Vasif Durarbayli wins Azerbaijani Championship
Vasif Durarbayli is a new Azerbaijan Champion. The 29-year old native of Sumgait won his first national title and punched a ticket to the FIDE World Cup. The Azerbaijani Championship took place in Nakhchivan from May 03-18 2021 and was held in two stages. Twelve participants competed in a round-robin with the top four advancing to the knockout stage. Each match consisted of two classical games. If tied, a 2-game rapid match (15 min + 10 seconds) was played, followed by a blitz portion (5 min +3 second) and an Armageddon game if needed. Vasif Durarbayli, Nijat Abasov, Eltaj Safarli, and Nidjat Mamedov (2609) advanced to the playoff stage: 1 GM Durarbayli, Vasif 2606 7½ 2 GM Abasov, Nijat 2665 7 3 GM Safarli, Eltaj 2598 7 4 GM Mamedov, Nidjat 2609 6½ 5 GM Asadli, Vugar 2572 6½ 6 IM Suleymanli, Aydin 2535 6 7 GM Abbasov, Farid 2528 5½ 8 IM Muradli, Mahammad 2449 5½ 9 GM Iskandarov, Misratdin 2535 5½ 10 IM Gadimbayli, Abdulla 2470 4 11 IM Garayev, Kanan 2331 3½ 12 GM Sevdimaliyev, Urfan 2371 1½ In the semifinals, Vasif Durarbayli whitewashed Nidjat Mamedov whereas Nijat Abasov prevailed over Eltaj Safarli in the rapid games after two draws in classical format. In a dramatic final match, the future champion lost the third game with white pieces after two draws and found himself in a do-or-die situation. Durarbayli went through a lost position with black in Game 4 but managed to turn the tables on his opponent, levelled the score, and went on to win both blitz encounters. In the match for third place, Nidjat Mamedov defeated Eltaj Safarli and took bronze. Official website: asf.org.az Photo: official website of Azerbaijan Chess Federation
Albania wins first Online Chess Cup by Teams of Francophonie
Following the trend of developing online chess, the AIDEF – Francophone Chess Association – organized the first edition of the «Coupe d’échecs en ligne par équipes de la Francophonie». This tournament with the time control of 15 minutes + 5 seconds, run from May 15-16, attracted 30 amateur teams from four continents, selected by their federations. In order to participate, every team had to be affiliated with AIDEF and include at least one female player, one player below 2000 ELO and three players below 1800 ELO. The competition took place on Tornelo gaming platform under the supervision of international arbiter Laurent Freyd (France), assisted by arbiters Zoheir Slami (Morocco), Pierre Denommee (Canada), Mario Kran (Ivory Coast) and Timothé Scaillet (Belgium). On the first day, the event fell a little behind the original schedule due to some technical problems, but eventually, it kicked off to a great start. After the first day of the competition, Albania grabbed the lead winning all five matches. However team Moldova leapfrogged Albania on the second day in Round 10, going to the final round as a clear leader. The Moldovans had a seemingly firm grip on the situation, but unfortunately for them, the team lost the final match against Canada, which allowed Albania to come out on top. After all the games were analyzed and verified by the fair play commission the final results were announced: 1. Albania – 18 points (+9 -2) 2. Moldova – 17 (+8 =1 -2) 3. Canada – 16 (+6 =4 -1) Congratulations to the winning team which consisted of four young players: 1. WCM Shuqja, Klean (15 years old) 6.5 points / 11 2. Xhembulla, Aleksander (15 years old) 7.5 points /11 3. Ramaj, Ergit (13 years old) 4 points /11 4. Boci, Petro (17 years old) 9.5 points / 11 The winners will receive a medal and a copy of the album “Chess in Art” https://chessinart.com and a commemorative trophy provided by the Albanian Chess Federation. The awards ceremony, medals and trophies will be in presented during the closing dinner of the 8th edition of the “Rencontres Internationales des Echecs Francophones” at the end of 2021. All the results and the complete ranking were published on Chess-results: https://chess-results.com/tnr558897.aspx?lan=1&art=0&rd=11 The Francophone Chess Association thanks all the players, the captains and the arbiters for their participation and invites you for the “Championnat d’échecs en ligne par équipes de la Francophonie” which will be reserved for national teams with no ELO limit. Text: Patrick VAN HOOLANDT, AIDEF president Official website: https://aidef-tournois-en-ligne.com/
Nodirbek Abdusattorov wins Zone 3.4 Open Championship
The Zone 3.4 Zonal Open Championship (the zone includes Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) was held in Tashkent from May 6-15, 2021. The 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control brought together 34 players, battling for two slots in the upcoming FIDE World Cup. The prize fund of Zone 3.4 Open Championship in the amount of $3,000 was provided as a grant from Asian Chess Federation. Two top GMs from Uzbekistan the namesakes Abdusattorov and Yakubboev entered the competition as rating favourites and both delivered on expectations. Nodirbek Abdusattorov turned in an excellent performance scoring 8 out of 9 points and finished 1½ points ahead of Yakubboev and Petr Kostenko. The second qualifying spot in the FIDE World Cup goes to Nodirbek Yakubboev thanks to better tiebreaks (higher average rating of his opponents). Final standings: 1 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2627 8 2 GM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2605 6½ 3 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2404 6½ 4 GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin UZB 2529 6 5 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas KAZ 2575 6 6 GM Vakhidov Jakhongir UZB 2533 5½ 7 IM Suleymenov Alisher KAZ 2438 5½ 8 IM Nigmatov Ortik UZB 2421 5½ 9 IM Assaubayeva Bibisara KAZ 2381 5 10 Sattarov Bobir UZB 2459 5
Enyonam Sewa Fumey, FIDE’s General Secretary, changes position
In a letter dated today, 15 May 2021, Enyonam Sewa Fumey has communicated his decision to step down as FIDE General Secretary, a position he has held since the elections in Batumi, Georgia on October 3, 2018. Enyonam Sewa will continue to be a part of FIDE, joining the FIDE Social Commission. This is one of the areas of work that has experienced important growth in recent times, and Enyonam’s experience and passion will be of great value there. “I truly believe that chess used for social goodwill allows us to bring our beautiful game beyond the borders of professional sports. I sincerely hope this mutual agreement between me and the FIDE leadership will produce good fruits and allow me to fully use my energy for the promotion of chess”, reads his letter. Enyonam Sewa Fumey was one of the first people to take side with Arkady Dvorkovich when he revealed his intention to run for FIDE President and his name was one of the five included when he first announced his ticket, on June 29, 2018. He also leads the Togolese chess community as the President of the Togo Chess Federation (FTDE), which was officially founded in 2012 and joined FIDE shortly afterwards. The International Chess Federation would like to express its gratitude to Enyonam Sewa for his services as General Secretary, and we are immensely proud that we will keep having him working by our side, in one of our priority areas for the development of chess.
Yu Yangyi and Tan Zhongyi defend national titles
The Chinese Championships in open and women sections took place in Xinghua Jiangsu, a city in Eastern China (just like in the previous year) from May 07-15 2021. Both tournaments were 12-player round-robins with the time control of 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. The open section was a four-man race between Yu Yangyi (pictured below), Wei Yi, Li Di, and Lu Shanglei taking turns on the top throughout the tournament distance. Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Li Di scored 7/11 each and tied for first place with Yu Yangyi coming out on top thanks to the best result in the direct encounters (he beat Wei Yi in their 10th round clash whereas Li Di lost Wei Yi and drew with Yu Yangyi). The 26-year old native of Huangshi defended the champion title that he had won at the end of 2020. Photo: John Saunders The Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun participated in the open section but finished in the red (-1) two points behind the top trio. Final standings open: 1. Yu, Yangyi 2709 7 2. Wei, Yi 2732 7 3. Li, Di 2561 7 4. Lu, Shanglei 2615 6 5. Ju, Wenjun 2560 5 6. Xu, Yinglun 2554 5 7. Xu, Zhihang 2506 5 8. Xu, Xiangyu 2573 5 9. Zhao, Jun 2638 5 10. Liu, Yan 2524 5 11. Bai, Jinshi 2618 4½ 12. Xu, Yi 2527 4½ Photo: John Saunders In the women’s tournament, the defending champion and the top-rated player Tan Zhongyi (pictured above) was on a ball again and secured gold with a round to spare. Ning Kaiyu and Zhu Jiner shared second place finishing half a point behind the champion. The silver goes to Ning Kaiyu thanks to the victory in their direct encounter. Final standings women: 1. Tan, Zhongyi 2510 8½ 2. Ning, Kaiyu 2327 8 3. Zhu, Jiner 2459 8 4. Song, Yuxin 2290 6½ 5. Xiao, Yiyi 2301 6 6. Zhai, Mo 2366 6 7. Wang, Yu A. 2294 4½ 8. Gu, Tianlu 2267 4½ 9. Li, Xueyi 2328 4½ 10. Ren, Xiaoyi 2267 3½ 11. Yuan, Ye 2081 3½ 12. Gu, Xiaobing 2263 2½
Tashkent hosts Online Seminar for International Organizers
The Uzbekistan Chess Federation, under the auspices of the FIDE Events Commission (EVE) and the Asian Chess Federation, held an online seminar for International Organizers from On May 07-10, 2021 concurrently with the Zone 3.4 Open Championships that are taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This event was made possible thanks to financial support from FIDE and the Asian Chess Federation. The main objective was to train and certify Organizers of international chess events in compliance with FIDE regulations. For the first time, the list of topics included FIDE Online Chess Regulations with an emphasis on the practical aspects of organizing hybrid chess competitions. The exam material and format were also updated significantly. The seminar was conducted by Vadim Tsypin (CAN) IA, IO, FIDE EVE Lecturer using Zoom videoconferencing platform. Fifteen participants from five Asian and European federations (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lativa and Ukraine) participated. Attendees who passed the exam will be awarded a FIDE EVE norm necessary for a FIDE IO title application.
Law Academy (Kharkiv) wins Ukrainian Team Championship
The Ukrainian Team Championship, a 7-round Swiss tournament took place in Lviv from May 6-12. The rating favourite, Law Academy (Kharkiv) stepped up to the plate and clinched the title with two rounds to spare. The team headed by Pavel Eljanov and Yuriy Kuzubov bagged a brace winning all the matches in both classical and rapid events. The club was set up within the “Yaroslav the Wise National Law University” in 1998 and has since been the center of attraction for the student players. The local team Bank Lviv beat Youth Ukraine in a critical last round match and leapfrogged the rival to earn silver. Chernivtsi Zubr (Chernivtsi) tied for third with Youth Ukraine and Lviv Chess Academy and took bronze thanks to better tiebreaks (a higher number of game points). Final standings: 1. Law Academy – 142. Bank Lviv – 103. Chernivtsi Zubr – 94. Youth Ukraine – 95. Lviv Chess Academy – 96. Lviv Chess School Debiut – 1 – 87. Lviv Chess School Debiut – 3 – 88. Lviv Chess School Debiut – 2 – 79. Lviv Chess School Debiut – 4 – 710. Youth Ukraine – 2 – 7 Photo: Ukrainian Chess Federation
Montenegro Championship: Luka Draskovic takes his first title
IM Luka Draskovic emerged as the winner of the 73rd Montenegro chess championship. The 9-round Swiss tournament with the prize fund of €4,500 was held in Podgorica and attracted 35 players including two GMs. The champion scored 7 out of 9, with 5 wins and 4 draws, and clinched his first national title. Grandmaster Dragisa Blagojevic came in second just a half-point behind. A group of five players with 6 points each tied for third place. The Buchholz favored FM Aleksandar Tomic who took bronze. The top-seeded eight-time champion GM Nikola Djukic finished eighth. The top four players are going to play knockouts from May 13-16 with the winner representing Montenegro at the World Cup 2021. Semifinal pairings: Draskovic – KalezicBlagojevic – Tomic Final standings: 1. Draskovic, Luka (2464) – 72. Blagojevic, Dragisa (2481) – 6½3. Tomic, Aleksandar (2365) – 64. Kalezic, Blazo (2456) – 65. Vujovic, Savo (2167) – 66. Kisic, Bozidar (2301) – 67. Musovic, Armin (2258) – 68. Djukic, Nikola (2510) – 5½9. Sukovic, Andrej (2254) – 5½10. Pobor, Milo (2124) – 5½
Chess for Freedom Conference and Tournament: Brief recap
The International Chess Federation together with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chicago, USA) held the first event of the Chess for Freedom program. The project, aimed at the introduction of chess as a tool for education and social inclusion in prisons of different countries, is carried out under the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov’s patronage. The project kicked off on May 11 with an online conference featuring FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and other guests who discussed various topics and made presentations. In parallel with the conference, an exhibition online tournament with four participant countries – Armenia, Russia, Spain, and the USA, was held on Chess.com. Both the conference and the tournament were broadcast live on the FIDE YouTube channel. Federation officers, journalists, and members of the penitentiary administration and policymakers had a chance to join the Zoom call and ask questions. In his introductory speech FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich told about the program, its main goals, and objectives: “We are starting this conference to share the best practices of introducing chess into prisons for prisoners and inmates… We really believe that the game of chess, one of the oldest intellectual games historically is very helpful to improve socialization skills for people who are restricted in their freedom, to help people to think a bit more rationally. People who made mistakes in the past but have all possibilities to improve their lifestyle in the future. Chess is very instrumental in doing that.” The 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov who has been the driving force behind this program also greeted all the participants: “In Russia, we started this program 22 years ago… 10 years ago the program became international, it was adopted in Brasil, Switzerland, Belarus.” In his presentation, “Norway Chess in Society Prison Project”, Geir Nesheim, a member of the FIDE Social Commission stressed the importance of government support for launching chess activity virtually everywhere and cooperation with the Norwegian Correction Service. GM Darcy Lima shared the Brazilian experience of introducing chess to inmates and the positive impact of the game on prisoners in his presentation “Chess that Liberates”: “The repeated infringements rate in Brazil is 72%… For those who stayed in a chess program for less than 1 year, this rate drops to 47%. 1-2 years – 22%. More than 2 years – 17%.” Doctor of Philosophy an Associate Professor at the University of Leithbridge, Alberta, Canada, Grigg Lance told about a program and research project for at-risk youth and prison inmates “Chess for Life”. According to him youth felt accepted and respected at Chess for Life sessions, not judged; many appreciated the calm atmosphere during the sessions and the regularity of the program. The English Chess Federation manager of chess in prisons Carl Portman focused on redemption that chess promise and quoted real-life testimony about the power of the game. All the presentations available for download in PDF format: Norway Chess and Society Prison Project (by Geir Nesheim) Chess that Liberates (by GM Darcy Lima) Chess for Life (by Grigg Lance) Chess and Redemption (by Carl Portman) The former prisoner Hector Guifarro shared his experience in the course of the tournament: “I started playing chess in prison. At the start, it helped to deal with stress and anxiety. The more I kept playing, the better I became, and I just fell in love with it.” The Russian team won all three matches and came in clear first, the USA finished second with two victories, Armenia and Spain scored an equal amount of team points but the former netted one more board point. Final standings: 1. Russia – 32. USA – 23. Armenia – ½4. Spain – ½ Reflecting on the event as a successful start of the “Chess for Freedom” program, Sheriff of Cook County Tom Dart emphasized that “this was just a first step”. The organizing team is focused on autumn when the First Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners will be held on the occasion of International Day of Education in Prison, from 13-14 October 2021.
Announcing winners of FIDE Trainer Awards for 2020-21
The FIDE Trainers Commission is pleased to announce the winners of the 14th FIDE Trainer Awards for 2020-21, which recognize and celebrate the achievements of the chess training community. Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) wins the Mikhail Botvinnik Award for the best achievement in Open Section competitions. Kasimdzhanov was a second for former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, whom he helped in the preparation of his WC matches in 2008 against Kramnik, 2010 against Topalov, and 2012 against Gelfand. He was also the trainer of Sergey Karjakin in the Candidates Tournament of 2014, and then of Fabiano Caruana in the Candidates Tournament 2016 and the 2018 World Chess Championship match against Carlsen. Photo: Austin Fuller Ni Hua (CHN) receives the Vakhtang Karseladze Award for the best achievement by a trainer in women’s and/or girls’ competitions. Ni Hua has been Ju Wenjun‘s only coach since 2016, and during the time the World Championship Match 2020 was being played in Vladivostok, his grandmother passed away. Instead of travelling back to China to assist the funeral, he stayed with Ju Wenjun and kept the sad news from her, in order not to unbalance her in such a crucial moment. That is the level of commitment of a devoted coach! Sergey Zagrebelny (RUS) has been chosen by the judges for the Mark Dvoretsky Award for the best achievement by a trainer in junior events. Originally from Uzbekistan, a country with which he won a medal at the Manila Olympiad in 1992, he is now one of the main coaches at the “Moscow Youth” chess school since 2012. In that institution, he has had the chance to work with some of the raising Russian stars, like Polina Shuvalova. Sergey took Polina under his wing in 2015, and their collaboration has been very fruitful: she won the World Girls’ U18 Champion in 2018 and 2019, and the 2019 World Girls U-20 Champion title as well. Photo: chessmoscow.ru Jakov Geller (RUS) is the winner of the Samuel Reshevsky Award for the best achievement by a junior prodigy (U-14). Jakov has been one of Russia’s top modern coaches since 2007 and his pupils have included grandmasters Ivan Bukavshin and Alexandr Predke, international masters Darsen Sanzhaev, Alexey Mokshanov and Rudik Makarian, and WGM Dinara Dordzhieva. In 2020, he devoted a biography to the late Ivan Bukavshin, who passed away at the age of 20 (“Ivan Bukavshin – A Chess Prodigy’s Career in 64 Games”, published by Elk and Ruby). Xie Jun (CHN) wins the Yuri Razuvaev Award for her special contribution to grassroots education, and the social impact of her work. Xie Jun was the first Chinese World Chess Champion, and the second player in the country to be awarded the GM title, only after Ye Rongguang. Considered a hero in China, she did a lot to popularize international chess in her country and the rest of Asia. In July 2004, she was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. Ye Jiangchuan (CHN) gets the Tigran Petrosian Award for his special contribution to trainer education. Having learned chess at the relatively late age of 17, he became the Chinese national champion just three years down the road. Ye has played less frequently after becoming the chief coach of the Chinese national teams (men and women) in 2000, and he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer in 2005. His experience has been very valuable to train new coaches in China. The FIDE Asia Chess Academy in Amman, run by Sami Khader (JOR), gets the Vasily Smyslov Award for the best chess academy. The work done by this academy has not passed unnoticed to anyone, as the academy organized multiple courses, FIDE seminars, and even a program to qualify chess trainers among refugees in Jordan, with the cooperation of FIDE and the UNHCR. Sami is one of the most important dynamizing agents in the Middle East area, and this earned him the recognition of his peers. Melikset Khachiyan (USA) wins the Liu Wenzhe Award, a recognition to the figure of the “first coach”, as endorsed by one or more leading chess players. Melikset got his endorsement from none other than the fourth-highest rated player in history, Levon Aronian. Melik first met Levon in 1991, when he was 9 years old and had just started to play chess. Barely three years later, Levon would win the 1994 World Youth Chess Championship (under-12) in Szeged, Hungary, ahead of some other future stars like Grischuk, Bacrot, and Vallejo. “I am very grateful to destiny that I had a great first coach. Many of the things he taught me I still use today. He is a dedicated professional that also changed and reinvented other talented players like Tigran L Petrosian, Arman Pashikian, and Varuzhan Hakobian, all of whom became grandmasters”, wrote Levon. Nowadays, Khachiyan works mainly with the IM Annie Wang, and with the American Women’s team. Berik Akkozov (KAZ), of the ABChess Academy, is the winner of the Online Chess Training Award, for delivery or innovation in online chess training. In 2019, ABChess launched a web-based platform to learn chess, both for beginners and advanced players. The website was then complemented with Android and iOS apps. The project kept growing, and in 2020 some new features were added, like a Teachers’ Back Office, a built-in gamification system, an Interactive Webinar tool, and an Artificial Intelligence solution with more than 5,000 practical exercises that are constantly reviewed and optimised. These were the seven judges for the Trainers awards 2020-21, except for the Yuri Averbakh/Isaac Boleslavsky Award for best book, the Vasily Smyslov Award for the best academy, and the Online Chess Training Award, which are judged by a separate panel of experts: 1. FST & GM Jacob Aagaard (SCO) – Chairman2. FT & GM Ahmed Adly (EGY) – Africa3. FST & GM Alonso Zapata (COL) – Americas4. FST & GM Yu Shaoteng (CHN) – Asia5. FST & GM Artur Yusupov (GER) – Europe6. FST & GM Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO) – Women7. FST & GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – Women We would like to thank the judges for their commitment, particularly taking into consideration that being a judge obviously prevents them from being nominated.