Wine-and-chess set for World’s #1 Corporate Chess Team
A wine-and-chess set ‘Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Art Russe Collection’ has become a special prize for the winner of the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship. @art_russe_wine The special prize was established at the initiative of the Russian Chess Federation. Six bottles of the unique wine from Saint-Emilion, with Russian art on the labels, contained in a special-edition chess box with a set of chess pieces and a chessboard lid, will be shipped to Germany as the team of Grenke Bank (part of the Grenke Group, one of the leading players in the finance sector) became the winner of the Championship. Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs is a winery in the Bordeaux region. The Chateau released its first wine-and-chess set in 2014. The Chateau winemaker Louis Mitjavile is one of the world’s top experts on Merlot, descending from a famous family of Bordeaux winemakers. The Chateau produces one wine a year. The bottles are decorated with reproductions of paintings by Russian artists of the 19th-20th centuries. A wine collection with 12 reproductions (plus one reproduction for the 1.5 l magnum) is released every year. All artworks reproduced on the wine labels are part of the collection of the Art Russe Foundation and are made available to Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs under a cooperation agreement.
Day 2 Recap
Update! (Feb 21, 05:30 UTC) Pairings for 1st FIDE Online World Corporate Chess Championship Quarterfinals (Feb 21, 15:00 UTC): SBER – ERGSberbank Trade Union – Emphie SolutionsGrenke Bank – AnahuacMorgan Stanley (HUN) – PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok Those who like sensations are likely to be disappointed by the outcome in most of the Eastern pools, but the good thing about chess is that the strongest players have plenty of opportunities to prove their superiority, whereas some accidental results rarely change the course of events. East A The fight for first place ended already in Round 4 after SBER whitewashed RIVC-Pulkovo. In Rounds 5 and 6 SBER didn’t concede even a half-point to their rivals either, although in the final round Maria Komyagina, playing on the fourth board was down 3 (!) pawns in a rook endgame. The main favourite finished the group stage with a record score of 22½ out of 24. The RIVC-Pulkovo had bad luck with the draw as in any other pool this team would have been a strong candidate for first place and qualifying for playoffs. Final standings East B It all came down to the confrontation between Grenke Bank and Yandex in this pool. The teams advanced on parallel courses and eventually clashed in Round 5. Grenke Bank won by a minimal margin – Georg Meier held Yandex’s IT specialist Dmitry Jakovenko to a draw on the first board, while Alina Kashlinskaya and Hanna Marie Klek scored victories on the second and third boards secured a playoff berth for the German team. Yandex chess players were so upset by this defeat that they also lost the last round match. As a result, Samsung Electronics (POL) which stayed below the radar throughout the event finished second. A strong performance by VOZP (CZE) and Khareba (GEO) is also noteworthy. Final standings East C The battle for the top spot in East C resembled desperate attempts of the wind to topple a mountain by attacking it from different directions. The Morgan Stanley (HUN) team acted as this mountain. Every round one of the pursuers came close to the Hungarian financiers, but they were thrown back after head-to-head matches time and again. Anish Giri and his Optiver teammates made the final attempt to rob Morgan Stanley of the quarterfinal spot – unfortunately only the Dutch team’s leader managed to deliver in this battle. The Hungarian team won all their matches, claiming first place in the pool 2½ ahead of Gazprom (second place). Final standings East D In the East D pool, Sberbank Trade Union was unstoppable and deservedly took the qualification spot. The international squad of GM Anton Korobov (UKR), FM Evgenij Kretov (RUS), FM Fedor Myshakov (UKR), and WFM Elena Homyakova (BLR) won all the matches and dropped just 4½ game points on the way to the quarterfinals. The pool winners started eliminating their rivals on day one, crushing Paypal (BUL) and did not stop on day two, defeating Slav Group and Dassault Systemes. Final standings East E With just two rounds to go, it looked like CSOB (CZE) was bound to win the East E pool, given that the rating favourites BCG Gamma were not living up to expectations. CSOB topped the standings throughout the event up to the point of squaring off against ERG (KAZ) which obviously had another agenda. Originally seeded #3, the team headed by GM Anuar Ismagambetov started the tournament with a draw in the very first round but gradually gained momentum and crushed the leaders in the penultimate-round match. In Round 6, the Kazakhstani players consolidated their position by defeating Gordic 3:1, leaving CSOB 1½ game points behind. Final standings East F The East F pool turned into a race between the rating favourites Emphie Solutions (POL) and State Bank of Mongolia. The two teams faced off in Round 4 but did not determine the winner. GM Batchuluun Tsegmid on the first board and WFM Munkhzul Davaakhuu on board four won their games for the Mongolian team (they went on to win all their games in the tournament). The Polish team bounced back on boards two and three with the victory of rating underdog Wojciech Reza over IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul being especially valuable. Entering the final round, Emphie Solutions trailed State Bank of Mongolia by one point. Poles managed to make the most of their match, whitewashing Czech National Bank 4:0. State Bank of Mongolia had an arguably tougher opponent, RFSO Lokomotiv (RUS) headed by IM Polina Shuvalova. Putting a much weaker player on board two to score points on boards three and four was a strategy that worked well for the Mongolian team as long as IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul would sweep through the field on board three, but this did not work out in the end. The Mongolians conceded 1½ precious game points in the last round match (a defeat on board two and a draw on board three) and let Emphie Solutions leapfrog them by a mere half-point! Final standings West A After the main favourites of Pool West A Microsoft Redmond (USA) and Anahuac (MEX) drew their match in Round 3, it became clear that one mistake, made by one of the leaders in the encounters with less strong teams would be decisive. Unfortunately, Microsoft messed up not just a single game, but the entire match – in Round 5 the team lost to Goldman Sachs 1:3, with their leader Francesco Rambaldi simply leaving his queen en prize as a result of some kind of hallucination. After that defeat, it was all in the hands of the Mexican team. Anahuac did not miss this opportunity and punched the ticket into the playoff. Final standings West B Unlike West A, in West B the key match between the leaders American Express (USA) and PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok (INA) was played on the second day, in Round 4. Alas, it was a lopsided battle – the Indonesian team was much stronger. As a result, the fate of a spot in the quarterfinals was sealed with two rounds to go. The winners played some nice games, although Ali Muhammad Lutfi, the leader of PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok acted as a co-author in the most
Day 1 Recap
Day 1 in the Eastern pool of the FIDE Online World Corporate Championship is in the books. After three rounds of play, we have the potential candidates for first place in all six groups – only the teams taking the top spots advance play-off. Such a strict qualifying formula is applied due to an unprecedented number of teams taking part in the tournament. Indeed, 288 companies assembled squads for this competition. Team SBER, headed by one of the leaders of the Candidate Tournament Ian Nepominachtchi, is a heavy favourite not only in the group East A but also in the entire tournament. Although the Russian GM won all three games on the first board SBER is just second a half-point behind a “hell-raiser”, another Russian team RIVC-Pulkovo. The match between the leaders in Round 4 most likely will decide which team gets through to the next stage. Standings after Round 3 It was easy to predict that in the group East B Grenke Bank with Georg Meier and Alina Kashlinskaya and Yandex with GM Dmitry Yakovnko in the line-up (he actually works for the Russian IT-giant) would be the main contenders for the top spot. However, after two rounds two different teams – Khareba (Georgia) and VOZP (Czech Republic) – were in the lead. After the leaders drew their match in Round 3 the favourites caught up with them and now four squads are sharing first place with 10 points out of 12 each. It is almost certain that the ticket to the quarterfinals will go to one of the teams from this “magnificent four”. Standings after Round 3 East C saw the toughest competition in the Eastern pool. Whitewashing 4-0 defeats, so popular in other groups were very rare here. Only two teams, Morgan Stanley (HUN) and Gazprom managed to win all three matches. Their fourth-round clash is going to be crucial, although the Optiver team led by Anish Giri (who conceded a half in his first-round encounter with Nihal Sarin) and the Rosseti Volga have not yet said their last word in this pool. Standings after Round 3 Sberbank Trade Union has confirmed its status as a rating-favourite in East D. The team, led by Anton Korobov, played the key match in Round 2, beating the number two seed Paypal Bulgaria. Evgenij Kretov definitely deserved a bonus for the crucial victory over former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Although Sberbank Trade Union lost only one point in three rounds, it is way too early to relax – Israeli Slav Group with Ilya Smirin on the first board is hard on their heels. Their head-to-head match in Round 4 most likely will be decisive. Standings after Round 3 The East E bracket favourites, BCG Gamma headed by the sixth rated female player in the world Maria Muzychuk, and CSOB faced off in Round 3. The Czech team can’t boast of big names but relies on a very balanced lineup with titled players on all the boards. In this important match, CSOB scored a very important victory: IM Jiri Jirka prevailed over IM Daniel Schlecht whereas WGM Karolina Olsarova got the best of FM Marti Mayo. The leader is facing a new challenge in Round 4 – Tata Consultancy Services Chennai, whose 15-year-old grandmaster Praggnanandhaa has crushed his opponents so far. Standings after Round 3 Many thought that in the group East F we would see a race between the rating favourites Emphie Solutions and Alkaloid, but the Macedonian company, known for its support of chess (chess club Alkaloid was European champion!) suddenly stalled. Two points lost on the first board and one more on the fourth resulted in a 2½-point trailing behind the leader, almost a whole match distance! Emphie Solutions conceded only two points but still fell behind an unexpected leader, State Bank of Mongolia. GM Batchuluun Tsegmid and one of the strongest female players of Asia, IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul, inspired their less experienced teammates to put in the best effort. If State Bank of Mongolia beats Emphie Solutions in the fourth round, the former will almost certainly clinch a playoff berth. Standings after Round 3 When the Eastern pool participants were long asleep, two groups of Western Pool entered the competition. The average level of the teams in the Western Hemisphere is slightly lower, but even in these groups, several squads are headed by strong GMs and IMs. In West A, we will see a close battle for a single playoff berth until the last round. That became evident after a Round 3 match between two favourites Redmond (USA) and Anahuac (MEX) ended in a draw (2-2). As a result, Microsoft Redmond is leading by a minimal margin with 9½ points, followed by four teams with 9 points each – alongside Anahuac, Goldman Sachs (USA) and Telus (CAN), and Farber Group (CAN), led by FIDE Website and Social Media Manager Anna Burtasova won all their matches. Anna scored 3 out of 3 on her birthday, but in Round 2, she was really fortunate as her opponent forfeited on time in a roughly equal ending. Standings after Round 3 In the West B group American Express, headed by the hope of American women’s chess Carissa Yip, immediately grabbed the lead. Although Carissa suffered an unexpected defeat in Round 3, her teammates won all their games. American Express is leading after the first day with 11 points out of 12 but a coveted playoff spot is not guaranteed. The rating favourite West B of PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok (Indonesia) played the sidekick on the first day but with 10 points out of 12 (second place) the team led by two IMs still has a good chance to win the pool. In order to do that the Indonesians should defeat their main and probably the only rivals from American Express in Round 4. Standings after Round 3 Three more rounds will be played tonight. In Eastern pools, the participants will start at 15:00 UTC; in the Western Hemisphere, play is resumed at 01:30 UTC. We would like to encourage all participant companies, their employees, and chess fans in general, to support FIDE social projects Chess in Education, Chess for People with Disabilities and Chess for Vetarans
AAOIOCC 2021: Arab and African Chess Federations join forces
Based on the role of the Arab and African Chess Federations in exercising their missions: Raising the level of the Arab and African players Continuity of work to improve the game of chess Competitive activity and development of skills in practicing the game Communication between member players of the two regions Cooperation between the Arab Chess Federation and the African Chess Confederation It has been agreed to establish an open championship that brings together Arab and African players. Following the success of the Africa Online Individual Chess Championship (AOICC) 2021, the Arab Chess Federation and the Africa Chess Confederation partnered to stage the Arab-African Online Individual Open Chess Championships (AAOIOCC). The event will be held online on lichess.org from February 25-27 in four stages: Preliminary Stage (February 25) Men’s Semifinal (February 26) Women’s Final (February 26) Men’s Final (February 27) All the games are played with the time control of 3+2. All final-stage players will be monitored via the Zoom platform, so all finalists are required to enter the Zoom platform and share the camera, sound, and screen, and all participants must enter the Zoom meeting on the player’s name as it is registered on the FIDE website. And they must enter the Zoom link half an hour before the start of the championship. The championship is monitored by the arbiters, the Anti-cheating Committee, and the management of the championship. Regulations for the AAOIOCC 2021 (pdf)
Fundraising for FIDE Social Projects
Chess in education, chess for people with disabilities, or the support fund for distinguished chess seniors? Which social project would you like to support? NOW YOU CAN ALSO HELP: http://donations.fide.com/ In connection with the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship, we have organized a fundraiser. All participant companies have been asked to make a donation towards one of these 3 social projects. But you can also contribute, and your help would be more valuable now than ever before. You can make a donation using this link: https://give.softgiving.com/FIDE Right after entering your name, you will find a drop-down menu where you can choose what project do you want to support with your money. We are preparing some gifts and exciting surprises to be raffled off among all those who contribute with a donation, as a recognition of your generosity. But more importantly: whichever project you choose, you will be supporting a worthy cause. FIDE Social projects for 2021 For the International Chess Federation, organizing chess competitions is not the only mission. Like every other sports association, the competitive aspects are just a means to achieve higher goals. Below you will find information about three social projects we are currently implementing. Chess a tool that helps to make people smarter – through a game that is fun to play. Particularly for children, it allows them to develop their intellectual skills. Chess is also a great equalizer: it helps every child to reach their full potential, regardless of their background. The game can also make a huge impact in the lives of people with physical disabilities, by providing them with an activity in which they can compete on absolutely equal terms, boosting their self-esteem. Chess can also improve the lives of our senior citizens since the game has proven benefits in preventing cognitive ageing and general brain decline. CHESS IN EDUCATION FIDE needs to develop learning materials and prepare teachers to develop the potential of chess as a tool for education. Our program of seminars has to be expanded where the demand is increasing, Asia, Africa, and the U.S. Lectures and conferences have to be intensified in those countries where there is untapped potential. Chess helps us to identify talent. FIDE must nurture this talent and help brilliant children to achieve their potential. Some poor countries can’t afford to send representatives to the World Youth Chess Events. We must work to ensure that no one is left out, especially for economic reasons. CHESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES In 2020, FIDE successfully launched the First Online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, in which more than 400 athletes from 45 countries took part. We have ambitious plans to expand this competition further and make chess even more accessible to everyone. We are currently developing an online platform that will allow people with a 100% visual impairment to play chess games online. The goal is that this platform gives them access to all functionalities and possibilities that you would normally find available at any other online chess club. The potential of chess in this area is huge, not only in terms of leisure or sport, but also in terms of meeting the need for communication, cognitive development, and expanding communication capabilities of people with impairments. FIDE CHESS VETERANS SUPPORT PROGRAM In 2013, FIDE decided to introduce a contribution towards giving back a little to those who, having devoted their entire life to chess, find themselves now in an unstable financial situation. Since then, almost 200 distinguished chess veterans from over 40 different countries have benefitted from this program. Among the recipients, there are individuals representing all bodies and categories: players, coaches, and arbiters. The pandemic has made the situation of our seniors much more challenging since this age group is particularly vulnerable. As a result, many have lost their source of income. Donations to the FIDE Chess Veterans Support program will help prominent chess figures that have contributed enormously to the growth of our sport over time, a support that is much needed in these difficult times.
FIDE Council approves CSR guidelines
The fund-raiser that is organized alongside the World Corporate Championship connects perfectly with a recent decision by FIDE. Last week, the FIDE Council approved our Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines, a document that has now been incorporated into the FIDE Handbook. Essentially, CSR is a self-regulating business model that incorporates social and environmental concerns into a company’s planning and operations. The goal is to ensure that all of its activities positively affect society as a whole. This management concept goes beyond a company’s legal obligations, and it aims at making a company socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. In recent years, the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly prevalent, also in the field of sports. By definition, sports federations already play a social role, bringing positive effects to society. However, their professionalization and growing commercialism make necessary the establishment of mechanisms of self-regulation from a social perspective, to ensure that they stay loyal to their foundational values. FIDE, established as a non-profit sports organization, will now have these core values more present than ever before. A task force will oversee this area of work, thanks to an initiative impulse by our treasurer Zhu Chen. “The initial idea of bringing CSR to FIDE is to care for all the stakeholders in the chess world and improve the chess ecosystem. And I wish that CSR is a small step towards approaching HSR (human social responsibility). In the long term, the intention is to improve the imperfect system that humanity evolved through the long history, to be kind to human, every living creature, and nature”.
Tribute to Liu Wenzhe
A couple of weeks ago, the FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) announced the awards for 2020 and 2021. The categories have now been expanded to 10 so that every licensed trainer now has the opportunity to win an award and be recognized by their peers. One of the newly created awards bears the name of Liu Wenzhe (1940-2011), the pioneer and leader of China’s chess over four decades. Liu, born in Harbin, was from childhood a Xiangqi and Go player, but in his late teen years, he took a serious interest in Western chess, something that was very uncommon in that period. He soon rose to achieve the consideration of China’s leading player, and in 1961 he also established himself as a chess coach, so he could train others in the game that had captivated him. Already in his international chess debut in 1965, in a friendly match between China and the Soviet Union, he became the sensation. His victory against Nikolai Krogious was the first victory of a Chinese player against a grandmaster – at least in an official game. But it was only at the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1978 with his spectacular crush of Nederland’s Jan Donner (a miniature named “The Chinese Immortal”) that the whole world took notice of his talent. Liu Wenzhe – Jan Hein Donner (Buenos Aires, 1978) 16. Qxg6!! Kxg6 17. Bh5+ Kh7 18. Bf7+ Bh6 19. g6+ Kg7 20. Bxh6+ 1-0 In 1980, he was awarded the International Master title, the first FIDE title of any kind for a Chinese player. Liu won the National Championship in 1980 and 1982, and he continued to be the main force of the Chinese team in 1978, 1980, and 1982 Olympiads. In 1986, he was named the first-ever head coach of the national team. From that moment on, Liu Wenzhe retired completely from competitive chess to focus on developing the system explained in his book “The Chinese School of Chess”, of which he is considered to be the founder. That school would eventually take his country to the top of world chess: Liu Wenzhe still lived when China won the first silver medal at a chess Olympiad (Turin, 2006), but unfortunately, he passed away before China’s sensational gold at Tromsø 2014.
Armenian Championships kick off in Yerevan
The Armenian Championship (so-called the Highest League) is taking place from 16-28 February 2021 in the capital of the country Yerevan. The 81st open event is a 12-player round-robin with the time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. The winner qualifies for a spot in the national team. The opening ceremony and the playing rounds are held in the Tigran Petrosyan Chess House. Although the top-5 rated Armenian players are not participating, the event can boast of an impressive line-up with eleven grandmasters taking part. In Round 1 two highest-rated players Robert Hovhannisyan (2642) (pictured above) and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2640) scored confident victories with white pieces and took the lead. The 76th women’s championship is a 10-player round-robin tournament in which the highest-rated Maria Gevorgyan and Siranush Ghukasyan are considered to be the main favorites. Photo: Gevorg Perkuperkayn (ARMENPRESS)
Arkady Dvorkovich: FIDE promotes chess solidarity
Mr. Dvorkovich, what is the mission and vision of FIDE? The mission of FIDE is the diffusion and development of chess among all nations of the world, as well as the raising of the level of chess culture and knowledge on a sporting, scientific, creative, educational and cultural basis. The vision of FIDE is to support close international cooperation of chess devotees in all fields of chess activities, thereby also aiming to improve harmony and promote peace among all peoples of the world. FIDE especially encourages and supports: – the education of youth through chess sport and culture; – the promotion of women in all chess activities and events; – the promotion of ethics and any effort aimed to ensure that, in chess, the spirit of fair play prevails; – any effort aimed to improve the inclusion of disabled or differently-abled persons in chess events; – any effort aimed to improve the inclusion of refugees and migrants in chess events; – any efforts of private organisations and public authorities aimed to provide for the social and professional future of chess players; – any effort aimed to improve good governance in all chess organisations. FIDE promotes chess solidarity to carry out development programs and bridge socio-economic divides among individuals and countries regarding access to chess activities. Next question, what is the organisational culture of FIDE? FIDE’s organisational culture is consistent with its original motto, “Gens Una Sumus”, which means “We Are One Family”. Globally it is based on the efforts of hundreds of chess lovers contributing to the activities of national, zonal and continental federations as well as FIDE commissions. On a central level, there is a group of full-time professionals providing for strategic and operational governance, marketing and event management. There is a small headquarter in Lausanne surrounded by other international sports federations and neighbouring the International Olympic Committee. The other management team members are spread all around the world working on distance, so the COVID-19 pandemic did not create any catastrophic complications for day-to-day management itself, while making it impossible to run traditional over-the-board chess activities. Daily management is structured normally in a horizontal way, where project teams are being formed for each particular project and have a high degree of autonomy, whereas the FIDE President is permanently overseeing their activities and takes strategic decisions. How about the recruitment practices of FIDE? The highest FIDE body – FIDE Council – consists of elected members (including FIDE President, Treasurer and Vice-Presidents) serving a 4-year period. Day-to-day operations are run by the Management Board appointed by the FIDE President upon the approval of the FIDE Council. The appointments are based on a personal judgement of FIDE President and depend on a combination of professional and personal skills required to manage global chess activities. Regular 360-degree assessments are instrumental in verifying the efficiency of FIDE human capacity. As of today, most of FIDE higher management are chess players of various levels having additional skills in the related management fields (public governance, marketing, PR, finance, IT, event management). There is a selection of former parliament/government members, marketing professionals from other sport federations, journalists, members of the organising team of the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia. There were a couple of instances when staff members had been hired following a public announcement and a formalised selection procedure (example – Marco Verdoia, FIDE Marketing Director), but in most cases, hiring is done on ad hoc basis. Gender equality and other important non-discrimination factors are playing more and more significant role in FIDE’s recruitment practices. What is the training and development of FIDE like? A strategic training session has been organised once for Management Board members (lecturer – Pekka Viljakainen, Skolkovo Ventures). It helped in setting common goals and team building. An agreement was reached with FIFA to organise a series of training sessions based on FIFA’s best practices in marketing, finance and regional development, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to shifting those to 2022. So, most of FIDE’s staff professional development is done in learning-by-doing manner. A contract to provide an online training course for FIDE staff has been signed in June 2021 to be delivered before the end of the year. How about rewarding employees of FIDE? Intrinsic rewards for FIDE employees are normally in the form of people being aware both themselves and by recognition from the higher management that they achieved something special whether by organising a high-quality international chess event, or by successful fundraising in the interest of FIDE, or by improving an internal organisation of FIDE. Extrinsic rewards are based on the assessment of annual performance and done in monetary form (annual bonuses). What do you think of employees’ satisfaction and engagement with FIDE? Most people working for FIDE are real chess lovers, and their satisfaction – to a high degree – is based on continuing success stories in international chess. Also, regular attention from FIDE President and other FIDE Council members is highly appreciated. Individual initiative is always welcome in the implementation of various projects and rewarded accordingly. What can you say about performance management and its contribution to FIDE’s competitive advantage? Each FIDE employee has a clearly identified role and functional description in the overall management framework of FIDE. It is FIDE President’s role to make sure that Management Board members fully understand their medium-term, annual and shorter-term priorities. Key FIDE management team members have clearly established KPI’s related to their functional roles. Principle examples include FIDE marketing team members who are entitled to bonuses upon reaching fundraising targets with minimum bonuses for budgeted targets and higher bonuses for exceeding budgeted targets) Also, it is critical to ensure permanent feedback from FIDE constituencies, chess players and the broader chess community. That helps to adjust the day-to-day priorities and implementation practices. Such an approach has proved to be effective in improving both the institutional capacity of FIDE, its transparency, visibility and actual performance vis-à-vis other international sports federations, especially during the year of COVID-19 pandemic. Last question, Mr. Dvorkovich. What do
FIDE resumes the Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament, the biennial 8-player event that decides who will be the Challenger for the World Chess Championship title, will resume on the 19th of April in Yekaterinburg, Russia. This double round-robin tournament kicked off on March 16, 2020. However, it had to be abruptly stopped 11 days later when the Russian government announced the closure of air traffic with other countries, amid a rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic. The sudden crisis left hanging this prestigious event, one of the oldest traditions in the world of sports. Since half the rounds had already been played, this interruption created an unprecedented situation, as the regulations stipulate that the results obtained until that point must stand – rather than having the tournament re-started from scratch. When the tournament was interrupted, the French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi were in the lead with 4½ points after seven games. Fabiano Caruana (USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Wang Hao (China) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia) are in the chasing pack, all with 3½ points. After a long wait, the challenger to Magnus Carlsen’s throne will be finally known by the 28th of April. This is the detailed schedule for the second half of the tournament, to which all players have agreed on and expressed their readiness to take part in: 19th April 2021, Round 820th April 2021, Round 921st April 2021, Round 10(22nd April 2021, rest day)23rd April 2021, Round 1124th April 2021, Round 12(25th April 2021, rest day)26th April 2021, Round 1327th April 2021, Round 1428th April 2021, tie-breaks (if required) The eyes of the entire chess world will be on this tournament, which is expected to receive massive coverage. The recent surge of interest towards chess and the special circumstances around the event guarantees the biggest number of spectators for any Candidates Tournament in chess history. Standings after Round 7: Player Points Rating 1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 4½ 2767 2 Ian Nepomniachtchi 4½ 2774 3 Fabiano Caruana 3½ 2842 4 Anish Giri 3½ 2763 5 Wang Hao 3½ 2762 6 Alexander Grischuk 3½ 2777 7 Liren Ding 2½ 2805 8 Kirill Alekseenko 2½ 2698 Pairings for round eight: Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Maxime Vachier-Lagr. (FRA) Hao Wang (CHN) – Liren Ding (CHN) Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) – Anish Giri (NED) Kirill Alekseenko (RUS) – Alexander Grischuk (RUS) About the Candidates Tournament The current format of the Candidates Tournament was established in 1950 as the best way to determine who should be the World Champion Challenger. Currently, it is fought under the format of a double round-robin tournament (14 rounds), with the eight best players on the planet- except the champion himself. The selection process from which the World Chess Challenger emerges is probably one of the toughest of any sport. The scarcity of opportunities to ascend this summit makes any mistake more tragic, increasing the epic nature of the struggle. About the World Chess Championship The winner of the Candidates Tournament will be Carlsen’s rival in the World Championship Match, a face-off between two contenders where they play to the best of 14 games. The 2021 World Championship match will take place 24 November – 16 December 2021 as one of the highlights of the Expo 2020 Dubai. The two players will compete for a prize fund of 2 million euros.