Shehzad Chouhan and Gul Mehak win Kashmir Day Cup Chess Championship
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) continued onboard chess tournaments and kept players’ motivation and morale high. From February 5-7, the CFP held the first National Chess Championship dated to Kashmir Solidarity Day and named “FIDE Rated Kashmir Day Cup Chess Championship 2021”. The participants competed in three categories: Open (more than 90 players), Women (8), and Juniors (22). The total prize fund of the event amounted to 630 USD. Although Shehzad Chouhan was outside of top-3 in the starting rank he turned in an excellent performance conceding his opponents just one draw. Tanveer Gilani finished second, just a half-point behind the champion, whereas Khali Butt took bronze. Final standings Open: 1. Shehzad Chuhan – 7½2. Gillani Tunveer – 73. Butt Khalil Ur Rehman – 6½4. Hazza Tariq – 6½5. Sibt Ali – 66. Rashad Rafique – 67. Muhammad Amin – 68. Yousuf Azeem Makhdoomi – 69. Saad Saeed – 610. Muhammad Saif Ullah – 6 Gul Mehak claimed the title in the women category (4½ points out of 5), followed by Tasneem Ahmed (4 points) and Anum Amjad (3 points). Final standings Women: 1. Gul Mehak – 4½2. Tasneem Ahmed – 43. Anam Amjad – 34. Alina Zahid – 35. Sehrish Rehman – 26. Zoya Azfar – 27. Adan Khalid Shah – 1½8. Inaya Khan – 0 In the junior category, Rehan Khan Nasir came out on top with a perfect score a full point ahead of Hussain Shahid, Abdullah Zubair and Malik Usman. Final standings Juniors: 1. Rehan Khan Nasir – 52. Hissan Shahid – 43. Abdullah Zubair – 44. Malik Usman – 45. Khan Zarafulla – 36. Muhammad Fouzan – 37. Muhammad Abdullah – 38. Qasim Bashir Waleed – 39. Issam Bashir – 310. Muhammad Zaidn Asfar – 3
Update of the FIDE Endorsed Academies Program
The FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) keeps making progress in developing a comprehensive, meaningful and relevant FIDE Academies Program in 2021. For both FIDE and TRG, it is very important that FIDE Academies don’t simply bear the FIDE name just as a sign of endorsement, but that they are also active and serve as leaders in their area of work, with currently licensed trainers, and can work closely with us for the development of the game. That was not always the case in the past. FIDE now demands Academies to meet the standards established by the TRG and to use an established reporting procedure. Outstanding balances have been cleared since some academies were in arrears for years. The 2020 reports which were to submitted by the 31 January 2021 deadline have been used by TRG to better understand their work and to assist with any financial difficulties resulting from the pandemic. As it was mentioned in a previous newsletter, FIDE Trainer Seminars now adopt a teaching curriculum where the subjects have moved beyond just teaching how to play better chess through the inclusion of topics such as psychological and training issues and the use of the technology. These are skills critically needed by trainers today, and TRG will be looking to offer continuous learning through a series of Trainer Professional Education and Development Workshops to be organized together with FIDE Academies. FIDE and TRG have also developed three significant activity proposals/programs specifically for FIDE Academies in 2021: Inaugural FIDE Academies Annual Conference & Championships Having a Special Trainers Foundation Course for the Teaching of Young Players (FIDE Rated 1200-1700) Co-operation with TRG for the organizing of Seminars, Workshops, and Camps Currently, at the start of 2021, there are 43 academies (14 in Asia, 13 in Europe, 9 in Africa, and 6 in the Americas). In comparison, there were 74 academies at the end of 2018, but 43 of them were either terminated due to long-standing arrears or decided to opt out, while 12 new academies were added in 2019 and 2020.
Call for submissions: FIDE Veterans Support Program 2021
The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce the continuation of its support to chess veterans. A number of grants will be awarded next month to distinguished players, coaches and organizers aged 65+. Anyone over this age, who has contributed to the development of chess and who is in an unstable financial situation, is eligible to submit an application. We invite federations, clubs, and players themselves to send their applications, including a CV of the nominee, to the FIDE Secretariat: office@fide.com. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2021. The total amount to be distributed this year will largely depend on the donations received through the fundraising that we are holding alongside the first World Corporate Chess Championship, to be held February 19-21. In 2020, we allocated to this program an initial amount of €35.000, which was later expanded with an additional €21.000. Combined, this amounted to a total of €56.000, a record since FIDE launched this program in 2012.
Carlsen in control: Magnus dominates first quarter-final set
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen took control of his Opera Euro Rapid quarter-final with a dominating display today. The Norwegian’s form has been patchy of late but he turned it up a notch against Russian dangerman Daniil Dubov on Day 1 of the first knockout stage. Carlsen won the opener then, after a draw in the second, turned the screw on Dubov again to win today’s set 2.5-0.5 with a game to spare. Dubov has troubled Carlsen several times in the last few months and knocked out the champ at the same stage of the Airthings Masters. But the world number 1 was too strong today. Speaking about being drawn against Dubov, Carlsen said: “Certainly this was not an ideal pairing for me considering what happened last time. But every tournament is a new one so I thought I just need to focus on playing well.” Carlsen now goes into tomorrow’s final set with a one-set advantage and hot-favorite to make it to the $100,000 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event semis. “I’m playing well,” Carlsen said. “But this is only a job half done and it is a big day tomorrow as well and I don’t take anything for granted.” He added: “It’s not going to be easy tomorrow, regardless of what happened today tomorrow will be tough.” A downcast Dubov said: “I cannot say I played way below my standards. I think I was just outplayed so it was sort of well deserved.” While Carlsen won his first game, the other three quarter-final ties started with cagey draws. However, in the second round, the results came in. Wesley So suffered a devastating blunder and fell behind against Polish hope Jan-Krzysztof Duda. So’s mistake turned a winning position around and the Skilling Open champ resigned soon after leaving 22-year-old Duda 1.5-0.5 ahead. Duda’s lead didn’t last long as World Fischer-Random Champion So hit back immediately to level the tie. The American then struck again in the final game to take a 1-0 lead into tomorrow. The Frenchman Maxime-Vachier-Lagrave also scored a sparkling win in the second game to take the lead against Levon Aronian. It sent the set to a critical final game. Aronian seemed in control but with his clock running down the Armenian made a mistake and MVL steered the game to safety. It was the draw MVL needed to win Day 1. In the match between Teimour Radjabov and Anish Giri, the tournament’s form horses, it took until the third game for the fireworks to start. Radjabov – who was unbeaten with 15 consecutive draws – took the lead leaving Giri in a must-win situation going into the final game. Giri dug deep and pulled the set back from the brink by winning the fourth to finish the day 2-2. The quarters reach their climax tomorrow from 17:00 CET. Dubov, Duda, and Aronian must launch comebacks to progress to the semis. Opera is the official browser of the Tour and title partner of the event which carries a $100,000 prize pot. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Quarterfinals set, Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi eliminated
US blitz king Hikaru Nakamura was the highest-profile victim as the bottom eight were dumped out of the Opera Euro Rapid today. Nakamura, one of the pre-tournament favorites, appeared to be cruising through to the quarter-finals of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event. But a last-gasp meltdown against fellow American Sam Shankland at the end of the prelim stage saw Nakamura finish level on points with mercurial Russian Daniil Dubov. Given that Dubov had clocked up more wins over the first 15 rounds, he squeezed through on a tiebreak. Nakamura reacted angrily by throwing his hands up in frustration. The climax of the 16-player round-robin stage was a brutal fight for quarter-final places as a string of big names scrambled to survive. Dubov, known for his unorthodox style, was right in the thick of the action fighting for his life in a series of spectacular games. In the end, he was a deserved qualifier. After raising his hopes of making it through with two early wins, Dubov lost a Round 13 thriller against the dangerous Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda. In the penultimate round, Dubov then spurned several golden opportunities to down World Champion Magnus Carlsen. The game eventually ended in a 122-move draw. In the final round, Dubov went all out for a win against fellow Russian Alexander Grischuk but had to settle for a draw. It meant Grischuk was eliminated, yet after Nakamura could only draw with Duda – who also made it through – the Russian unexpectedly survived. Meanwhile, Russia’s top player Ian Nepomniachtchi had been looking good to qualify but a loss in the final-round sunk him. As others battled, World Champion Magnus Carlsen had a low-key day. It started with a win after which Carlsen appeared to take his foot off the gas. The overnight leader then lost against the out-of-form Chinese number 1 Ding Liren and narrowly escaped a second reverse against Dubov. Yet despite his patchy performances, Carlsen still cruised into the quarters and finished joint-top of the leaderboard on 9.5/15 with Anish Giri. Carlsen said afterward: “I was on the back foot for most of the day but what happened didn’t matter much since I was already through and it was maybe a little harder to be motivated today.” Carlsen added that he felt confident and “ready for the new challenges” in the knockout stage. Anish Giri, so sharp on Day 2, had another solid day picking up a win against Matthias Bluebaum and four draws to ease into the quarters level with Carlsen. Meanwhile, France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made up the final eight with a draw against Carlsen. The quarters start tomorrow from 17:00 CET with Carlsen taking on Dubov the pick of the ties. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
POSTPONEMENT: 4th FIDE World Junior Championship for People with Disabilities
Dear Member Federations: We are sorry to inform you that the Management Board, together with the FIDE Commission for People with Disabilities and the Events Commission, has decided to postpone the FIDE World Junior Championship for People with Disabilities (decision MB-2021-008 – 2021-02-03). As you can imagine, the reason for this postponement is the COVID-19 pandemic. At the present time, it is not possible to determine new dates for this event. You will be notified as soon as we deem it safe to go ahead and new dates are fixed.
Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage wins 8th Sri Lanka Grand Prix
Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage of Ananda College, the reigning National Chess Champion, proved to be the strongest by winning the rapid chess tie-breaker after classical games with Minul Sanjula Doluweera of Royal College were drawn. It is generally accepted that Ranindu is better at faster time controls and the tiebreak just reinforced this point. After scoring a victory in the first rapid game and giving a draw in a winning position in the second one Ranindu Dilshan Liynage became the Champion of the 8th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix 2021 and walked home with Rs 50,000 with the Trophy and the Gold Medal. Minul had to settle for the silver medal and Rs. 30,000. He was also awarded the winner trophy for the preliminary round-robin event. In the consolation finals, Theekshana Denuwan of Ananda College beat S Sivathanujan of Kokavil Hindu College in the first game and drew the second one to earn Rs. 20,000 and the Bronze medal. The top twelve national players participated in the 8th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix 2021 which was held by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka from 28th January to 7th February 2021 with strict health guidelines applied. The total prize fund set by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka amounted to Rs. 110,000. The award ceremony took place on the 7th of February 2021, just after the finals with Mr. Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of the Chess Federation as the chief guest. The games can be seen via the following links: Consolation Finals (8th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix – 2021):https://view.livechesscloud.com#fca060b0-f721-4f8b-a327-deff353e135e Finals (8th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix – 2021): https://view.livechesscloud.com#09a04af5-b700-4985-a48b-5b2deec7bf30 Live coverage was arranged at the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka YOUTUBE Channel with commentaries provided by Dulan Edirisinghe, a former National Chess Champion, and KA Akhila Kavinda, a National Team Player.
FIDE Database enhancement
Dear Member Federations, We would like to inform you that FIDE is developing a targeted database enhancement, which consists of a review of the data actually included in FIDE databases related to Arbiters, Organisers, and Trainers. This program has been approved by the FIDE Council and added as an entry to the Handbook, under Chapter B.05. Following this program, every Arbiter, Trainer, and Organizer should confirm its activity status by filling a form that will be available on our website starting from the 1st of March, until the 31st of October, 2021. The link will be sent to you once the form is active. We kindly ask you to forward this email to all arbiters, trainers, and organizers registered under your federation, and help them to comply with the requirements. The FIDE Commissions are working closely with the Data Protection Committee, and they will provide Arbiters, Organisers, and Trainers licensed under their jurisdiction with all the relevant information. The Commissions will assist in ensuring a continuous update of their databases and to secure the collection of the necessary data. Not filling this form before October 2021 will automatically result in the Arbiter, Trainer, or Organizer being marked as “inactive”. This would imply that they will not be eligible to be appointed as Arbiter, Organiser, official coach, or “head of delegations” at any official FIDE event until they correct the situation. Should you need any clarification, please contact us at privacy@fide.com.
Tension mounts at Opera Euro Rapid after 10 rounds of play
Magnus Carlsen won a dramatic final game to stay in the lead after Day 2 of the Opera Euro Rapid online chess event. The World Champion tricked rival Hikaru Nakamura with almost no time left on his clock. Carlsen now heads into the final day of the prelim stage a half-point ahead of the pack. The Norwegian, who’s scored 7/10 after four back-to-back wins yesterday, said beating Nakamura was a “massive relief”. But Carlsen was typically harsh when asked about his own performance. “Obviously, it feels good. I have to say I haven’t played so well today,” he said. “So overall I’m a little bit lucky.” With crunch time fast approaching, today’s round-robin games in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament were noticeably calmer than yesterday’s bloody first five rounds. There were more draws – 26 compared to only 16 on Day 1 – but the lead still changed hands several times. It means anything can happen tomorrow when the field will be cut in half as eight of the 16 progress to the knockout stage. Every competitor is still in with a chance. Wesley So was the first out of the blocks to challenge the top of the table, taking down fellow American Sam Shankland in just 25 moves. Carlsen, the overnight leader, was up against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the man who beat him twice last year and ended a record-breaking 125-game streak. History almost repeated itself after Carlsen uncharacteristically blundered against the dangerous Pole. But the champion quickly recovered to shore up a draw. Another below-par draw followed for Carlsen against Alexander Grischuk as he surrendered the lead to So. But bottom beat top in Round 7 as So lost to the Cuban-American Leinier Dominguez. Teimour Radjabov, the overall Tour leader, was the only player to emerge from Day 1 unbeaten and played it safe again to steer his first four games towards draws. Armenia’s Levon Aronian started promising “Ponchik power” – a reference to his pet dog who has made an appearance in every Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event to date. After a slow beginning, the world number 6 did not disappoint his beloved Ponchik with classy wins over Shankland and Dominguez and a draw against Duda. A quick draw against Grischuk in the final round then left him in a strong position overnight. Aronian’s only loss was a shock first game reverse to Tour debutant Matthias Bluebaum, the German number 1. Bluebaum was ahead again in his second game against Daniil Dubov. However, any hopes the 21-year-old had of shooting up the leaderboard were immediately dashed when he missed a winning chance and had to settle for a draw. A loss to Shankland followed and a draw against Dominguez left the tournament underdog with an uphill battle tomorrow to reach the next stage. Anish Giri, meanwhile, looked super-sharp and also has high hopes of making the quarter-finals after ending the day unbeaten. He is joint-second with So on 6.5/10. Giri scored impressive wins over Chinese number 1 Ding Liren and the tricky Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and secured draws against Carlsen, Radjabov and So. The last day of the prelims starts tomorrow at 17:00 CET. The bottom eight have five rounds to lift themselves into the quarters. Anything can happen. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770 About Play Magnus AS The Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, CoChess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. About Meltwater Meltwater is the title partner of the Tour. Meltwater is a global leading provider of social and media intelligence. By examining millions of posts each day from social media platforms, blogs and news sites, and using patented artificial intelligence systems, Meltwater helps companies make better, more informed decisions based on insight from the outside.
Adly and Mezioud claim Africa Online Championship titles
GM Ahmed Adly has won the Open Section at the maiden edition of the Africa Online Individual Chess Championship 2021. With this win, he stands to walk away with the $3,000 first-place prize. In the ladies section, WGM Amina Mezioud stole the show and claimed the crown of African Chess Queen for 2021. The event was held on the Tornelo platform in five categories (9-round Swiss tournaments) with the prize money distributed as follows: Main Open Women Seniors U20 Open U20 Girls 1st Prize USD $3000 USD $2000 USD $1000 USD $400 USD $300 2nd Prize $2000 $1000 $750 $300 $200 3rd Prize $1500 $750 $500 $200 $100 4th Prize $750 $500 5th Prize $500 $250 Open Very little was separating the players in the Open section, where all games were tightly contested affairs. It was GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt), who snatched the gold in the end. His countryman and Africa’s number 1 Amin Bassem had to settle for the silver, just half a point behind. GM Bilel Bellahcene of Algeria notched the third-place position on tiebreak (tied for third with IM Fy Rakotomaharo and CM Donaldo Paiva) to take bronze. GM Ahmed Adly playing from home Final standings: Women WGM Amina Mezioud of Algeria (pictured below), won gold at the Women’s section. She scored two important victories in Rounds 8 and 9 to finish strong, surpassing Sabrina Latreche, who took the silver, just half a point behind Amina. Khadidja Latreche had secured her top 3 finish but lost her last game to Linda Dalitso Shaba of Zimbabwe. Photo: David Llada Final standings: Seniors As many predicted, 7-time South African champion, FM Charles De Villiers (RSA) clinched gold in the ‘madalas’ section of players over 50 with an unbeaten 8.5/9 score. Zoheir Slami (Morocco) and CM John Mukabi (Kenya) settled for second and third spots respectively. Charles De Villiers (right) podium finish in 2018 Photo: Cross Road Chess Club Facebook page Final standings: U20 Open FM Lamine Brahami of Algeria (pictured below) won the U20 Open gold with a beautiful win in the 8th round, and a draw with Banele Mhango in the last round. He ended the tournament joint first on 7.5/9 points, along with FM Domingoes Junior of Angola, however, having the better Bucholz points. Taking bronze on joint third place with Banele Mhango (both on 7 points), is Mauritania’s Mohamed Abderrahim Taleb Mohamed, also with the better Bucholz points. Photo: Adnane Nesla Final standings: U20 Girls WIM Lina Nassir of Algeria (pictured below) came out on top in the U20 Girls section scoring 8 points. She secured the title by defeating Egypt’s Yara Allam in Round 8 and drawing her last round game against Natalie Katlo Banda of Botswana on move 31. WFM Besa Masaiti, also of Botswana, “went home” with silver, finishing a point behind the leader. The untitled Davida Strong from South Africa finished in third place and took the bronze with 6.5/9 points. Photo: www.express-dz.com Final standings: Text: https://africachessmedia.com/