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/
Alexei Shirov wins 2021 University of Salamanca Masters
Alexei Shirov came as the winner of the University of Salamanca Masters 2021. The eight-player round-robin with the time control of 40 min + 5 sec was a part of the third edition of the Salamanca Chess Festival running from February 2-6. The Masters brought together eight players from four counties including the last edition winner Eduardo Iturrizaga, FIDE World ex-champion Veselin Topalov, Alexei Shirov, the reigning Spanish Champion David Anton, and four female players. The winner delivered an excellent result 6 out of 7 making just two draws and finished a half-point ahead of Eduardo Iturrizaga and David Anton who tied for second place. Elisabeth Paehtz scored 3 points out of 7 and became the best female player in the event. Final standings: 1. Alexei Shirov (2662) – 6 2. Eduardo Iturrizaga (2607) – 5½ 3. David Anton Guijarro (2679) – 5½ 4. Veselin Topalov (2735) – 3½ 5. Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – 3 6. Nurgyul Salimova (2397) – 2½ 7. Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (2392) – 1½ 8. Almira Skripchenko (2418) – 1 Official website: www.salamancachessfestival.com Photo: Ajedrez Salamanca
Carlsen wins 4 in a row to set early pace
World Champion recovers from ‘funk’ 24 of 40 games end with a win Round-robin stage resumes tomorrow The Opera Euro Rapid online chess event got off to an explosive start as World Champion Magnus Carlsen won four in a row to end the day out on top. The Norwegian went into the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament on the back of a poor run of form he described as a “funk”. But after an early wobble that stoked fears, he wasn’t out of it, Carlsen roared back to post a quadruple of back-to-back wins. Carlsen said afterward: “I wouldn’t say the funk is over but what I would say is that this was a very enjoyable day of chess and I tried to win every game.” The result, Carlsen said, was “awesome”. He added: “Overall I’m very happy with my play – the spirit I had to always try for the maximum!” After losing to Wesley So in Round 1, Carlsen’s victims were Airthings Masters finalist Levon Aronian, German number 1 Matthias Bluebaum, 2018 US champ Sam Shankland and finally Cuban-American Leinier Dominguez. The champion wasn’t alone in hunting down wins. All 16 stars in action appeared to throw caution to the wind as an impressive 24 of the first 40 round-robin games finished decisively. In fact, the drama kicked off only seconds after the start of play as the Russian Alexander Grischuk made a horrible mouse-slip just four moves in. With the odds stacked against him, Grischuk then went on to save a draw against Anish Giri. The prelim stage taking place now is the first act of the $100,000 Opera Euro Rapid as the players battle it out to make it into the last eight knockout. Carlsen finished Day 1 of the nine-day tournament on 4/5, half a point ahead of Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, and Teimour Radjabov are tied for fourth place. 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. The logo chosen for the event represents Daniil Dubov’s sensational win over World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the last Tour event, the Airthings Masters. 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.
Modifications to Transfer Regulations
During the last General Congress, some important changes were introduced to the Transfer Regulations and Rules of Eligibility for Players, which apply to all those who are in the process of changing federations. These changes are effective from December 01, 2020, which means they are applied retrospectively. The first main change is that the notification fee, paid for every transfer, is reduced fivefold, from 250€ to 50€. No notification fee is required for FIDE flag players who have never been registered with a National Federation. Second, some changes have been introduced to speed up the process and reduce the time a player has to wait to represent his/her new federation in an official FIDE event and became eligible for a fee-exempted transfer. Under the previous regulations, a player should wait for two years after initiating the transfer. Now, this 2-year period starts counting from the moment the player has competed in his/her last official FIDE event representing his previous federation, regardless of when he initiates the transfer. This modification can effectively shorten the duration of the transition period and allow the player to represent his new country much earlier. A transfer is considered to be completed when either the old Federation has written a letter of non-objection or 90 days have passed since the old Federation was informed.
First FIDE World University Online Championships announced
The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce the First FIDE World University Online Chess Championships. The event is open to students born in 1995 or later, who have their secondary education completed, and are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at a university. The championships will be organized by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (www.utrgv.edu) and will consist of four different competitions that will take place over three consecutive weekends: FIDE World University Individual Online Blitz Championship (13-14 March) FIDE World University Individual Online Rapid Championship (20-21 March) FIDE World University Team Online Rapid Cup (27 March) FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup (28 March) Please note that the championships will be played on two different platforms: the individual events will take place on Tornelo, while the team events will be hosted by Chess24. Players who are banned by the hosting internet platform are not eligible to take part in the tournament. FIDE World University Individual Online Blitz Championship (March 13-14, Tornelo) The Individual Blitz Championship will be a 20-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 3+2. Students from the same university shall not be paired against each other. The winner will be announced the World University Online Blitz Champion 2021, and the highest placed woman will be announced as the World University Online Blitz Women’s Champion 2021. During the registration (see Article 2.A.9 of the regulations), each university can designate up to seven students to form a team that represents it. The top four team members’ scores, (including at least one man’s score and one woman’s score) will count for the team standings that will be used as a qualifier for the FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup. The registration deadline is March 5, 2021 (11:59 UTC), and there is no entry fee. However, bear in mind that there is a limit of 1000 participants for this championship, by order of registration. Registration link: https://worlduniversity.fide.com/registration_blitz.phtml Schedule:FIDE World University Individual Online Rapid Championship (March 20-21, Tornelo) The Individual Rapid Championship will be a 12-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 10+5. Again, students from the same university shall not be paired against each other, and the individual results of the top performers from each university will be used as a qualifier for the World University Team Rapid Cup. Likewise, the event will be played on Tornelo, with a limit of 1000 participants, and March 5 as a deadline (11:59 UTC). Registration link: https://worlduniversity.fide.com/registration_rapid.phtml Schedule:FIDE World University Team Online Rapid Cup (March 27, Chess24) The four best teams according to the final team’s standings of the World University Individual Online Rapid Championship will qualify for the Team Online Rapid Cup. This competition will be played as Knockout duels of two matches each, with each match played on four boards, with a time control of 10+5. The playing schedule of each duel will be decided taking into consideration the time zones of the qualified teams, and it will be announced by March 23. The winning team will be announced the World University Team Online Rapid Cup Winner 2021 and will be awarded a trophy. FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup (March 28, Chess24) The blitz competition will follow a similar format to the rapid, with four teams playing a knockout. The only differences are obviously the time control, which in this case will be 3+2, and the fact that the duels will consist of four matches between the teams, instead of two. The Tournament Director will be GM Bartlomiej Macieja, with GM Aleksander Mista as his deputy, and IA Tomasz Delega as Chief Arbiter. Technical meetings are scheduled for March 7 (individual championships) and March 26 (teams championships). For more information, please check the complete regulations. About the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Chess Program The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) won the last two US National Collegiate Chess Championships (Final Four Tournaments), in 2018 and 2019. Both years, the UTRGV was named “The Chess College of the Year” by the US Chess Federation. In recognition of the success, the team was invited to the Texas Capitol in Austin, and honored by the State Governor, Senate, and the House of Representatives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6FvTj9rsnUIn January 2021, the UTRGV played an intercontinental match vs. the current university champions of Russia. The UTRGV won that Clash of University Champions 13.5 vs. 10.5, proving it belongs to the very elite of world university chess. More information: https://www.utrgv.edu/chess https://www.facebook.com/UTRGVChessTeam