Three-way tie on the top after Day 2
Round 2 of the GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz was another exciting day of chess. The full tour participants are joined by three unique wildcards in this event: French hero Etienne Bacrot, wunderkind Alireza Firouzja and World Champion Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. Today’s round was full of surprises, battles, and tumbling leaders! Round Four Despite some games ending in uneventful draws, it was certain that the game between the 18-year-old phenom Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana would keep the spectators at the edge of their seats. The young player may have outplayed the World #2, who found himself with his back against the wall – but never underestimate Caruana; as the American managed to wiggle himself out of trouble with a bit of help from his opponent and some resourceful tactics. Meanwhile, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave must have felt the pressure to score a full two points in today’s French derby against Etienne Bacrot (pictured below). This proved to be a fatal mistake, as he overpushed a drawn rook endgame and ended up losing the game. Round Five A round full of action, Teimour Radjabov fumbled the opening and was in a tough situation with white against Wesley So. Unfortunately, the American was unable to put maximum pressure against his opponent and the game petered into a perpetual. Richard Rapport could not do much with his slight edge against MVL, who continued surprising us with his opening choices: a Slav today to complement yesterday’s French. The true action appeared today in the games of Caruana vs. Svidler and Nepomniachtchi vs. Aronian. Caruana went wild with his attack on the kingside, exposing his own position. It seemed that Svidler was handling things well, but a massive blunder on move 37 missing an important bishop retreat cost him the game – Fabiano does not forgive such mistakes. Meanwhile, the World Championship Challenger played a scintillating attack. A beautiful temporary piece sacrifice gave him the coordination necessary to topple his opponent’s defences. With that, Nepomniachtchi took the first sole lead of the tournament. Round Six It was the duel between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi that immediately attracted the spectators – both players fighting with incredible speed on the clock and with vehemently attacking each other over the board. The aggression was nonstop: Black annihilated White’s kingside pawns, but his own king was caught in some sort of net. The brilliant and surprising 26. Nd7!! Put an immediate end to the game and took down Ian Nepomniachtchi for the first time in this tournament. Spectacular 26. Nd7!! Firouzja as usual seems to play heart-stopping endgames. This round he had an insane rook and pawn endgame against Rapport, with both sides threatening to the queen, sacrifice their rooks and even checkmate on the middle of the board! The game ended in a perpetual check, and the players split the point. Other players also had chances in round six, but ultimately all the remaining games of the day ended peacefully. One more day of rapid remains before the players jump into two days of blitz. The coverage of the 2021 Paris Grand Chess Tour continues on June 20 at 7:00 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley, Cristian Chirila and IM Almira Skripchenko exclusively on kasparovchess.com/grand-chess-tour. Text: GM Alejandro Ramirez Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org
Lei Tingjie and Anna Muzychuk advance into quarterfinals
Two more quarterfinalists of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship were determined on Saturday, June 19. In the first match of the day, GM Lei Tingjie defeated young Indian star WGM Vaishali R by a score of 14:6. The 5+1 portion started with an exchange of blows. It was back and forth for six games before Lei Tingjie claimed this segment of the match after winning the seventh game. In the 3+1 section, Lei picked up steam and won four games in a row. Although Vaishali managed to strike back in a couple of bullet games, Chinese #4 eliminated any chance of a possible comeback crushing her opponent in five games at the end. In the quarterfinals, Lei Tingjie will meet with Antoaneta Stefanova. Before long, the second match of the day started – the battle between two Ukrainian players GM Anna Muzychuk and IM Iulija Osmak. It appeared to be quite a lopsided affair that ended with 17½:4½ in the favor of Anna who won all three segments. “It is the first time for me to play in such a strong tournament and I think lack of experience was my main problem in this match. My opponent played very well. It was a really good fight and I congratulate Anna for this victory,” said Iulija Osmak. “I had some troubles with the French defence in the first portion of the match, 5+1, but then it went better and pretty smoothly,” commented Anna Muzychuk. Her next opponent is Harika Dronavalli. The final Round of 16 Match between GM Hou Yifan and IM Gulnar Mammadova will take place on Sunday, June 20 at 4:30 a.m. PT/13:30 CEST. *** The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Shortlist for Yuri Averbakh/Isaac Boleslavsky Award announced
Once again the FIDE Trainers Commission has received a truly excellent selection of nominations by leading chess publishers for the FIDE Book Awards 2021. After long deliberation, the judges have now narrowed their choices to eight books that you will find below: Leading in number is Quality Chess, with all its three nominations: Decision Making in Major Piece Endings by Boris Gelfand, The Italian Renaissance – I: Move Orders, Tricks and Alternatives & The Italian Renaissance – II: The Main Lines by Martyn Kravtsiv and Think Like a Machine by Noam Manella and Zeev Zohar making the cut. New in Chess follows closely with two author titled books: Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games by Jan Timman and Zlotnik’s Middlegame Manual: Typical Structures and Strategic Manoeuvres by Boris Zlotnik. The shortlist also includes Elk & Ruby’s Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships: Volume I (1920-1937) by Sergey Voronkov, Russell Enterprises’ The Life & Games of Vasily Smyslov. The Early Years: 1921-1948 by Andrey Terekhov, and Thinkers Publishing’s Your Jungle Guide to Chess Tactics: Sharpen Your Tactical Skills by Peter Prohaszka. In two weeks, the shortlist will be further reduced to just three titles, with the final winner being announced on July 21.
WSCC 2021: Nana Dzagnidze squeezes into quarterfinals
Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia progressed into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship 2021 main even after winning a tightly-contested Round of 16 match over Irina Krush (USA). The Georgian stormed into a lead 4.5:2.5 after the first 5+1 segment and even stretched it to four points at the start of the second 3+1 portion, but Irina found her way back into the match and eventually levelled the score by winning the last game. The fate of this dramatic match was decided on the best-out-of-four tiebreaker in which things went awry for Krush from the very start as she blundered checkmate in two in a superior position. Catching wind in her Sails Dzagnidze reeled off three more wins and punched her ticket into the quarterfinals. “My first goal was to make it a competitive match for the fans watching, no one wants to see a total blowout. Obviously, it did not start off the best way for me. I struggled, in a five-minute especially. The important thing was keeping it close as you go into the final portion and then somehow the bullet was working out for me. I was happy to make it close and exciting,” said the American player after the match. The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
FIDE Council decision on the suspension of the Mongolian Chess Federation
FIDE Council’s Decision related to the implementation of FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission’s Decision on Case n. 04/2018: “Complaint of GM Efstratios Grivas against the Mongolian Chess Federation and Mr. Sainbayar Tserendorj” (EDC Decision) Whereas, FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) has decided to temporarily suspend the membership of the Mongolian Chess Federation (Federation); Whereas, this EDC Decision is final, it comes into force on 16 June 2021, and is subject to immediate enforcement; Whereas, for the clarity of the execution of Article 10.10.2. of the EDC Decision, further clarification has to be provided in order to fully guarantee the interests and rights of players, organizers, arbiters, trainers, clubs, etc. belonging to the Mongolian Chess Federation during the suspension period, FIDE Council takes the following decision. The EDC Decision will be implemented as follows: 1. All players retain the right to compete under the national flag (clause 13.6 of the FIDE Charter). 2. The calculation of rated tournaments is carried out with the approval of the FIDE Qualification Commission (QC), to which the organizers must send a notification on the event in advance according to the rules. The QC reserves the right to reject the ranking of any tournament in the absence of adequate evidence of compliance with all FIDE rules. 3. Applications for titles, standards, etc. are sent by the players themselves to the FIDE Office. 4. Any nominations of the players and/or other positions from Mongolia to the official FIDE events (if Federation nominations are required by the respective FIDE/event rules) are approved by the FIDE President, based on the proposal by the FIDE Managing Director and consultations with the Zonal President. FIDE hopes that the Mongolian Chess Federation will strive to fully settle its obligations and apply to the EDC for a review of the EDC Decision in due course. FIDE Council 2021-06-17
Mongolian Chess Federation suspended for one year
From 16 June 2021, the FIDE membership of the Mongolian Chess Federation (MCF) is suspended for a period of one year pursuant to a decision of the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) in EDC case no. 4/2018. In view of this sanction, the FIDE Council has taken measures to protect the interests and rights of players, organizers, arbiters, trainers, clubs, etc. belonging to the Mongolian Chess Federation during the suspension period. You can read the FIDE Council decision on how this suspension will be implemented at the following link. This is the full text of the decision made by the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission: “From 16 June 2021, the FIDE membership of the Mongolian Chess Federation (MCF) is suspended for a period of one year pursuant to a decision of the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) in EDC case no. 4/2018. The EDC received a complaint by GM Efstratios Grivas of Greece against the MCF as long ago as June 2018. The complaint related to the non-payment of certain monies due to GM Grivas in terms of a written agreement concluded with the MCF for the supply of chess training materials and assignment of rights to use the materials translated into the Mongolian language. The payment was due in four instalments between February and November 2018, but the MCF had already failed, at the date of the complaint, to make payment of the first two instalments. After the EDC had declared the case as provisionally admissible, the MCF made payment in September 2018 of half of the contractual amount. Since then the balance of 50% has remained outstanding and GM Grivas asked the EDC to render a final decision. The case is related to a contractual matter, with the EDC having to decide the boundaries between contract/business law and the disciplinary law enforced by the FIDE Code of Ethics. As a general rule, a breach of a contractual obligation is not per se a violation of the Code of Ethics and would normally be a case for the civil courts. However, the EDC held in its final decision that it may have jurisdiction over a case if there is proof of a dishonourable failure or refusal to meet commercial obligations and the matter is closely enough connected to the sphere of chess governance. In particular: The contract must be relating to chess and closely linked to one of the chess spheres governed by FIDE. Purely commercial contracts remain outside of EDC Jurisdiction; Both parties must belong to the “FIDE Family”; and There must be grounds for misbehaviour or misconduct that can be considered as a breach of the FIDE Code of Ethics. Both parties to a chess contract must act in a loyal way and according to the principle of good faith fulfil their obligations. If unforeseen difficulties intervene in the performance of a contract, the parties should approach each other and also negotiate in good faith to overcome them. The violation of these requirements could be considered as reprehensible behaviour and could constitute a violation of the FIDE Code of Ethics. In the present case, despite the long period of two-and-a-half years since the full payment was due and the MCF’s apparent indifference by lack of response towards Mr. Grivas’ numerous reminders, half of the debt remains outstanding until today which the EDC found was a clear sign of a reluctance to pay and an unjustifiable attitude. The EDC held further that the MCF had failed to rebut the factual presumption that their non-payment of GM Grivas’ monies was without good reason in the absence of any just explanation from their side. The MCF was found guilty of a violation of articles 2.4 (Failure to comply with normally accepted standards of courtesy and chess etiquette; misbehaviour of a personal nature which is generally unacceptable by normal social standards) and 2.2.10 (occurrences which cause the game of chess, FIDE or its federations to appear in an unjustifiable unfavourable light and in this way damage its reputation) of the Code of Ethics. The MCF was sanctioned with a temporary exclusion from membership as a FIDE national federation member, including any participation in FIDE meetings and events, for a period of 1 year. This sanction does not affect the rights of players, arbiters, trainers and clubs belonging to the MCF from participating fully in a sport activity. The MCF was afforded a period of 3 months from the date of the EDC’s decision on 16 March 2021 for it to make full payment of the outstanding amount to Mr. Grivas, failing which the temporary exclusion from membership would take effect. As the MCF has failed to make the outstanding payment within the given 3 month -period, the suspension has indeed taken effect on 16 June 2021.” You can read the FIDE Council decision on how this suspension will be implemented at the following link.
WSCC 2021: Stefanova eases into quarterfinals
Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria beat Deysi Cori (Peru) 16 ½:6½ in the Round of 16 and become the fourth player to progress into the quarters of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. The Bulgarian GM was a much better player in all three segments of the match, winning them 6:2 (5+1), 6:1 (3+1) and 4½:3½. Member of the Bulgarian National Assembly since 2021, Stefanova is currently right in the middle of her campaign for the parliamentary elections that will be held in Bulgaria on July 11, 2021. “I am very happy that I am going to the quarterfinals, but I really have a lot of things to do for the campaign, travelling around Bulgaria, attending various events,” she told at the post-match interview. “I organized a youth festival last Sunday in Plovdiv. We’re going to have another one in Sofia. Tomorrow I am going to another chess activity in another town. It’s a bit hectic.” The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
2022 FIDE Grand Prix Series Announced
Two tickets to the FIDE Candidates Tournament will be decided in a tightly-packed series organized by World Chess FIDE and World Chess are pleased to announce the 2022 Grand Prix Series that will take place in February — April of 2022 and will consist of three tournaments. The events will take place in one city — a deviation from the typical system where Grand Prix events are hosted in different cities around the world, but a move that will make it easier for the chess players to plan their travel schedule amid the pandemic-related travel and visa restrictions. The Series will feature 24 players who will compete in two out of three events. Each event will consist of a group stage and then a knock-out. In the group stage, each group will play a round-robin six-round tournament. The system has been improved to reflect the chess community’s feedback regarding the number of classic games: now there are six classic games in the first stage of each event. This further decreases random results and ensures that the players who consistently perform well move to the next stage. The prize fund for each event is EUR150,000 — a EUR20,000 increase from 2019. The qualification criteria to the Series has also been revamped to increase the number of players who are selected by events results — 16 out of 24 players qualify for their performance in the World Cup and Grand Swiss. The rest is selected by rating, and two are nominated by FIDE and World Chess respectively. The events are packed tightly into the first half of 2022 to allow ample time for the Candidates Tournament which is expected to be held in 2022 and a possibility to hold the FIDE Championship Match at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023, restoring the FIDE Calendar that shifted due to the pandemic. Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, says: “While we are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the 2021 Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, we are looking forward to the next cycle and new players qualifying to beat the World Champion, whoever he might be”. The Series is organized by World Chess, FIDE commercial partner and official broadcaster. Ilya Merenzon, World Chess CEO, says: “We are currently on the lookout for the best possible city to hold the Series and are so excited to work with the chess fans and ask their opinion of the next chess capital. In the next week, we’ll issue a global call for suggestions and will talk to the chess luminaries and fans around the world to choose this special city”. About World Chess: World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.
Harika brings down Kosteniuk to reach quarterfinals
Harika Dronavalli (India) won a very close match over Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship main event. Alexandra started right out of the gate dominating the 5+1 portion of the match 5½:2½. Harika proved herself a real fighter – she staged an impressive comeback in the 3+1 stage and took a one-point lead 8:7. Kosteniuk got an upper hand in the 1+1 segment of their duel and came very close to getting home but Dronavalli pulled off so much-needed victory in the last game to send the match into a best-out-of-four tiebreaker. After two hard-fought draws, Harika won two games in a row and made her way into the quarterfinals where she takes on the winner of Anna Muzychuk – Iulija Osmak match. “It was very good for me and bad luck for my opponent. I think it could have gone either way” said the gracious winner in a short interview after the match. The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov wins Superbet Classic
World No. 5 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov finished with 6.0/9 points to win 1st place in the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic, clinching victory after a draw with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final round. Tying for second place were Levon Aronian, Wesley So, and Alexander Grischuk, who each drew their last-round games to finish with 5.0/9. The win earns Mamedyarov a first-place prize of $90,000 and a total of 13 Grand Chess Tour points. Vachier-Lagrave – Mamedyarov ½-½ The French No. 1 chose the ultra-solid Four Knights Scotch and promptly took the game into a drawish endgame. Needing only a draw to secure 1st place, Mamedyarov decided to trade off one of his bishops to enter a worse position but with opposite-colored bishops. The players soon repeated moves, though according to the engines MVL certainly could have played on, holding a big advantage at the end of the game. Aronian – Radjabov ½-½ Another quick draw as the players repeated moves in a known line of the Berlin Defense. A solid but somewhat unfortunate result for Radjabov, who finished the event with nine draws, many occurring from theoretical lines in the opening. Lupulescu – So ½-½ A solid line of the 4.Qc2 Nimzo gave Lupulescu a small structural advantage, but So had plenty of activity to compensate for his slightly weakened king. Neither player was able to generate any chance and the game finished in a repetition shortly before the first time control. Giri – Grischuk ½-½ The game saw an interesting variant of the Italian Game left Giri with a bit of pressure in the middlegame. Things stayed relatively balanced, with the exception of one moment where Giri could have secured a nice strategic advantage. After missing this chance the game soon saw massive trades, petering out into an equal endgame. Caruana – Deac ½-½ In the longest game of the day, Caruana chose the King’s Indian Attack, an opening where White typically tries to build up a slow but deadly attack on the kingside. While Deac successfully defended against the kingside pressure, he allowed Fabiano some chances in the endgame. Unfortunately, for World No. 2 it wasn’t enough, and after 74 moves of play the game finished with just bare kings on the board. The next leg in the GCT will be the Paris Grand Chess Tour, a 10-player round-robin rapid and blitz tournament. The Paris Grand Chess Tour will be held at Mobilier National from June 18-22. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Official website: grandchesstour.org/