Anniversary chess match Space – Earth ends in a draw
On June 9, the second chess match between Space and Earth took place in the main hall of the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The event has been co-organized by the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics, the Roscosmos State Corporation, the Chess Federation of Russia, and the social network VKontakte. The match featured pilot-cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, Hero of the Russian Federation, and test-cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, who played from aboard the International Space Station. Representing team Earth was Sergey Karjakin – a former Rapid and Blitz World Champion, and two-time winner of the world team championships as part of the Russian team. He was making his moves in the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The match was timed with the half-century anniversary of the first Space – Earth chess game played on June 9, 1970. Just like 50 years ago, the first move advantage belonged to the space crew. The game ended in a draw after a sharp tactical battle in the Ruy Lopez. The VKontakte platform attracted more than 800,000 people watching the match broadcast. A cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin noted that it was a great honor for cosmonauts to hold their ground against a grandmaster. Sergey Karjakin also shared his impressions of the game: “In this game, my emotions ran higher than in any game I played in the world championship match. This is because when you play against team Space, you have no idea what to expect. The game was very interesting and sharp, and, at the same time, quite a correct one in terms of chess content. I do not think the opponents have made any mistakes; therefore, a draw is a natural outcome. A human brain seems to function extremely well in space. Space brings people together, they say. As we have seen today, chess can indeed help people of various professions reach each other even across space. With this in mind, let us organize such matches more frequently than on a once-per-50-year basis. The anniversary match became the culmination of celebrations dedicated to the legendary chess game. A well-known TV presenter and sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev and the head of the Museum’s press service Daria Chudnaya hosted the show. The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin, and the Museum of Cosmonautics Director Natalya Artyukhina sent greetings to the participants of this match. During the stream, the audience had a chance to watch a video telling a story behind the legendary space chess set used in the first Space – Earth match and an interview with the multiple World Champion Anatoly Karpov. You can watch the match with commentary in English on the YouTube channels of Roscosmos and FIDE. Photos: Eteri Kublashvili About the organizers: The Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the largest scientific and technical museums in Russia. The history of the museum starts in 1964 when the Monument to the Conquerors of Space first appeared on the map of Moscow. Today, the Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the top three most visited museums in Moscow’s Department of Culture. The modern museum exposition is composed of eight exhibition halls. The museum’s collection includes more than 99,000 items: samples of rocket and aerospace technology, authentic relics, documents, philately, numismatics, decorative and applied works of art, and collections of paintings and graphics. The museum tells the stories of the conquerors of space. Among them: the famous Belka and Strelka, authentic descent vehicles from Soyuz spacecraft, a model of the first artificial satellite “Sputnik,” the original Lunokhod control panel, a full-scale model of the base module of the “Mir” space station, and other space artifacts. Official website of the museum: https://kosmo-museum.ru/ ROSCOSMOS is a State Corporation established in August 2015 to oversee and implement a comprehensive reform of the Russian space industry. State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS ensures the implementation of the Russian government’s space program and its legal regulation. ROSCOSMOS also places orders for the development, manufacture, and supply of space equipment and space infrastructure objects. The state corporation is also responsible for international space cooperation and tasked with setting the stage for the future application of space activities findings for Russia’s social and economic development. Official website of SC ROSCOSMOS: https://www.roscosmos.ru Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) (from 1992 till 2019 known as the Russian Chess Federation) is an All-Russian non-governmental organization uniting regional chess federations as well as being a member of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The Federation was founded in 1992 as a successor to the USSR Chess Federation. The CFR charter recognizes the Federation congress as the supreme governing body to be convened at least once every four years. Besides, the collegiate governing body is the Federation’s Supervisory Board, which consists of five vice presidents and 26 representatives of regional federations. Since 2014, the sole executive authority has been vested with President of the Russian Chess Federation (since 2019, the Russian Federation of Chess). Andrey Filatov is the CFR’s current President. The CFR is a direct organizer of many national and international tournaments, including the Russian Championship Higher League, Russian Team Championship, and the international tournament Belaya Ladya. The CFR also hosts the Russian Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Russian Cup, the Grand Prix Rapid, and the Children’s Russian Cup. Official website of the Russian Chess Federation is: http://ruchess.ru
Day 3: Carlsen and So through to semifinals
Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So on qualifying for the semifinals after defeating Jeffery Xiong and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave respectively. So clinched the match with a round to spare while the battle between Carlsen and Xiong was a close affair decided in the final game. Vachier-Lagrave and Xiong are both eliminated, earning $15,000 each, with Xiong collecting a bonus of $2,000 for defeating the World Champion in clutch game number 5. Carlsen will face the winner of the Levon Aronian vs. Alexander Grischuk match, whereas So will square off against one of his countrymen, the winner of the Fabiano Caruana vs Leinier Dominguez match. These aforementioned matches will resume today. Magnus Carlsen vs. Jeffery Xiong 11.5 – 6.5 Jeffery Xiong started the day off strong by getting a better position out of the opening then capitalizing on a blunder by his opponent, thus equalizing the score. The 19-year-old also had winning chances in the second game, but the World Champion created enough opportunities to escape unscathed. Xiong felt that the third game was the critical point of the match, one he did not recover from psychologically. As the commentators were ready to call the game a draw, the American mistakenly traded down to a lost king and pawn endgame, resigning several moves later. Xiong’s mental anguish was clear in the next game, as he allowed a brute force attack on his king and resigned in 25 moves. Even with a two-point deficit, the American grandmaster had the better tiebreaks in case of a tie as he had previously won a clutch game. He needed to score a win and a draw in the remaining two clutch games, where each win was worth three points. After a comfortable draw for Carlsen with the black pieces in the penultimate game, his opponent had a monumental task ahead of him: a must-win situation with the black pieces. Carlsen had the advantage in the middlegame and sealed the deal after his opponent’s blunder. He also picked up the $8,000 rolled over bonus for this win. In the postgame interview, Carlsen observed that the match could have gone either way and shared the frustration he felt in the first two games due to playing poorly and not winning. The young American star received a lot of praise both from his opponent and the commentators and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to face the World Champion. Wesley So vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 13-5 The fast-paced match ended before Carlsen and Xiong were even halfway through theirs! Maxime Vachier-Lagrave entered the match three points behind his opponent but still had excellent chances to turn the tables. The first two games ended peacefully after both players had missed a few opportunities. The third game could have been the breaking point in this match as well and was the perfect example of why rook endgames are notoriously difficult and need to be played out until the end. When it seemed as though the game was heading towards yet another draw, So went astray, allowing his opponent to clinch the win with a pawn sacrifice taking advantage of his king being cut off. The fourth game was also Vachier-Lagrave’s to take, but a pawn grab cost him everything, as the Frenchman allowed so much counterplay on the back rank, that he was the one who had to force the draw. The American clinched the match in the penultimate game but not without some problems. While choosing between two moves in a winning position, So chose the one that blundered a pawn and was very obviously an upset on camera. However, he still showed his brilliance by finding a tactical shot that ended the game. The final game ended in fifteen moves as Vachier-Lagrave seemed too jaded after the previous two games to concentrate fully. With this win, So earned all the clutch bonus money, totaling to $10,000. Unsurprisingly, the former US Champion is a big fan of this format but keeps his focus on his play rather than bonus prizes. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan You can watch the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com (official website) Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Abdusattorov and Ning Kaiyu win Asian Juniors and Girls Online Chess Championship
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich congratulated the winners of the Asian Juniors and Girls Online Chess Championships organized by the Asian Chess Federation and Chess.com. FIDE President joined the closing ceremony in the Zoom room together with Asian Chess Federation Secretary General Hisham Al Taher and FIDE Arbiters Commission Chairman Laurent Freyd as Chief Arbiter Abulrahim Mahdi announced top-three winners in the juniors and girls divisions. Photo: Lennart Ootes The nine-round Swiss tournament brought together over 200 participants from 43 countries. GMs Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) and Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) rated 2500+ were considered to be the main favorites in the junior section but it was another rising young star from Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who came to the top with an excellent result 7.5 out of 9. On his way to the title, the champion won six games and made just three draws. In the girls division WIMs Ning Kaiyu (CHN) and Munkhzul Turmunkh scored 7 out 9 and tied for the first place with the former taking the title thanks to better tiebreaks. It is worth mentioning that the champion was ranked just seventh (1884) in the starting list. Photo: Niki Riga In the course of the closing ceremony, the winners expressed their thanks to the organizers for a successful tournament. The tournament Director Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh made pairings by Swiss Manager program and uploaded the results to Chess.com. Assisting the tournament were Deputy Chief Arbiters Haroon or Rashid of Bangladesh and K.K.Chan of Hong Kong together with Pairings Assistants IA Patrick Lee and FA Felix Poloyapoy of the Philippines. GM Dimitri Komarov of Ukraine and Jaime Kenmure of Australia provided live commentary on Twitch. Asian Chess Federation gratefully acknowledges Nick Barton and Simon McNamara of Chess.com for their support. Final standings: Juniors Player Country Rating Points 1 Abdusattorov Nodirbek (ChessWarrior7197) UZB 2469 7.5 2 Tahbaz Arash (Arash_Tahbaz) IRI 2302 6.5 3 Vokhidov Shamsiddin (Vokhidov11) UZB 2538 6.0 4 Batsuren Dambasuren (baag) MGL 2118 6.0 5 Peng Xiongjian (NewCosmos) CHN 2364 6.0 6 Tabatabaei M.Amin (amintabatabaeai) IRI 2381 6.0 7 Maghsoodloo Parham (parhamov) IRI 2532 5.0 8 Zhalmakhanov Ramazan (Zhalmakhanov_Ramazan) KAZ 2475 5.0 9 Mitrabha Guha (mitrabhaa) IND 2122 5.0 10 Liu Yan (temporarywork) CHN 2427 5.0 Girls Player Country Rating Points 1 Ning Kaiyu (Qnmeng) CHN 1884 7.0 2 Munkhzul Turmunkh (munkhzul_turmunkh) MGL 2044 7.0 3 Arpita Mukherjee (chessdreamer2001) IND 1837 6.5 4 Pandey Srishti (Srisshhhtea) IND 1962 5.5 5 Bai Xue (chess_littlebear) CHN 1825 5.5 6 Aakanksha Hagawane (aakankshachess) IND 1870 5.5 7 Abrorova Sabrina (Sabrinachess2006) TJK 1302 5.5 8 Alinasab Mobina (Ama18) IRI 2143 5.0 9 Altantuya Boldbaatar (altantuya_tuya) MGL 1735 5.0 10 Singgih Diajeng Theresa (Chezzgirl04) INA 1823 5.0
Day 2: Caruana and Aronian pull ahead
Day two of Clutch Chess International featured two exciting matchups: Fabiano Caruana vs Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian vs Alexander Grischuk. The all American pairing was a rematch from their last encounter in the previous Clutch Chess USA, which Caruana won in a dominant fashion. He finished the first half of the match with a three-point lead. Aronian and Grischuk are two of the most entertaining, creative, and well-liked personalities in the chess world and their match today did not lack any flavor. The tumultuous game-six fight ended in the favor of the Armenian grandmaster but could have easily gone in the other direction. Caruana and Aronian picked up an extra $2,000 each for their clutch game victories. These two matches will resume on Tuesday, as today the two semifinalists of the Magnus Carlsen vs Jeffery Xiong and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Wesley So will be determined. Fabiano Caruana vs Leinier Dominguez 5.5 – 2.5 After their last encounter in the first edition of Clutch Chess, Dominguez finally got his chance for vengeance. He started off with a crushing win in the Caro Kann where Caruana was on the defense from the opening. The world number two had winning chances in the second game but blundered his extra piece to a simple pin. Game three is when things went downhill for Dominguez. In an equal endgame, he blundered with a pawn capture, allowing his opponent to trade down to a winning king and pawn endgame. The commentators felt that the result was a shift in the momentum as the former World Blitz Champion never seemed to recover from the mistake. He was outplayed in game four, thus entering the two clutch games with a one-point deficit. Caruana’s Caro Kann held up much better as not only did he successfully survive the opening but managed to build an attack on the light squares against the enemy king. Dominguez stopped the bleeding with a draw in the final game but ended the day three points behind his opponent. Caruana was confident throughout the match even though the first two games were a struggle; he felt as though his opponent did not overcome the psychological pressure after losing the crucial third game. Levon Aronian vs Alexander Grischuk 5 – 3 The match between Grischuk and Aronian produced some highly instructive endgames and attacking motifs. In the first game, Aronian pressed too hard for a win with the white pieces, ultimately giving up too many pawns for the exchange. The second game could have resulted in a disaster for the Armenian player as he found himself under attack but survived by the skin of his teeth by finding the only defensive method after his opponent’s error. Aronian’s decision to sacrifice an exchange to weaken his opponent’s king and create some practical chances paid off and allowed him to tie the match. The score remained even in the next two games as both players missed winning chances with the white pieces. The final game was a complete rollercoaster ride with the evaluation changing from winning for Aronian to complete draw in the time scramble. While both players made a series of mistakes, but Grischuk was the last to err, which cost him the game and put him two points behind his opponent. Aronian felt that the level of the play was below their abilities but was nonetheless happy to end the night on a high note. In his postgame interview, Aronian pointed out that it was nearly 3 in the morning for him and 2 in the morning for his opponent. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan You can watch the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com (official website) Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
#07
Checkmate Coronavirus enters its final week Input request on the Arbiters’ Manual FIDE Trainer and Arbiter’s seminars Chess is back in orbit! National Championships Records Anniversaries READ NEWSLETTER
FIDE Trainer Seminar for Russian speakers
26-28 июня 2020 Международная Шахматная Федерация проводит онлайн-семинар для тренеров ФИДЕ, организованный Тренерской Комиссией ФИДЕ 1. Программа и расписание семинара День и время Тема Лектор Пятница 26 июня 10:00-12:00 1. Анализ собственных партий/Анализ партий учеников Артур Юсупов 2.Современные методы подготовки к партиям. Поиск новых идей в дебюте. 14:00-16:00 Александр Мотылев 18:00-20:00 3. Как учить шахматной тактике. Александр Мотылев Суббота 27 июня 10:00-12:00 4. Изучение шахматной классики Артур Юсупов 14:00-16:00 5.Совершенствование техники расчета вариантов Александр Мотылев 18:00-20:00 6. Изучение дебютных систем на примере староиндийской защиты. Помощь тренера в построении дебютного репертуара. Виктор Бологан Воскресенье 28 июня 10:00-12:00 7. Изучение эндшпиля. Почему важно изучать эндшпиль. Артур Юсупов 14:00-16:00 8.Техника реализации преимущества. Александр Мотылев 19:00-20:00 Письменный экзамен Эл. почта 2. Регистрация и информация: 2.1 Организатор и контакты: Dina Belenkaya dina.belenk@gmail.comSami Khader samiaakhader@yahoo.comcc: Secretary, FIDE Trainer’s Commission (TRG) trainers@fide.com 2.2 Место и время проведения семинара: Zoom (зум). +3 G.M.T. (Московское время) 2.3 Взнос за участие в семинаре: 200 евро с экзаменом на получение тренерского звания 150 евро без экзамена https://trg.fide.com/trg-billing-collection-procedures/ 2.4 Лекторы: FST & GM Артур Юсупов FST & GM Виктор БологанFST & GM Александр Мотылев 2.5 Язык семинара: Русский 2.6 Регламент семинара: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B07 https://trg.fide.com/trg-online-seminars/
Online training seminar held by the Chess Federation of Russia
An online training seminar (Webinar) for FIDE Arbiters, International Arbiters, and online tournament organizers was held by the Chess Federation of Russia on June 05, 2020. Titled “Specifics of chess arbiter’s work in online tournaments”, this Webinar in the Russian language became the largest chess training event organized during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Webinar organizers registered 203 participants from nineteen (19) national federations: Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The event started with personal greetings by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. Addressing Webinar attendees, Mr. Dvorkovich expressed confidence that this important event would serve to share the best practices and processes being established in the online chess, and thanked the Chess Federation of Russia for taking this important initiative and bringing together colleagues from different parts of the world. “I think it is a great effort by the organizing team and I hope that even in these difficult times, all arbiters, organizers, and players, everyone who is online now, can enjoy chess and show their best qualities.” Indeed, the unique innovative approach by the Chess Federation of Russia offered the Webinar attendees (including the leading International Arbiters of the partner countries), both an intensive training on the most difficult issues of arbitering in online events and a chance to learn about new theoretical and practical developments in that realm as well as new initiatives and projects by FIDE and its member federations. The webinar Leader IA/IO/FL Alexander Tkachev (Russia), the CFR Technical Director, summarized the valuable lessons that the CFR has learned from switching from over-the-board to online chess on short notice. The lecturer proceeded with a refresher on the Anti-cheating Regulations and discussed in detail how strict adherence to Fair Play Measures becomes a crucial issue for online events. A guest Lecturer IA/IO Vadim Tsypin (Canada) spoke about general requirements for Regulations of online tournaments. He explained how to identify three areas: the one where FIDE General Regulations for Competitions shall continue to apply directly, another one where topical corrections or modifications are needed, and the final one that shall contain completely new elements warranted by online play. Using as an example the Regulations for the First FIDE Online Cup for Players with Disabilities, the lecturer parsed relevant articles, identified which area they belonged to, and encouraged listeners to use this approach when they create Regulations of their events. Another guest Lecturer, IA/IO/FT Olexandr Prohorov (Ukraine) explained what new responsibilities fall upon a chess arbiter in online tournaments and how to be ready for them. He shared his experiences serving in the Sunway Sitges Online Open and the European Online Chess Championships, gave specific examples of contentious issues he had to resolve, and presented screen captures that illustrated both serious and hilarious moments related to player supervision. The Webinar concluded with a special Q&A section. Answering the participants’ inquiries, Mr. Tkachev revealed bold new initiatives by the CFR, in particular, the development of a CFR online chess rating system that would allow earning titles through online play. The international Webinar audience asked a lot of questions regarding FIDE plans in the online competitions and changes in the FIDE calendar for 2020 and 2021. Mr. Tsypin answered those questions in detail and also brought to everyone’s attention a recent resolution by the United Nations General Assembly. World Chess Day, celebrated worldwide on July 20, is now officially recognized by the UN. Next month, the international chess community shall mark this date widely. Through online chat and other comment channels, participants expressed heartfelt thanks to the organizers and lecturers. Most of the feedback asked to meet again and to make such training regular. Information and photos by the Chess Federation of Russia
Checkmate Coronavirus enters its final week
UPDATE 08/06/2020 The Checkmate Coronavirus campaign reached this morning the 500 hours milestone. Over the past three weeks, 1.779 tournaments have been played under this initiative, totaling 377.329 entries and 1.247.516 games of chess. We are very proud, and thankful, for the response of the chess community to this project. Acting together, in a coordinated campaign, allowed us to show the world the real potential of chess. This has not passed unnoticed for the mass media: for instance, the prestigious American business magazine Forbes has published, not one, but two articles devoted to chess during the past few weeks. Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Xinhua News Agency, and El Pais, have also published long reports about chess. Remember that all participants are eligible to win a prize, no matter what their result was. You can check if you are one of the lucky winners at www.checkmatecoronavirus.com. UPDATE 05/06/2020 “Checkmate Coronavirus” hit the one million game mark! The project has been running for more than 430 hours non-stop with almost 1500 tournaments played and 320,000+ entries made. The number of federations that are joining their forces with “Checkmate Coronavirus” keeps growing fast. Currently, 51 National federations, unions, and associations responded keenly to FIDE President’s call for action and supported the initiative. Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa-Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominicana, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, India, Japan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Salvador, San Marino, Panama, Paraguay, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and two Associations Affiliated to FIDE – the European Chess Union and the Mediterranean Chess Association. We would like to thank all of them for their support, enthusiasm and passion for chess! Meanwhile, the winners of two prize draws are announced. The raffles conducted by Elisabeth Paehtz and Anish Giri were streamed live on May 25 and May 31. Twenty-two participants with ratings from below 1000 to impressive 2660 points are the lucky winners of the main prizes of the #checkmatecoronavirus project! Guest invitations to the 2021 Chess Olympiad and mini-matches with top GM go to Algeria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brazil, Great Britain, Greece, Kenia, Netherlands, Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, and Singapore. 12 winners of guest invitations the Moscow Chess Olympiad 2021 are: Khomisani (South Africa) (Chess.com, 05/24) Thijscom (Netherlands) (Lichess, 05/20)FizzyGum (India) (Chess.com, 05/22)ChaosRamda (Canada) (Chess.com, 05/24)Oprofdexadrez (Brazil) (Chess.com, 05/23)YODITA (Bolivia) (FIDE rating: 2116) (Lichess, 05/25)bakhtiinoureddiine (Algeria) (Lichess,05/22)Random69 (country unknown) (Lichess, 05/24)abdullayev_elshad (Azerbaijan) (Lichess, 05/29)HisEloquency (Serbia) (Chess.com, 05/27)2puddings (Great Britain) (Chess.com, 05/25)victorpd16 (Spain) (Chess24, 05/29) 10 mini-matches with TOP GMs go to: Bigyanghimire (Nepal) (Lichess, 05/25)Astrapi (Cyprus) (Lichess, 05/19)Ilhabela-SP (Brazil) (Chess.com, 05/20)DoTheMath (Serbia) (Lichess, 05/22)Simounn (Philippines) (Lichess, 05/25)WhiteBug (Kenia) (Lichess, 05/20)sravanrenjith (Australia/New Zealand) (Chess.com, 05/27) – this player is only 12 y.o. so he or she is the youngest winner of the main prize so far.ramon_palatan (Philippines) (Chess.com, 05/29)vbatman2004 (Greece) (Lichess, 05/19) – this winner has the biggest rating by now, 2660!UncleLeoTheNovice (Singapore) (Lichess, 05/27) Each prize winner is required to claim his/her prize before June 30, 2020, by sending an email to prizes@checkmatecoronavirus.com with the following data: • player’s nickname• player’s real name• player’s email address• player’s home address (only for players who won Checkmate Coronavirus Souvenirs) Winners of the minor prizes are published on checkmatecoronavirus.com. The next prize draw will be held on June 7.
Clutch Chess International Day 1: Carlsen and So take the lead
The second installment of Clutch Chess has expanded internationally, featuring eight of the world’s top players and a prize fund of $265,000. The quarterfinals of Clutch Chess International kicked off with two exciting matchups: World Champion Magnus Carlsen vs the 19-year-old American phenom Jeffery Xiong and the winner of Clutch Chess USA Wesley So vs France’s number one player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. After four hours of scintillating battles, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So took the lead in their respective matches. Their competition will resume on Monday, while tonight, World number two Fabiano Caruana will be facing America’s number three Leinier Dominguez, and Armenia’s number one Levon Aronian will be taking on former World Blitz World Champion Alexander Grischuk. Magnus Carlsen vs Jeffery Xiong 4.5 – 3.5 The match started difficult for the young American, who lost his first three games. In the first game, Xiong had the upper hand with an extra piece but blundered it away to a nice tactic using the weakness of the back rank. The second game was more even throughout, but Carlsen yet again demonstrated why he’s the best endgame player in the world, slowly outplaying his opponent. The third game was hailed a masterpiece by commentator Yasser Seirawan, as the World Champion completely demolished his opponent in a one-sided kingside attack. Xiong was able to stop the bleeding in round four even though he was on the ropes once again. The players proceeded to play the final two clutch games, where each win was worth 2 points. Xiong pulled off a big comeback in game five, winning a pawn out of the opening and ultimately converting it into a win in a bishop endgame. The young American also had the upper hand in the final game but his more experienced opponent escaped with a draw, ending the day with a point lead. Carlsen wasn’t satisfied with the level of his play and felt that he was getting tired towards the end while his opponent was playing better with each game. Wesley So vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 5.5 – 2.5 The commentators assumed that the match between these two experienced players would be much closer, but Wesley So took a big lead with crucial victories. In the first encounter, after reaching a winning position due to great home preparation, So blundered a simple fork and allowed his resilient opponent to escape. The second game saw another resourceful defense from the Frenchman, who used the well known Vancura defense in the rook and pawn endgame. The following game was a draw by repetition in what seemed like a home preparation by both players, as Vachier-Lagrave ended the game with more time on his clock than what he started with. So was in the driver’s seat throughout the match and was able to deliver in the next two games, scoring back to back wins in rounds four and five, thus scoring three points. The final game required another tough defense from the Frenchman, who escaped again from a much worse position. Even with a three-point advantage, So believes that the match will be resolved in the final two games, where each victory will be worth three points. Text and photo: official site
Anniversary chess match Space – Earth to take place on June 9
On June 9, 2020, a unique match between Space and Earth is scheduled to take place in the main hall of the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The event is co-organized by the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics, the Roscosmos State Corporation, and the Chess Federation of Russia. The match is timed with the half-century anniversary of the first Space – Earth chess game played on June 9, 1970. The match features cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin, Hero of the Russian Federation, and Ivan Wagner, who will team up and play from the International Space Station. A “representative of the Earth” is Sergey Karjakin – a former World Rapid and Blitz champion and two-time winner of the World Team Championship as a member of the Russian national team. He will be making his moves in the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. Live streaming in Russian and English is co-organized by the Chess Federation of Russia, the Roscosmos State Corporation, and the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The broadcast starts at 11:00 CEST. The first-ever Space – Earth chess game between astronauts in orbit and “representatives of the Earth” was played on June 9, 1970. Andrian Nikolayev (Mission Commander) and Vitaly Sevastyanov (Flight Engineer), who were aboard the Soyuz 9 spacecraft, played a consultation game against the earthbound Viktor Gorbatko (also an astronaut) and Nikolai Kamanin (Soviet general, and head of the astronaut training program) whereas pilot-cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky was in charge of the game coverage. The game was played on the crew’s rest day and lasted about 6 hours. Communication was maintained over the radio. The moves transmission coincided with the moments the ship would hover over the USSR territory. A unique chess set, designed by a young engineer Mikhail Klevtsov for zero gravity conditions, was used in that game. Since magnetic pieces are not allowed on zero-gravity environments, because they could end up in unexpected places where they would interfere with the on-board instruments, Klevtsov came up with a simple and original system of notches and grooves. This historical set is currently at the display with the Chess Museum of the Chess Federation of Russia. About the organizers: The Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the largest scientific and technical museums in Russia. The history of the museum starts in 1964 when the Monument to the Conquerors of Space first appeared on the Moscow map. Today, the Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the top three most visited museums in Moscow’s Department of Culture. The modern museum exposition is composed of eight exhibition halls. The museum’s collection includes more than 99,000 items: samples of rocket and aerospace technology, authentic relics, documents, philately, numismatics, decorative and applied works of art, and collections of paintings and graphics. The museum tells the stories of the conquerors of space. Among them: the famous Belka and Strelka, authentic descent vehicles from Soyuz spacecraft, a model of the first artificial satellite “Sputnik,” the original Lunokhod control panel, a full-scale model of the base module of the “Mir” space station, and other space artifacts. Official website of the museum: https://kosmo-museum.ru/ ROSCOSMOS is a State Corporation established in August 2015 to oversee and implement a comprehensive reform of the Russian space industry. State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS ensures the implementation of the Russian government’s space program and its legal regulation. ROSCOSMOS also places orders for the development, manufacture, and supply of space equipment and space infrastructure objects. The state corporation is also responsible for international space cooperation and tasked with setting the stage for the future use of the results of space activities in Russia’s social and economic development. Official website of SC ROSCOSMOS: https://www.roscosmos.ru Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) (from 1992 till 2019 known as the Russian Chess Federation) is an all-Russian non-governmental body uniting regional chess federations and a member of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The Federation was founded in 1992 as a successor to the USSR Chess Federation. The CFR charter recognizes the Federation congress as the supreme governing body to be convened at least once every four years. Besides, the collegiate governing body is the Federation’s Supervisory Board, which consists of five vice presidents and 26 representatives of regional federations. Since 2014, the sole executive authority has been vested with President of the Russian Chess Federation (since 2019, the Russian Federation of Chess). Andrey Filatov is the CFR’s current President. The CFR is a direct organizer of many national and international tournaments, including the Russian Championship Higher League, Russian Team Championship, and the international competition Belaya Ladya. The CFR also hosts the Russian Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Russian Cup, the Grand Prix Rapid, and the Children’s Russian Cup. Official website of the Russian Chess Federation: https://ruchess.ru/en/