Introducing Candidates: Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk (Russia)Born October 31, 1983 (36 years old)Rating 2777Competed in four Candidates Tournaments (2007, 2011, 2013 and 2018). Born in Moscow, Sasha (a common diminutive for Alexander in Russia) learned the rules of chess at the age of four and almost immediately showed great promise. Mikhail Godvinsky became the first mentor for the talented boy; later Grishuk worked with renowned chess trainers Maxim Blokh and Anatoly Bykhovsky. Alexander won the Russian Junior championship in various age groups, but never took the title in the World and European Junior events. Nevertheless, by January of 1998, he became FIDE Master and eighteen months later completed all the required GM norms. The first major success came to Grischuk in 1999 when he tied for first place in the strong Chigorin Memorial. This victory paved his way into the national team, for which Alexander has been playing for more than 20 years, winning all kinds of medals at Olympiads (two golds in 2000 and 2002), European and World (two golds in 2005 and 2010) Team Championships. Grischuk joined the chess elite in the early 2000s, after making it into the semifinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, at the age of 17. Later on, he demonstrated very good, stable results in many prestigious tournaments, including the Aeroflot Open (second), Wijk aan Zee 2002 (second), Poikovsky 2004 (tied for first), the Elista Grand Prix (tied for first), the Russian Championship 2009 (became the champion), Linares 2009 and 2010 (first and second places respectively), the Petrosian Memorial 2014. Alexander has the reputation of a great master in rapid and blitz chess formats, which he treats as seriously as classical chess. Indeed, Grischuk has three World Blitz Champion titles under his belt (2006, 2012, 2016), a record beaten only by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Somewhat counter-intuitively, Grischuk is also known for his constant time trouble in classical chess with much longer control, which he calls his chief shortcoming. Nevertheless, Alexander’s level of play under time pressure is good enough to rank him among the top GMs. Arguably, the year 2011 was a pinnacle of Grischuk’s career as he reached the finals in the two most important competitions: the FIDE World Cup and the Candidates Matches. Only brilliant play by Boris Gelfand prevented Alexander from challenging the World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Grischuk had two more chances in the Candidates Tournaments (2013 and 2018) but came sixth both times. Grischuk has not lost heart; he stepped up his game and braced himself for a new campaign. He got back into the top-5 and turned in a very strong performance in the FIDE Grand Prix 2019. Alexander secured his spot in the Candidates Tournament before the last leg in Jerusalem, in which he did not play. Who knows, maybe fifth time the charm? Grischuk – Adams (Euro-Cup Kallithea, 2002) 24. Rf1! (“The best move in my life” – Alexander Grischuk) 24…Qxg3? 25. fxg3 Rc8 26. h5! Bd3 27. Bxf7+ Kf8 28. Rf2 Ke7 29. Bd5 Rf8 30. Nf4 + – 1-0
Introducing Candidates: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)Born: October 21, 1990 (29 years old)Rating: 2767Replaced Teimour Radjabov as the highest-rated reserve player. It will be his debut in a Candidates Tournament. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was born on October 21, 1990, in Nogent-sur-Marne, just outside of Paris. Often referred to as ‘MVL’, he quickly gained the reputation of a chess prodigy after winning his first French championship (in the Under-8 category) at the age of six. This was the first in a series of four titles in the youth French championships, which ended with a title in the Under-20 category in 2004, achieved when Maxime was just 13. Just a year earlier, in 2003, Vachier-Lagrave took second place in the World Youth Chess Championship in the Under-14 category. Aged 16, Vachier-Lagrave won the adult French Championship (2007). He has repeated this success twice more, in 2011 and 2012. In October 2008, following a streak of strong performances, the Frenchman joined the elite 2700-rating club. In 2009 Vachier-Lagrave became the World Junior Champion. That same year, playing in Biel, he beat Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Morozevich, and – another rising star – Fabiano Caruana, making his mark in the elite chess circles. Vachier-Lagrave has won the Biel International five times so far – in 2009 and four years in a row from 2013 to 2016. After obtaining a BA in mathematics in 2010, Vachier-Lagrave decided to take up chess professionally. The victory in the Hoogeveen (2010) that followed, justified the path he had chosen. In December 2010, the Frenchman won the European Blitz Championship in Warsaw (a success which he repeated in 2012). So far, Maxime has taken part in seven Chess Olympiads (2006–2018) and four European Team Chess Championships (2007, and from 2011 to 2015). His most prominent result so far is a clear first place in the Dortmund Sparkassen (2016), where he finished ahead of the previous winners Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik. Thanks to his performance in Dortmund, Vachier-Lagrave crossed the 2800 rating mark (reaching maximum ELO of 2819 in the August 2016 FIDE Rating list) and rose to #2 in the rating list. In the past three years, however, Vachier-Lagrave narrowly missed chances to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. In the 2017 World Cup, he lost to Levon Aronian in the semi-finals and then also failed to take the FIDE Grand Prix the same year (he finished sixth), which left him out of the 2018 Candidates. Similar misfortunes befell the Frenchman in 2019 when he finished third both in the Grand Prix (then only the top two qualified – Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi) & World Cup. After Teimour Radjabov decided to drop out of the 2020 Candidates, Vachier-Lagrave became eligible to take part in the event as the next highest-rated player who was not initially a participant. Vachier-Lagrave – Vaisser (French Team Championship, 2014) 16. Nxd5! cxd5 17. Rxd5! Bxe5 18. Rxd8+ Kh7 19. Bd3+ g6 20.Rxa8 Bf4+ 21.Kb1 Rxa8 22.Bxf6 1-0
WSTCC 2020: The winners declared after the 7th round
In connection with the current development of the situation in Europe, the government of the Czech Republic and the National Security Council have declared preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday 10th, the National Security Council banned all cultural, sport, and social events with above 100 participants. Following the advice of the Czech Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic Roman Prymula, the World Senior Team Championship was split across several smaller venues to be able to continue. It must be noted that Mr. Prymula, apart from being a FIDE Master, is an epidemiologist – the biggest national authority in this field. FIDE would like to take the chance to thank him for his personal involvement and support. However, as the situation worsened, new measures have been put in place, effective today. The authorities have decided to cancel any event that involves the gathering of 30 or more people. In view of this new measure, the winners were declared after the seventh round. The final ceremony was moved to 12th March 2020, 10 PM. FIDE would like to thank the Tournament Director Jan Mazuch, the Deputy Director Petr Laušman, the tournament managers Jiří Petružálek and Michal Horacek, and all their team, for their professionalism and their many efforts into keeping this tournament going despite the difficulties. 50+ final standings: 1. USA – 122. LASKERSCHACHSTIFTUNGGK – 113. CZECHREPUBLIC1 – 114. ISLAND – 115. 1960-61 – 106. YAMAL – 107. ENGLAND1 – 108. CANADA – 109. SLOVAKIA – 1010. MOSCOW – 9 65+ final standings: 65+ final standings: 1. RUSSIA – 122. FRANCE – 123. SCHACHFREUNDE LEIPZIG – 114. GERMANY 1 – 115. ISRAEL – 106. SWEDEN 1 – 107. SSC GRAAL-MUERITZ & FRIENDS – 108. CZECH REPUBLIC 1 – 109. DIE FRANKEN – 1010. GERMANY 3 – 9 Official site: http://wstcc2020.net/
TRG Forward Chess Discount Program
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission Forward Chess Discount Program provides an exclusive discount for all FIDE Licensed Trainers at the e-book store Forward Chess, www.ForwardChess.com. What Is Forward Chess? Forward Chess combines e-books, the chessboard, and a powerful engine in the palm of the player’s hand. They have partnered with all the major chess book publishers and have developed a proprietary system where the reader can purchase chess e-books either via the web or mobile apps and play through the moves in the book interactively. It’s a powerful tool often used by players preparing for matches or tournaments. FIDE Licensed Trainers who are interested in taking advantage of this special arrangement with Forward Chess will need to register an account with Forward Chess (either in any of their apps or on the website) and let TRG know under what name and email it is registered. TRG then will confirm your eligibility with Forward Chess. (Please note: limited numbers of books are available as prizes for tournaments and events). Forward Chess is an interactive Chess e-book reader for mobile (iOS and Android) and desktop (Windows and Mac). You can purchase your favorite e-books from leading publishers, play through the moves in the book, try out your own lines and even analyze with the powerful Stockfish engine. Why Buy A Book From Forward Chess? Forward Chess allows you to take your chess library with you anywhere you go. You can sync your books between your favorite mobile (iOS / Android) and desktop (Windows / Mac) devices. You don’t need a physical chess board. The built-in chess board and engine help you study your favorite books. Other advantages include instant delivery, no shipping cost and free publisher corrections and book updates. How Many Books Are On Forward Chess? There are nearly 500 titles available with more titles constantly being scheduled for release every month. Each book featured on Forward Chess also offers free samples. E-mail: trainers@fide.com to learn more!
WGP Round 9: Dzagnidze beats Ju Wenjun and takes the lead
The Mövenpick Hotel was overcrowded at the start of the ninth round of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix. Two special guests opened the round in front of the cameras of national TV. The Councillor of State and Head of the Canton of Vaud Department for Economics, Innovation and Sport, Philippe Leuba, played the symbolic first move for Ju Wenjun. A few seconds later, the racing cyclist European Champion Théry Schir opened the game for Marie Sebag. Both decisive games of the day were also the longest. Nana Dzagnidze neutralized the World Champion’s aggressive intentions and took the advantage after the exchange of Queens. The Georgian correctly spurned a threefold repetition after the time-control and slowly but surely crushed Ju Wenjun. She crowned her game with a study-like flourish and overtook Aleksandra Goryachkina at the top of the standings. The Russian played a Berlin Defence against Marie Sebag and seemed happy with the same early move repetition that already had occurred in her third round with Abdumalik. Pia Cramling went through another long battle but her opponent Alexandra Kosteniuk is known as a trained marathon runner. The Russian eventually squeezed a full point from a drawish endgame and inflicted the first defeat on the Swedish legend. The encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Alina Kashlinskaya was as balanced as a true Exchange French can be. Nothing really happened there and both players shared the point on move 31. Anna Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova produced some action in the middle game, but everything simplified quickly after the central advance 18…d5. Zhansaya Abdumalik sacrificed a pawn with Black on move 16 but failed to obtain full compensation for it. Her opponent Mariya Muzychuk did not play actively enough and suddenly had to proceed with caution to keep the balance. She was up to the task and secured a draw on move 40. The long-awaited remake of the World Championship final between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ju Wenjun will take place on Thursday’s round 10. Given Ju’s poor shape in Lausanne, the Russian will certainly try to take small revenge in her fight for the first place. Results of round 9: Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) ½-½Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Antoaneta Stefanova(BLG) ½-½Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) ½-½Pia Cramling (SWE) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 0-1Marie Sebag (FRA) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) ½-½Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) 0-1 Standings after round 9: 1. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – 6 points2. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 5½3-6. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS), Anna Muzychuk (UKR), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) and Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 57. Harika Dronavalli (IND) – 4½8-10. Pia Cramling (SWE), Ju Wenjun (CHN) and Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 411-12. Marie Sebag (FRA) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 3 Program of round 10, March 12 at 3 pm: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Ju Wenjun (CHN)Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Marie Sebag (FRA)Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Pia Cramling (SWE)Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Follow all the action live with commentary by grandmasters Mikhail Gurevich and Keti Tsatsalashvili on the tournament website http://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
WSTCC 2020 crossed the halfway mark
The participants of the World Senior Teams Chess Championship in Prague passed the halfway mark. In these complicated days, organizers had to expend much more effort to ensure the smooth running of this important event. The resolution by the Czech government on COVID-19 caused some doubts and worries among the players and resulted in dozens of telephone calls and questions. But the perfect preparation for the event and the flexible attitude of the organizers allowed an undisturbed continuation of the battles on chessboards. To comply with the resolution (which restricts all events with more than 100 people), some changes in the arrangement of the tables had to be made. Playing halls are now divided into smaller, separated venues. Visitors are not allowed to go into the playing halls, but can still watch the games online, or on the projection in front of the playing hall. On Tuesday, March 10th the weather was good for chess – showers and mostly cloudy. One more reason for 34 chess players to stay indoors and play a Blitz tournament in the Hotel Olympic in Prague. The format was nine rounds with 2 x 4 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. IM Yuri Boidman from Germany scored 7 points and won the event. Second place went to FM Viktor Plotkin from Canada, GM Jouni Yrjola from Finland finished third, followed by FM Adolf Denk from Austria (4th) and FM Frantisek Vrana from Czech Republic (5th). The fifth round featured the duels of the leaders in both age categories. In the 50+ category, team USA prevailed over Czech Republic 1 2.5 – 1.5 thanks to the victory of Gregory Kaidanov on the first board. On the other tables, five matches, namely Yamal – Lasker Schachstiftung GK, Slovakia – England 1, Sk Ziguda Turnov – Moscow, Canada – Czech Republic 2, and USA Too – Russia Women 2:2 were drawn. After five rounds, the USA is clear first with a perfect team score, followed by the Czech Republic 1, Island, and Slovakia. In the 65+ category, Germany 1 and Russia were pitted one against another on the first table. Germany 1 won 2.5:1.5 and pulled away. Schachfreunde Leipzig lost to Czech Republic 1 1.5 – 2.5, France edged out Germany 3 2.5 – 1.5. After five rounds, Germany 1 is leading the field, with Germany 2, Russia, Israel, Hungary, Czech Republic 1, Die Franken trailing by two points. With four rounds left to play, we look forward to more exciting chess games and hope for less exciting life circumstances. Chess must go on! All results you can find at Chess-Results. All photos are available at Zonerama. Text: Marta Motuzova, Venuse Souralova Photos: Vladimir Jagr
List of Key Decisions by FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi
List of Key Decisions of the Executive Board at Abu Dhabi Congress – Financial matters EB/01 The Treasurer’s report for 2018 was unanimously approved. EB/02 The Verification Commission report was unanimously approved. EB/03 The Treasurer was discharged from her responsibilities for the financial year 2018. EB/04 The Budget for the financial year 2020 was unanimously approved. – Reports of the Continental Associations EB/05 The Reports of the Continental Associations were approved. – Assessment of Сommissions’ achievements for 2019 EB/06 The Arbiters’ Commission report was approved. EB/07 The title application recommendations presented in the Arbiters’ Commission report were approved with three (3) corrections given by the Chairman in his speech on the floor. EB/08 The Chess in Education Commission report was approved. EB/09 The Commission for the Disabled report was approved. EB/10 The Commission for the Women’s Chess report was approved. EB/11 The Constitutional Commission report was approved. EB/12 The Ethics Commission report was approved. EB/13 The Events Commission report was approved. EB/14 The title application recommendations presented in the Events Commission report were approved. EB/15 It is decided that the bids for the year 2022 will be opened in March. EB/16 The bid from Russia for the World Senior Championships 2021 was approved. EB/17 The bid from Malta for the World Amateur 2021 was approved. EB/18 The bid from Italy for the World Senior Team Championship 50+ and 65+ 2021 was approved. EB/19 The bid from Italy for the World Junior and Girls U-20 Championship 2021 was approved. EB/20 The bid from Egypt for the World Cadet Championship U-8, U-10, U-12 2021 was approved. EB/21 Two bids were received for the World Youth Championships U-14, U-16, U-18 2021, respectively from Italy and Russia. The EB was called to vote and the results of the voting were the following: 2 votes for Italy and 30 for Russia, 7 abstentions. Therefore, these Championships were awarded to Russia. EB/22 Two bids were received for the World Cadet & Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships U-8, U-10, U-12 2021, respectively from Georgia and Croatia. The EB was called to vote and the results of the voting were the following: for 15 Croatia and 24 for Georgia. Therefore, these Championships were awarded to Georgia. EB/23 A bid from Mexico for the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2021 was received when the prescribed bidding period was already over. It was approved to extend the bidding period for two weeks so that the Mexican Chess Federation could properly submit its bid. EB/24 The Fair Play Commission report was approved. EB/25 The following fair play procedures were approved: anti-cheating measures were proposed by the Fair Play Commission and FIDE is ready to support (by providing equipment and a commission of experts) the federations which intend to introduce such measures during the next most important tournaments. EB/26 The Global Strategy Commission report was approved. EB/27 The Medical Commission report was approved. EB/28 The Online Commission report was approved. EB/29 The Planning and Development Commission report was approved. EB/30 The Qualification Commission report was approved. EB/31 The title application recommendations presented by the Qualification Commission were approved. EB/32 The proposal of taking note of the Rules Commission report and the request to the Commission to improve the recommendations was approved. EB/33 It was acknowledged that the Social Commission report was not submitted and requested to the Commission to submit it soon. EB/34 The Systems of Pairings and Programs report was approved. EB/35 The Technical Commission report was approved. EB/36 The Trainers’ Commission report was approved. EB/37 The Trainers’ Commission’s recommendations on title applications and new FIDE academies were approved. EB/38 The Data Protection Commission report was approved. – FIDE Awards EB/39 The EB approved the recommendations of three new FIDE Honorary Members: Yuri Averbakh (Russia), Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi (Qatar) and Maia Chiburdanidze (Georgia). – Miscellaneous EB/40 The EB members are requested to send their comments about the creation of the Athletes Commission in the following days. EB/41 FIDE activities regarding the organization of Fischer Random Chess Tournaments were approved. List of Key Decisions of 90th Extraordinary General Assembly – FIDE President’s report EGA/01 The President’s report was approved. – Admission of new Federations EGA/02 The admission of the following new Federations as FIDE full members was unanimously approved: St. Lucia Chess Federation, Guinea Equatorial Chess Federation, Cayman Islands Chess Federation, St Kitts and Nevis Chess Federation, Grenada Chess Federation, Chad Chess Federation and Bulgaria Chess Federation*. – Admission of new affiliated members EGA/03 The admission of the following associations as new affiliated members was unanimously approved: Portuguese-speaking Federations Association and South Asian Chess Council (SACC). – New FIDE Charter EGA/04 The new Charter was approved and comes into force on March 01, 2020. The vote results were: 112 votes in favour, 1 abstention and 1 voted against. – Financial matters EGA/05 The amendments to the Financial Regulations (abolition of fees for participation in seniors’ events and those for Level 5 development countries, excluding membership fees) were unanimously approved and will be effective already for the second half of 2019. EGA/06 It was decided that the Council will prepare a final version of the Financial Regulations by the next General Assembly to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) and start working on a new version of the FIDE Handbook. EGA/07 The appointment of E&Y as the External Auditor for the annual audit of the FIDE accounts for 2019 was unanimously approved. – Elections for the vacant positions of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission EGA/08 The following appointees for the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission were elected: Khaled Arfa (Tunisia), David Hater (USA) and Johan Sigeman (Sweden). *Please find the correct name of the Bulgarian Federation on the following link: https://fide.com/directory/member-federations List of Key Decisions of Q1 2020 Presidential Board – Financial matters Q1PB-2020/01 The Treasurer’s report for the year 2018 and the budget proposal for the year 2020 were approved. – Amendments to the Financial Regulations Q1PB-2020/02 The draft amendments to the financial Regulations were recommended to the EGA for final approval. – Report
WGP Round 08: Fighting day in Lausanne
The 8th round was extremely hard-fought in Lausanne. Only two games were drawn, and the longest battle concluded after six hours. Nana Dzagnidze joins Aleksandra Goryachkina in the lead. The symbolic first move was made by Jacky Delapierre, Executive Director of Athletissima. This charismatic and popular figure in Lausanne founded the famous athletics meeting in 1977, which now belongs to the Diamond League. He opened 1.e4 for Zhansaya Abdumalik, and the young Kazakhstani went on to castle long against Anna Muzychuk’s Sveshnikov Sicilian. The Ukrainian sacrificed two pawns to develop an attack on the king, but White found a way to force a draw by repetition, constantly attacking the opponent’s queen. Alina Kashlinskaya, one of the two leaders before this round, got clearly caught off balance by Ju Wenjun’s opening choice. The Russian found herself under pressure and blundered an exchange. The World Champion did not ask for more in order to score her first victory in this tournament. In her commentary afterward, the World Champion expressed her relief to finally win a game in this very strong field. Nana Dzagnidze won her game against Marie Sebag after the French strangely forgot that White could exchange her bishop on move 23. Thanks to this third victory, the Georgian moves to joint first place with 5 points out of 8. Aleksandra Goryachkina has the same score after she drew a 129-move-long marathon which lasted over 6 hours. She squeezed an edge out of nothing in a symmetrical position, but Pia Cramling defended well. The Swedish legend was so exhausted after the game that she even packed a white Bishop with other belongings in her handbag. The arbiter discovered the disappearance of the piece only later and managed to convince Cramling to give back the prisoner over dinner. The miseries of Alexandra Kosteniuk do not seem to end, as she lost her game to Mariya Muzychuk and remains on clear last place. The Ukrainian wins her first game in this event and moves to 4,5 points. Same luck for another former World Champion. Antoaneta Stefanova slowly outplayed Harika Dronavalli and won after 95 moves. Results of round 8: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Ju Wenjun (CHN) 0-1Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – Marie Sebag (FRA) 1-0Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Pia Cramling (SWE) ½-½Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 0-1Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR) ½-½Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Harika Dronavalli (IND) 1-0 Standings after round 8: 1-2. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 5 points3-6. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS), Anna Muzychuk (UKR), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) and Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 4½7-8. Harika Dronavalli (IND), Pia Cramling (SWE) and Ju Wenjun (CHN) – 410. Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 3½11. Marie Sebag (FRA) – 2½12. Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 2 Program of round 9, 11 March at 3 pm: Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS)Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Antoaneta Stefanova(BLG)Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ)Pia Cramling (SWE) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS)Marie Sebag (FRA) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS)Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) Follow all the action live with commentary by grandmasters Mikhail Gurevich and Keti Tsatsalashvili on the tournament website http://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
WGP Lausanne: Side events at the International House of Sportt
Two side events took place this weekend alongside the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix in Lausanne. They were organized by FIDE and the Swiss Chess Federation with the help of local clubs and held in the premises of the International House of Sport, where FIDE has its office since May 2019. The “1st FIDE rapid open of the Olympic Capital” brought together 54 participants on Saturday, including seven titled players. Three of them scored 6 points in 7 games: GM Pavel Tregubov from Russia, GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder from Chile, and local FM Aurelio Colmenares. The Russian took first place on tie-break. A rapid tournament for girls under 18 years old was organized among 22 participants on Sunday, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. French University champion Estée Aubert won the event with the perfect score of 9 out of 9, ahead of both Swiss representatives Gülüzar Hüseynova (8 points) and Angie Pecorini (7 points). FIDE constantly makes endeavors to work with local federation or clubs in order to contribute to the popularization and development of chess on a larger scale. Tournaments such as these side events provide incentives, attract amateurs to the royal game while giving them the opportunity to closely watch great champions in action. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
WSTCC 2020: 5th round will be played!
Today´s round 5 will be played. Playing halls will be divided into smaller parts. Visitors will not be allowed to go to the playing halls. Based on the resolution of the Czech government, all events with more than 100 people will be restricted. To follow this, playing halls will be divided into smaller, separated parts. Visitors will not be allowed to go to the playing halls. Further information will be provided before the start of the game. FIDE General Director Emil Sutovsky: “A lot of efforts and good cooperation with Czech organizers allowed us to split the venue into six different zones, complying with the demands of Czech authorities. Thanks to the chief organizer of the event, Jan Mazuch, and his team, to Ozgur Solakoglu – the chairman of FIDE events commission, to my old time Prague-based comrade Evgeny Neimer who came up with some important ideas and help.” Special thanks from the entire chess community to the Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic Roman Prymula who, besides being a FIDE master, is also an epidemiologist – the biggest authority of the country in this field. He personally supervised the situation of the World Senior Team Championship. Mr. Prymula also assisted before the tournament started: when there was a shortage of sanitizers and masks, he helped the organizer to get supplies, so the tournament could follow all the advice and recommendations from the medical commission.