Statement of FIDE Council regarding official competitions and events in Russia
FIDE Council expresses its grave concern regarding the current rapidly deteriorating geopolitical situation. During its extraordinary meeting, FIDE Council will review holding all the planned FIDE official chess competitions and events in Russia. The member federations and the responsible FIDE Commissions will be consulted in order to make the most appropriate decision.
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Three Russians power into semis of Airthings Masters
Russia dominated the Airthings Masters today as three of its top stars made it through to the semi-finals, with only World Champion Magnus Carlsen now being able to break the great chess superpower’s stranglehold on the event. First through to the final four was Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi, who scored a decisive third-game point to secure a 3-1 win in his match against German prodigy Vincent Keymer. It continued Ian’s hot streak of form in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour that has seen him installed as the tournament favourite on the back of losing only twice in 19 games. Nepomniachtchi now faces fellow Russian Andrey Esipenko, who ended the dream of world number 237, a popular Canadian chess streamer Eric Hansen. Hansen, the tournament underdog, had played brilliantly to beat Carlsen and Nepo in the prelims, but there was no fairytale end against the highly-rated 19-year-old Esipenko. On the other side of the draw, Carlsen, seemingly recovered from Covid-19, made it through to the semis against Vietnam’s speed chess specialist Liem Quang Le. The World Champion won the first game against the dangerous Liem and then played out three draws for a 3-1 match score. On settling for a draw in the final game, Carlsen said: “I have not come to value the tour rating that high that I’d forgo absolute certain qualification to go for more!” In the other quarter-final, China’s Ding Liren missed several knockout blows in his match against Vladislav Artemiev and was eventually punished by the Russian. Ding played brilliantly in game 3, but Artemiev hung in there for a draw and then took the final game to win 2.5-1.5. It made it a clean sweep for the Russian competitors – but can one of them now down the world number and reigning Tour champ Magnus Carlsen? The semis start tomorrow. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch 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.
Kosteniuk halts losing streak as Nepomniachtchi dominates
The prelim stage of the Airthings Masters reached its climax with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi crowning a dominating display and the relief of the first win for chess queen Alexandra Kosteniuk. Ian booked his place in the knockout starting tomorrow with ease as he racked up a total of 29 points that included an impressive eight wins. Meanwhile, Kosteniuk, the only woman in the field, halted a streak of 13 defeats in her Meltwater Champions Chess Tour debut when she beat the in-form Canadian streamer, Eric Hansen. At the end of the play, she tweeted: I never knew that scoring 1 out of 15 could be such a relief. Thank you so much for your support! Your messages meant a lot!” The round-robin prelims finished with plenty of surprises over its four days of play. Hansen, the world number 237 and rank outsider, confounded all predictions to make it through – and along the way took the scalps of both Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen, last year’s two World Championship competitors. “It’s been a bit of a dream,” Hansen said afterwards. “I’m still taking it all in.” Having also beaten Carlsen in Round 8, India’s teen sensation Praggnanandhaa failed to make the cut, having finished in 11th place. Big names also crashed out, notably the winner of last season’s Goldmoney Asian Rapid Levon Aronian and the Magnus Carlsen Invitational champion Anish Giri. Carlsen, who revealed he is suffering from the after-effects of Covid-19, secured his place with two wins and two draws. He was, however, unhappy with his form. Carlsen said: “I think I played pretty badly today, so I will have to play a lot better in the knockouts. But at least I’m there, which is the most important thing. “I didn’t expect to play particularly well, but I hoped to play better. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m through, and I have the chance to fight regardless of who I’m going to face.” By the final round, only three were assured of a spot in the last 8, with 11 fighting it out for the remaining 5 places. China’s Ding Liren, the leader on Day 1 who has been playing through the night in his timezone, scraped through in 6th, while Vietnam’s speed chess specialist Liem Quang Le finished 7th. The final place was taken by the German teen prodigy Vincent Keymer, who has largely gone under the radar in this event but is an intriguing prospect for the knockout. The top eight now go through to the quarter-finals starting at 18:00 CET tomorrow. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch 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.
Andrea Nicole Garcia wins Honduran Championship
Andrea Nicole Garcia came out on top of the Honduran Women’s Chess Championship after seven exciting rounds played at the Multipurpose Hall of the Autonomous Sports Confederation of Honduras. The champion completed the tournament undefeated and scored impressive 6½ points out of 7. It was the first over-the-board national event since last December. No surprise, the tournament, organized by FENAH (Federación Nacional de Ajedrez de Honduras) attracted sixteen best female players from all over the country. An up-and-coming talent Valeria Viana from San Pedro Sula, demonstrated significant progress and tied for second place with a former national champion Alejandra García Reyes. Both netted 5/7, but Valeria earned silver thanks to the victory in their direct encounter. Both medal-winners secured spots in the national team. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Sports of Honduras, Ms Anarella Velez, took part in the closing ceremony and awarded the trophies to the winners. It was another evidence of the strong support that chess enjoys in Honduras. Final standings: 1 Garcia, Andrea Nicole 1609 6½ 2 Viana, Valeria 1399 5 3 Garcia Reyes, Alejandra 1538 5 4 Mejia, Camila 1264 4½ 5 Maradiaga, Cesia 1582 4½ 6 Cruz, Bitia 1552 4 7 Menocal, Nicole 1416 3½ 8 Gamez, Paola Tatiana 1365 3½ 9 Oseguera, Suhey 0 3 10 Murcia Fuentes, Nemesis 0 3 Text and photo: Juan Carlos Hernández, President of FENAH
Nepomniachtchi continues to lead, Carlsen is joint-second
Magnus Carlsen revealed he’s suffering the after-effects of Covid-19 as the Norwegian’s former world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi continued his Airthings Masters charge. The Russia’s number 1 went 11 games unbeaten since the first round of the elite online super-tournament. He is now a dead-cert for the knockout stage, while Carlsen – by his own admission – faces a battle to get through. Today, Ian scored wins against the young American star Hans Niemann and Indian prodigy Praggnanandaa, the 16-year-old who hit the headlines overnight for his shock win over Carlsen. The World Champion’s form has been patchy since Day 1, and in an interview, after play, he revealed why – he tested positive for Covid-19 before the start of the tournament and is still feeling the effects. Carlsen scored two wins and a draw but suffered a catastrophic loss to the tournament underdog Eric Hansen. The champ appeared to blunder horribly with 30. Rb1 and was forced to resign moments later. Afterwards, Carlsen revealed the mistake wasn’t a mouse-slip: “Rb1 was insane. I calculated some long lines there when he takes the a3 pawn. They don’t even work, which I’d seen. But I thought, whatever, I’ll try it. I just hallucinated, no, I didn’t hallucinate, I just missed that he can go to c3 with the queen.” Hansen – the rank outsider – has taken the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event by storm and nearly signed off with another win. But he had to be content with 19 points and 6th on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Carlsen finished on an upbeat note with a dominant 20-move win in Round 12 over Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda. On his stuttering start to the Airthings Masters, Carlsen said: “It’s been pretty bad. I played a couple of decent games, but the rest of them have been poor. I need to do a lot better than that.” Asked how Covid-19 has affected him, Carlsen said: “It’s been a little bit better today, but the first couple of days I was feeling like I’m ok, but I didn’t have the energy, which made it hard to focus because every time I tried to think I blundered. It was a little bit better today, but still pretty bad.” Carlsen did, however, manage to lift himself to joint-second on the leaderboard – despite his poor form. However, the champ, who has made the cut in every Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event he’s entered, refused to accept he is nearly through to the knockout with 20 points. “It’s not certain at all,” he said. “I have to do well tomorrow to be safe. I’ll try to play as well as I can and be focused. Hopefully, my form will get better day by day.” Eight make the cut from the round-robin Prelim stage to the knockout, which begins on Wednesday. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch 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.
Teen star topples Carlsen as Russian takes the lead
Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi scored a sizzling three wins and a draw to storm into the lead in the Airthings Masters elite online chess tournament today. The day ended on a sour note, however, for World Champion Magnus Carlsen, whose revival after a tough first day of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour was pegged back by the youngest player in the field. Carlsen had racked up three wins in a row as he ominously cranked up the gears. But against 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa, he blundered badly, and the Indian star held firm for the win. It was Pragg’s first win in any form of chess against the Norwegian and came on the back of having lost three games in a row. Carlsen finished down in fifth – up from 11th on the leaderboard yesterday. Asked what he would do to celebrate, Pragg said: “I think it’s about just going to bed.” Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen’s world title challenger last year, had started with two wins to go five-in-a-row before being held to a draw by fellow countryman Vladislav Artemiev. Clearly, Nepo has a point to prove after losing the big match to Carlsen in December. The 31-year-old then beat another Russian, Alexandra Kosteniuk, to finish four points clear on the Prelim leaderboard. He will now almost certainly go through to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, China’s Ding Liren continued his strong form despite losing his overnight lead to Nepo. Ding remained unbeaten until a Round 8 loss to Levon Aronian and stands joint-second on 15 points. Level-pegging with Ding is the tournament underdog, Canadian streamer Eric Hansen, who continued to confound predictions. Having nearly beaten Ding in Round 5, Hansen followed up by toppling the exciting Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Hansen then made it four unbeaten with a hard-fought draw against Tour big beast Levon Aronian. But a brilliant final round win over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov left him with 15 points and propelled him up the leaderboard. At the halfway stage of the Prelims, can the fairytale continue? Eight make the cut from the round-robin Prelim stage to the knockout which begins on Wednesday. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch 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.
Iberoamericano Championship: Sandro Mareco clinches title
GM Sandro Mareco (Argentina) emerged as the winner of the VIII Iberoamericano Championship, a 9-round Swiss tournament that brought together over 150 players (including 17 GMs) from Iberian America and Spain. The event took place in the Complejo Cultural Los Pinos, Mexico, from 12–19 February 2022. In addition to a regular prize fund, special prizes for top-5 women and top-5 youngsters under 18 were established. The FIDE delegation – President Arkady Dvorkovich, managing director Dana Reizniece-Ozola and executive director Viktor Bologan – participated in the opening ceremony as part of their Latin American tour. As it often happens in Swiss tournaments, it all boiled down to the final round. Jaime Latasa Santos was the sole leader on 7 points, but he faced a real challenge of holding his own against the rating-favourite Jorge Cori with Black. Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero, Guillermo Vazquez and Sandro Mareco trailed the leader by a half-point, with the first two playing one another. In the final round, Jorge Cori made a quick work of Santos Latasa and caught up with the leader, whereas Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero and Guillermo Vazquez split a point in a fierce battle. Meanwhile, Sandro Mareco (pictured below) gradually outplayed Omar Almeida Quintana with black pieces and finished clear first with an excellent result of 7½/9. The second-rated native of Huedo, Argentina, received a check for $3,500 for his victory. A large group of players netted 7/9 and tied for second place, with Jaime Santos Latasa and Guillermo Vazquez taking second and third prizes respectively by dint of better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 GM Mareco, Sandro ARG 2643 7½ 2 GM Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2640 7 3 IM Vazquez, Guillermo PAR 2545 7 4 GM Cori, Jorge PER 2650 7 5 GM Obregon Rivero, Juan Carlos MEX 2536 7 6 GM Cordova, Emilio PER 2534 7 7 GM Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel CUB 2567 7 8 GM Meier, Georg URU 2631 6½ 9 GM Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando ESP 2552 6½ 10 IM Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos PAN 2407 6½ Official website: iberoamericano.fenamacajedrez.com/ Photo: Fenamac Ajedrez Facebook page
Pools for Second Leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022 announced
The pools for the second leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022 are determined. The Belgrade leg runs from February 28 to March 14 and features 16 elite chess players vying for a prize fund of €150,000 and the last two spots in the Candidates Tournament scheduled to take place in Madrid this summer. The drawing ceremony, held over Zoom and chaired by the Chief Arbiter, identified the pools of players for the second leg of the Series. As before the first leg, for the drawing of lots, the players were divided into four baskets according to February standard rating: Basket 1: 1. Anish Giri (Netherlands), 27722. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 27673. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764 4. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 Basket 2: 1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 27612. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 27273. Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 27264. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724 Basket 3: 1. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 27192. Yangyi Yu (China), 27133. Sam Shankland (USA), 27084. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704 Basket 4: 1. Alexei Shirov (Spain), 27042. Alexandr Predke (Russia), 26823. Etienne Bacrot (France), 26424. Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 The players were allocated by the Chief Arbiter through a randomized selection programme to four different pools, with the final pairings to be determined at the opening ceremony: Pool A: Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724Sam Shankland (USA), 2708Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 Pool B: Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2772Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 2726Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2719Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 Pool C: Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704 Pool D: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2767Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761Yu Yangyi (China), 2713Alexandr Predke (Russia), 2682 Photo: ihg.com The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in Belgrade’s Crowne Plaza Hotel From February 28 to March 14. The rounds start at 3 PM CET. The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com: https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13605 For further questions, please contact media@worldchess.com. About FIDE Grand Prix 2022: The competition consists of three legs that span over three months and two cities: First leg: February 3 — 17, Berlin, GermanySecond leg: February 28 — March 14, Belgrade, SerbiaThird leg: March 21 — April 4, Berlin, Germany The FIDE Grand Prix will feature 24 players, with each player competing in two out of three events. Each 16-player event will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final. At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of 2 regular time limit games, plus tiebreaks if needed. Players receive Grand Prix points according to their finishing position in each tournament: Round Grand Prix points Winner 13 Runner-Up 10 Semi-final loser 7 2nd in pool 4 3rd in pool 2 4th in pool 0 Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 (pdf) About World Chess: World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.
Carlsen suffers nightmare start as curtain raises on 2022 Tour
The Airthings Masters kicked off the new 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season with a day of drama that saw Magnus Carlsen suffer a nightmare start to the defence of his crown. Norway’s World Champion began the $1.6 million Tour with a clean win over last year’s breakout star Vladislav Artemiev in Round 1. It seemed to suggest he was carrying his recent solid form into this event. But any thoughts that Carlsen – a notoriously slow starter – would dominate the first day were quickly dispelled. Carlsen’s Round 2 game saw him narrowly escape defeat with a shaky draw against the impressive new World Rapid Champion, 17-year-old Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Carlsen finished that game with a wry smile before almost immediately finding himself in trouble again in Round 3 against the ruthless Russian Andrey Esipenko. Carlsen appeared to play some risky chess and was severely punished by 19-year-old Esipenko – a player the champ had talked up as a threat in the build-up to the tournament. Esipenko’s win was hugely-impressive and followed the victory over Carlsen that announced him on the world stage at Wijk 2021. Grandmaster David Howell, commentating on the action, called it a “masterpiece of strategic dominance”. Esipenko even revealed afterwards that he had even suffered a disconnection during play – yet still went on to win. For Carlsen, it got worse. The 31-year-old lost a second game in a row in the final round of the day as defeated world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi took revenge on his rival. It was the third win in a row for Nepo, who ended second on the leaderboard on 9 points out of 12. Esipenko goes into day 2, a point further behind. Carlsen, meanwhile, finished way down on 4 points. Top of the leaderboard is China’s number 1 Ding Liren, who finished undefeated with three wins and a draw. Out of 32 games, there were only 9 draws – a stat which shows the new Tour format to encourage fighting chess is working. On the first day of the new Tour ratings system, it meant he is now the number 1, overtaking Carlsen. Nine-time British Women’ Champ Jovanka Houska summed up the action: “Everyone is dangerous here, no-one is an easy opponent!” Eight go through from the round-robin Prelim stage to the knockout which begins on Wednesday. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments contact: Leon Watsonleon@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.