Invitation to support FIDE’s initiatives of social value
For the International Chess Federation, organizing chess competitions is not the only mission. The competitive aspects are just a means to achieve higher goals. Sharing the values of the Olympic Movement of which FIDE is a proud member, its mission must go beyond that. Chess can make a huge impact on people lives: to develop their intellectual skills; prevent cognitive ageing and general brain decline of our senior citizens; provide people with disabilities with an activity to compete on absolutely equal terms; work as a great equalizer helping every child to reach their full potential, regardless of their background, etc. The FIDE Social Commission (SOC) has been working tirelessly to fulfil its objectives, and in recent months, FIDE has launched multiple projects of high social value that should make us all proud. In April, the first seminar on chess and autism became a resounding success. In May, the Chess for Freedom project kicked off with an online conference and an exhibition tournament followed this October by the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. More recently, FIDE has also launched the Chess for Protection project at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the first of several initiatives that we plan to develop at refugee camps in different parts of the world. The next step of the roadmap is to encourage and support our member federations and the whole chess community so that these initiatives resonate in your respective countries. In order to identify and support already existing (or planned) initiatives of social value, our member federations kindly ask you to fill out the survey developed by FIDE Social Commission and designate a contact person within every federation for dialogue and possible cooperation with the FIDE Social Commission. The initiative was supported by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who sent a letter to all member federations asking to support FIDE’s initiatives of social value. “Diversity, equality, and inclusion are values rooted in our organization. This is clearly stated in the new FIDE Charter that came into effect in 2020, as well as in our Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines that were approved at the beginning of the current year. It is a priority for FIDE to increase the activity level of chess initiatives with social value, and we will be there to help all the way, in whatever capacity we can.“ the letter says. But it’s not only federations that could help FIDE to achieve these goals. We ask everyone aware or involved in organizing any social chess project – whether teaching or playing chess in prisons, refugee camps, homes for the elderly, etc. – to approach FIDE Social Commission via socialchess@fide.com. Your support, advice or experience will be highly appreciated and help us create networking and collaborative spirit for SOC projects. We strongly believe that chess changes people’s lives. Joining our forces and promoting the game to those in vulnerable situations can make the world a better place.
Kazakhstan, Russia and USA on 100% heading into the last three rounds
Thursday, September 9th, 2021 – Day 2 of the Top Division was played today with no major incidents to speak of. Teams are split into four pools which play a Round Robin all-play-all format for three days and the two top teams advance to the quarterfinals. Top Division – Pool A With a 3½-2½ win over China in the first round of the day, Kazakhstan took the lead in group A. The team won all six matches and with 12/12 stands an excellent chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals. The key game of the match was GM Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan) vs GM Hou Yifan (China) on board three. In the diagram, it’s clear that White is already doing very well and the win is near. Abdumalik missed a chance to win on the spot by 32.Nxc5+ but the sequence she opted for 32.Rxe5 Nxe5 33.Qxe5 gave her two pieces for a rook and a comfortable victory. China is now in second place with 10/12, just one point ahead of Iran (9/12). However, China did defeat Iran 3½-2½ in the last round of the day. In this situation, with all other things being equal, tomorrow’s Round 8 match between Kazakhstan and Iran will probably decide which of these three teams advances to the next stage. The Chinese team in action – Photo: Liang Ziming The rest of the teams are already too far behind to be in contention, but they could eventually participate indirectly: Armenia (in fourth place) still has to play with China. The top scorers in this group are IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) with an impressive 6/6 on board six and GM Ju Wenjun (China) with an equally remarkable 5½/6 on board four. Also performing very well are the players from Iran: GM M.Amin Tabatabaei is on 5½/6 on board five, while his teammates GM Poya Idani and IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh are both on 5/6. Top Division – Pool B Day 2 ended in a two-way tie between India and Hungary at the top of the leader board with 11/12. Today it was Hungary’s turn to drop a match point against ninth-placed Belarus, which allowed India to overtake them on tiebreaks. They will face each other tomorrow in the first round of the afternoon. Whoever wins will most definitely be the winner of the group while the loser will still have to finish strong, as France (8/12) is just behind them, waiting for an opportunity to push through. Another key match for tomorrow might be the ninth-round clash between France and Azerbaijan, who currently stand fourth with 7/12. It would definitely be a long shot, but they could still have an outside chance to qualify with the right results. The top scorer for the Indian Team is board six WGM Vaishali R. She is the only player of the team who has been selected to play on five occasions and she has scored an undefeated 4/5. Former World Champion GM Vishy Anand holds the team’s first board with a solid undefeated 3/4. Vishy Anand gets some technical advice before the game – Photo: Amruta Mokal However, the best score of the group for the moment is shared between GM Marie Sebag from France and GM Zhao Xue from Shenzhen China. Both are playing on board three and have performed at a very high level with 5½/6. In the next diagram, the position is more or less equal, although many players would prefer Black because of the attacking potential. A move like 30.a4 would have been fine, and the game continues. However, White lashed out with the very risky 30.g4? and was duly punished after 30…fxg4 31.Rxg4 Rxd4! (maybe White missed this idea) 32.Qxc6 Rd2+ 33.Kg3 Rxg4+ 34.Kxg4 Qg6+ 35.Kh4 h6! 36.Rf1 Rg2 mating. Top Division – Pool C In group C, Russia continued its streak of crushing victories and with 12/12 they are just a step away from claiming first place and mathematical qualification to the quarterfinals. Today they took down Paraguay (4½-1½), Israel (5-1) and Argentina (6-0). The depth of the team is unbelievable: no less than six of the twelve players are on 100% scores with 3/3. The Russian Team at the Moscow Central Chess Club – Photos: V.Barsky Precisely Argentina had one of those days which you want to forget as soon as possible. After finishing day one in second place, three straight defeats have relegated them to seventh place in the standings, with no chance to make a comeback. Ukraine, now on 10/12, won their three matches and have climbed to second place, while Germany (8/10) have also made a comeback and have edged out Spain from third to fourth. German FM Lara Schulze has a great online gaming setup There are still direct encounters between these team’s tomorrow, the most important clearly is Ukraine-Spain. One of these three will accompany Russia to the next stage and tomorrow it will be a moment of truth. GM Andrey Esipenko’s 4½/5 on board five is the best score for the Russian team at the moment. Also performing very well is IM Ana Matnadze, who always shines at team events. She is on 4½/5 defending Spain’s board four. Top Division – Pool D Qualifying in Group D is definitely going to be a huge challenge. After six rounds, USA is in the lead with a clean score of 12/12, followed by Poland (11/12) and Canada (10/12). One of these three teams will NOT make it through to the quarterfinals. The most solid of the three is USA. They are scoring at least four points in each and every match and the eight players in the team have all played between four and six games. However, they still have to face Poland tomorrow (and Cuba), so the first place is not a lock. Netherlands board 12 Machteld Van Foreest fully concentrated Poland is also performing very well. They convincingly won their three matches this afternoon, especially the 5½-1½ against Peru (a tough day in the office for them, with 0/6). Recent World Cup winner Duda is on a roll with 5½/6 on the very tough first board. Canada is the third team in contention, hanging in there with three rounds to go. They have direct clashes with Poland Cuba and Peru, so it’s all in their hands to grab one of the two
Caruana gets in front after Day 1
American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana emerged as the clear leader after Day 1 of the 2021 Champions Showdown, scoring two wins and one draw in the exciting Chess 9LX rapid format. Tied for second place with 2.0/3 are Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and Sam Shankland, each of whom lost a game in addition to scoring two wins. Fabiano Caruana moved into the sole lead after Day 1 Legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov started off the event with two draws, missing a big chance to win in Round 2 against Wesley So, before losing his third-round game against Mamedyarov to finish the day on 1.0/3. Round 1 Starting position – Round 1 The unique starting position for each round was announced 15 minutes before the start of the games, giving the players a bit of time to break into groups and analyze the position as much as they could. So, Nakamura, and Shankland are all analyzing the first round’s starting position Round 1 featured three decisive outcomes, including an early frontrunner for the best game of the event, as So defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in brilliant fashion, first sacrificing an exchange, and then a full piece in order to launch a decisive attack: So’s 10.Nf6+!! was an absolute stunner, as after 10…gxf6 11.Qh6+- Black had no good defence to the threats of Bc2 and Bc3. | 1-0, 35 moves Shankland defeated Svidler after an exchange sacrifice didn’t lead to enough compensation for the 8-time Russian champion, while Mamedyarov ground out a long bishop endgame to win against Nakamura. Two other games were drawn. Round 2 Starting Position – Round 2 Round 2 saw even more decisive action, with four games ending in victory. Taking an early lead with 2/2 was Shankland, who shocked Nakamura with a nice trick that ended the game after 15 moves: Here Shankland spotted the excellent 15…Qxe5!, with the point 16.dxe5 16…Ne2+ 17.Kc2 Bg6+ and mate next move. Having lost a full rook, White resigned. Other notable results included Caruana scoring his first win by defeating Dominguez, while Kasparov missed a golden opportunity to defeat So, having obtained a strategically winning position. Despite missing some chances earlier, Kasparov could have still won the game here with 37.e6! followed by Qe5, with a winning queen endgame for White. | ½-½, 40 moves The former World Champion had his chances but failed to convert Round 3 Starting Position – Round 3 Round three produced decisive outcomes in all five games. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took down the leader Shankland, gaining a quick lead in development and transforming it into a devastating attack, as White’s pieces never got out. This gave Caruana a chance to grab the lead, as he took advantage of a misplayed rook endgame to score the full point against Svidler. Levon Aronian also won, his first victory in the event, ending with an incredible final position against Nakamura: After 35.Qc5, Black was completely paralyzed and soon to get mated | 1-0, 35 moves Day 2 of the 2021 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX will take place Thursday, September 9, with all of the action covered live by commentators GM Alejandro Ramirez and GM Maurice Ashley starting at 1:30 PM CDT. Fans can watch the action live at uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller Dates & Location: September 8 – September 10, 2021Saint Louis Chess Club Livestream:USChessChamps.Com Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClubInstagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClubYouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub#ChampionsShowdown #Chess9LX #STLChessClub Press Contact:Rebecca Buffingtonrbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)
“Chess for children with ASD” seminar announced
The International Chess Federation, together with its Chess in Education Commission, Commission for the Disabled and FIDE Social Commission, is pleased to announce the 2nd FIDE Educational Seminar “Chess for children with an autism spectrum disorder. Learn & teach”. Following the success of the 1st seminar held earlier this year, the event will take place on October 2-3, 2021 at 15:00 – 18:00 CEST. It aims to give core knowledge to potential chess teachers/coaches on opportunities for using chess in educating kids with autistic spectrum disorder, to present a special programme developed by speakers over the year 2021 and to provide the necessary training of teachers as well as support for project development. Presentation of the seminar (pdf) Teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder has a positive impaсt on their communication abilities, speech, thinking, self-esteem and confidence. Speakers of the seminar will talk about the ways of teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder and explain their methodology covering the following topics: • What is autism spectrum disorder? • How to teach chess to children with autism? • How to prepare the classroom? What else to pay attention to? Apart from the project leaders Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice-President and Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director, the list of speakers includes: Natalia Popova – WIM, FIDE Trainer, Trainer of the FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus, leader of the 2 years long project teaching chess to children with autistic spectrum disorder (Belarus); Ala Mishchanka – Special needs educational assistant, more than 15 years of experience (Canada); Dr. Anna Charchyan – researcher in Chess Research Institute at ASPU of a name Kh.Abovyan, PhD in Pedagogy, Lecturer faculty of Special and Inclusive Education at the Department of Speech Therapy and Occupational Therap (Armenia); Dr. Lilit Karapetyan – Senior researcher in Chess Research Institute at ASPU of a name Kh.Abovyan, PhD in Psychology, Lecturer at the Department of Special Pedagogy and Psychology (Armenia). Dr. Sandra Maria Guisso, Researcher with more than 15 years of experience (Brazil) and Luis Blasco de la Cruz, International Arbiter, CEO Madrid Chess Academy, Member of EDU FIDE Commission (Spain). How to register:For registration, please, please fill the form: https://cutt.ly/aWPwoHj before September 30, 2021. On October 01 all the registered participants will receive the access link to the online seminar. All participants who successfully pass a test will get a certificate of attendance. For further inquiries please contact: Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice President a.sorokina@fide.com.
Top Division: China and Russia lead
Wednesday, September 8th, 2021 – The Online Olympiad Top Division began today. For three days, forty of the best teams in the world will battle it out on the Chess.com servers, to decide who will succeed last year’s co-winners India and Russia as the 2021 Online Olympiad winner. The teams are split into four pools which will play an all-play-all format for three days. The two top teams will advance to the KO quarter-finals. Most of the players connect from their own homes spread around their countries. However, some of the best teams such as India, China and Russia have enjoyed a specific training stage and play from a club or federation premises, with strong Internet connectivity and added team spirit. Top Division – Pool A China is definitely the big favourite in this group. Averaging 2592, the team captained by Ni Hua is headed by GM Ding Liren and GM Wei Yi as main top boards, with the current Women’s World Champion GM Ju Wenjun on board three. Reserve boards include GM Yu Yangyi and GM Bu Xiangzhi. An unbelievably strong squad on all boards. Team China in Hangzhou. Photo: Liang Ziming With such a line-up, it seems highly unlikely that they will fall short of the two qualifying spots, but anything can happen here as we have seen each weak. Nonetheless, they have started the event very strongly and lead the group with undisputed wins over Indonesia, Mongolia and Australia. Tied with China for first place are Kazakhstan, also on 6/6. Three wins over Romania, Indonesia and Georgia has propelled the team headed by GM Rinat Jumabaev into an excellent position going into day two. Their rating average is 2446, lower than some of the other teams but very well spread over the boards. GM Zhansaya Abdumalik and IM Dinara Saduakassova play on main female boards three and four, and their junior female is Bibisara Assaubayeva: all three are very strong players. In third place, with 5/6 stands Iran, who dropped one match point against Romania. First board GM Parham Maghsoodloo didn’t have his day, losing both of his games, but second board GM Pouya Idani made up for him by winning all three. A fun stat is the “low” 2381 rapid rating of junior board five, GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, a very strong +2600 GM! He also won his three games! The other main contender in this group is Armenia, currently fifth in the standings. They didn’t get off to a good start, but their team has a huge potential and could easily make a comeback in future rounds. Tomorrow’s round four will be very exciting, as China and Kazakstan face-off in the first match of the day. Top Division – Pool B Hungary (6/6), one of the group favourites, took the early lead in group B thanks to wins over Shenzhen China, Slovenia and Azerbaijan,. They have a very solid team, combining strength and youth, headed by seasoned GM’s Viktor Erdos and Tamas Banusz, with top GM Benjamin Gledura as the first reserve. Nevertheless, the main favourite of the group is team India (5/6), who have also started off very strong although they did drop one match point against third-placed France. India is one of the teams that are playing all together from the luxury Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai. The team is sponsored by Microsense, which among other things, guarantees great Internet connectivity. Team India in Chennai. Photo: Amruta Mokal Chessbase India Their top board is former World Champion and chess legend GM Anand Viswanathan, but GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on board two is by no means any weaker! The female players, GM Koneru Humpy and GM Harika Dronavalli, are boards three and four, while GM Nihal Sarin defends the main junior board. All the reserve boards are also world-class players: India has come to win! In his game against Egypt’s board one Ahmed Adly, Anand is a rook up, but his king is under serious pressure. Did he calculate correctly? Of course! Black played 42…Rxg2+ 43.Ke3 Qh7! (threatening Qd3 mate) 44.Rad1 Qc2! (threatening with checkmate on f2) 45.Qf7+ Kd8 46.Kf4! and White escaped with his king and won the game. Tied for third and fourth are France and Moldova, one of the teams qualified from the previous stage. For now, France has only played with six of their twelve players, including GM’s Etienne Bacrot and Marie Sebag, and it remains to be seen if they will field the rest of the players tomorrow. Their junior player is IM Marc Andria Maurizzi: his 2186 rapid rating shouldn’t mislead: He is a GM-elect, with a standard 2488 rating! 14-years-old GM-elect Marc Andria Maurizzi This is a tough group with many players yet to get into action: teams such as Azerbaijan, Slovenia and quite a few others can easily win a couple of rounds and get back into the mix. Top Division – Pool C Group C has a clear favourite right off the bat: Russia (6/6). Co-winner (with India) of last year’s edition of the Online Olympiad, the Russian team is also playing in full from the Central Chess Club in Moscow. In the first three rounds, they have already defeated Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Germany (by a 6-0! score) and undisputedly lead the group. The Russian team in action from the Moscow Central Club Their main team includes world-class GM’s Alexander Grischuk, Danil Dubov as top two boards, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk on boards three and four and Andrey Esipenko (3/3 this afternoon) and Polina Shuvalova as junior boards. Already a team that inspires fear and awe! However, their “reserve” boards are Artemiev, Fedoseev, Lagno, Gunina…. And on it goes. A very tough squad captained by GM Alexander Motylev. The following diagram is from the game between German FM Frederik Svane and Russian GM Andrey Episenko. White is in dire straits but tried his last chance 40.Nd7 with a double attack on the rook and the c-pawn. Low on time, Episenko was still outstanding in his calculations. Andrey played 40…cxd4! 41.Nxf8 d3 42.Kf3 and now 42…g4+! After 43.Ke3 g3! the king and the knight can’t stop the two passers. Nonetheless,
Latvia stages International Children and Youth Festival «ChessYes»
The International Children and Youth Festival «ChessYes» is an official side event to the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 to be held in Riga from October 25 to November 08, 2021. The FIDE endorsed event is organized by Latvian Chess Federation, Public organization “KIS”, the non-governmental organization “Rudaga Plus” with the support of Children and Youth School of Education and Creativity “Rudaga” (Jurmala, Latvia) and chess club “KAISSA” (Riga, Latvia). The Festival consists of two separate events: online (October 09 – November 07, 2021) and offline (October 27 – November 02, 2021) tournaments. The online tournament will be played on lichess.org in four age groups: U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14. Each section will consist of two stages: the Qualifying stage, two online 9-round Swiss System tournaments held from October 09-23, 2021, and the Final stage for top players, a 16-player Knockout tournament, played from October 24 to November 07, 2021. The time control for both stages is 5 minutes + 3-second increment starting from the first move. Applications for participation are accepted until October 06, 2021 (U-8, U-10 age categories), October 13, 2021 (U-12) and October 20, 2021 (U-14). The registration is done via the official website of the tournament: https://chessyes.online/. The registration fee is €10. In addition to standard prizes, winners and medalists of the online event in the categories U-8, U10 (open & girls) will get a free online 1.5-hour group lecture by GM Dmitry Gordievsky. Top-3 finishers in the categories U-12, U-14 (open & girls) will be awarded an online 90-min group lecture by GM Boris Gelfand – FIDE World championship runner up (2012). Online tournament regulations (pdf) The offline event will be held in the Hanzas Perons Cultural Center, Hanzas iela 16A, Rīga, Latvia as a side event for the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Grand Swiss Women’s Tournament. The event will consist of 3 Swiss system 9 rounds tournaments: rapid 15′ + 10″, rapid 10′ + 5″ and blitz 5′ + 2″. The overall standings of the Festival will be calculated by summing the results of three tournaments. Photo: https://www.fold.lv/ Winners and awardees in the overall standings of Festival “ChessYes” will be determined in two age categories: Participants born in 2005 and younger; Participants born in 2009 and younger. Registration fee for participating in tournaments is €30 for Rapid 15′ + 10″, €20 for Rapid 10′ + 5″, and €10 for Blitz 5′ + 2″. Children with special needs and orphans are exempt from the fee. Participation in the tournament is confirmed by invitation sent by the Organizer, based on received applications, lists of participants and payment of the registration fee. Applications for participation are accepted until October 24, 2021 (if a visa is needed, applications are accepted until October 10, 2021). Application forms: “ChessYES” RAPID 15`+10″ https://forms.gle/AxjQ1tfZEAeBp79z8 “ChessYES” RAPID 10`+5″ https://forms.gle/4rcLtYb6BKSVrLB27 “ChessYES” BLITZ 5’ + 2” https://forms.gle/CXpurWh2JcKKftdh8 Offline tournament regulations (pdf) Tournament official website: https://chessyes.online/ Organizer’s contacts: Organizer-coordinator Inessa Testelecs +371 29236910 Festival Administrator Elena Naumovich +37126431869 (WhatsApp) Tournament Director Nadezhda Kravchuk +380 50 906 44 61 (WhatsApp)
Anton Demchenko wins European Championship
Anton Demchenko (Russia) is the new European Champion. The native of Novorossiysk scored 8½ out of 11 and secured the title after drawing the last-round game against Bogdan-Daniel Deac. The eventual champion was coming into the final round a half-point ahead of Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania), Vincent Keymer (Germany) and Alexey Sarana (Russia) who had some chance to contest for gold. The German managed to win over Daniele Vocaturo and caught up with Demchenko but had to settle for silver due to inferior tiebreaks (average rating of the opponents). Keymer also won a qualification spot for the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss as the best-ranked player under 20. Sarana and Deac made draws and tied for third. Again, the tiebreaks favoured the Russian player who took bronze. The European Individual Championship was held in Reykjavik and brought together 190 players from 36 federations. The participants of the 11-round Swiss tournament were fighting not only for titles and the prize fund of €100,000 but also for the next FIDE World Cup 23 qualifying spots. In addition to regular prizes, also the special prizes for the best-ranked Juniors, Seniors, Females and ACP players (who did not take a regular prize), were established. Two juniors, Jonas Buh Bjerre (Denmark) and Yahli Sokolovsky (Israel) scored 7 points each with the Dane coming on top thanks to better tiebreaks. Dominik Horvath (Austria) is third with 6½ points. Among senior players Lubomir Ftacnik (Slovakia), Tiger Hillarp Persson (Sweden) and Johann Hjartarson (Iceland) scored an equal amount of points (6), but tiebreaks favored the Slovakian. Hillarp Persson and Hjartarson got second and third prizes respectively. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (Russia), Tea Gueci (Italy) and Svenja Butenandt (Germany) tied for the prize of the best female player. According to tiebreaks, Maltsevskaya was first, Gueci took second prize, and Butenand came third. Final standings: 1 Demchenko Anton RUS 8½ 2 Keymer Vincent GER 8½ 3 Sarana Alexey RUS 8 4 Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 8 5 Piorun Kacper POL 7½ 6 Mamedov Rauf AZE 7½ 7 Erdos Viktor HUN 7½ 8 Huschenbeth Niclas GER 7½ 9 Navara David CZE 7½ 10 Sanal Vahap TUR 7½ 11 Bluebaum Matthias GER 7½ 12 Vocaturo Daniele ITA 7½ 13 Antipov Mikhail RUS 7½ 14 Paichadze Luka GEO 7½ 15 Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 7½ 16 Fridman Daniel GER 7½ 17 Mamedov Nidjat AZE 7½ 18 Svane Rasmus GER 7½ 19 Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 7 20 Ivic Velimir SRB 7 21 Nagy Gabor HUN 7 22 Bjerre Jonas Buhl DEN 7 23 Lagarde Maxime FRA 7,0 Official website: https://www.reykjavikopen.com/ Photo: official website and europechess.org
“Chess helped me in so many ways”: interview with ex-convict Hector Guifarro
The first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is scheduled for October 13-14, 2021, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Although the registration deadline is two weeks ahead, teams from 16 countries have already joined the event. Such an interest can be explained by the successful introduction of chess in prisons through different educative programs across the world. Hector Guifarro is one of those proving by personal example that the game has a positive impact on the lives of people who have ended up in jail after making a wrong choice. A former convict picked up chess while serving his sentence and, in his telling, it saved his life in prison and is saving it now. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola talked to Hector to find out how the game helps people to find another chance in life. – Hector, you’ve been in prison for seven years, and you have confessed that chess saved your life. What is it about chess that makes it so special to you? – Chess helped me in so many ways. It made me more patient, accountable cause in chess, you can’t blame anybody but you. It helped me to look at the points of view of other people. It became my outlet. Whenever I had a lot on my mind, I would play chess and I always felt better afterwards. But first of all, chess built my self-esteem through education. I really feel that is important. When you first go to prison, you have to take a test to see where you are education-wise. When I first took it, I scored really low. Before prison, I’ve never really taken education seriously, never did my homework. Five or four years later, in order to enter college, I had to take the same test, and my results were much higher. I am not trying to say that chess taught me math or improved my reading, but playing chess for all these years improved my memory and focus. – When in prison, did you have a coach, or you played with your fellow inmates, or read chess books? What was it like? – I didn’t have a chess coach. It was just all free will; it was just so common. At first, I was just killing time playing chess. But after a certain point, I realized that my approach was more like take-to-take; it didn’t have any strategy. So I started thinking more, seeing pieces flow together, and then it just became beautiful to me. I started reading books on chess, learning chess theory. – Did you like playing against the opponents, or reading the books and learning the theory? – All of it. I love playing, I love winning, whenever I checkmate – I smile. Whenever I lose – I couldn’t wait to play back again. For a long period of time, all I was thinking of was chess. I love everything about it, but chess theory is what made me realize how deep it was. I wanted to read all I could. There are so many openings, so many variations, inmates are in the perfect place to learn chess theory, as they have a lot of free time. – What was the first chess book that you read? – I really don’t remember its name. It was a book that I borrowed from a catalogue. It was for beginners. But now, when I came out of prison, I have more access to the theory, more videos. It all makes me a better player. I started looking at the game differently. Since the last time we spoke in May, I participated in two tournaments and, let me tell you, playing on a clock is really different. It makes my heart beat faster. – Was it a few weeks ago when you played your first tournament? – Yes. I didn’t win my session, but I won a few games and met so many new people. At the end of the day, just being in this environment, seeing other people who love chess was great. – How is your training going on now? Do you have a coach? – No, I don’t have a coach. I use apps. I am on chess.com, I am on Lichess. I use Chessable, which is a great app. It makes it easier to remember the lines, and it’s very simple. I play chess on my phone all the time. – You’ve been released almost a year ago. How is your life now? – Chess is really a part of my life now. Other than chess, I am a personal trainer. I have my day job, and then I am with the family. Other than that, I am studying or playing chess. That’s pretty much what it is. – What is your chess goal? – I love playing chess, I am participating in some tournaments, I master the theory and I know that I will get better, wherever that takes me… who knows. I like playing chess and I really like to see kids and the community involved in it. I just want everybody to play chess. It really hurts me that not so many people are playing chess in my community; I want to do something about that. I actually ended up having a meeting with Javier Martinez, recreation specialist of Waukegan Park District, south to Waukegan, Illinois. I told him the benefits of having chess in the community, and he loved the idea. They weren’t able to go forward with me due to my background, but they went forward with the program! So now we have a chess program in the community which starts at the beginning of September. Kids will be playing now, and I just hope that whoever teaches the program brings this passion to them. It is especially important with kids to make it fun for them, otherwise, it will be like any other game. I just want to thank Javier for pushing this idea through. – Are you still in contact with
Carlsen hits target to win Aimchess US Rapid
Magnus Carlsen is the Aimchess US Rapid winner after a near-faultless display against Vladislav Artemiev. The World Champion now marches into next month’s $300,000 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Final top of the leaderboard and in top form. Having secured the Aimchess US Rapid, Carlsen takes home the $30,000 first prize. He has won three of the eight Tour events he entered and racked up total earnings of more than $215,000. Carlsen had won the first match decisively yesterday and carried that advantage through to Sunday’s second match. It took just three games in the second for the Norwegian to brush aside his 23-year-old opponent. Artemiev, the world number 39, simply wasn’t given a chance. Right from the start, Carlsen was on top. He launched a swift attack in the first game and broke through to go 1-0 up. Artemiev – playing in his second Tour final – tried to resist but found himself low on time and collapsed under pressure. It left the Russian – who has been the breakout star of the Tour – needing to win at least two of the next three games just to force a tiebreak. In the second, Artemiev played powerfully and forced Carlsen onto the defensive. But his advantage evaporated when time trouble told again, and the Russian had to settle for a draw. Artemiev, with a mountain to climb, now had to win, or Carlsen would be crowned champion. Artemiev went all-out attack, but there was no way through. Carlsen maintained complete control and broke through to clinch the title in style. The match ended 2.5-0.5, and Carlsen won 2-0 overall. “It feels great,” Carlsen said afterwards. “It’s the first time, in like, ever that I’ve won one of these Tour events, and it’s been a fairly smooth ride. So it’s been good!” Asked whether his performance in this event was the best of the Tour so far, Carlsen said: “I would say so for sure.” He added: “I’m feeling good. I’m playing quicker and more confidently, so that’s good.” Artemiev has been super-impressive in the Tour played only three events, and made two finals and a semi. He also now progresses to the Tour Final as one of the top eight. Speaking of his opponent, Carlsen said his natural talent is “undeniable”. The Tour Final runs from September 25 to October 3. All games will be played in the chess24.com playzone. Coverage with full commentary is available on www.championschesstour.com or www.chess24.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Kingue Victor Ebosse and Whilema Ndjock win Cameroon Championship
FM Kingue Victor Ebosse and Whilema Ndjock are new champions of Cameroon. The Cameroon Chess Championships of the 2021/2022 season started with the regional qualifying rounds, with the best players advancing into the final. The final was split between the two largest cities (four rounds in Yaoundé and four rounds in Douala) and held in Open and Junior Under 15 categories. The eventual champion started right out of the gate and took the lead, winning four straight games. Given that he had beaten his local nemesis IM Marius Amba (who blundered right after the time control), many thought the title was in Victor’s bag. However, after the event moved to Douala the leader slowed down as he had to work hard to make draws in the games against Zebaze Martial and Meli Junior. Luckily for Victor, his main competitor IM Marius Amba stumbled, losing to Michael Tchuenbou. The champion finished strong, defeating Hassan Mouliom and Noumbo Vidal and clinched the national title (fifth in his career) with an excellent score of 7/8. Marius Amba finished clear second, a full point behind the champion; Zebaze Loïc Dylane is third with 5/8. The 2020/2021 championship was special as, for the first time, it featured a junior event (Under 15) won by Whilema Ndjock (pictured above).