Asian Junior Championships 2021: Indians sweep out
VS Rahul (2387) of India drew with Orini Gholami of Iran in the final round of the Asian Junior Chess Championship to score 7 ½ points out of 9 games, win the title and complete a GM norm. Rahul turned in an excellent performance, leading from start to finish without a single defeat. He beat Kosala Amarathunga, Isara Dhahanayake, Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage all three from Sri Lanka and three Indian IMs: Vardaan Nagpal, GB Harshawardana and Mitrabha Guha. After a poor start, the top seed, IM Mitrabha Guha (pictured below), bounced back to climb to second place with 7 points, while IM GB Harshawardhana became third with 6½ points. Final standings open: 1 Raahul V S IND 2387 7½ 2 IM Mitrabha Guha IND 2509 7 3 IM Harshavardhan G B IND 2397 6½ 4 IM Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari IND 2448 6 5 Gholami Orimi Mahdi IRI 2425 6 6 IM Vardaan Nagpal IND 2384 6 7 FM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan SRI 2300 6 8 FM De Silva L M S T SRI 2131 5½ 9 Induwara T H D Thisarindu SRI 1359 5½ 10 FM Piyumantha M Sasith Nipun SRI 2214 5 The complete results can be found here Despite losing her top position in the penultimate round of the girls’ tournament, WIM Shri Savitha of India drew her last game with Chanindi Mewna Attanayake of Sri Lanka to earn the championship title and a beautiful trophy, completing the WGM norm along the way. She scored 7 points with five wins over Gimashi Weeratunghe, Niklesha Tharushi, Oshini Gunawardena of Sri Lanka, Al Maamari of UAE and WIM, K Priyanka of India and four draws. Priyanka K caught up with the leader in the penultimate round but somewhat unexpectedly lost to much lower-rated Tharushi T H D Niklesha to finish a half-point behind the champion, tying for second place with Anoush Mahdian. Nevertheless, Buchholz favoured Priyanka, who took silver. Final standings girls: 1 WIM Savitha Shri B IND 2281 7 2 WIM Priyanka K IND 2218 6½ 3 WFM Mahdian Anousha IRI 2212 6½ 4 Mohammadi Melika IRI 1807 6 5 WCM Sanudula K M Dahamdi SRI 1653 5½ 6 WFM Al Maamari Wafia Darwish UAE 1923 5½ 7 Attanayake Chanindi Mewna SRI 1317 5½ 8 WCM Tharushi T H D Niklesha SRI 1711 5½ 9 Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini SRI 1371 5 10 Newansa M Esandi SRI 1163 5 The complete results can be found here. The Asian Junior Chess Championships 2021, the only OTB event conducted by the Asian Chess Federation this year, was organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka. A total of 54 players, 32 in the open and 22 in the girls’ section, took place in the event running from December 17-23 at Citrus Hotel, Waskaduwa. Both championships were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control. The Awards Ceremony was held under the patronage of Mr Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of CFSL and a Vice President of Asian Chess Federation, where Mr Hisham Al Taher, the General Secretary of Asian Chess Federation and Mr Casto Abundo, the Executive Director of Asian Chess Federation address the audience virtually. The live games can be seen via the following link: Asian Girls Chess Championship 2021:https://view.livechesscloud.com#1d2fce85-a004-410d-93e5-a485328ef4dd Asian Juniors Chess Championship 2021:https://view.livechesscloud.com#5b19c578-e00f-4e8d-b77e-ccf6c5e56f4f
FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2021: Preview
One of the most anticipated events in the chess calendar, the FIDE Rapid and Blitz Championship, is around the corner. The open and women’s championships that have been held concurrently since 2016 will take place from December 25-31 in Warsaw, Poland, at PGE Narodowy Stadium. Traditionally, the participants will fight not only for titles and glory but also for substantial prize money. World Rapid & Blitz prize distribution: World Rapid Prize World Blitz Prize 1st place $60,000 1st place $60,000 2nd place $50,000 2nd place $50,000 3rd place $40,000 3rd place $40,000 4th place $30,000 4th place $30,000 5th place $25,000 5th place $25,000 6th place $22,000 6th place $22,000 7th place $18,000 7th place $18,000 8th place $14,000 8th place $14,000 9th place $11,000 9th place $11,000 10th place $8,000 10th place $8,000 11-16th places $5,000 each 11-16th places $5,000 each 17-25th places $3,000 each 17-25th places $3,000 each 26-35th places $1,5000 each 26-35th places $1,500 each TOTAL $350,000 TOTAL $350,000 Women’s World Rapid & Blitz prize distribution: Women’s World Rapid Prize Women’s World Blitz Prize 1st place $40,000 1st place $40,000 2nd place $30,000 2nd place $30,000 3rd place $20,000 3rd place $20,000 4th place $15,000 4th place $15,000 5th place $10,000 5th place $10,000 6th place $7,000 6th place $7,000 7th place $6,000 7th place $6,000 8th place $5,000 8th place $5,000 9th place $4,000 9th place $4,000 10th place $3,000 10th place $3,000 11-15th places $2,000 each 11-15th places $2,000 each TOTAL $150,000 TOTAL $150,000 The reigning champion in all three formats (classical, rapid and blitz), Magnus Carlsen, is heading into the event as a clear favourite, but his old and new rivals are eager to challenge his supremacy. Can Magnus repeat his triumph of 2014 and 2019 and win a double-crown? Fresh from Gashimov Memorial, Fabiano Caruana (the winner of the event), Richard Rapport, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and former World Rapid and Blitz Champion (2013 and 2016, respectively) Sergey Karjakin seem to be in good form and ready for battle. The winner of the 2021 Speed Chess Championship, Hikaru Nakamura (who trounced Wesley So in the final of this competition), has not played OTB chess for quite a while, but you never discard the American when it comes to fast chess formats. The second-rated player in the world, young star Alireza Firouzja who gave Carlsen a real run for his money in the last Rapid Championship (2019), will definitely try to climb one step higher this time. Another young player, a local hero, freshly-mint European Blitz Champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who competed with Magnus for gold to the very last round in the Blitz Championship three years ago, will do his best on the home turf. Last but not least, let’s not forget about a quartet from CFR: the recent World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, World Rapid Champion (2018) Daniil Dubov, three-time World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk and a speed-chess specialist Vladislav Artemiev. The Chinese players are not coming to Poland due to Covid-19 restrictions, which makes Humpy Koneru’s task of defending her Women’s Rapid Champion title a bit easier, at least on paper. Still, she is up against the powerful opposition from top CFR, Ukrainian, Georgian and Kazakhstani players, and we can expect a very close race in the Women’s Rapid Championship. As for the Women’s Blitz Championship, it will be interesting to see whether Kateryna Lagno can win her third straight title. Such a feat will not come easy, but it doesn’t look like “mission impossible” for the world’s #3 in Women’s Rapid List. We have five days of exciting chess ahead of us. Unfortunately, not all the potential spectators will be able to watch the action live – the organizers will allow only 200 visitors a day due to Covid-19 restrictions (all 1,000 tickets were sold out within an hour). Luckily, the event will be broadcast on various websites, including the official one https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/ so chess fans from all around the world can enjoy it in real-time. Photo: Maria Emelianova and Lennart Ootes
2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda
FIDE is publishing the 2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda. 2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda (pdf)
Happy Holidays!
Dear members of the chess family, The year is coming to an end, and on the occasion of the festive season, I would like to thank all of you for your continued work towards promoting chess and your continued support of FIDE activities. Together we have managed to recover almost normal levels of activity during 2021, and despite the many challenges brought on by the pandemic, the chess family has every reason to be proud of its achievements. Not only have we successfully organised our flagship events, like the World Championship match, the Grand Swiss and the World Cup, but we have also managed to expand our portfolio with dozens of other activities, online and junior competitions, seminars, and social events. My particular thanks go to our FIDE team that, throughout 2021, worked again under difficult circumstances. Our management board, office staff, all the different departments, FIDE commissions and working groups went the extra mile. I am very grateful for their commitment, outstanding efforts, and contributions. I wish you a most peaceful and enjoyable festive period as we welcome the new year in the hope that it will bring us closer to a return to what we all enjoy. May you and your loved ones have a healthy, joyful, and prosperous 2022. Arkady DvorkovichFIDE President
2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda and Final List of Delegates
FIDE is publishing the 2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda and the final List of Delegates. 2021 FIDE General Assembly Agenda (pdf) Final List of Delegates (pdf)
Cadets & Youth Super Final: Congratulating the Winners
The FIDE Online Cadets and Youth Rapid cycle started in August with the selection stage to the World Cup, continued with the World Cup final, then two Grand Prix events, and culminated in the round-robin final with a 30,000 euros prize fund that finished on December 21. From more than 3,000 participants, only six strongest in each category (open and girls under 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) made it to the Super Final. The battles commenced on Tornelo playing platform, and it was not an easy walk for the initial favourites. A few of them had a rocky start but managed to pull themselves together, restore their status, and come out on top. One example was the highest-rated 10-year-old in the world, Turkish star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. He lost the second game, but a brilliant series of wins in the middle of the event brought him back to first place in the tournament table. On the last day, the final test awaited when he faced his main pursuer, Indian Vaz Ethan. The two exchanged punches maintaining the status quo. Top-3, Open U10: CM Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan (TUR, 2276) – 6 AIM Vaz Ethan (IND, 1384) – 5 CM Schnaider Ilan (ARG, 2106) – 3,5 Who could predict that in Open U12 the first day would decide the outcome? The favourite was clear: nobody expected anything but a victory from Abhimanyu Mishra, the wonderboy who just broke Karjakin’s record for obtaining the grandmaster title at the youngest-ever age. However, Ukrainian talent Ihor Samunenkov had another opinion and stated it loudly, defeating Mishra in their first-day mini-match 1.5-0.5. Both had an excellent run, handing their opponents only 1.5 points. Mishra eventually managed to catch up with Samunenkov, so their direct encounter decided the medals distribution, and gold went to the Ukrainian FIDE Master. Keep an eye on this young man, who also won the national rapid championship this year (not youth, but an overall one!). Top-3, Open U12: FM Samunenkov Ihor (UKR, 2369) – 6,5 GM Mishra Abhimanyu (USA, 2510) – 6,5 Zemlyanskii Ivan (RUS, 2169) – 3,5 In Open U14, the competition was close and unclear until the last moments. An early leader Aldiyar Ansat from Kazakhstan slowed down in the middle of the tournament and let Ediz Gurel from Turkey catch him going into the last two days. They faced each other on a penultimate day and made two draws, postponing the fight for gold to the final day. Aldiyar lost the final game, while Ediz scored 1.5 in his mini-match and claimed first place. In addition to that, Dimitrios Makridis caught up with Aldiyar and overcame him in the standings due to a better tiebreak. Top-3, Open U14: FM Gurel Ediz (TUR, 2390) – 7 Makridis Dimitrios (GRE, 2082) – 6 IM Ansat Aldiyar (KAZ, 2366) – 6 A very close race marked Open U16, too. Eventual winner Volodar Murzin won only two of his mini-matches—1.5-0.5 against FM Samadov on the first day and 2-0 against FM De Silva on the second—and it was enough for a clear first place. Not losing any mini-match was key to his success in this highly competitive category. Samunenkov and Murzin took silver in their categories (U14 and U16) last year, and now, one year older, they both improved their result to the highest possible place. Top-3, Open U16: IM Murzin Volodar (RUS, 2519) – 6,5 FM Babazada Khazar (AZE, 2429) – 6 IM Pranav V (IND, 2486) – 6 Nikolaos Spyropoulos was unstoppable in the Open U18. He started with six straight wins, interrupted by losing in Round 7. The misfire did not discourage him, as he scored other 2,5 points out of the last three games, demonstrating the best result among all categories in the event. The victor’s only offender, Harshavardhan G B was rewarded with second place. Top-3, Open U18: FM Spyropoulos Nikolaos (GRE, 2445) – 8,5 IM Harshavardhan G B (IND, 2397) – 6,5 FM Makoveev Ilya (RUS, 2322) – 6,5 In the Girls U10, nobody could run on par with Diana Preobrazhenskaya from Russia, who went supersonic at the finish winning the last four games. She came to the finish line two full points above the field, adding a first-place result to last year’s bronze. Top-3, Girls U10: Preobrazhenskaya Diana (RUS, 1789) – 8 Akbari Rosha (IRI, 1380) – 6 Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini (SRI, 1371) – 6 For most of the Girls U12 tournament, rating favourite Alice Lee from the USA and Anna Shukhman from Russia went neck to neck, Anna trailing by half a point. The two met on Day 4, with Alice winning 1.5-0.5 and essentially cementing her first place. Even one loss on the last day could not change the outcome anymore. Top-3, Girls U12: WIM Lee Alice (USA, 2178) – 8 WCM Shukhman Anna (RUS, 2014) – 7,5 Kirtadze Anastasia (GEO, 1701) – 5 Girls U16 was a challenging journey for the rating-favourite, Hungarian star WIM Zsoka Gaal (2362). After an unconvincing start, she was trailing the discovery of the event and her second-day offender, Fiorella Contreras Huaman from Peru (1931), by half a point going into the last two rounds. But Fiorella started to stumble and scored only 1.5 out of 4 at the finish, eventually letting Zsoka reestablish herself at the top. Top-3, Girls U14: WIM Gaal Zsoka (HUN, 2362) – 6,5 WFM Contreras Huaman Fiorella (PER, 1931) – 6 WCM Nguyen Linh Dan (VIE, 1413) – 5,5 Another surprise of the event, Nguyen Hong Nhung from Vietnam (1697), lost only one game in the first six rounds of the Girls U16 tournament. However, she faced the rating-favourites on the last two days, WIM Meruert Kamalidenova (2351) and WFM Xeniya Balabayeva (2220). Balabayeva won 2-0 to claim clear first place, placing an explicit mark at the end of a great run without any single loss. The encounter between Nguyen and Kamalidenova ended 1-1, leaving the latter in third place, a somewhat disappointing result
400 students took part in the largest Montenegro School Championship ever
The final tournament of the Montenegro School Chess Championship took place in “Štampar Marakije” school in Podgorica. After qualifications tournaments, four hundred (400!) students from all parts of Montenegro participated in this competition, making it the largest of its kind to have ever happened in the country. Montenegro Chess Federation names the Chess in Schools project as an essential strategic commitment. For this project, FIDE acted as a partner of the Chess Federation of Montenegro and was honoured by its anthem at the opening ceremony. Both sides hope to continue this fruitful cooperation that will lead to new records in the future. The competition took place in four groups, and the best competitors were awarded medals and trophies. Štampar Makarije school showed the best overall results and earned the right to represent Montenegro on an international level next year. Photos and information provided by Montenegro Chess Federation
Kenya tops medal standings in Africa Schools Championship
Team Kenya bagged 12 medals in the just concluded 2021 edition of the African Schools Individual Chess Championship. The Kenyan youngsters managed to clinch three gold medals, four silver medals, and five bronze medals in the championship that took place at the PrideInn Azure Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 12-20, 2021. South Africa came second in the medal standing, winning ten medals with five gold, followed by Ghana and Uganda with four medals each. Malawi and Botswana secured claimed medals each. The championship attracted 166 players from Kenya, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, with Kenya and South Africa fielding the largest number of players – 67 and 41, respectively. Kenya’s Elizabeth Cassidy dominated the Under 11 Girls category by annihilating all her opponents to score a whopping nine points in nine rounds. Cassidy cruised through the rounds easily, crushing the opposition from South Africa, Malawi, Uganda and her compatriots to clinch the gold medal. “It feels really nice to win. I have been training really hard, and my training has finally paid off,” said an ecstatic Cassidy. “My goal now is to make it to the national team in the near future, but it is not going to be easy because I have the likes of Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Joyce Nyaruai, Woman Fide Master (WFM) Mongeli Sasha and WCM Wanjiru Lucy to beat,” she added. Cassidy is the only Kenyan player with maximum points in the tournament. Kenya’s Wambui Bernice secured the third spot by scoring 6½ points, 2½ points behind the champion Cassidy. South Africa’s Naidoo Kajol took second place with 7 points. In the Under 11 Open section, Kenya’s Muiruri Don scored 7 points, winning silver, just half a point behind top-seed champion Mungal Ethan of South Africa, who netted 7½ points. Ingado Mercy gave Kenya gold after chalking up 7½ points by taking out Uganda’s Namirimu Britney in the final round of the U17 Girls category. After losing to Botswana’s WCM Refilwe Tsutsu in round seven, Mercy kept up her fighting spirit to beat Zimbabwe’s Mawire Rumbidzai and Uganda’s Namirimu Britney in the following two rounds. These victories propelled her to the top of the podium. Jamie Obora from Kenya managed to win bronze in the Under 13 Open category despite being humbled by his compatriot Olando Paul in the last round. In the Under 13 Girl’s category, WCM Shah Devashri secured the runner-up position with 7 points, a point behind tournament winner and top seed, Malawian Dutt Lakshita. Devashri had a shaky start after losing two games in rounds three and five but came back from behind to win five straight games, which was not enough to overtake top seed Dutt. In the strongest category, the Under 17 Open, Kenya’s top seed Robert Mcligeyo took third place after scoring 6 points while his fellow Kenyan Muchiri Rocky only managed 5½ points (5th place). Kenya’s Candidate Master (CM) Lwanga Aguda bagged silver medal with 7½ points in the Under 15 Open category after drawing with Goliath Brimarion of South Africa in the last round. Aguda, the top seed in the category, lost narrowly to gold medalist Pido Edwin of Uganda in an earlier highly contested round four clash. Uganda also took bronze. Harry Kags of Kenya beat Zimbabwe’s Aidan Magudhu in the final round to claim bronze in the Under 9 Open category. He trails behind Uganda’s Mibiru Jayden, who is in second place with 8 points, and Ghana’s Acheampong Dave in first place with 9 points. In the under seven open, Manyeki Nathaniel narrowly missed the podium after attaining 6 points to secure the fourth position. Ghana and South Africa clinched the top three spots. Elsie Kamoni of Kenya won the gold medal in the Under 7 Girls category with 4 points while her compatriot Kaburo Winnie took silver with 4 points. Text: Steve Okeyo Photo: Chess Kenya (photos and videos of all rounds)
Tatneft becomes an official sponsor of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2021
The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce a new partnership with Tatneft, one of the largest Russian vertically integrated oil companies. By this agreement, Tatneft becomes an official sponsor of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2021, which will take place from 25-31 December in Warsaw, Poland. The tournament will be held at PGE Narodowy Stadium, the home stadium of the Polish national football team, used mainly for concerts and football matches. Over 250 players have already registered for the event. The list of participants is headed by five-time Classical World Champion and the reigning Rapid and Blitz World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), followed by the number 2 in the FIDE rankings Alireza Firouzja, who has recently become the youngest ever 2800-rated player. The three latest challengers to the world championship title, Ian Nepomniachtchi (2021), Fabiano Caruana (2018), and Sergey Karjakin (2016), will also be present. Other favourites are Hikaru Nakamura (USA), who won bronze (in rapid) and silver (in blitz) in the last edition of the Rapid and Blitz Championships (2019) and the three-time world blitz champion Alexander Grischuk. All eyes will be on the local star, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Krakow, Poland), whose popularity has reached new heights after winning the 2021 World Cup this summer in Sochi. This weekend Duda became the European Blitz Champion with a remarkable score of 18/22, demonstrating that he is in good shape and not affected by the extra pressure playing on home turf. In the women’s tournamentы, the highest-rated players are the defending Women’s Blitz World Champion Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina (all representing CFR), Anna Muzychuk, Mariya Muzychuk (both Ukraine), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), the reigning Women’s Rapid World Champion Humpy Koneru (pictured below) and Harika Dronavalli (both from India), and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria). Photo: Maria Emelianova “We are extremely happy that we have been able to host this event despite all the difficulties. The World Rapid and Blitz Championships have become a nice tradition for the last days of the year, like the hockey NHL Winter Classic, the Boxing Day football match in the UK, or the NBA Christmas Day games. Many people in the world enjoy a holiday during this period, and they look forward to watching their favourite sport,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. “We are very grateful to Tatneft for their contribution towards this event. While the pandemic is still not over, chess life shall continue, and Tatneft’s support has been decisive to make these championships happen,” he added. “Tatneft pays great attention to supporting sports in its various forms. It is a great honour for us to be partners of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships. I am convinced that it will make this sport even more popular, will give spectators and fans the pleasure of watching exciting games performed by world-class masters,” said Tatneft CEO Nail Maganov. The total prize fund of the event is USD 1,000,000, with USD 700,000 USD going to the open tournaments and USD 300,000 to the women’s events. Chess fans can keep up with the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships by watching the live broadcast on FIDE’s official YouTube channel. The preliminary lists of participants can be found here: Rapid Open: https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/rapid-open/Rapid Women: https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/rapid-women/ Blitz Open: https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/blitz-open/Blitz Women: https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/blitz-women/ About Tatneft TATNEFT is one of the largest Russian vertically integrated oil companies, which develops oil and gas production, oil refining, petrochemicals, a tire complex, a network of filling stations, power engineering, development and production of equipment for the oil and gas industry and a block of service structures. The corporate social responsibility of TATNEFT is aimed at creating efficient and safe workplaces, minimizing environmental impact and maintaining a favourable environment, social support for employees and their families. Official website: https://www.tatneft.ru/?lang=en
Six rounds played at the FIDE Online Cadets & Youth Rapid Super Final
The FIDE Online Cadets and Youth Rapid Super Final is halfway through on Tornelo playing platform. Six rounds were played in all ten separate sections (Open and Girls under 10, 12, 14, 16, 18), and only four more are left before we know the winners’ names. In some categories, six rounds produced clear leaders, while in others, it is challenging to be on the mark with a prediction—so close is the race. Despite a somewhat rocky start losing his second game, Turkish star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus won four games in a row to become a clear leader in the Open U10 tournament. His main rival is Indian Vaz Ethan, who trails by half a point. The two will meet on the last day of the event, and this encounter will likely determine the overall winner. Ihor Samunenkov continues his quest for gold in Open U12. The victory over the youngest-ever grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra in the first round inspired the Ukrainian cadet to a solid run. With 4,5 points, he is one point above his closest pursuer. In Round 3, Samunenkov’s opponent faced an opening catastrophe. Can you find how White reacted to a blunder 6…a6? Replay the game for the solution by clicking here. Nothing is clear in Open U14. An early leader Aldiyar Ansat from Kazakhstan, who started from two wins, slowed down on Day 3 and let Ediz Gurel from Turkey catch him on 4,5 points. A similar situation emerged in Open U16. An early leader and the discovery of the event, Indian Aaryan Varshney, who was not among the initial favourites, keeps the lead with 4,5 points. However, Russian IM Volodar Murzin caught him up on Day 2. On Day 3, the two played against each other but are still on par after two draws. Nikolaos Spyropoulos is unstoppable in the Open U18. He is the only player in all sections to have won all six games, and most of them were very sharp! His opponents tried to break down his psyche by fierce attacks with cascades of sacrifices, but the Greek FIDE Master did not lose his cool and collected all points so far. In the Girls U10 tournament, there is no fear or mercy to the favourites! The results of the world’s top-rated girls in this category fell short of the expectations. However, everything might change because the leaders are not far off the field. Diana Preobrazhenskaya from Russia and Le Thai Hoang Anh from Vietnam scored 4 out of 6 and are closely followed by other contestants on 3,5, and 3 points. Girls U12 rating favourite Alice Lee (2178) from the USA, pictured above, made only one draw in Round 4, winning five games. But she must not relax as Anna Shukhman (Russia) is following just half a point behind. The two meet in Rounds 7-8 on Day 4, and if Anna embraces the moment, she can shake up the standings. The event continues to be a challenging journey for the rating-favourite in Girls U14, Hungarian star WIM Zsoka Gaal (2362). After a somewhat bumpy start, she won two games on Day 3 and is trailing the leader by only half a point. On top with 4,5 points is Fiorella Contreras Huaman from Peru (1931), clearly a discovery of this event. Try to play like Zsoka Gaal, Black to move. Replay the game for the solution by clicking here. Another surprising leader is Nguyen Hong Nhung from Vietnam (1697) in Girls U16. She has lost only one game; however, her main test is yet to come. On Days 4 and 5, she will face two young hopes of Kazakhstani chess WIM Meruert Kamalidenova (2351) and current co-leader WFM Xeniya Balabayeva (2220). WIM Govhar Beydullayeva (2290) from Azerbaijan recovered from a loss in the first round and reinstated herself at the top of Girls U18 standings, scoring 4,5 out of 5 in the next games. She is also a huge favourite against her next two opponents, so likely we won’t see any surprises in this category. Govhar Beydullayeva, photo: @WorldChess2019 Twitter You can watch and replay our live streams from the event with the commentary by GM Farrukh Amonatov on FIDE’s YouTube channel. Tune in for Days 4 and 5 at 16:00 CET on December 21 and 22. You can find the results, regulations, and other information on the official website. * * * The FIDE Online Cadets & Youth Rapid Super Final is held with the support of Gazprom.