Mikhalevsky and Shvayger are 2021 Israeli Champions
The Israeli men and women Championships were concluded last Monday at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Haifa with a solemn closing ceremony in the presence of the host mayor, Dr. Einat Kalish-Rotem and senior officials of the chess federation and supporting partners. The championships were mainly sponsored by the National Lottery (Mifal Hapais) and the prize fund was 100,000 NIS with a 20,000 first prize in the open section. Open section The open section was a 9-round Swiss event, officiated by IA Almog Burstein and NA Oded Ross, with 32 players taking part (including 10 GMs and 6 IMs). The rating favorites Tamir Nabaty (2638), Ilya Smirin (2614) (both former champions), Evgeny Postny (2605), Nitzan Shteinberg (2553) and Victor Mikhalevski (2552) were considered to be the main contenders for gold. A large number of young talents that qualified from the preliminaries had a real chance to gain invaluable experience and even title norms. Two members of the Olympic ladies’ team, WGM Marsel Efroimsky, and WIM Michal Lahav chose to compete in the open section. Victor Mikhalevski, Beer Sheva club player, took a somewhat slow start with 2.5 points in four rounds before winning four consecutive games against, among others, the early leaders Nabaty and Borukhovsky. He then drew his last round encounter with Kobo and finished undefeated scoring 7 points out of 9 and clinching his second national title. The most pleasant surprise of the event was a performance delivered by 18-year-old Ido Gorshtein (pictured below), a member of the Kfar Saba Club. The youngster took the silver medal with 6½ points and achieved his first grandmaster norm! Tamir Nabaty (29), Beer Sheva club player and twice former champion, was the main favourite but following his defeats against both Gorshtein and Mikhalevski he eventually had to settle for the bronze. Avital Boruchovsky, a player of the Kfar Saba club, was in the leading group during the decisive stage to finish in the respectable fourth place after beating Evgeny Postny in the last round – a nice gift for his 24th birthday celebrated on the very same day! Kudos to 70-year-old IM Nathan Birnboim, from Ashdod club, the eldest participant and 3-time former champion, who finished seventh with 5½ points after fighting in the last round (though losing eventually) for a GM norm. Final standings open: 1. Victor Mikhalevski – 72. Ido Gorshtein – 6½3. Tamir Nabaty – 6½4. Avital Boruchovsky – 65. Ori Kobo – 66. David Gorodetsky – 5½ 7. Nathan Birnboim – 5½ 8. Yair Parkhov – 5½ 9. Ilya Smirin – 5½ 10. Evgeny Postny – 5 The new champion was born in 1972 in Belarus and immigrated at the age of 19 to Israel with his parents and older brother and his first coach, IM Alex Mikhalevski. He became GM in 1996 and was crowned Israeli Champion for the first time in 2014. He was a member of the national team at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Khanty Mansysk Olympiad. Women’s section Yuliya Shvayger (26), Beer Sheva club’s player, defended her title comfortably scoring 8 points and suffering a single defeat. Her victory, 2 points ahead of the field, came as no surprise after none of her national teammates was there to compete with the champion. Nadejda Reprun (50) from the Rishon Lezion club, on 6 and young Michele Katkov (17) from the “Tzafrir” club in Rehovot scored 5½ each and earned the medals. The latter was the only one to defeat the champion. Final standings women: 1. Yuliya Shvaiger – 82. Nadejda Reprun – 63. Michelle Katkov – 5½4. Adi Federovski – 5½5. Noga Orian – 56. Dana Kochavi – 57. Marina Lian – 58. Noam Gadasi – 4½9. Alina Golovchanskaya – 410. Avital Haitovich – 3½ The 2021 champion was born in Vinnytsia, Ukraine in 1994 and immigrated to Israel at the age of 14. Since 2012 she is a member of the Israeli Olympic team and since 2016 on its first board. The women’s tournament was supervised by WIM Ilana David, herself the Israeli champion in 1980 and currently the director of the Beer-Sheva club whose members dominated both championships. The longest game record A unique record was set in the last round of the open section. The game between Eytan Rozen, the youngest Israeli IM, and WGM Marsel Efroimsky was 233 moves long, lasted seven and a half hours and ended an hour after the end of the prizegiving. This is, as far as is known, the longest official classical game ever held in Israel and arguably also the third longest one in the history of official competitive chess. Text: Yochanan Afek Photo: Dorit Ritvo Wolfovitz
Carlsen and So on the brink of semifinals
The World Champion Magnus Carlsen brought his A-game today to crush Levon Aronian in just three games and take a firm grip on their quarter-final tie. The Norwegian needs just a draw in tomorrow’s second set to book a place in the last four of his own tournament, the $220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational. Aronian, meanwhile, has to launch a monumental comeback on Day 2 to overturn Carlsen’s lead and take the match to tiebreaks. The champ simply looked unstoppable as he moved almost effortlessly into a 2-0 lead before settling for a draw that won the set by 2.5 to 0.5. Carlsen even found time to tuck into some Chinese noodles while playing as Aronian was barely given a chance to fight back. Carlsen said afterward: “I don’t expect it to be quite as comfortable as this tomorrow, but obviously it’s a great start.” It was a brutal day of chess overall as eight decisive games were played in the quarter-finals before Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finally shared a point with a Round 3 draw. But fans hoping for a tight match between Wesley So, the American leading Meltwater Champions Chess Tour overall, and the youngster Alireza Firouzja may have been disappointed. Like Carlsen, So simply overpowered his opponent by winning the first two games and then securing a draw in the third. Firouzja, the teenager tipped to take Carlsen’s crown one day, has a mountain to climb tomorrow. The two other quarter-final match-ups were much tighter affairs. Dutch No.1 Anish Giri and French No.1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave traded blows before heading into a final game that could have decided the set. However, both players settled for a quick draw to leave the set 2-2 and send the tie into a one-day shootout tomorrow. The match between Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and American speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura also went into a final game decider – but this one had an unexpected final twist. Both Ian and Hikaru battled hard for an advantage in a see-saw game before the players agreed to a draw leaving the set level at 2-2. Yet the Russian was left kicking himself when, according to the computer analysis, it was revealed he had a winning move in the final position of Game 4 (55.a4) but he just didn’t see it. The Russian said afterward “it happens”, it was “really annoying” and “disappointing to say the least”. The four quarter-final matches will finish tomorrow with the winners progressing to the semis. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Magnus racks up record score to win prelim
A frantic climax to the Magnus Carlsen Invitational’s prelim phase today saw the knockout places filled and eight grandmasters eliminated. Carlsen, the $220,000 tournament host, finished out in front after rubber-stamping his passage in the quarter-finals with a stunning 10.5/15. The Norwegian had said he was aiming to win the 16-player prelims to get a good draw in the knockout stage. Carlsen did it in style with the best score yet at this stage of a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event. It is an ominous sign for the rest of the field that the world number 1 is back to his imperious best. Anish Giri, the much-improved Dutch No.1, lost his first game of the tournament against Ian Nepomniachtchi but had already secured his place having led after the first two days. He finished second on 10/15. Also sailing into the knockouts was the American Wesley So, the man who has beaten Carlsen twice in finals so far on the tour. He scored 9.5/15. Carlsen’s great rival Hikaru Nakamura continued his return to form as he went unbeaten again to finish on 9/15. The US star was the only player to emerge from the round-robin unscathed. Carlsen and Nakamura were up against each other in the final round and drew in super-quick time with a bizarre “joke” opening called the Bongcloud. Carlsen said after: “I just wanted to have a little bit of fun there.” He added: “I’ve massively enjoyed playing here!” The 17-year-old hotshot Alireza Firouzja was another into the quarters with ease. Improving markedly on his performance in the Skilling Open, Firouzja was never in danger and must be considered a threat. But it was at the other end of the leaderboard where the drama took place. With the bottom eight going out, tension reached fever pitch going into the final round as a trio of Russians battled for survival alongside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Teimour Radjabov and Levon Aronian. Levon and Maxime, two of the top performers so far on the Tour, only needed draws and duly secured them. But Nepomniachtchi was in a must-win situation and pulled it off by beating Alan Pichot to lift himself up alongside Firouzja on 8.5/15. It meant the two remaining Russians, Daniil Dubov and Sergey Karjakin, bowed out. It was particularly cruel on Karjakin who recovered from a slow start to finish level with Aronian but was edged out on the head-to-head score against him. The two-day quarter-finals start today at 17:00 CET For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
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British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President They are the champions It is raining awards! A tribute to our seniors (part II) Brief news from National Federations Birthdays READ NEWSLETTER
British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President
The March issue of British Chess Magazine includes an interview with the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, by its Editor Milan Dinic. Courtesy of British Chess Magazine, we offer you an advance and some excerpts from this interview. BCM: What do you think will be the long-lasting effect of coronavirus on chess, if any? Arkady Dvorkovich: Hopefully, we’re not going to have any long-lasting effect of the coronavirus on chess. We are hopeful that strict lockdown measures won’t be around for much longer, as the vaccination will improve the situation globally. Also, people will be more prepared for a repeat of the pandemic. However, it would be naïve to say that we’re not going to see the long-lasting effects in terms of the share of online chess. There will also probably be a more cautious attitude towards mass tournaments, in terms of precautionary health measures. The biggest thing is online chess. It provides better access to millions of people, it provides access to training, watching and playing chess, which is crucially important for growing the chess audience. Also, it’s fun to connect to people all over the world without the need to spend money on traveling. For the lovers of mass chess events, coronavirus will have a big consequence. But online is in no way a substitute for over-the-board chess, that’s the point I’d like to stress. One of the important things now is how to structure the chess calendar for professional players and how to make sure that OTB and online chess go well together. BCM: As a consequence of covid-19, do you see chess changing in a way so most events will be played online? A.D: As soon as the restrictions are lifted we will see a big return to OTB tournaments, especially when it comes to major events. But for other levels of events – student festivals, corporate tournaments and similar, they will be mostly online. OTB will come back but it doesn’t mean that online will go away. I estimate the ratio between the two to be 70-30 in favour of OTB. That’s why it’s important to think of the harmony of OTB and online events at the top level. BCM: From the organisational perspective, what are the key differences between online and over-the-board events and which are more difficult to organise? A.D: You have different challenges for both. For the OTB events, you have logistical issues – the venue, travel, accommodation, safety and similar. For online, the key challenges in the field of anti-cheating and the stability of the internet connection. BCM: Chess has for years been struggling to get sponsorship. Has the growth in chess interest during the pandemic helped bring more sponsors in? A.D: I would say it’s a combination of two trends now. First, we are trying to work professionally in the area of marketing. We have invested in getting more people to do marketing, to get companies connected. On the other hand, we are working much more in analysing the data we have – on the number of active players, on children participating in ‘Chess in schools’ programmes and similar – so we’re able to present a clearer picture to sponsors. There is also a very positive atmosphere in the chess world. We have good commercial stories from the Play Magnus Group. Also, online platforms – from chess.com to Twitch and others, have helped raise the interest in as well as the profile of the game. Streaming is now another booming thing – Twitch had record numbers in February. So, on one hand, we have much more effective and organised work on the side of FIDE, and strong market trends in favour of chess. Also, the Queen’s Gambit has had an impact, at least a temporary one. We’re trying to use this factor for promotion. The series was a really important moment for chess. It was not the first movie/series about chess, but it was done in a much more commercially attractive way and both chess-wise. And Netflix did a great job, both for themselves and for us. I’d also like to note the booming chess trends in India. This announcement of the World Chess League by Mahindra is a thing to follow. We have interest from China to do more. There are initiatives from the US – with Rex Sinquefield taking the lead. Uzbekistan has now introduced a huge chess development programme. Israel has increased its Chess in schools programme. Nice things are happening for chess. Just yesterday I was present at the closing ceremony of the African chess championship – there were 2300 players. That’s big. So, again, online chess helps and will help. But the key is to have more partners and sponsors. Recently I was in Serbia and I hope we will be able to do more events there. BCM: If I got you correctly, you see online chess as the driving force which will get more people attractive and more sponsors for over-the-board events as well, rather than it being the other way around. A.D: Yes, that is correct. BCM: Last year, the Yekaterinburg Candidates tournament had to be cut short due to the pandemic. Now you plan to continue it in April. How will you ensure the safety of the participants? Will there be spectators? A.D: There is never a 100% guarantee, that’s for sure. But, I think both we and the whole world now learnt how to deal with such events. It is one of the most important global events but it includes a couple of dozen people involved. Testing should be enough to prevent any negative scenario. We will require players to be tested before coming to Russia and upon arrival and one more time in the middle of this leg of the event. In terms of whether the spectators will be allowed, we are going to announce that just before the tournament. We will make the decision based on the situation in Russia at the moment, and in Yekaterinburg in particular. We will make the decisions
KIAP becomes FIDE’s new official legal partner
The International Chess Federation has signed a partnership agreement with KIAP, a law firm with headquarters in Moscow. This company, which currently employs about 40 lawyers and counsels, will provide consultancy and legal assistance to FIDE in a wide range of matters. KIAP has been shortlisted twice in the “Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence” as the Best Law Firm of the Year in Russia. It has also been named a leading firm of “Pravo-300’s Rating in 2017”, and “Law Firm of the year in Russia” according to Best Lawyers Awards 2020. The relationship between KIAP and chess is not new: in 2018, the firm established the Annual Legal Chess Tournament, a charity event that brings together representatives of one professional community — lawyers, as well as their colleagues, children and friends. The first edition of the tournament was held on July 21, 2018, at Novotel Moscow City, in connection with International Chess Day. The event was organized in cooperation with the Pedagogical Chess Union, and its next edition will take place in the summer of 2021. “We appreciate the important social components of FIDE activities, particularly in the fields of education and chess for people with disabilities, and we would like to take an active part in them”, said Andrey Korelsky, Managing Partner and founder of KIAP. KIAP is a modern law firm with a socially-oriented mission. As the company explains on its website, “we want to make our Russian legal world a better place: we strive to make our contribution to the development of philanthropy in the Russian legal market, as well as to support its unification to work together for the benefit of the country’s legal system. KIAP lawyers are successfully engaged in teaching activities at the law departments of the country’s leading universities. We also support major educational programs and competitions.” About KIAP: https://www.kiap.com/about KIAP statement on Social Responsibility:https://www.kiap.com/about/social-responsibility.php
Giri nails down place in knockout stage
Anish Giri’s hot streak got even hotter today as he nailed down a place in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational’s KO stage with five rounds still to play. The Dutch No.1 scored 4/5 points for the second day in a row and at one point was on a run of six consecutive wins in the $220,000 event’s prelim stage. Giri, who now sits clear in the lead on 8/10, said: “Today it was incredible how many points I managed to collect.” Eight stars face elimination from the $1.5 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event tomorrow as the 16-player field is cut in half. But like Giri, World Champion Magnus Carlsen won’t be one of them. The Norwegian rarely looked troubled as he scored three wins to end the day clipping Giri’s heels on 7.5/10. Carlsen said: “Two of the games I won today, were kind of gifts by my opponents. The score today was great, and it puts me in a great position. But I have to do better in the knockout stages.” Tour leader Wesley So lost two games yesterday but he bounced back to haul himself up the leaderboard and into third alongside fellow American Hikaru Nakamura with 6.5/10. For a second day running, So was seen using an electric shaver while playing which he later said was “stress relief”. “To score +3 today is really incredible, really amazing,” he said. Nakamura, meanwhile, remains unbeaten so far and appears to be returning to the form that took him to the final of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour final last year. Nakamura’s new fellow countryman Levon Aronian, who announced earlier this month he will switch to the US, finished off the day with a win to stand in seventh. It was also a good day for the youngster Alireza Firouzja and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin who both got themselves back into contention. Today’s play was also notable for an extraordinary Round 9 when 7/8 of the games ended in decisive results. It followed 25/40 games being won or lost yesterday. And tomorrow will surely see more drama as the players battle to stay in the competition. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Giri leads as Magnus Carlsen Invitational lifts off
Anish Giri soared into an early lead as Magnus Carlsen’s space-themed online chess event blasted off in style. The Netherlands No.1 rounded off Day 1 of the $220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational with three wins in a row including a stunning triumph over Carlsen. The Norwegian had looked in fine form as his own event, the fourth leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, got underway. Carlsen dispatched new Wijk aan Zee champion Jorden van Foreest in Round 1 and then French No.1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. But a tough draw in a hugely-anticipated game against 17-year-old Alireza Firouzja seemed to knock Carlsen off his stride before Giri inflicted the champion’s first loss. The world number 1 did bounce back, however, with a comfortable win over Spanish champion David Anton to stay in touch on the leaderboard. Carlsen, who is still searching for his first Tour event win, was still pleased with his start when asked afterward. He said: “I don’t think I played particularly well but the score is good. The most important thing on the first day is not to mess up.” Giri, who beat Carlsen exactly a year ago in the first MCI, had greater reason to be pleased. He said afterward: “Any day you can beat Magnus is a great day for a chess player.” The Dutch No.1 ended the day on 4/5 sitting joint-top of the leaderboard with Carlsen half a point behind alongside Levon Aronian. Down the leaderboard, the tour leader Wesley So had a disappointing day as he suffered two rare defeats to lie joint ninth alongside Firouzja on 2.5/5. Russia’s No.1 Ian Nepomniachtchi, another big hitter, also suffered a slow start as he collapsed to 1.5/5. However, with 10 rounds to go, there is plenty of time to catch up. The round-robin stage continues tomorrow and Monday before the bottom eight are eliminated and the top eight progress to the knockouts. The Magnus Carlsen Invitational is the return of the online event that kicked off a revolution in chess while the world was in lockdown. Now part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, which carries a record $1.5 million prize pot, the event features 16 of the best players in the world. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Early upsets in Israeli Championships
After being postponed twice due to the Corona restrictions, the 40th edition of the Israeli Championships is underway (March 7-15) in hotel “Leonardo Plaza” Haifa under the auspices of Mifal Hapais national lottery and Haifa Municipality. The total prize fund amounted to 100,000 NS with the first prize of 20,000 NS. Among the distinguished chess guests attending the opening and greeting the participants were Dr. Zvika Barkai, chairman of the Israeli Chess Federation, Gil Boruchovsky, general director of the federation, and GM Emil Sutovsky, FIDE Director General. Hili Tropper, minister of culture and sports sent also greeted the participants via video link. Open Section 32 players including 10 GMs and 6 IMs are competing in the open section with 6 past champions among them. The eldest player is 70-year-old IM Nathan Birnboim, 3-time Israeli champion (1980,1976, and 1986). The other 5 past champions are GM Yehuda Gruenfeld (1982, 1990); Gad Rechlis (1988); Ilya Smirin (1992, 2002); Tamir Nabati (2013, 2016) and Victor Michalevski (2014). Among notable absentees are the reigning champion Alon Greenfeld (1984 and 2018) and Maxim Rodshtein (2006). Gifted young talents that qualified from the preliminaries are having a decent chance to gain quality competitive experience and to score norms for international titles. A very experienced IA Almog Burstein serves as the tournament director. All players and officials are vaccinated as is the case with the majority of the Israeli population. Ido Gorshtein The opening rounds found most players still out of their normal form, seemingly due to their forced and lasting absence from real tournaments and possibly an overdose of online accelerated and somewhat superficial alternatives. Quite a few blunders and consequent upsets were witnessed in the first four rounds resulting in surprising defeats of experienced grandmasters against ambitious juniors. The top-rated player GM Tamir Nabaty had a good start beating past champions Birnboim and Gruenfeld and then young FM Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya, after the latter scored surprising wins against GMs Smirin and Rechlis from inferior positions. In Round 4 it was Nabaty’s turn to spoil a better position and lose to young FM Ido Gorshtein. Smirin suffered his second defeat, this time against another young Ohad Kraus. GM Nitzan Steinberg also capitulated twice facing junior players: FM Erez Kupervaser in Round 1 and IM Eytan Rozen in Round 4. Tamir Nabaty After four rounds FM Ido Gorshtein emerged as a surprising leader with 3.5 points, a half-point ahead of GMs Tamir Nabaty, Ori Kobo, Avital Boruchovski, and David Gorodetsky sitting on 3 points. Women’s section Fourteen ladies are taking part in the 33rd edition of the women’s section. The reigning champion IM Yuliya Shvaiger is a clear favorite given the absence of all other members of the national team: WGM Marsel Efroimsky and WIM Michal Lahav (champion in 2016) opted to compete in the open section. Former champions Masha Klinova and Olga Gutmakher are also missing. Another past champion Shlomit Vardi (won the title in 1986), faced her daughter Adi Federovsky in Round 2. The family match ended peacefully pretty fast. WIM Ilana David, the Israeli champion of 1980 performs the duties of the tournament director. After two fairly normal opening rounds, the first unexpected result was recorded in Round 3. Those who expected Yuliya Shvaiger’s easy walk to another title were disappointed, at least temporarily, as she fell to the second-rated 17-year-old WFM Michelle Katkov, whose FIDE-rating is 250 points lower. Michelle Katkov After four rounds of play, she is leading the field with 3.5 points, a half-point ahead of Yuliya Shvaiger, Nadejda Reprun, and Adi Federovsky. Text: Yochanan Afek Photo: Dorit Ritvo Wolfoviz
Abdyjapar and Zairbek win Kyrgyzstan championship
IM Asyl Abdyjapar and WFM Begimai Zairbek Kyzy are the 2021 Kyrgyzstan champions. The open and women’s championships were held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan Bishkek from February 22 to March 5. The rating-favourite of the competition Asyl Abdyzhapar (pictured below) won his fourth national title, scoring 7.5 points out of 9, with a slightly better tiebreak over the Aziz Degenbaev who finished with the same result. Semetey Tologontegin took bronze netting 7 points. Final standings Open: 1. Abdyjapar Asyl (2394) – 7½2. Degenbaev Aziz (1835) – 7½3. Tologontegin Semetey (2378) – 74. Sapar Emelbek (2327) – 6½5. Orozbaev Eldiar (2008) – 6½6. Sezdbekov Ruslan (2229) – 6½7. Zhakshylykov Erzhan (1966) – 6½8. Mamatov Melis (2250) – 69. Imanaliev Talaibek (2332) – 610. Sezdbekov Arzybek (2052) – 6 The women’s champion WFM Begimai Zairbek Kyzy (pictured below) put in a dominating performance and finished undefeated with 7.5 points. Alexandra Samaganova came second just a half-point behind the champion. Aizhan Alymbai Kyzy tied for third but got bronze thanks to better tiebreaks over Aliana Abaeva and Nurai Sovetbekova. Final standings Women: 1. Zairbek Kyzy Begimai – 7½2. Samaganova Alexandra – 73. Alymbai Kyzy Aizhan – 64. Abaeva Aiana – 65. Sovetbekova Nurai – 66. Omurbekova Diana – 5½7. Sezdbekova Aizhan – 5½8. Momunkulova Imannur – 5½9. Zhunusbekova Aymonchok – 510 . Agalykova Angelina – 5