Kosteniuk and Danielian rocket up in September rating list
August 2021 was the month of four main events in the chess calendar: the 2021 FIDE World Cup, Sinquefield Cup, the 2021 Women’s FIDE World Cup and the Women’s European Championship. Consequently, those who did well in those competitions became the primary beneficiaries in the September rating lists. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave dropped two rating points in the FIDE World Cup but more than compensated for it by winning the Sinquefield Cup. The Frenchman earned 14 rating points in Saint Louis and triumphantly returned into the top-10, kicking out Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The latter lost 20 points in the FIDE World Cup and the Sinquefield Cup. Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova The Women’s FIDE World Cup champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk, gained 41 points, climbed from 18th to 8th place in the women’s rankings, and reappeared in the top-10 for the first time since August 2019. Tan Zhongyi also did a great job in Sochi, where she reached the semifinals and picked up 14 rating points moving up one step in the Women’s Top-10. Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova Biggest gains: 1 Danielian, Elina GM ARM 2450 (+43) 2 Kosteniuk, Alexandra GM RUS 2526 (+41) 3 Injac, Teodora WGM SRB 2405 (+35) 4 Garifullina, Leya WGM RUS 2409 (+24) 5 Vaishali R WGM IND 2414 (+21) 6 Duda, Jan-Krzysztof GM POL 2756 (+18) 7 Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel IM MGL 2398 (+16) 8 Sargsyan, Shant GM ARM 2642 (+16) 9 Tan, Zhongyi GM CHN 2525 (+14) 10 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek GM UZB 2648 (14) 11 Kamsky, Gata GM USA 2662 (+13) 12 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime GM FRA 2763 (+12) Elina Danielian is the winner in this category, thanks to her brilliant performance at the Women’s European Championship. The Armenian GM not only took the title but also netted swooping 43 rating points. Teodora Injac and Leya Garifullina put up a strong showing in the two main women’s competitions in August and notched up 35 and 24 points, respectively. Photo: https://ecuwomen2021.ro/ Right outside the Top-10 Open, Jan-Krzysztof Duda picked up 18 points and ascended three positions to 15th after his impressive victory at the FIDE World Cup. Photo: David Llada Nodirbek Abusattorov and Shant Sargsian moved up one position each in the Top-10 Junior list. They earned 14 and 16 points, respectively, after producing good results at FIDE World Cup and Agzamov Memorial in Tashkent (won by the Armenian GM), and now are close on the heels of Nihal Sarin, who still occupies third place. Meanwhile, Gata Kamsky came out on top in the Biel Chess Festival 2021, which translates into 13 rating points and 23 positions up in the Top-100 Open. Top lists, calculations, ratings, statistics and more: ratings.fide.com
Firouzja puts So to the sword as Carlsen downs Duda
Rising star Alireza Firouzja showed why he’s seen almost universally as the next big thing in chess today with a ruthless display against Wesley So. The Iran-born 18-year-old was at his fearsome best in the Aimchess US Rapid as he thrashed US Champ Wesley 2.5-0.5 in the first match of the quarters. Wesley has won two titles on this year’s Meltwater Champions Tour and is a hot tip to win the series overall. But the American had no answer to Firouzja’s dominant play as the youngster won the first two games and then finished him off with a draw. Firouzja’s play belied his young age and he played with confidence and maturity, calmly guiding the match to its conclusion with a game to spare. “I think now I am getting in better shape,” he said afterwards, comparing his performance to previous Tour outings. As always, Wesley was gracious in defeat and heaped praise on his opponent – but did say it was a “bad day” for him. Wesley, who hinted that his hectic schedule had taken a toll on his play, will undoubtedly come back tomorrow for the second QF match with renewed vigour. Meanwhile, World Champion and Tour leader Magnus Carlsen also hammered Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who knocked him out of the recent World Cup before winning it. Carlsen looked bang in form as he battered Duda 2.5-0.5. The Pole now has a mountain to climb to make it into the semis. Asked whether he had exacted revenge on Duda for the loss, Carlsen said: “No, I don’t get revenge by beating people once.” He added: “I will need to show up tomorrow with the same kind of energy that I did today.” In the other quarters, the in-form Vladislav Artemiev, who dominated the prelim stage, found his charge for the title halted by the Cuban-American Leinier Dominguez. Artemiev and Dominguez’s tight match ended 2-2 leaving the pair heading for a shootout tomorrow. Artemiev maintained his unbeaten run, which extends to 19 games – but it took a last-gasp save to keep it. Levon Aronian, playing his last tournament in Armenia, beat the Azeri Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3-1 in a spectacular match that saw four decisive games. Tomorrow the four quarter-final matches will reach their climax with play starting at 17:00 CEST. 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
Jacques Rogge (1942-2021)
FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DES ÉCHECS Recognized by the International Olympic Committee (1999) 54 Avenue de Rhodanie, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland (+41) 216010039 office@fide.com http://www.fide.com Moscow, 31 August 2021 N 01_137_2021 On behalf of the International Chess Federation, I would like to express my sincere condolences on the passing of the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. Mr Rogge devoted himself to the promotion of the Olympic Movement for twelve years, a term that spanned three Summer Olympics and three Winter Games from 2001-2013. During this period, he demonstrated his admirable character by bringing stability and progress to the world of sports during very challenging times. A former athlete, Jacques had competed at three Olympics for Belgium as a sailor in 1968, 1972 and 1976. He loved sport and he loved to be among them athletes, who he considered his peers. An accomplished President, Mr Rogge was particularly passionate about raising interest in sport among younger generations. He decisively contributed to establishing the Youth Olympic Games, for which we all are forever indebted. Sincerely, Arkady DvorkovichFIDE President
Frantic end to Aimchess prelim stage sees Giri crash out
Vladislav Artemiev put in a tour de force performance to streak ahead of the pack as eight were eliminated from the Aimchess US Rapid. The 23-year-old Russian, who led overnight, kept up the pace in the prelim stage to book a place in the quarter-finals with ease. He ended unbeaten on 10.5/15 – a half-point ahead of World Champion Magnus Carlsen – and advances with a real chance of making the final. Behind him, both Carlsen and FTX Crypto Cup winner Levon Aronian also qualified smoothly with the teen hotshot also putting in a stellar show to finish on 9.5/15. Further back on the leaderboard, however, there was a frantic scramble for places as the field was cut in half. Wesley So, the only player to have made the cut in every Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event so far and winner of two titles, found himself in trouble early on before launching a recovery. By Round 12, with three rounds to go, Alireza Firouzja and Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan also both looked safe having built on yesterday’s scores. It left four of the big guns neck-and-neck and battling for just three qualifying spots with several permutations possible. Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda was the first to pull himself clear leaving Leinier Dominguez Perez, Anish Giri and France’s #1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave chasing the last place. In a nervy final round, it was Dominguez Perez who squeezed into the quarters as Giri couldn’t break down Firouzja and crashed out. Duda had earlier been involved in a technical drama in his Round 12 match against the “ChessBrah” streamer Eric Hansen which could have made his path to the quarters much easier. Hansen suffered a disconnection in a dead-drawn position and was on the brink of being handed a default loss. With Duda battling for a QF place, a win by disconnection would surely have proved crucial to sending him through in the final shakedown. But Duda showed true sportsmanship by offering a draw through the arbiters, which Hansen accepted. In the next game, the Pole was rewarded with a buccaneering win over Jorden Van Foreest which set him on the road to qualifying. The other streamer in the field was America’s Daniel Naroditsky. Despite being ranked far below the top players in the event, Naroditsky had been in the running overnight for an improbable KO place. But the underdog’s challenge petered out as he let a winning position slip to a draw against Hansen and was then comprehensively outplayed by Vachier-Lagrave. Naroditsky impressed far beyond his world #156 ranking – but, while he justified his inclusion, making the knockout stage was a step too far. Artemiev now takes on Dominguez Perez while Carlsen, in the other half of the draw, faces Duda. Today’s four quarter-final matches start at 17:00 CEST and 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
Ena Cvitan wins Croatian Women’s Championship 2021
Ena Cvitan came out as a winner of the Croatian Women’s Championship 2021. It is the first national title in her chess career. The 9-round Swiss tournament took place from August 21-29, 2021 in Hotel “Slavonija” in Vinkovci. The 20-year old Cvitan entered the event as the rating favourite and did not disappoint, scoring 7½/9 and became the only undefeated participant. Amarija Radiković was coming into the final round a half-point ahead of the future champion but fell to Kristina Šarić and had to settle for silver. Ana Berke tied for third place but took bronze thanks to better tiebreaks over Mirjana Medić and Patricija Vujnović. Final standings: 1 WIM Cvitan, Ena 2269 7½ 2 WFM Radiković, Anamarija 2110 7 3 WIM Berke, Ana 2179 5½ 4 WGM Medić, Mirjana 2140 5½ 5 WFM Vujnović, Patricija 2165 5½ 6 WIM Šarić, Kristina 2203 5 7 NM Roklicer, Babić Heike 2028 5 8 NM Dejanović, Tereza 1938 4½ 9 MK Mihaljević, Eva 1593 4½ 10 NM Bevanda, Ema 1646 4 Photo: Official website
Peaceful end to Division 3 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad
Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – The Division 3 stage of the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad finished today. After nine rounds in each of the 10-team Round Robin pools, fifteen countries have qualified for the next stage of the tournament. Pending the fair play report, these fifteen qualifiers will join 35 new seeded teams in Division 2 – including powerhouses such Cuba, Italy, Israel, Shenzhen, Slovenia and Sweden, all rated +2300 – which will run next weekend, September 2nd-4th. The five winners of the division 3 pools are: Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, Bolivia and Venezuela. This cool graphic illustrates all the countries that advance stage. Lebanon and Angola are the only two countries that will play in Division Two after starting in Division Four. Division 3 – Pool A Although suffering an unexpected loss against the IPCA team in round eight, Malaysia sealed the win in Pool A thanks to an exciting 3.5-2.5 victory against South Korea in the last round of the day. Combined with the excellent later round results by Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka, South Korea lost its second-place status and dropped down to fifth. Therefore, Malaysia (16/18), Chinese Taipei (14/18) and Sri Lanka (13/18) will advance to Division Two. The International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA) team also scored 13/18 but were edged out on tiebreak. The top scorers in this group were WCM Chua Jia-Tien (8/8) and WFM Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada (8/9) both from Malaysia. A common mating pattern appeared on board two of the match between Nepal and Fiji. White to play in the next diagram. FM Manish Hamal used the Arabian mate pattern with 47.Nf6! followed by 48.Rh7 mate. Black can only delay checkmate a couple of moves by sacrificing his pieces with check. Division 3 – Pool B Pool B was dominated from start to finish by Ireland, who scored 17/18 match points, conceding only one draw against Jordan. They advance as Pool B winners to the next stage. With 14/18 points, Lebanon and Iraq shared second and third place and will also progress to Division Two. Having scored quite a few more board victories, the Lebanese team finished second on tiebreak. Jordan had a chance to finish third and secure the qualification, but they needed to win their last three matches. However, Kenya stopped them with a minimum 3½-2½ win and shattered their hopes of playing next week. The top scorers in this pool were WIM Mouradian Knarik from Lebanon (8/9) and especially Cape Verde’s board one, IM Mariano Ortega Amarelle (originally from Italy), who won all his games (9/9) and actually scored more points than the rest of his team together! Division 3 – Pool C As expected, Scotland (16/18) and Angola (15/18) qualified with ease as first and second in this group and will advance to Division Two. In their last-round showdown, Angola defeated Scotland by 4-2, but it must be said that the Scots had already won the group and fielded a slightly weaker team. Wales (12/18), Zambia (11/18) and Botswana (11/18) went neck and neck in the last three rounds. The Welsh team’s very close win over Angola by 3½-2½ in round eight allowed them to go the extra mile and secure the third qualifying spot by an inch. Several players scored six points in this pool (the highest individual score) but GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant from Scotland and Paulo Jemima from Angola were the only players to win all of their games (6/6). Division 3 – Pool D Although Bolivia lost to Paraguay by 4-2 in the first round of the day, they were still able to finish first with 16/18, edging out Uruguay on tiebreak. A more than reasonable classification taking into account that Bolivia did defeat Uruguay in their match. Paraguay (14/16) took the third and final qualifying spot in this group, defeating Trinidad & Tobago (also 14/16) by five board points in the tiebreak. However, if any of the Division 2 teams can’t make it, Trinidad would likely take the spot as best 4th place finisher of the five pools. The best player in this pool was WIM Gabriela Vargas from Paraguay, with an outstanding 8/8 score! In the next diagram, White is asphyxiating his opponent. Nonetheless, he spotted a nice tactic to finish off the game quickly. Dominican Republic’s board two played 48.Nxc7! Nxc7 49.Bb6! and Black resigned. He will lose a lot of material (50.Ba6+ is the reply to any knight retreat). Division 3 – Pool E The best team in the third division is Venezuela. With an outstanding 18/18 100% match point score, they have dominated Pool E and will be a force to reckon with in the next stage. A total of 46½ out of 54 board points gives an idea of the team’s strength on all boards. El Salvador (15/18) and Jamaica (14/18) will join Venezuela in the next stage. Jamaica was defeated by El Salvador in round eight by 3½-2½ and was, therefore, overtook in the standings. However, both teams scored important seventh and ninth round wins, leaving Puerto Rico’s last-minute qualifying effort useless. The top scorers in this Pool were CM Rachel Miller from Jamaica with 8/9, followed by her teammate FM Joshua Christie with 7½/9. Division 3: final standings Pairings of the rounds, live games, PGN files and other useful information can be found on the FIDE Online Olympiad website. Please note that all results and standings remain provisional until the fair play panel submit its daily report. The games can be followed online on www.chess.com (Events), presented by Wouter Bik, with expert analysis by WFM Alessia Santeramo, GM Roeland Pruijssers, WGM Jen Shahade, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and other invited guests. Commentary can also be followed on FIDE’s own Youtube channel. Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer Email: press@fide.com About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move time control. The full schedule can be consulted here. Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE)
Venezuela dominates in Division 3
Saturday, August 28th, 2021 – Day two of Division 3 was played today, with the contest of rounds 4-6 in each of the five pools. Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, Bolivia and Venezuela all seem to have their groups controlled and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should advance to Division 2 after tomorrow’s final three rounds. However, the rest of the qualifying spots – the first three teams of each group will advance to the next stage of the Olympiad – are still very much in the air, and there are quite a few direct pairings that will decide the lucky teams. Division 3 – Pool A Having played six of the nine rounds, Malaysia is the clear favourite to win Pool A and advance to Division 2. They have won all of their matches (12/12) and most of their players are in great shape, especially the female contenders. WFM Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada has won all six of her games and WCM Chua Jia-Tien is on 5/5. Even the two top boards, FM Lim Zhuo Ren and FM Subramaniam Sumant are playing around 50% and holding their own against tougher opposition. The dangers of leaving your king too long in the centre can be observed clearly in the following diagram from the match between Nepal and Chinese Taipei. Black is pinned on the e-file, and therefore her pieces lack mobility. White cashed in with 31.Rg8+ Kd7 32.Ne5! checkmate! South Korea still occupies second place in the standings, although not with 100% anymore. Currently, on 9/12 points, they have dropped three points against Chinese Taipei by a very close 3½-2½ and a 3-3 draw against third-place contender Sri Lanka, also on 9/12. However, there are still three rounds left, and although Malaysia seems to be a lock, the other two qualifying spots are still up for grabs. The seventh-round clash between Sri Lanka and Chinese Tapei will probably de decisive for one of the spots, and the last round bout between Malaysia and South Korea might even decide the winner of the group! Division 3 – Pool B Ireland had an unbelievable day today, winning their three matches and overtaking Lebanon and Iraq on the scoreboard. Their direct encounters with these teams ended in clear 4½-1½ wins for the Irish. It would be a big surprise for them not to qualify tomorrow – however, other essential schedule challenges might be around the corner for them (more to come on that topic!). Iraq still preserves second place, as they only lost to Ireland, but Lebanon had an awful day, losing to Ireland and only finishing even with Syria and Jordan. They have dropped to third place but are under serious pressure from Jordan, with the same points and better pairings for the last rounds. The seventh-round match between Iraq and Lebanon will be a huge test for the Lebanese team: a loss could easily cost them the qualification. The top scorer in this pool at the moment is Cape Verde’s board one, IM Mariano Ortega Amarelle (originally from Italy). He has won all of his games, contributing six of his team’s nine board points! Division 3 – Pool C Both Scotland (12/12) and Angola (11/12) played excellently today, and nothing short of a miracle can impede their advancing to Division 2. Fate has it that they will face-off in the last round, possibly deciding the winner of the group. In the first round of the day, Scotland landed a crushing 5½-½ win over Botswana and then scored another 5½-½ victory, this time over Wales, leaving no doubt on their superiority in the group. Angola also defeated the ICCD by 5½-½ and then Palestine by 5-1, but they were stopped in their tracks by Zambia, who managed to tie 3-3. The third spot is up for grabs: Botswana (7/12), Wales (6/12) and Zambia (5/12) could all make the scoop, although it’s actually Zambia who by far has the better pairings for tomorrow. With regard to individual performances, ICCD’s second board WCM Annegret von Erichsen is having a great event, scoring 4,5/5 at the moment. Unfortunately, the rest of the team is not doing so well. Division 3 – Pool D With their three wins today, Bolivia has made a huge step towards qualification for Division 2. The key match was the victory over Trinidad & Tobago by 5½-½ in the sixth round, demoting them to fourth place. Meanwhile, both Paraguay – who still have to play against Bolivia – and Uruguay had a perfect chess day, winning two of their three matches. They both share 2nd-3rd place and are well-positioned to accompany Bolivia to the second division. In fact, the seventh round match between Bolivia and Paraguay will immediately clarify the probable winner of the group. This is definitely one of the most unbalanced pools, with many 5-1 to 6-0 scores. However, the best board of the pool, for now, is Etienne Angelo from eighth-placed Haiti: with 5½ out of 6, he is the firm anchor for the rest of his team. Division 3 – Pool E Panama was the big loser today. They just weren’t able to recover from the 5-1 defeat to Venezuela in the first round of the afternoon, and two very close defeats against direct rivals El Salvador and Puerto Rico – both by 3½-2½ – left them in a tie for 4th place with 6/12 and basically no chance to qualify tomorrow. The big winner of the day was Venezuela (12/12), who increased their lead by two points, essentially winning the group. Their victory over second-placed Jamaica (10/12), by 5½-½ starkly, illustrates which team is the best. With a total of 32½ out of 36 points, they have only lost one game, an incredible statistic. WFM Patino Garcia Corals is their top scorer with 6/6, and three of their other players are on 5/5. The following position is from the Venezuela-Panama match. Black has just played 10…c5 (10…0-0 would have been safer), and Corals Patino notched up one of her six points with the nice tactic 11.Bxg6! The point is that after 11…fxg6 12.Qxg6+ Kf8 13.Ng5! threatens mate on f7 and after the forced 13…Qe8 14.Ne6+! Kg8 15.Qxg7 is checkmate. Jamaica should qualify tomorrow, but they do have direct pairings with El Salvador (in third place with 9/12) and Panama, so it’s not a lock yet. Division 3:
Bibisara Assaubayeva clinches Asian Women’s Online Championship
IM Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan emerged as a winner of the Asian Women’s Continental Online Chess Championship held from August 23-25, 2021 on the Tornelo platform. She became the Asian continental nominee for the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss this October in Riga, Latvia. Assaubayeva (pictured below), 17, finished clear in first and concluded the event undefeated, scoring 7.5 points. WIM Ning Kaiyu of China took silver with 7 points. The bronze medal went to WIM Turmunkh Munkhzul of Mongolia thanks to the best tiebreak among five players tied for third place with 6½ points each. Photo: Lennart Ootes The event brought together 74 players (including 9 WGMs, 8 IMs and 22 WIMs) from 15 countries, namely Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Oman, Philippines, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The event was a 9-round Swiss tournament with the time control of 25 minutes plus an increment of 10 seconds per move. Players were monitored closely with front and side/panoramic cameras throughout the event. Games were broadcast live on chessbomb.com, chess.com, live.followchess.com and live.chessbase.com Final standings: 1 IM ASSAUBAYEVA, Bibisara KAZ 2321 7½ 2 WIM NING, Kaiyu CHN 1884 7 3 WIM MUNKHZUL, Turmunkh MGL 2044 6½ 4 WIM CHITLANGE, Sakshi IND 1726 6½ 5 WIM SONG, Yuxin CHN 2092 6½ 6 IM SUKANDAR, Irine INA 2381 6½ 7 WGM LI, Xueyi CHN 2171 6½ 8 WIM PRIYANKA, Nutakki IND 1922 6 9 WGM SRIJA, Seshadri IND 2087 6 10 WIM FRONDA, Jan Jodilyn PHI 2045 6 Text: http://asianchess.com/
Online Olympiad: Division 3 starts smoothly
Friday, August 27th, 2021 – After a short four-day hiatus, during which the fair-play team submitted their reports and the pairings team confirmed the new groups, the 2021 Online Olympiad resumed today with the first three rounds of Division 3. This stage of the event runs from Friday 27th to Sunday, August 29th and pairs the 16 qualifying teams from Division 4 with 34 new seeded teams, forming 5 pools of 10 teams each (50 teams total). Each team consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Unfortunately, the team from Tajikistan had to withdraw, and Cape Verde was invited in their place, as the best 4th-placed team from Division 4 available. For those of you wondering which criteria are used to form the groups, time zones and approximate equal average rating are the two principal ones. Division 3 – Pool A Pre-event favourite, Malaysia (rated 1973), including several +2000 FM’s started off very strong in this pool, with important wins against Fiji (5.5-0.5), Chinese Tapei (4.5-1.5) and a very close victory over Sri Lanka by only 3.5-2.5, for a total 6/6 score. Most of their main boards were available, and the two sisters WIM Azhar Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa and WFM Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada won 3/3 for a 100% score. South Korea also had a great start with 6/6 defeating IPCA (5-1), Thailand (4-2) and Nepal (4.5-1.5). Provisionally, they share the lead with Malaysia, while Japan and Sri Lanka are just behind with 4/6 sharing 3rd-4th place in the group. Anecdotally, only one game was decided by default in this group. Division 3 – Pool B As expected, one of the most interesting groups. It’s still very early to predict which three teams have the best chance to advance, as the leaders basically played against the bottom half of the table. Division 4 qualifier, Lebanon, had a great start, crushing Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Mozambique with 5-1 or 6-0 results, but Iraq is also on 6/6 after defeating Kenya, Tunisia and Cape Verde, albeit by lower scores. Ireland and Jordan share a 3rd-4th place on 5/6, having dropped a match point after a 3-3 result between themselves. These teams, especially Iraq, are relying heavily on their reserve boards in the first rounds. It will be interesting to see how they will evolve tomorrow. Division 3 – Pool C A three-way tie between Scotland and neighbouring African countries Angola and Botswana is the result of Day 4 in Pool C of Division 3. All three teams won their first three rounds with 4+ results and have already put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. Scotland fielded eleven of their twelve players, including two GM and one IM, while Angola and Botswana mostly relied on their main boards. The 4th round clash between Angola and Scotland will definitely start to put things into perspective. The following diagram illustrates a simple but very typical tactic that you always have to be aware of: IM Andrew Greet, playing White, clicked out 12.Ng6! with a double attack on the queen and the rook. Note that the key to the tactic is that the bishop on f4 is protected by the knight on g6. Division 3 – Pool D On paper, this is probably the strongest group but that always depends on which players are selected for each match. After three rounds, Paraguay, Bolivia and Division 4 qualifier Trinidad & Tobago have all started very strong with three wins and share the lead with 6/6. Paraguay scored a whopping 17 out of 18 match points whitewashing Malawi and Aruba and crushing Suriname by 5-1. Bolivia and Trinidad also won their three matches, although by slightly more modest scores. The most relevant result was Uruguay’s setback against Bolivia by 2-4: a huge surprise, as Uruguay has the best team on paper. Even so, with three spots to advance, everything is possible and Uruguay can certainly bounce back in the following rounds. The following diagram is from the exciting Dominican Republic vs Uruguay match. On board two FM Luis Lorenzo was facing a difficult situation with the pin on the e-file. He was probably expecting 22…Nxe4 23.Nxe4 Nc5 and he bails out with 24.Qf2! where he is worse but holding. However, veteran GM Alejandro Hoffman spotted that the intermediate move 22… Bd4+! would prevent the Qf2 defence. After 23.Kh1 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Nc5 Black won a piece. Division 3 – Pool E Three teams lead Pool E after the first three rounds: Venezuela, Jamaica and Panama, all of them on 6/6. El Salvador occupies fourth place with 4/6 but has already lost to Venezuela by a huge 5.5-0.5. Venezuela threw 10 of their 12 players into the battle and they only dropped two out of eighteen board points: an outstanding start for them. The top scorer was board four WFM Corals Patino Garcia, who won her three games, and several other team members are on 2/2. Jamaica got by with seven players, but all of them scored very well, while Panama also distributed the games between all of the team members. Venezuela-Panama will be an exciting match to follow tomorrow, as they face-off in the fourth round of the group. Whoever wins will be in a great position to take down this pool. Standings after Round 3: Pairings of the rounds, live games, PGN files and other useful information can be found on the FIDE Online Olympiad website. Please note that all results and standings remain provisional until the fair play panel submit its daily report. The games can be followed online on www.chess.com (Events), presented by Wouter Bik, with expert analysis by WFM Alessia Santeramo, GM Roeland Pruijssers, WGM Jen Shahade and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili. Commentary can also be followed on FIDE’s own Youtube channel. Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer Email: press@fide.com About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins Sinquefield Cup 2021
After a quick draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the 2021 Sinquefield Cup, securing first place after his closest rivals were unable to catch him in the ninth and final round. MVL is the first two-time clear winner of the event, also having taken first place in the 2017 edition. For his efforts, Vachier-Lagrave earns $90,000 in prize money, as well as a bonus of $50,000 for finishing second in the overall Grand Chess Tour. With the win, Vachier-Lagrave also secured second place in the overall Grand Chess Tour, with Mamedyarov finishing third after all was said and done. The 2021 Grand Chess Tour winner, Wesley So, had already clinched first place after yesterday’s round. Mamedyarov – Vachier-Lagrave | ½-½, 25 moves The game was over within ten minutes of the start of the round as the players repeated a well-known “book draw” in the Grunfeld, securing MVL at least a tie for first place. However, the intrigue didn’t end there as Caruana, So, and Dominguez still had a chance to catch MVL with a win. The final position of Mamedyarov – Vachier-Lagrave, which earlier this year became an infamous way for players to force a draw in elite events, as the moves Kh8 Rd7+ Kg8 Rg7+ are completely forced, with neither side being able to avoid a draw by repetition. So – Dominguez | ½-½, 35 moves Wesley opted for the quiet but venomous Exchange Variation (7.dxc5) of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, leading to a queenless middlegame where White typically plays for a small plus. Dominguez did not appear to have any serious issues in the game, comfortably holding his own as he allowed White to win a pawn in exchange for some piece activity. So’s extra pawn was fairly weak and never able to get going, and once Dominguez inevitably won the pawn back the position was completely drawn. Shankland – Swiercz | ½-½, 43 moves Good preparation by Swiercz as Black in the Catalan allowed him to solve all of his problems out of the opening, with Shankland holding a bit of pressure with the two bishops but Black having excellent control over the dark squares. After some logical play by both sides, the players eventually found themselves in an equal endgame, and after further exchanges, the game ended with three-fold repetition. Svidler – Xiong | ½-½, 44 moves Faced with an aggressively early g7-g5 push in the Italian Game, Svidler reacted well by fighting back in the center and castling queenside. But after achieving a dominating position, Svidler started to go wrong, missing the strongest opportunities and eventually settling for an endgame with an extra pawn but with plenty of compensation for Black. Xiong took his chance to get back into the game and managed to hold, creating enough counterplay to maintain the balance. Rapport – Caruana | ½-½, 62 moves The final game of the day carried the most intrigue as Caruana needed a win in order to catch up to Vachier-Lagrave and tie for first place. Playing as Black, Fabiano opted for the Sicilian, and was a bit worse out of the opening but managed to turn things around by creating strong kingside counterplay. Rapport defended well and only ended up slightly worse in a heavy-piece endgame, as Caruana continued to press and play on for the full point. Unfortunately for Fabiano, there simply wasn’t enough in the position, as Rapport successfully held the rook endgame, and MVL was declared the clear champion. Coming up next in Saint Louis will be the 2021 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX, taking place September 7-10 and will feature ten of the world’s best players, including legendary World Champion, Garry Kasparov competing in Fischer Random chess. Check out more info/details on the event here. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Lennart Ootes, Bryan Adams, Austin Fuller and Crystal Fuller Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com