fights, and the 2022 edition was no exception. The future champion suffered a setback in the first-round game against GM Jesper Sondergaard Thybo (pictured below) but stormed back by scoring six straight victories and grabbed the lead. His main competitor Thybo who also had an excellent tournament, kept the pace with Haubro until the decisive final round. With both leaders sitting on 6/8, Haubro was in better a position coming into the final round as he faced Martin Percivaldi with white, whereas Thybo took on Bjorn Moller Ochsner with black pieces. Haubro made a quick work of his namesake Percivaldi and had to wait for the outcome of Ochner – Thybo. Had Jesper Sondergaard won this game, he would have become champion thanks to his first-round victory over Haubro (the first tiebreaker criteria). Thybo obtained a slight edge on the black side of the Berlin System of Ruy Lopez but did not manage to make progress, drew the longest game of the round and fell just a half-point short of the title. The runner-up completed the event unbeaten and became the only player to defeat the champion. The rating-favourite of the event and the only 2600+ player GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (pictured below) turned in a decent performance but lost two games and had to settle for bronze. Final standings: 1 IM Haubro, Martin 2391 7 2 GM Thybo, Jesper Sondergaard 2559 6½ 3 GM Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 2611 6 4 GM Schandorff, Lars 2475 5 5 IM Ochsner, Bjorn Moller 2506 4½ 6 IM Olsen Filip, Boe 2402 4½ 7 IM Percivaldi, Martin 2399 4 8 GM Hoi, Carsten 2359 2½ 9 IM Sylvan, Jacob 2319 2½ 10 IM Borge, Nikolaj 2403 2½ Offical website: skak-dm.dk/2022 Photo: Thomas Vestergård
Trainer Workshop: “How to Teach Calculations” by Artur Jussupow
FIDE Senior Trainer and GM Artur Jussupow, a World Championship Candidate who has been ranked as high as third behind legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov at their peak, will conduct a workshop “How to Teach Calculations” on 14 May 2022. The workshop will be held in online format. This is the second of a series by Jussupow where he shares his experience and methods, and which is part of our Trainer Professional Education and Development workshops where we look to help trainers enhance their skills. Photo: Vladimir Jagr Credits are also awarded towards bonus points at seminars towards future title upgrades. The most important topics that would be discussed in this workshop are: Candidate Moves Method of Elimination Comparison Method Priorities in the calculations Typical mistakes Training methods Held at Central European Time, the workshop will be in two three hour sessions, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eligible are licensed FIDE trainers and the fee is €50. Please download registration form complete it and send by email to trainers@fide.com. The payment options can be found here: https://trg.fide.com/trg-billing-collection-procedures/
Qualification Commission renews its leadership
Nick Faulks, chair of the Qualification Commission (QC), and Alex Holowczak, its Secretary, have decided to step down from their current positions. They both will remain as Councillors and will also keep cooperating with FIDE in other areas, putting their invaluable experience to use. The intention of this change of leadership is to allow for a fresh approach to the work of the Commission. Nick Faulks will pass the baton to Sabrina de San Vicente (pictured above), from Uruguay, who has been one of the most active members of the Qualification Commission. Sabrina is a very experienced IA, a member of the Green Panel of arbiters, and the current Chair of the Arbiters Commission at the Confederation of Chess for Americas. “I would like to thank my colleagues Nick Faulks and Alex Holowczak for their trust and support. Nick has been a member of the Commission for more than ten years. Their contribution to the QC was and will be invaluable. I look forward to keeping working with them,” said Sabrina. Gunther van den Bergh, from South Africa, will take the position of Secretary. Like Sabrina, he has been a member of the qualification Commission during the past years, besides being the Chair of the arbiters Commission of the South African Chess Federation. A programmer by profession, he is one of the most experienced arbiters in the African continent. Besides his work at the QC, Gunther’s predecessor Alex Holowczak has been heavily involved in renewing and improving its most important documents, like its Handbook and tournament regulations. Leaving his post as Secretary of the QC will allow him to focus completely on this area of work. “After more than ten years on QC, as Secretary and then Chairman, I believe this is a good moment to pass control to a new group,” said Nick. “I hope that I have helped to maintain the long tradition of the Commission’s work and am particularly pleased that we have recently finalised a fully revised set of Title and Rating Regulations. I look forward to working closely with Sabrina and Gunther in the coming months. I know they can rely, as I have, on full support from their Commission and also, most crucially, from the professional staff at the FIDE office.” Photo: Lourdes Porta
Ten years of Chicago chess in jail
Ten years ago, a very fortunate connection happened in Chicago when Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart approached his children’s chess coach, Mikhail Korenman. Apart from being a seasoned teacher, Mikhail had already been engaged in all kinds of chess activities, from founding chess clubs and schools, to organizing events. Sheriff Dart thought that the game could also play a very important role in jail. Dart’s vision appealed to Mikhail, and the two agreed to start a ‘chess in jail’ program. “Chess is more than an entertaining pastime. The game teaches its players valuable life lessons,” Sheriff Dart said in a statement. “It requires critical thinking and to consider the risks and rewards of their decisions, which are valuable skills that help foster a reduction in violent behavior.” The program has grown with about 3,000 individuals in custody participating in the last 10 years. “About 50% are completely new to chess, and they learn the game from scratch,” Dr. Korenman said. In 2020, the Sheriff’s Office and FIDE agreed to host online, international chess competitions with detained individuals around the world. Cook County Department of Corrections, where “Chess for Freedom” meets “The Year of the Woman in Chess” The program’s tenth anniversary was celebrated on April 1st, and FIDE was represented by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, who travelled all the way to Chicago to have the opportunity to meet some of the people she had been working with, “closely but remotely”, during the last year through the program “Chess for Freedom.” Along with Dana, representatives of the consulates of Mongolia, Bulgaria and Australia — countries that participated in the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners — also joined the celebration. “The Cook County Sheriff’s Office initiative has now grown into a great movement which we call “Chess for Freedom”. Last year we organized the First Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. 40 teams from 31 countries, including 5 female teams were participating. And this year we aim to expand the event to at least 64 teams,” explained Dana. “Such flagship events give a great deal of motivation to inmates. However, the most important part is the everyday work behind them. It is about passionate people like Mikhail Korenman who work with inmates on a regular basis and become role models for them. Chess teaches patience, respect for the opponent and the relationship between the cause and the consequences. It also stresses guiding to little victories and greater success through discipline and lots of work. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart with some of the organizers and representatives of the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. It is also about leaders like Sheriff Thomas Dart who support such programs and understand how important it is to provide skills and support to those who have made mistakes in their lives. That way there is a chance they can get back to normal lives with less inclination for repeating infringement of law.” Apart from its proven effect in reducing depression, anxiety, and stress in human groups under difficult circumstances, research in other countries also demonstrates the efficiency of chess as a tool for insertion. A study presented by GM Darcy Lima (“Chess that Liberates”) analyzing the experience in Brazil shows that with inmates participating in a chess program for longer than two years, their repeated infringements rate reduces from 72% to 12%. That is why we at FIDE are so enthusiastic about expanding the program in those countries that have not yet started their chess in prisons activities. If you need any advice or assistance with reaching out to authorities, or sharing methodologies/best practices, please contact us at socialchess@fide.com, and we will try to assist.