FIDE Grand Prix Belgrade: Round 2 Recap
Three victories, five draws and Grischuk’s second defeat in a row have marked the second day of the FIDE Grand Prix Belgrade, organized by World Chess Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi have scored again, and they are the only two players with two victories. The second round started at 3 PM local time, with Aleksandar Vulin – Serbia’s minister of interior affairs – making the first move in the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Pool A The game between Etienne Bacrot and Dmitry Andreikin ended in a draw. In the Ruy Lopez, White managed to gain a slight edge in the opening, putting pressure on Black’s position. After a few imprecise moves, however – particularly 19.Rc1 – Black got some breathing space and engineered a counter-attack on the kingside. Bacrot found a nice move 24.Bg5, securing that any further simplifications help relieve him of the pressure on the board. The game transpired into an endgame where Black was better; however, Bacrot managed to pose some problems, which Andreikin did not manage to find the correct answer for. Probably Black had to venture upon g6-g5 at some point because after the Frenchman pushed h2-h4 and f2-f4, he got out of danger. After losing in the first round, Alexander Grischuk suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Sam Shankland. Although Grischuk was standing better on the black side of Nimzo-Indian by move 17, he allowed White to come back into the game after a suspicious 19…Nc5, sacrificing a pawn. Alexander had sufficient compensation but erred with 22…Rc6 – the game liquidated into a hopeless ending for Black despite equal material. With no better options, Grischuk resigned on the move 39. Grischuk is now the only player in the tournament without any points. Pool B Anish Giri won a second game in a row. He was better against Nikita Vitiugov, who had an easy pass in the first round following Pentala Harikrishna’s early blunder on Tuesday. The game started calmly, as Giuoco Pianissimo suggests, with both sides developing and trying to gain control of the centre. However, Anish met 14…f6? with a powerful breakthrough in the center and grabbed the initiative. Giri did not find the best way to build up pressure, and by move 20, the game was even. It did not prevent Giri from setting off some fireworks as he sacrificed his dark-squared bishop to launch an attack on the kingside. Vitiugov accepted the gift and defended with precision until move 30, when he committed a fatal error 30…c7-c5. Giri leapt at the chance, and two moves down the road, Nikita threw in the towel. With this victory, Giri is on two out of two and shows that he is in excellent form. The second pair of Pool B, Amin M. Tabatabaei and Pentala Harikrishna, made a draw in the Caro Kann. It was a lucky escape for the Iranian, who spent a lot of time in the opening and then made a blunder with 21.c4, handing over an almost decisive advantage to Black. By move 26, Black was completely dominating the board. However, instead of bringing his knight into play and going for the white king, Pentala opted to collect two pawns on the kingside, giving White time to organise a defence and “trap” Black’s queen perpetually attacking the most powerful piece. Following the game, Tabatabaei said that he is spending too much time thinking about the moves and that time management is a problem for him in this tournament. Conversely, Harikrishna said he was too hasty in his play, allowing White the repetition and even more chances to play for an advantage. Pool C Vidit Santosh Gujrathi scored a well-deserved victory over Vladimir Fedoseev in the Nimzo Indian. It was the longest game of the second round, lasting around four and a half hours. Vidit played the same line that Rapport tested against Feseev yesterday and also got some edge. White gradually restricted Black’s pieces and timely opened the centre on the move 23 to give some work for his bishop pair. Despite some time trouble the Indian was building up pressure, taking control over the proceedings. Fedoseev gave up an exchange hoping for his c-passer and active knights, but Vidit penetrated with his rooks into Black’s camp along the h-file, and that made all the difference. Fedoseev resisted, but his efforts were not enough to repel White’s advances, and he had to call it a day. “I feel very good that I managed to win these games. In the last couple of tournaments, I managed to bodge similar positions. So I’m relieved I won,” said Gujrathi after the game. The game between Alexei Shirov and Richard Rapport was the first one to finish, after just over an hour of play. Rapport surprised Shirov with the Petrov and then with 4…Nc6. “I used to have some games in this line more than 20 years ago”, Shirov recalled after the game. He spent quite some time thinking about the next move. Alexei could have opted for much sharper lines, but the seasoned GM probably concluded that he didn’t feel confident going down that path. Instead, Shirov took a safe line leading to simplifications. After exchanges in the centre, the game transpired into an opposite colour bishops endgame and the two Grandmasters agreed on a draw after the 30th move. In the post-game interview Alexei Shirov reflected on the time spent in Belgrade and the tournaments he played in the capital of former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. “It was quite a thing to play in Belgrade back then… What stood out was a big audience at the event and huge interest for chess which was rather unusual”, noted the seasoned GM. Pool D One of the most exciting games of the day took place on the board where Maxime Vacheir-Lagrave was leading the white pieces against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The Open Variation of Ruy Lopez was played, and an interesting position emerged after White’s 11th move Qe1, one that was tested in the game Vachier-Lagrave – Giri back in 2019 in Zagreb. There were several lines for Black to choose. Instead of continuing as Giri with 11…Nc5, Mamedyarov opted to castle and
Erigaisi, Nakamura and Aronian move up in March rating list
The FIDE rating list for March 2022 is out. The traditional Tata Steel festival, the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix, Battle of Sexes in Gibraltar, Iberoamericano Championship in Mexico-city became the main rating-changers in February (the Tata Steel ended in January, but its results were incorporated in the March rating-list). Levon Aronian gained 13 points in the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin; combined with an 11-point loss by Caruana in Tata Steel Masters, this enabled him to rise to #4, the position he occupied back in November 2021. Photo: Official Photo FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Press Kit Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also picked up some rating points in Berlin to overtake Ian Nepomniachtchi. Magnus Carlsen, who recently voiced an ambitious goal of clearing the 2900 mark, earned 3 points in Tata Steel Masters, but all this gain was wiped out in a single draw against much lower-rated Geir Sune Tallaksen Osmoe, played in the Norwegian Premier League. Still, the World Champion’s top position in the rating list is indisputable. Women’s #1 Hou Yifan returned to action but lost 8 points in her match vs Bu Xiangzhi. Humpy Koneru (previously #3) no longer appears in the list due to inactivity; thus, all players below her rose one place, with Harika Dronavalli entering the top 10. Biggest gains (in both Open and Women top-100): Erigaisi, Arjun 2660 (+27) Sargsyan, Anna M. 2395 (+15) Nakamura, Hikaru 2750 (+14) Aronian, Levon 2785 (+13) Van Foreest, Jorden 2714 (+12) Stefanova, Antoaneta 2457 (+12) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2776 (+9) Esipenko, Andrey 2723 (+9) Saric, Ivan 2687 (+9) Efroimski, Marsel 2446 (+9) Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2694 (+8) Arjun Erigaisi, who was considered one of the main favourites before the start of Tata Steel Challengers, did not disappoint. The Indian youngster won the event with an excellent score of 10½/13, earned 27 rating points and made a roaring debut in the top-100 Open. Photo by © Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 Anna Sargsyan turned in a solid performance in the Lozovatsky Memorial (the open won by Nikita Afanasiev), netted 15 rating points and deservedly became second in this category. Hikaru Nakamura returned to OTB chess with a bang by winning the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin and picking up impressive 14 points along the way. Photo: Official Photo FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Press Kit Jorden Van Foreest and Andrey Esipenko got their well-deserved rating points earned in Tata Steel Masters and continue to climb the ladder. Again, junior players outside of open and women top-100 can boast of more significant rating progress. Alice Lee (+111), Elif Mehmed (+61), Miaoyi Lu (+37), Roxangel Obregon Garcia (+37), Lara Schulze (+36), Christopher Yoo (+20), Balaji Daggupati (+20), to name just a few, considerably increased their rating.
World Team Championship postponed to November 2022
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has decided to postpone the World Teams Championship 2022 to November 2022. The rights to host the tournament are retained by the Israeli Chess Federation. At the moment, due to the ongoing tragic events related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the participation of the Ukrainian team cannot be ensured and the Russian national team cannot be allowed to participate in the championship. In addition, a number of other teams have not confirmed their participation. FIDE calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
The Official Statement of FIDE Council
Today, on February 27, 2022, an extraordinary meeting of the FIDE Council was held on the current situation and the urgent measures to be taken after the military action launched by Russia in Ukraine. As stated by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the FIDE Council regards its main mission in preserving the unity of FIDE and respecting the basic human rights enshrined in the FIDE Charter. In this regard, the FIDE Council has adopted a number of important emergency decisions. FIDE Council approves the following statement condemning the military action: “FIDE expresses its grave concern about the military action started by Russia in Ukraine. FIDE stands united against wars as well as condemns any use of military means to resolve political conflicts. FIDE will take any necessary action to ensure the security of chess players and other members of the chess community. No official FIDE chess competitions and events will be held in Russia and Belarus.” Following the call from IOC, the FIDE Council decides that no Russian and Belarusian national flag be displayed or anthem be played in all FIDE-rated international chess events. Instead – the national chess federation’s flag or the official symbol/logo shall be used. A simplified procedure for performing under the FIDE flag would be followed where it is crucial for the players or any other chess officials under the current geopolitical situation. In order to safeguard FIDE from reputational, financial, and any other possible risks, FIDE terminates all existing sponsorship agreements with any Belarusian and Russian sanctioned and/or state-controlled companies and will not enter into new sponsorship agreements with any such companies. FIDE Council condemns any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action and brings the case of chess grandmasters Sergey Karjakin and Sergey Shipov to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. The FIDE Council reaffirms the FIDE Congress dates, welcomes the AICF’s bid to host the 44th Chess Olympiad, and suggests 10 days for other bids. The FIDE Council suggests that regardless of the organization of the Chess Olympiad 2022, FIDE will organize the annual FIDE Congress during the previously planned dates – from 27.07.2022. till 02.08.2022. with the election date on 01.08.2022. The preference is to combine the FIDE Congress with the Chess Olympiad 2022. However, consultations with the potential organizers of the Chess Olympiad 2022 will be carried out and adjustment of the FIDE Congress dates is possible if it does not imply a notable delay of elections. The FIDE Council confirms that the continental elections shall be organized within their constitutional terms. The FIDE Council confirms its commitment to the continuation of all the established development programs for national federations, zones, continents, and affiliated organizations. * * * March 2, 2022 update: After receiving the opinion of Mr Rivello, the Chair of FIDE Constitutional Commission, the FIDE Council decides to suspend the title of the FIDE Ambassador for Life for Anatoly Karpov and asks the General Assembly to take a decision on the matter. The FIDE Council also approves that sanctioned persons would be denied to hold any honorary or official positions in FIDE and would not be invited to any official FIDE events. Both decisions have been taken by the majority of votes. 2022 Extraordinary FIDE Council Meeting: Protocol (click to download)
FIDE Grand Swiss & Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 – Call for bids
1.1 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) will hold the Grand Swiss Tournament & Women’s Grand Swiss Tournaments in the second half of 2023 (see the Tournaments Regulations for FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss). 1.2 FIDE is opening a bidding procedure to invite any federation member of FIDE or any organiser approved by the national federation to host the event. The federation’s letter of support may be provided later when the bid’s evaluation procedure is launched. 1.3 The bid may contain special proposals on financial and commercial conditions. The FIDE Council shall decide whether these conditions are admissible. 1.4 The Bidding Form shall be filled in by an Applicant. A signed copy shall be submitted as e-mail messages to the FIDE Secretariat to office@fide.com from 3 to 17 March 2022 by 23:59 Lausanne time (FIDE has a right to extend this deadline). All the documents shall be submitted in English. Additional documents may be requested by the FIDE General Strategy Commission (GSC) for further evaluation. 1.5 Bid Evaluation Report shall be presented by GSC for approval of FIDE Council. 1.6 Once the Organiser is granted the right to organise the event, a relevant announcement shall be made on the FIDE website. FIDE Technical Delegate (FIDE TD) may be appointed at the same time to supervise the event on behalf of FIDE in consultation with GSC.
92nd FIDE Congress: 2021 FIDE Zonal Council Minutes
FIDE publishes the Minutes of FIDE Zonal Council Meeting which was held on December 26th, 2021. Location: Warsaw/hybrid. Download FIDE ZONAL COUNCIL MINUTES (pdf)
2021 4th FIDE Council Agenda and Commissions reports/proposals
FIDE publishes the Agenda of the 4th FIDE Council meeting which was held on December 27th, 2021. Location: Warsaw/hybrid. Download FIDE COUNCIL AGENDA (pdf)
92nd FIDE Congress: 2021 FIDE General Assembly Minutes
FIDE publishes the Minutes of FIDE General Assembly meeting which was held on December 28th, 2021. Location: Warsaw/hybrid. Download FIDE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MINUTES (pdf)
2022 Extraordinary FIDE Council Meeting: Protocol
FIDE publishes the Protocol of the Extraordinary FIDE Council Meeting which was held online on February 27, 2022. Download PROTOCOL (pdf)
FIDE Grand Prix Belgrade: Round 1 Recap
The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess got off to a sharp start with four players securing victories and four games ending in a draw. The first round was opened with a brief ceremony where the players were welcomed by the Serbian minister for sport, Vanja Udovicic, who was one of the world’s best ever water polo players (the sport is very popular in Serbia and southern Europe). Together with the head of the Serbian Chess Federation Dragan Lazic, Mr Udovicic made the first move in the game between Richard Rapport and Vladimir Fedoseev. The first round of the second leg of the FIDE Grandprix concluded with Dmitry Andreikin, Nikita Vitiugov, Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrati scoring victories. The four other games all ended in a draw. The 16 players are split into four pools with four participants each. The winner of each pool progresses to the knockout semi-final, and the two winners meet in the final. Pool A The first game in Pool A was between two seasoned players – Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Andreikin, which was won by Black. Andreikin out-calculated his countryman in a sharp Sicilian battle. Most likely, Grischuk missed a queen sacrifice 21…Qxe1! which gave Black a rook and two minor pieces in return. After Andreikin regrouped his pieces to launch a decisive attack, Grischuk capitulated. It was a rough day for both players. Andreikin landed in Belgrade just a few hours before the round, having to endure an almost epic travel ordeal changing flights between Moscow – St Petersburg – Istanbul and, finally, Belgrade. “I didn’t sleep much, and I was afraid of entering into a long boring endgame and that I might fall asleep”, noted Andreikin explaining that this made him opt for some sharper lines. At one point, he also semi-jokingly added that he wanted to play more interesting lines. Grischuk also said that it wasn’t his day, voicing his concerns about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and making a long sharp statement about the actions of the Russian government. The second game of Pool A, between Etienne Bacrot and Sam Shankland, ended in a draw. Bacrot took the initiative and created an edge for White, approaching a significantly better – if not won – position. However, he missed a couple of relevant moves giving space to the American to jump back into the game. After White’s 24.Qxb7?, Black equalised. There were plenty of interesting skirmishes afterwards, but nobody managed to get the upper hand. In the post-game interview, Shankland confessed to being “over-optimistic” with certain moves. “After 15.e5 Ne8, the more I was looking at the position, the more I thought I was checkmated”, said Shankland adding that afterwards “it got messy” and that he was “under a lot of pressure”, but that towards the end he managed to improve. Bacrot noted that he wasn’t very precise with executing his advantage. “I am not completely professional anymore. I had chances today, but I needed to play one or two good moves more”. Pool B This pool of players produced the longest and the shortest game played in the first round. The first game to finish on the first day of the Belgrade Grand Prix was between Pentala Harikrishna and Nikita Vitiugov. There isn’t really much to say about the game as White blundered on move 13. with Nxd5, ending up a pawn down and in a hopeless position. “I missed 13…Ne4… It just happened. I thought Black would take on d5…”. It just goes to show that these things happen even to the best professionals. “This is not the first time I blundered, and it won’t be the last time. It happens. But I will just think about tomorrow’s game and fight,” said Harikrishna. A much tougher struggle unfolded in the game between Anish Giri and Amin Tabatabaei, who were the last ones to finish, after nearly five hours of play. In the Giuoco Pianissimo of Italian Game so popular nowadays, Giri introduced a very interesting novelty with 10.b4. Tabatabaei struggled to find the best solution for a new situation that emerged. In the subsequent battle, Giri handily outplayed his opponent and scored a full point. In the post-game analysis, the two players reflected on the issue of dealing with mistakes and how to keep on fighting. Giri pointed out that even after making a big mistake, “it’s never too late” to make a comeback. “In chess and in life, you make a mistake, and it often happens that you continue making mistakes one after the other. In theory, if you’re able to improve just after one mistake, but in life, it’s different… You can learn from your mistakes; it’s just important that they don’t come at the crucial moment”, said Giri. Pool C The game between Richard Rapport – who has for some time now been living in Belgrade – and Vladimir Fedoseev ended in a draw. White managed to grab the initiative in the opening, putting Black in an uncomfortable position. Fedoseev resiliently held his ground, managed to find the right balance and, eventually, saved half a point. In the second game of the pool, Vidit Gujrathi scored an impressive victory over Alexei Shirov in a very sharp game. In a rare line of the Najdorf, Vidit introduced a novelty 8.Nd5 and the opponents stepped into uncharted territory. Shirov equalised with active play but was then maybe too aggressive with pawn-push, handing White the edge. The position remained dynamic and sharp but after 23…Qe8 Shirov lost a piece and, with it, the game. Pool D Both games in Pool D ended in a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, playing as White, tested Alexandr Predke in the Ruy Lopez. Predke not only passed the test but also emerged better after a fierce clash in the centre. Maxime had to work hard for a draw and, eventually, he reached it. Following the game, the World Blitz Champion said that despite not being very satisfied with his performance, it was a “useful exercise” for him to play such a long game where he had to work a lot and calculate and that it will help him get into his form