FIDE announces Online Olympiad 2021
The International Chess Federation is excited to announce the FIDE Online Olympiad 2021, to be held between August 13 and September 15. The event will follow a format similar to one used last year, with member Federations being represented by their best players and top juniors. The national teams will compete in rapid chess matches played on six boards (see tournament regulations for details). Chess.com will be again the hosting platform for this event that, on its inaugural edition, became one of the highlights of 2020. With more than 1,500 participants representing 163 national teams, it was a truly global competition, very much in the spirit of the traditional chess Olympiads. It helped our big chess family to unite around a wonderful event at a time of crisis, when it was most needed. The second edition of the Online Olympiad will receive the support and sponsorship of the Shenzhen authorities, which include the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen Chess Academy, Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club. Simaland, the Russian wholesale online store and proud sponsor of the Candidates tournament 2020-21, will also be a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021. Once again, the event will consist of two stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage with the top eight teams qualified from Stage 1 battling in knockout format. Usually, at live Olympiads, the teams that can’t boast of the world’s best players in their lineups are not in the spotlight, as the general chess audience focuses on favorites. The unique format of the FIDE Online Olympiad gives us a chance to take a closer look at the teams bereft of chess stars but united by a sincere love for the game and a strong desire to develop and make progress. The qualifying format of tournaments in divisions also allows us to make some predictions and try to figure out the teams that will advance to the next stage. The qualifying events will kick off on August 13. Top Division, featuring the strongest 25 seeded and 15 qualified teams, will begin on September 08. The decisive play-off stage is scheduled for September 13-15. Like a year ago each team will consist of six players, including at least 2 women, at least 1 player U-20 (born in 2001 or later), and at least 1 girl U-20 (born in 2001 or later). The time control will be 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1. Each federation intending to take part in the FIDE Online Olympiad shall confirm its participation by July 31, 2021. Tournament regulations (pdf) List of Teams by Starting Divisions (pdf) Schedule: DATES EVENT NUMBER OF TEAMS SYSTEM STAGE 1. DIVISIONS 13 – 15 August BASE DIVISION TBA TBA 20 – 22 August DIVISION 4 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from BASE DIVISION) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to DIVISION 3 27 – 29 August DIVISION 3 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 4) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to DIVISION 2 2 – 4 September DIVISION 2 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 3) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to TOP DIVISION 8 – 10 September TOP DIVISION 40 (25 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 2) 4 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 2 best teams of each pool advance to STAGE 2 STAGE 2. PLAY-OFF 13 September QUARTER-FINALS 8 (qualified from TOP DIVISION) KO duel of two matches + TB 14 September SEMI-FINALS 4 (qualified from QUARTER-FINALS) KO duel of two matches + TB 15 September FINAL 2 (qualified from SEMI-FINALS) KO duel of two matches + TB FIDE.com and the official website of the FIDE Online Olympiad (http://onlineolympiad.fide.com) will provide daily coverage of the event. The games will be broadcast live with multilingual expert commentary on the on the FIDE’s official Youtube channel and by Chess.com.
2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education to be held at the end of July
The 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education will be held July 29-30, 2021, at the Cherry Hill, N.J., Crowne Plaza, where the U.S. Chess Open Championship will be held. The Conference will explore many practical topics. Presenters are eminent in their fields. Presentations will discuss: Chess and neuroscience Possible preventive effects of chess on Alzheimer’s Chess philanthropy Creating a chess curriculum Linking chess to STEM and Artificial Intelligence Chess as an equalizer for those with disabilities And other topical ideas in chess and education Question-and-answer sessions will follow each presentation Photo: ihg.com The 3rd International Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education July 29-30, 2021 Cherry Hill, New Jersey Sponsored by the US Chess Trust www.USChessTrust.org The 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education is held in honor of Dr. Tim Redman, founder of the championship Chess Program at The University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Redman organized the first (2001) and second (2011) Koltanowski Conferences on Chess in Education. The 2021 conference will be held in-person with a limited audience. It will be live-streamed online and available for later viewing. 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education is sponsored by the U.S. Chess Trust. “The Chess in Education conference is more significant than ever. In the last twenty years, there have been serious advances in chess across many fields — education, social development, cognitive research and many more. With panelists and speakers active in their specialties, the conference emphasizes praxis. The Board of the US Chess Trust values your participation in this conference,” said Beatriz Marinello in her letter to participants on behalf of the organizing committee and the US Chess Trust. Date Held: July 29-30, 2021 Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey For more information, contact: Al Lawrence, mailto:al@uschesstrust.org or Beatriz Marinello, beatriz@uschesstrust.org For more details go to: http://www.uschesstrust.org COVID-19 policies apply: Face masks and social distancing will be in effect for the limited audience. If you wish to attend in-person, please fill out this form:
Shri Ram College of Commerce clinches the title
On Sunday, July 11, the three-day international chess tournament FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 has come to its end. For the first time in history, 32 teams of graduates from the largest business schools representing Russia, USA, Canada, India, Mexico, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Philippines, Bangladesh, Zambia and Fiji fought for the champion’s title. After two days of the group stage, the eight strongest teams advanced to the playoffs. The list of the quarterfinalists included Shri Ram College of Commerce (India), the Finance University under the Government of Russia (Russia), MIPT Business School (Russia), MGIMO (Russia), University of Toronto (Canada), Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO 1 (Russia), Perm State National Research University (Russia), The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). In the final, Shri Ram College of Commerce (India) defeated MIPT Business School (Russia) 2:0 and became the FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 Champion. FM Jeet Jain from Shri Ram College of Commerce (India) shared his emotions after the victory: “It was an interesting tournament with very difficult games played. Our team knew each other long before the tournament as we are all from one college – some are juniors, some are seniors. We travel all around the world to play chess tournaments together, so we know each other pretty well.” Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO 1 (Russia), that was also a co-organizer of the event, finished third. The live broadcast of the final day of the tournament was attended by the FIDE Director General Emil Sutovsky. He shared his support for the project and expressed his hope to see it grow: “The fact that in a short period it was possible to gather several dozens of participating teams, proves that the tournament arouse interest among the audience. This is already a success for a newborn event. This project can and should grow, I think it will work out the next time. It is important for FIDE to hold tournaments not only for chess players of the highest level, and not only for standard categories such as children, youths, veterans, but also tournaments like this. The project seems to me to be in demand, and I will be very happy if it gets a continuation.” The 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik gave some advice to future champions: “First, you must not forget that this is still a game, that it is not only self-expression, fame or money. Secondly, to keep a cool head in critical stressful situations when there is little time. It is extremely difficult, but it must be learned little by little. Whoever does it better is at the top. Chess players of the very top level are distinguished precisely by their ability to play well under tension, under maximum stress. And thirdly, do not forget to enjoy the game itself, and not just the result of it. It seems to me that if there is no pleasure in the process, then it is very difficult to reach success.” The champions will be awarded the first NFT Trophy by FIDE. All the prize winners will get their medals and the right to participate in an online simultaneous chess game against one of the top Grandmasters in the world. In addition to the prizes from organizers, all the participants of the tournament will get official NFT tokens of the Cup from Binance. Viewers of the broadcast will also be able to get NFT drop, if they use a promo code CHESS until the end of July. The daily online broadcasts of the FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 were made in English and Russian languages from the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO and were available on the official FIDE channels on Youtube, VK and Twitch. Various experts attended the broadcasts to comment on the games and talk to the participants. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and other famous grandmasters from different countries were among the guests. The general sponsors of the event are Binance — the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem, Tiger.Trade — an innovative software package for securities and cryptocurrency traders, CryptoUniverse — one of the largest mining platforms in the world.
FIDE World Cup Day 01: “Galactic” games in Sochi
GM Pablo Salinas plays arguably the best game of the year. Monday, July 12th, 2021 – The first day of the World Cup was held this afternoon at the Galaxy Entertainment And Leisure Complex. The principal arbiter, Laurent Freyd from France, opened the round at 3:00 pm sharp and all the clocks were started for White. Due to tournament-specific rules, on this occasion, the traditional handshake greeting was replaced by a simple facial friendship recognition. Of the 309 qualified players in the Open and Women’s groups, there were only 8 justified nonappearances, essentially due to travel-related problems. However, the open group will have 50 new players joining in on the second round while the women’s group will be expanded with 25 players, all of them qualified directly by ranking. As is customary in knockout-format tournaments, where chess players of unequal level face off in the early rounds, there have been quite a few striking surprises. Perhaps the most remarkable result in the open group was International Master (IM) Ravi Haria’s (2440) win over experienced Russian Grand Master (GM) Vadim Zvjaginsev (2608). After an early exchange of queens in a very solid variation of the French Defence, Haria gradually increased his advantage with good technique, finally taking down his opponent in a rook ending. However, most of the media attention was focused on the performance of the USA wunderkind Abhimanyu Mishra (2485), recently crowned the youngest GM in history, at the very early age of 12 years old. He fought tenaciously against the experienced Georgian GM Baadur Jobava (2603) but in the end, he had to concede, not before making it very clear to his opponent that tomorrow’s rematch will be very tough indeed. The other young Russian rising star, IM Volodar Murzin (2502) (pictured above), came very close to defeating his opponent, veteran Moldovan GM Viorel Iordachescu (2589), in an ending with a clear extra pawn. But he will have to wait until tomorrow to try to seal the deal, after his opponent’s precise defence in the game. But the best game of the day must go to Chilean GM Pablo Salinas (2514) (pictured below), for his magnificent win over Danish GM Mads Andersen (2579) a true work of art, worthy of any collection of best games. After a more than correct Semi-Slav defense, Salinas, with Black, began to create pressure on the c-file by pinning the queen on c2 with his rook in addition to the bishop on b4 hitting the pinned knight. Under pressure both on the board and on the clock, Andersen blundered with 19.a3? (the unbelievable 19.Qxe4, sacrificing the queen, is the engine’s recommendation), and Salinas executed the thematic sacrifice 19… Nxf2! destroying White’s castled king. With very little time left, the Dane found the remarkable defensive resource 22.Qf5! – which Salinas acknowledged took him by surprise – but the Chilean player kept his calm and continued the attack with 22… Nf6! with the brilliant idea 23… Ng4!, a real bombshell that unleashed a series of different lines with queen sacrifices, ending in all sorts of fantastic checkmates. After 24.Rd3 the killer move 24…d4! opened up the long diagonal, incorporating Black’s only inactive piece into the attack. The final combination with 25…Qg1!! followed by 26…Nxh2 mate is perhaps one of the most beautiful finishes of the year, maybe even the century? Mads Andersen – Pablo Salinas 25…Qg1!! 26.Nxg1Nxh2# The same pattern was repeated in the women’s group, where the pre-match rating favourites prevailed in most of the encounters. Still, two results stood out above the rest. The women International Master (WIM) Tilsia Varela La Madrid (2072) representing Venezuela, clearly defeated French IM Pauline Guichard (2413), although the main surprise of the day was the defeat of the 2012 World Champion, Ukrainian Grand Master (GM) Anna Ushenina against Egyptian WIM Ayah Moaataz (rated only 2015). Despite having a huge material advantage, Ushenina allowed a decisive lightning kingside attack – instead of 36…Ng7?, the combination 36… Rxe3! 37.dxe3 Qf1! + 38.Kxf1 Nxe3+ would have allowed the Ukrainian player to take home the point. However, even with the favourable score, tomorrow’s game (White plays Black and vice versa) will determine, together with the tiebreaks, who will advance to the second round of the World Cup. The full pairings tree and day-by-day results can be found on the World Cup website. About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from July 12th (Round 1) to August 6th (finals), the 2021 FIDE World Cup will gather together in Sochi (Russia) 309 of the world’s best chess players, with 206 of them playing in the Open World Cup (and 103 participants in the first-ever Women’s World Cup. The top two finishers in the tournament, aside from World Champion Magnus Carlsen who is also participating, will qualify for the 2022 Candidates Tournament, in addition to winning the 110.000 USD first prize (80.000 USD for the runner-up). Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE), Chess Federation of Russia, Russian Ministry of Sports, and Government of Krasnodar Krai. Partners: Gazprom – general partner Nornickel – general partner PhosAgro – general partner Chessable – event’s partner Aeroflot – CFR’s partner Educational centre “Sirius” Text: Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer press@fide.com Photo: Eric Rosen and Anastasiia Korolkova
Riga Technical University Open is back for a special 10th edition
In these uncertain times, we are pleased to announce some good news – the 10th edition of the Riga Technical University Open has just been confirmed for August 7-15. That means one of the biggest chess Festivals in Europe is back after a one-year hiatus (caused, of course, by the coronavirus pandemic). GM Robert Hovhannisyan was the winner of the 2018 edition/Photo: Organisers As we know the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” and it seems the organisers really missed the chess buzz in Riga. This summer they will warmly welcome back all the chess-lovers with 9 different tournaments (something for everyone!) and the record 28 000 Euros prize fund! To make the 10th edition of RTU Open more special thanks to FIDE’s financial support we have improved several things. Stronger anti-cheating measures will be taken to make sure that every participant will be playing only against his/her opponent. Another important improvement is that women and senior players will have significantly increased special prizes. Despite coronavirus restrictions, it is expected to be as impressive as ever – according to the current guidelines international sporting events in Latvia can happen with an unlimited number of participants. The playing hall is a very spacious Kipsala Exhibition Centre/Photo: Organisers Last edition gathered more than 800 players from 44 different countries, 30 grandmasters and 50 international masters. Winner of the 9th edition was GM Igor Kovalenko, vice-champion of the 2016 European Championship, and the best lady was IM/WGM Irina Bulmaga, winner of the bronze medal in the 2014 Chess Olympiad. Many well-known players have participated in RTU Open over the years, just to name a few – GM Alexei Shirov, GM Richard Rapport, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, GM Bartosz Socko, GM Hrant Melkumyan, GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Daniel Fridman and ladies – GM Zhansaya Abdumalik, GM Monika Socko, IM Dinara Saduakassova and IM Tania Sachdev. Some of the stars that has participated in the RTU Open over the years (from the left): GM Alexei Shirov (picture from facebook Isle of Man International), GM Zhansaya Abdumalik, GM Daniel Naroditsky (photo by David Llada), IM/WGM Tania Sachdev (photo by European Chess TV), GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (photo by European Chess TV), GM Monika Socko (photo by Krzysztof Szelag) This year there are already over 200 participants signed up, with over 100 from 25 different countries in Open A alone. Interestingly, that includes 20 grandmasters and 62 titled players. It should be a great treat for spectators and also an amazing destination for players who want to fight for norms and get new titles. Riga Technical University Open is a perfect event for ambitious players, but also for chess-lovers with a… somewhat more relaxed approach or busier schedule. There are 3 Opens that only take 4 or even 3 days, so even the busiest of us can participate. Interview with the man responsible for making this event so special, the tournament Director – FM Egons Lavendelis./Photo: Toms Kantans Below you can find details regarding each open: Open A – GRANDMASTER OPEN, 9th-15th August ELO Tournament with GM, IM, WGM and WIM norms. 9 rounds, 90 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. The tournament will be part of the ACP Tour Open B – AMATEUR OPEN, 9th-15th August Players with ELO until 2299. 9 rounds, 90 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Open Y – YOUTH OPEN, 9th-15th August Players U14 with ELO until 2199. 9 rounds, 90 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Open C – WEEKEND AMATEUR OPEN, 12th-15th August Players with ELO until 2199. 7 rounds, 60 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Open D – WEEKEND AMATEUR OPEN, 12th-15th August Players with ELO until 1899. 7 rounds, 60 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Open E – WEEKEND AMATEUR OPEN, 13th-15th August Players with ELO until 1599. 7 rounds, 30 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Open F – OPENING BLITZ TOURNAMENT, 7th August Swiss system, 11 rounds, ELO rated Open G – OPEN RAPID TOURNAMENT, 8th August Swiss system, 9 rounds, ELO rated .Open H – CLOSING BLITZ TOURNAMENT, 15th August Swiss system, 11 rounds, ELO rated The cherry on top is the venue – the Festival will be held in Riga, often called Paris of the North. A beautiful, classy and modern city, and quite a unique European capital. It has an amazing Old Town (UNESCO World Heritage Site), yet is still very green and close to the seaside. Even from the playing hall, which is just across the river from the city center, the famous Jurmala beaches are only 20-min drive away. To find out all the necessary details about the event (and registration form! 🙂 ) you can visit the main website – www.rtuopen.lv and follow tournament’s social media: Facebook – www.facebook.com/rtuopen and Instagram – www.instagram.com/rtu.chess.open/ Feel free to contact the organizers via email chess@rtu.lv. *Considering a difficult situation in the world, there are some restrictions in Latvia. The most important ones are: people with a covid pass can travel freely; people without the covid pass from the green zone require only a PCR test before arrival; people without the covid pass and from the red zone can also participate in the event, but 3 tests – 1st before the arrival, 2nd a day after the arrival and 3rd no later than 5 days after the arrival (self-isolation should be observed until receipt of the 2nd result). Kids under the age of 10 can not participate in the event. All participants and guests have to be accredited. For more information about the restrictions please check the government page or contact the organisers.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins Croatia Grand Chess Tour
The final day of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour has certainly kept the audiences glued to their chairs today as the event continued to unfold and the tournament lead was highly contested. Although it seemed clear after the last four days that Ian Nepomniachtchi would claim the Croatia Rapid & Blitz title, on the final day things took a turn for him and it was the French super-GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who ended with a fabulous finish and first place win. MVL was able to keep his cool today and played brilliantly, with a bit of luck saving him from a few difficult positions. Ultimately the French superstar secured the first place prize with an extra round to spare. He is now leading the Grand Chess Tour, just half a point ahead of Wesley So. Another amazing performance of today was by 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who scored 6.5 points and finished second. Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri maintained his 3rd position in the standings. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave What a fabulous finish by the French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who won the event with one round to spare. He was able to pace himself well in the first part of the day and scored 3/3 in the final rounds. It is no wonder that the commentators often call him “Tactical Wizard”. His tactical and defensive skills helped him remain unbeatable in the final round. With this win he is currently leading the overall GCT standings with 22 points, but he has already played 3 events. He remains with one event to be played and that is the Sinquefield Cup. Congratulations to the 2021 Croatia Grand Chess Tour winner, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave! Viswanathan Anand As Maurice Ashley put it, Viswanathan Anand “remains an inspirational figure in the world of chess”. After a 17-month break from over-the-board chess, Anand played inspirational chess throughout the competition. His fighting spirit and ambition to maintain a high level of play never ceases to amaze his fans. Today, he was the only other player not to suffer a loss. Anish Giri Anish Giri had a slow start in the final day of blitz, though he picked up the pace in the final rounds finishing on +1 (5points out of 9) for today’s portion of the event. He was able to maintain his 3rd place position in the standings in the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour. He is currently in 6th position with 10.5 points in the overall GCT standings but has two more events to play in to try to climb up the ladder. Ian Nepomniachtchi Though the World Champion Challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi led the event in the first four days, he had a tough day at the office scoring only 3 points in today’s matchups and suffering three losses. His strong result in the Rapid portion kept him in the position to share 4th place in the overall standings. This may have been the last rapid event this year fans saw him as Ian begins his preparation for the match with Magnus Carlsen. Jan-Krzysztof Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda showed he can be a permanent member of the tour should he keep a consistent score in all forms of chess. He demonstrated a great technique in many of his games in this entire event. The Pole finished the day with two wins against one of which was against the former tournament leader Ian Nepomnichtchi with whom he shared 4th place. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov After yesterday’s tough day, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov came ready for blood. He had a spectacular start scoring 5.5 out of the first 6 games and seemed like nothing could stop him. Unfortunately for him, he had a tough loss in today’s round 7 against Ukrainian Grandmaster Anton Korobov and finished todays’ portion of the event with 6 points, leaving him in 6th place in the standings of this leg of the Grand Chess Tour. With two events to go, has accumulated 18 points so far and is currently in 3rd place in the overall standings of the GCT. Alexander Grischuk Alexander Grischuk started the day with two wins but lost some steam as the day continued. He ended up scoring 5 points and finishing in 7th place. He is currently in 5th place in the overall GCT standings. Alexander will have to score well in his remaining two events to climb up the ladder. Anton Korobov Though he only scored 4 points today it was Anton Korobov who took down the unstoppable Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a beautiful attacking game. He is a very enthusiastic and inspired chess player and it is always fun to watch him play even when he may not be in his top form. Jorden Van Foreest Being a wild card competitor in this event Jorden Van Foreest has certainly shown why he belonged among the tournament field. As the winner of the latest edition of Tata Steel, Jorden has a lot to offer in the years to come. He may lack a little experience, but he is fearless and we will be surely seeing more of him in top-level tournaments. Garry Kasparov Everyone was rooting for former World Champion Garry Kasparov to find the strength to come back in this second day of blitz. He did start the day with a win and scored two other draws, but unfortunately, as he has stated himself at the end of the event, not having played enough over-the-board blitz, and only playing online has kept him from having good time management. Overall it was a somewhat tough showing for Garry Kasparov but we look forward to seeing a stronger side of the legendary World Champion later this year in Saint Louis for Chess 9LX. The 2021 Grand Chess Tour will continue next month for the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, August 10 – August 16th, and the Sinquefield Cup August 16 – August 27, 2022. Learn more about these upcoming events and information at grandchesstour.org. Text: WGM Sabina Foisor Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Official website: grandchesstour.org/
FIDE World Cup opens in Sochi
The event began today with the traditional pre-competition press conference and drawing of lots followed by the opening ceremony. The official FIDE World Cup 2021 pre-competition press conference took place this afternoon in the Galaxy Entertainment Centre, attended by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Minister of Physical Education and Sport of Krasnodar Krai Alexey Chernov, the Deputy Head of the City of Sochi, Vladimir Morozov, the Executive Director of the Russian Chess Federation, Mark Glukhovsky in addition to the 2015 World Cup winner and the 2016 World Championship Challenger Sergey Karjakin. In total, 206 players, including the World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), will play in the Open Section, while 103 players will take part in the Women’s section. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich opened the press conference with the following statements: “The World Cup is one of the most significant events on the chess calendar and is very attractive for the spectators, thanks to its knock-out formula. To minimize the organizational risks, we decided to unify the Open Section with the Women’s Section – all games will be played at the same time and place. Please notice that the first Women’s World Cup was originally supposed to take place in 2020 in Minsk, but we had to reschedule it because our partners from Belarus retracted their offer. On behalf of FIDE, I would like to thank the Government of Russia, the Ministry of Sport of Russia, the Krasnodar Krai, and our reliable sponsors – Gazprom, Norilsk Nickel, Phosagro, Rosatom and others for their support and invaluable help in organizing chess competitions. I think we made a correct decision not to cancel these tournaments despite all the obstacles of the global pandemic and a rather limited amount of preparation time. The players have been missing real chess, classical chess, over-the-board chess. As we can see, almost all the players who qualified for the World Cup, arrived in Sochi, and our brilliant team is successfully handling all the organizational issues.” The Minister of Physical Culture and Sport of the Krasnodar Krai, Alexey Chernov, focused on the high-level chess events that have been organized in the region: “We are grateful to the International Chess Federation for this opportunity to demonstrate the beauty of our land. We have experience, venues, and people capable of carrying out the highest-level competitions. Major events such as the World Cup are very important for us as they promote our region and assist local chess development. Passion for sports is growing in the Krasnodar Krai, and chess is not an exception. Several major chess events, including the 2014 World Chess Championship match between Carlsen and Anand and the 2015 Women’s World Chess Championship, took place here, in Krasnaya Polyana. Almost 10,000 children of the Krasnodar Krai are studying chess these days. The competition in local chess events is fierce. Our players regularly give their opponents trouble in all-Russian events.” The Deputy Head of the City of Sochi Vladimir Morozov gave an account of chess activity in the city: “In Sochi, chess is very popular both among children and adults. 675 students are studying chess free of charge at sports school #11, which is been active since 2002. 12 highly qualified coaches, some of them are masters of sport, give lessons in all districts of our vast city. The school graduates are successfully representing Sochi in various competitions, and some of them have joined the ranks of the Krasnodar Krai and the Russian Junior teams. The Chess at Schools project is being implemented in 66 regular schools of Sochi, involving nearly 9,000 students. We are also running the Sochi Longevity project, with free-for-all outdoor chess areas open in the Riviera and the Bestuzhevo parks on Saturdays. The AquaLoo resort and the Grand Hotel Zhemchuzhina are popular venues for major regional, all-Russian, and international chess events. Chess is loved passionately in Sochi, and we are always happy to welcome chess enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world!” The Executive Director of the Chess Federation of Russia Mark Glukhovsky highlighted the strict measures that have been taken for the safety of the players: “This is an unusual tournament as it takes place during the pandemic, which limits public access to the event. Our main priority is the safety of the players, and this is why we have separated a clean zone from the other areas. The players have to follow a very strict medical protocol and they must be separated from the public. Unfortunately, spectators will be unable to take photos with their favourite players or talk to them. However, we will do everything possible to make our spectators comfortable at the event. A special area designated for the spectators has been prepared on the second floor of the Galaxy Entertainment Centre: everyone can go there and listen to expert chess commentary in Russian or English. I would like to add that the Chess Federation of Russia started a big project called the Black Sea Grand Prix this year. Four chess festivals were organized within the frames of this project, and the fifth festival will take place in Krasnaya Polyana. It’s going to be open to local players, and the World Cup participants who may unfortunately be eliminated from the main event are welcome to play there as well. The Educational Centre Sirius is located near Krasnaya Polyana, in the Imereti Valley, and it features a chess department supported by CFR. We have prepared some events specially for the chess students of the Sirius: some of them will perhaps be able to visit the Galaxy, and some grandmasters will give their masterclasses in the Sirius.” Finally, top Russian Grandmaster, World Champion candidate, and 2015 World Cup winner Sergey Karjakin gave his advice on how to win, and the importance of luck in the outcome: “Knockout chess has no secret; you just have to play chess and believe in your chances. The World Cup that I won was not going smoothly for me at all: on several occasions, I was forced to win on demand, and I faced many difficult positions. Of course, it’s impossible to win such a tournament without being lucky
Day 4 Recap
The start of the blitz portion of the GCT Croatia brought another exciting and emotional day of chess for both the players and the spectators. The tie for the top place was changing until the last moment. No player remained without losses, though it was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave that took away the lead in the blitz, scoring 6.5 points, though it wasn’t enough to catch up with the World Champion Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is still half a point ahead in the overall standings. It was a tough day for former World Champion Garry Kasparov, who suffered a few tough losses. With less than a few points to differentiate between the top three players, fans will have to watch tomorrow’s final round to find out who will be crowned champion of this year’s Croatia Rapid and Blitz. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave After a slow start with 1.5/3, Maxime seems to have found his form being able to manage his time quite well and stay tactically alert. He has a stellar performance in his game against the tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi, though luck has been on his side on a number of occasions, including saving lost positions against Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Garry Kasparov. Ian Nepomniachtchi After a tough start in the first day of blitz scoring 1.5/4 points, Ian pulled himself together and came back with 4.5 points out of his remaining 5 games. He maintains his top position in the overall standings, but will have to stay extra-sharp tomorrow as half a point lead is not nearly sufficient to call it. In his interview at the end of the day, he made a supporting comment for former World Champion and legend Garry Kasparov that he roots for him more than he does for himself. Anish Giri Anish had a brilliant start taking down 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand as well as French super-GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He seems to have found a better form in the blitz portion, though he suffered a tough loss in Round 8 blundering against Anton Korobov in a dynamic endgame where he underestimated the power of two advanced passed pawns. The Dutchman remains in contention for the top prize as he is only 1.5 points behind the leader. Alexander Grischuk Alexander Grischuk seems to have found his form winning two nice games against Anton Korobov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. It is a known fact he typically finds himself in situations of time trouble, yet he has been able to play brilliantly throughout the entire day. But Grischuk also suffered a tough loss against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave which did not allow him to become the only player not to have suffered a loss in this first day of blitz. Jan-Krzysztof Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda was doing phenomenal for most of the day, scoring 4.5 points in the first 7 rounds. Unfortunately for him, he must have succumbed to the pressure and lost his last two games keeping his result at 50%. He currently shares 4th remains in contention for the top places, though it may be hard to imagine his winning the event. On the other hand, anything remains to be seen tomorrow. Viswanathan Anand Anand suffered a tough loss in the first game of blitz against Anish Giri, but overall it turned out to be a good day for the former World Champion. He scored 5.5 points which keeps him in a tie for 4th place with Jan-Krzysztof Duda. A game that reminded old times was certainly the one against his former rival and World Champion Garry Kasparov, which he won. Anton Korobov Anton Korobov had a solid performance today, scoring 50%. He played an excellent game today against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and was able to turn the game against Anish Giri from a lost position into a win. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov It was a tough day at the office for Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as he suffered four losses and only scored 4 points today. He will have to find his form tomorrow to mount in the overall standings and continue his hunt for better overall standings in the GCT. Jorden Van Foreest Despite being the youngest competitor of this event, Jorden Van Foreest is fearless. He scored two nice wins today taking down former World Champion Garry Kasparov as well as Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who would have been a point away from sharing the 3rd place in the overall standings. Garry Kasparov Former World Champion Garry Kasparov came out of retirement and jumped into the action taking Ivan Saric’s spot in the blitz portion of this event. Saric’s performance in the rapid portion was fantastic and Kasparov may have felt the pressure to maintain their team position in the overall standings. Unfortunately for him, he had a hard time getting some difficult positions out of the opening. He had a dominant position against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but failed to find a way to convert his advantage and eventually lost on time. He is known to be a resilient fighter and we hope to see him strike back tomorrow on the final day. Text: WGM Sabina Foisor Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/
FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 gets underway
The FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup, the first online team tournament for business schools, kicked off on July 9 on Lichess. The event together amateur chess players, the graduates from the world’s elite business schools. The event is supported by Binance — the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem, Tiger.Trade — an innovative software package for securities and cryptocurrency traders, CryptoUniverse — one of the largest mining platforms in the world. 32 teams from Russia, USA, Canada, India, Mexico, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Philippines, Bangladesh, Zambia and Fiji will battle over three days to determine the winner that will get the Winner’s Cup and the title of the Business Schools Super Cup Champion 2021. A tense battle unfolded from the very start. In group А the team of Mulungushi University (Zambia) with 12.5 points took the lead, the Finance University under the Government of Russia (Russia) is a half-point behind whereas Shri Ram College of Commerce (India) is third in the current standings with 11.5 points. The group B leader is MIPT Business School (Russia) is sitting on 16.0 points. It is followed by MGIMO (Russia) (14 points) and Daffodil International University (Bangladesh) (8 points). University of Toronto (Canada) (14 points), Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO 1 (Russia) (12.5 points) and Adam Smith Business School (Scotland) (11.5 points) occupy top-3 positions in group C. In group D the current leader is Perm State National Research University (Russia) that netted 14 points after Day 1. The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) with 13.5 points is a close second, while Higher School of Economics (Russia) is third (12 points). Before the start of the games, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich shared his support for the tournament and talked about the plans to make a full-scale world championship among business schools in the future. The FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “It is important in such informal or semi-formal competitions to enjoy the game, meet new friends, new colleagues, and spark new ideas. And, of course, to plan a return to the official competitions. We expect that after this first experience of the tournament between business schools, we will be able to get closer to hosting the official world championship among business schools”. The FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup will last for 2 more days. On Saturday, July 10, each team will play three more games. After that, the strongest will advance to the playoffs. The FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 Champion will be announced this Sunday, July 11. The daily online broadcasts streamed from the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO are available on the official FIDE channels on Youtube, VK and Twitch: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/fidechannelTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fide_chessVK: https://vk.com/fide About the sponsors: Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. TigerTrade is an innovative software package for securities and cryptocurrency traders. TigerTrade company has over five years of software development experience in the trading field, and in this short time, TigerTrade has managed to earn the full trust of its loyal customer. More than 15,000 active users worldwide with a daily volume of 100 mil USD have already chosen TigerTrade for analysis and trading. TigerTrade provides intuitive interactive visualization of market data, 30+ components for cluster analysis, flexible, customizable workspace with the support of a few monitors, and other tools and features. CryptoUniverse.io is one of the largest mining platforms in the world, offering power and equipment for cryptocurrency mining since 2017. Registered in Estonia under EU law, it owns one of the biggest data centers in CIS, located in the Republic of Karelia. Its overall capacity is 120 MW, with electricity coming from a private hydroelectric power plant, leaving no carbon footprint. The company is glad to participate in the Cup because chess and IT management have much in common in terms of considering various moves and outcomes. About the organizers: Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO is one of the leading business schools in Russia and the post-Soviet states established in 2006 by the business community. In 2020 it became No.1 in Eastern Europe in terms of quality of corporate programmes according to the Financial Times ranking. The School was awarded the EQUIS EFMD accreditation – one of the most prestigious international accreditations granted to 1% of the leading international business schools. The idea of the Cup belongs to its alumni: Oxana Kosteniuk, the president of the SKOLKOVO Chess Club, and its members: Sergey Raytsev, Tigran Mamikonian, Alexey Maiorov and Yuriy Mordvin. Lichess is a completely free, open-source chess platform — exclusively powered by volunteers and donations. Today, Lichess users play more than 3 million games every day. Lichess is one of the most popular chess websites in the world while remaining 100% free. Despite starting out as just a chessboard, Lichess now has a wide variety of features to meet the needs of the internet chess community: play, learn, events, community. Championat.com is the leading sports digital media in Russia and CIS. We are in the TOP-7 of Similar Web in category “sports media in the world”. More than 36 million unique visitors enjoyed Championat.com in May 2021.
Nepomniachtchi in front after rapid
Day three, and the last day of the rapid portion of the GCT Croatia Grand Chess Tour brought another dramatic day of chess. It may have seemed like a quiet day as there were only three decisive games. However, there were many hard-fought games with plenty of action making it a thrilling day of missed opportunities and excitement for the spectators. Round 7 The first game to finish in round seven was between Ivan Saric against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. They played a theoretical line of the Open Spanish where Black was able to equalize. Although activated his rook on the 7th rank, there was no way to continue putting pressure and the players agreed on a draw after a threefold repetition. Although the Meran variation in the Semi-Slav is known to be a solid defense for Black, the game between Alexander Grischuk against Anton Korobov showed otherwise as Grischuk went for an e4-e5 push to take away Black’s king defender and tried focusing on a king-side attack. Despite a two-piece sacrifice 16. Nxe6 followed by 17. Bxg7, White didn’t have enough pieces in the attack, and the game ended in a perpetual. The game between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi was a highlight for the fans given the leader’s loss in yesterday’s last round. For many players, it is often difficult to come back after a tough loss, but Ian kept his calm. They opted for a Closed Catalan where most pieces got traded off into a rook and knight versus a rook and bishop endgame. Black had a passed d-pawn, but neither player had a way to make progress and the opponents agreed on a draw. The talented Dutch Grandmaster Jorden Van Forest surprised the top French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with 10.h3N in the Najdorf Variation of the Sicillian (10. Be2 is a standard continuation in that position) and within the next few moves the position was certainly more favorable for White. When MVL tried the typical 22…d5 to equalize, he failed to realize that 23. Nc5! followed by the capture of his bishop in b7 and f4-e5 would have given White a huge advantage. Jorden missed that opportunity and a few moves later went for greedy 26.exd5?? To win a pawn, he gave up the advantage after the beautiful 26…Nd3, which allowed Black to trade pieces into an equal endgame. The game didn’t end there though as the tables turned when White played 33. Re4? (instead of 33. d6) allowing Black to gain activity on the back rank. Black’s activity was so strong that the two-pawn deficit wasn’t even important. It seemed that MVL was in control and ready to convert, but Jorden fought until the end. He found a way to give up an exchange and ultimately created an unassailable fortress. Another game that kept the viewers on the edge of their seats was the one between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Viswanathan Anand. After getting an equal position from the Berlin Defense, Anand started pushing for the advantage. He attacked White’s center with f5 and upon being allowed to capture in e4 he found a way to trade into a better endgame with 30…Bxb4! giving up two pieces for a rook and two pawns. Although those pawns seemed menacing, White found a way to keep them from advancing. After trading a pair of rooks, Anand activated his remaining rook active and attack White’s pawn weaknesses on the other side of the board. Unfortunately for Anand, there were several occasions where only moves were winning. His last miss was 65…h3??. He pushed the pawn too soon allowing White to trade his g-pawn for it and save the endgame. Instead, he had to give a few checks to push White’s king either back which would have allowed for his own king to advance, or forward which would have kept it away from the h-pawn. With little time on the clock, only the computer could have probably found the best continuation, so the game only ended in a draw. Round 8 The first game to finish in round eight was the one between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jorden Van Foreest. The opening choice of the Exchange Variation of the Slav suggested a quiet game, but Ian had some tricks up his sleeve and focused on the weakening of Black’s king-side with 10. f4 and a typical bishop sacrifice 17.Bxg6. Unfortunately for him, he did not have enough resources to continue the attack and had to concede a three-fold repetition. The game between Anton Korobov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was a hard-fought duel in the Najdorf Sicilian, where Black gave up his a-pawn for piece activity. Despite the extra pawn, a bishop versus a knight and more space, White failed to find a way to push his majority on the queen-side without trading into a rook endgame. Once arrived in the rook endgame, Black kept his rook active and he was never in trouble to hold the game to a draw. Anish Giri and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played a theoretical line in the Gruenfeld Defense where many of the moves seemed forced to keep the balance. They traded into an opposite-color bishop endgame in which they agreed on a draw. Viswanathan Anand had some positional advantage after the opening in his game against Ivan Saric. After 13…0-0 it seemed that White could have put some pressure on Black’s king with 14. Bh6 followed by Rae1 and some potential rook-lift as an attempt to keep the initiative and delay Black a little longer from the development of his bishop in c8. After 14. Qd4, Black was able to complete his development, trade his central weaknesses. The game was well played until the endgame where the players agreed on a draw in a rook and three pawn endgame on each side. The most complicated game of the round was the encounter between Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The Najdorf Defense was the opening choice of these two players and after the end of the theory, White had the opportunity to win the b7-pawn, but chose not to do so. Instead, Grischuk went for 22. b3?