Lindores Abbey QFs: Carlsen and Dubov hit the ground running
World Champion Magnus Carlsen stood up for US star Wesley So today after his opponent was accused of “unsporting” behavior. So sparked shock as he tamely conceded a draw that consigned him to defeat against the World Champion in their first Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge quarter-final mini-match. The former US champion accepted a three-fold repetition when he could have fought on in the third game of the rubber. It left him sunk on 2.5-0-5. In the commentary box, IM Lawrence Trent said So had been “unsporting” before clarifying his position. “It was just not Wesley’s day,” said Trent. “I want to make something clear, I am a big Wesley fan. I’ve known Wesley for a very long time and I think he’s a great chess player and great ambassador, but what I think he did today is not in the spirit of the competition, to be brutally honest.” Carlsen replied: “I would say, let the man redeem himself in the next few days!” Photo: Lennart Ootes Carlsen had calmly won the first two games of the day but So, who has been extremely solid in the tournament so far, was not out of it. The champion said afterward: “I’m not going to sit and dwell too much on that, but it was obviously a pleasant surprise for me.” So will now have to come back and win mini-matches on both Tuesday and Wednesday to go through. It will be a tough ask. In the other quarterfinal, an all-Russian clash, Daniil Dubov went 2-0 up against Carlsen’s former World Champion title challenger Sergey Karjakin. Photo: John Saunders Dubov played some strategically perfect chess and never gave his fellow countryman any respite. It left Karjakin needing a miracle, and it did not come as Dubov impressively ended the mini-match in the third with another win the “Minister of Defence” spurned a three-fold repetition. The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here Highlights English New files at around 23.00 CEST. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Tatjana Lematschko passes away
It is with great sadness we learned about WGM Tatjana Lematschko’s passing away in Zurich on May 17. Lematschko was born in Moscow in 1948 and seriously got into chess during her studies at the Central Institute of Physical Culture. Her first major success came in 1970 when she qualified for the final of the Soviet Championship. At the same time, she met her future husband who was a Bulgarian. In 1972, Lematschko became the first-ever Soviet women player to emigrate from the USSR as she moved to Bulgaria with her spouse. There she became a national champion and played for this country’s team at 4 Olympiads (1974, 1978, 1980, 1982). In 1983, Lematschko moved to Switzerland which she represented 10 times (Olympiads 1984—1998, 2004, 2008). The winner of many international tournaments and one of the strongest players of the 70s, Lematschko entered the race for the world championship title in 1975. Tatjana took part in the Interzonal tournaments in Rosendal (1976), Alicante (1979) where she shared for first with Akhmilovskaya and Bad Kissingen (1982). Lematschko took part in the quarters of the candidates’ matches three times: in 1977 she lost to Akhmilovskaya, in 1980 to Litinskaya and in 1983 was defeated by Alexandria. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends.
Lindores Abbey quarterfinals: Nakamura stuns Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura pulled off a stunning comeback to edge ahead of Levon Aronian in their Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge quarter-final today. The US star won a vital last mini-match game on-demand to level the score and send it into an Armageddon play-off. At the start of the match, Aronian appeared to be back to his brilliant best as he swept into a 2-1 lead. But after hitting back in game 4 Nakamura, seized the momentum and stormed to victory in the decider. Nakamura said: “I don’t know if I deserved to win this match, but I found a way to take it to Armageddon and then found the cards were on the table.” Nakamura is now 1-0 up in the match and if he wins the second mini-match of the tie on Monday he will go through. The first rubber in the other quarter-final was a cagey affair that ended with a shock loss for China’s number 1 Ding Liren. Ding and his fellow countryman Yu Yangyi played out four straight draws as the mini-match swiftly ended 2-2. In the Armageddon tiebreak, however, Ding was fully in control with black by move 22 but he imploded under pressure and lost on time. Ding, who has been in excellent form over the last few weeks, now must win in the next match or Yu will go through. If Ding and Aronian manage to draw level in the quarter-finals on Monday then a decider mini-match will be played on Wednesday. Tomorrow will see World Champion Magnus Carlsen up against former US champion Wesley So and an all-Russian clash between Sergey Karjakin and Daniil Dubov. Knockout schedule: May 23: Quarterfinals, Pairs 1-2, Match 1May 24: Quarterfinals, Pairs 3-4, Match 1May 25: Quarterfinals, Pairs 1-2, Match 2May 26: Quarterfinals, Pairs 3-4, Match 2May 27: Quarterfinals, All pairs, Match 3 (if required)May 28: Semi-finals, Match 1May 29: Semi-finals, Match 2May 30: Semi-finals, Match 3 (if required)May 31: REST DAYJune 1: Final, Match 1June 2: Final, Match 2June 3: Final, Match 3 (if required) The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Tomorrow is a rest day but coverage begins again with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here Highlights English New files at around 23.00 CEST. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Marcin Tazbir wins FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilities
The first FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilities is in the books. Held on May 21 on a popular chess platform playchess.com, this invitational five-round Swiss tournament brought together 38 participants representing 28 national federations playing not only for the title and glory but also for a €2,200 prize fund. In addition, three players (K. Shashikant, V. Panush, A. Bandawere) were randomly selected to take part in a prize drawing under the Checkmate Coronavirus project launched by FIDE earlier this week. During a brief opening ceremony the participants were greeted by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “On behalf of FIDE, I would like to welcome all the player of the first FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilities… I think it is a great effort by the organizing team and I hope that even in these difficult times, all the players, everyone who is online now can enjoy chess, show the best qualities and prepare for FIDE Olympiad, which will also have a competition for people with disabilities. Good luck everyone, stay safe and enjoy chess.” Before the start of the event, two highest-rated players Marcin Tazbir (Poland) and Sander Severino (Philippines) were considered to be the main favorites. Eventually, they finished with 4.5 points each with the Polish player taking the title thanks to better tiebreaks, but their way to the very top was not a smooth sail, to say the least. The champion had to work hard in the first two rounds as he found himself in tough positions in both encounters but managed to turn tables around and score two points. The second part of the event was much easier for him – after beating Mihail-Dacian Pribeanu in a solid positional style, he made a quick draw in the final game with Sander Severino. Photo: Rafał Siwik The silver-winner played his most important game in the fourth round with Yuri Meshkov (Russia) who was also on a perfect 3 out of 3 score. Sander Severino prevailed in this tensely contested battle and after drawing his last-round game tied for first place. To Meshkov’s credit, after a painful defeat, he bounced back in the last round and took bronze thanks to superior tiebreaks. “It was fascinating as I played in such an event over the internet for the first time. It was quite nice. I think all the participants were quite happy. The only thing that I could recommend is to invite more players. Maybe the number of rounds should be bigger as five rounds are not enough. I believe that through chess people are suffering much less at this tough corona-virus times,” the champion said in an interview right after the event. WIM Natasha Morales Santos from Puerto Rico showed the best result among women. She scored 3 out of 5 like Handenur Sahin and Annegret Mucha but had a better tiebreak. Final standings: 1 Marcin Tazbir 2535 POL 4,5 2 Sander Severino 2373 PHI 4,5 3 Yuri Meshkov 2258 RUS 4,0 4 Denis Palin 2091 RUS 4,0 5 Gabor Acs 2047 HUN 4,0 6 Mihail-Dacian Pribeanu 2169 ROU 3,5 7 Dmitrij Scerbin 2238 RUS 3,0 8 Vit Valenta 1994 CZE 3,0 9 Andrei Gurbanov 2284 ISR 3,0 10 Ilia Lipilin 1983 RUS 3,0
World Youth Chess Championships 2020 postponed
In response to the Romanian Chess Federation’s request to postpone the 2020 World Youth Chess Championships, the FIDE Management Board convened at 12:00 UTC on Friday, May 22, 2020, took its decision: “WHEREAS the FIDE Management Board received and duly examined a request from the World Youth Chess Championship 2020 organizers; and WHEREAS there still exists a large degree of uncertainty in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: 1. To postpone the World Youth Chess Championship 2020 scheduled for September 2020 to a later date. 2. To determine the new dates of the World Youth Chess Championship 2020 in coordination with the organizers, taking into account the epidemiological situation. 3. To announce the new dates no later than four (4) months before the start of the event.“ Full document (pdf)
Lindores Abbey: Carlsen survives tense dogfight
Magnus Carlsen survived an almighty scare to scrape into the knockout stage of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge today. The World Champion was in serious danger of being dumped out of stage two of his $1 million signature tour early. Going into the last match of the day, Carlsen had scored just 50 percent in the tournament and was lying in seventh out of 12 with eight to advance. But in a must-not-lose game against 16-year-old hotshot Alireza Firouzja, the Norwegian gritted his teeth and got through. Afterward, Carlsen expressed total disgust at the way he played up until that point, but “I pulled through so I shouldn’t complain.” The tournament leaders, meanwhile, are Hikaru Nakamura on 7.5 and Sergey Karjakin on 7 who have both looked comfortable so far and without Carlsen’s dramas. Ding Liren and Wesley So also cruised into the next stage with So having drawn eight of his 11 games. Yu Yangyi also makes it through alongside the young Russian Daniil Dubov and Levon Aronian. The day started with a cagey opening round which saw five draws out of six. The only decisive game was a much-needed win for Ding over the Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda. But the second round exploded as Carlsen lost spectacularly to the young Russian Daniil Dubov. Against Carlsen, the young Russian is fearless and has become something of a bogey player for the World Champion in recent weeks. He beat Carlsen in the FIDE Steinitz Online Memorial and he beat him again today in round 10 when an under-pressure Carlsen inexplicably blundered a knight. It led to gasps of amazement in the commentary box. “I’ve not seen him play like this in a very long time,” said IM Lawrence Trent. At that point, Carlsen was placed alongside Dubov and Levon Aronian, with Firouzja and Grischuk breathing down their necks. Duda and Wei Yi were already out of it having both had a tough tournament. Then in the final round, Dubov and Aronian faced each other and drew, securing their places. That left Alexander Grischuk out, despite his win against Wei. All eyes were on the Firouzja-Carlsen match which became a simple winner takes all game. Carlsen was visibly relieved when he finally broke through, but the tricky Firouzja had pushed him to the brink in an exciting game. The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Tomorrow is a rest day but on May 23 coverage begins again with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. Standings after Day 3: You can watch it live here Highlights English New files at around 23.00 CEST. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Lindores Abbey Day 2: Nakamura and Karjakin shoot ahead
Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin are clear in the lead as the race to the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge knockout stage has reached its climax. Four players face elimination from the second Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour tournament tomorrow when the 11-game round-robin comes to an end. But Nakamura and Karjakin, the former World Championship challenger, will not be among them after they both secured places in the top 8. Photo: Justin Kellar Meanwhile, an out-of-sorts Magnus Carlsen, the classical World Champion and world number 1, had an extremely disappointing day scoring just 1.5/4. The Norwegian should still, however, comfortably make the next stage.Carlsen faced immediate drama in a wild first game of the day when Yu Yangyi caught him in a vicious mating net. After a strong first day, it was an unexpected blow for the champ. He tweeted in the break: “Did all the right things strategically, then missed everything and got mated. On to the next one, I guess #oldandwashed“ Nakamura, meanwhile, cooly beat Armenian Levon Aronian to move into pole position. He followed that with three draws to secure his high spot in the standings. Carlsen did briefly bounce back – as he does so often – demolishing the youngster Wei Yi in his next game. Wei, who has struggled, is now in serious danger of being eliminated tomorrow. Ding, who was a hot tip before the tournament started, has – like Carlsen – not hit top form yet and had already had a disappointing start losing to Alexander Grischuk. China’s world number 3 lost again to his countryman Yu Yangyi to leave him going into the final game of the day on 0.5/4 and in ninth place overall. However, Ding did pick up a much-needed win against Wei to steady his qualification hopes. Meanwhile, Carlsen’s bad day reared its ugly head again as he found himself sunk against the 22-year-old Jan-Krzysztof Duda, exciting Polish fans in the process. Carlsen finished with a draw against the solid Wesley So, leaving him on -1 for the day. Carlsen and So are both on 4.5/8 and qualification for the knockout should still be comfortable tomorrow. After three straight draws, the “Minister for Defence” Karjakin lifted himself in the mix alongside Nakamura in his final game with a timely win over Alireza Firouzja. Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian scored the same 50% as on the first day and found themselves tied for the 5th place with Ding Liren and Yu Yangyi. Tomorrow will all be about the scrap at the bottom as Duda and the other two young hotshots Daniil Dubov and Firouzja fight for places in the knockout. Nobody is completely out of the race for the next playoff stage. The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST tomorrow. Standings after 8 rounds: You can watch it live here Highlights English New files at around 23.00 CEST. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Lindores Abbey: Four-way tie after Day 1
A glittering line-up of stars put on a stunning show of attacking chess on the first day of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge. World Champion Magnus Carlsen cruised through the first four rounds to set the pace again in the expanded 12-player second event of his $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The Norwegian got off to a fast start with two wins in a bloody first two rounds. Other players also were in fighting mood as nine of the first 12 games ended decisively. However, Carlsen had to settle for draws in the third and fourth games against two of his biggest threats: Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura enjoyed a similarly smooth run and joins Carlsen and former US champion Wesley So in the lead on 3/4. Photo: Lennart Ootes Sergey Karjakin, who challenged Carlsen for the world title in 2016, caught up with the leaders after winning his final game vs. Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Of the other players, the Chinese pair Wei Yi and Yu Yangyi both struggled – perhaps due to the night-time zone where they were playing. Wei, particularly, seemed out of sorts as he finished on 1/4 and blundered a painful checkmate against Karjakin in his third game being a pawn up. Daniil Dubov, playing from Yekaterinburg where he has been since the Candidates tournament was halted, also scored only one point. It follows his final-day collapse in the FIDE Steinitz Online Memorial over the weekend. Wei and the Russian were joined in a four-way tie for the last place with the two talented youngsters Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Meanwhile, the two experienced Super Grandmasters Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk had mixed days scoring 2/4. Both will be hoping to catch up with the leaders tomorrow. Photo: Maria Emelianova IM Lawrence Trent said: “It has been a successful day for some and a not so successful day for others. “Magnus Carlsen has once again shown us fantastic chess for the most part, as has Hikaru Nakamura, they had a great game just now, very tense.” “Sergey Karjakin has also shown certainly that he’s motivated and Wesley So is also up there having done pretty well today.” The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here Highlights English New files at around 23.00 CEST. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
FIDE launches the biggest online chess marathon
Dear Chess Friends, The worldwide community is facing an unprecedented crisis with the Coronavirus pandemic and I heartfeltly hope that my letter finds you in good health and spirit. FIDE, supporting the efforts of all national governments and people all over the world, has decided to promote an online international initiative in order to give a creative outlet to those that have to spend many hours at home. Additionally, we promote the ideals of unity and solidarity which must be manifested in such times. With the motto “Checkmate Coronavirus” we will organize at least 1500 online tournaments across all major chess platforms with hundreds of thousands participants running for 30 days and 720 hours non-stop. We’re planning to launch this project on May 18. The tournaments are aimed at all the chess players in the world, regardless of age, country or their level of play. There will be many special prizes, and all of them will be distributed not between those who score more points, but between winners of the random draw, thus giving a winning chance to everyone and reward first and foremost the value of participation. In line with this “Olympic principle” the major prize will be invitations to the 2021 Chess Olympiad in Moscow, for one week. I invite you to join this worldwide initiative in two ways: By actively organizing your online tournaments, which will also become part of the “Checkmate Coronavirus” initiative and will give your players a chance to take part in the prize draws. By spreading the news to the chess clubs and players of your country (or association), encouraging them to participate in “FIDE Checkmate Coronavirus” events, proving that chess is stronger than a disease! We stay safe, we stay creative, and we play online chess. Checkmate Coronavirus! Gens una Sumus! Arkady DvorkovichFIDE President How to be a part of “Checkmate Coronavirus? Guidelines for Federations & partners As the FIDE President pointed out in his letter, the International Chess Federation strongly encourages the National Federations to: A) Help to spread the news about this initiative, communicating with their club members and players. B) Getting actively involved, organizing their own tournaments within the Checkmate Coronavirus framework. Participants of tournaments organized by federations under the Checkmate Coronavirus initiative will also be eligible for the 1.500+ prizes. 5% of the players (and no less than 3), will get “raffle tickets” qualifying for the prize giving, second phase of the draw. In order to take part, a Federation should: 1) Inform the Checkmate Coronavirus team at info@checkmatecoronavirus.com about their intention to organize a tournament (or a series of tournaments) within the Checkmate Coronavirus project, with a minimum notice period of 24 hours The required information is: – Name of the Federation– Contact person– Tournament administrator– Plattform where the tournament will be held.– A complete schedule for the tournament (date, starting time, and ending time)– Time control for the event– Link of the tournament (if it has been already scheduled)– Additional notes If the Federation wants to organize more than one tournament, it can specify accordingly the details and schedule for each tournament. 2) The Federation must schedule the tournament(s) and send the links with the final results to the Checkmate Coronavirus administrative team, to the email info@checkmatecoronavirus.com. 3) Send a complete file with the result, in .xls format, including the following information:– Name of the tournament– Time control– Place– Nickname– Score– Number of finished games The administrative team can help in this task if requested. 4) Abide by the rules described in the Checkmate Coronavirus regulations. 5) Include a clear reference to the Checkmate Coronavirus project in all the promotional materials for the tournament.* *(Please remember that any materials -digital or printed- bearing the FIDE logo must be sent to marketing@fide.com for approval) More information Checkmate Coronavirus has a dedicated website, where you can find a “frequently asked questions” section: www.checkmatecoronavirus.com/faq. You can also follow regular updates via social media: Facebook – www.facebook.com/checkmatecoronavirus Instagram – www.instagram.com/checkmatecoronavirus Twitter – www.twitter.com/CheckmateCOVID The official hashtag we will be using is #CheckmateCoronavirus We encourage you to use the images above on your website/social media accounts to help us promote the event. Lastly, we would like to thank our partners in this project, Chess.com, Lichess.org, Chess24.com, and FIDE Arena Online, for their valuable help and enthusiastic support towards this initiative.
FIDE DIS Commission meeting summary
May 19, 2020: FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and FIDE DIS Commission held an online meeting to exchange plans and ideas on how to continue moving forward, keeping chess on top of the activities for players with disabilities. FIDE DIS members have reported to the FIDE President on the long-term plan of activities FIDE DIS prepared for the players with disabilities. Among them, there are at least three online chess competitions in open, women, and junior categories. The first online event, FIDE Online CUP for Players with Disabilities 2020, starts on 21 May on a popular online platform playchess.com with 38 chess players representing 28 national federations from different groups of disabilities participating. Many players with disabilities are looking forward to competing in this competition, bringing together participants from all around the world. It will serve as a rehearsal for the Competition for the Disabled People, which will be a part of Chess Olympiad. A significant initiative that FIDE DIS started last year – the seminar “Equal Opportunities” – will be continued this year and it is already scheduled for September. At this seminar, different lecturers will speak up to the audience via the Internet on the problems, issues, and recent developments. FIDE DIS Commission has also discussed the steps toward including chess for the disabled into the Paralympics program. The members of the commission put forth the idea of presenting chess to the audience of the next year Paralympics in Tokyo.