Call for Bids: Reopening Bidding procedure for FIDE World Youth Chess Championships 2021
FIDE did not receive any bids till the bidding deadline for FIDE World Youth (U14, U16, U18) Chess Championships 2021 (Africa) and FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2021. Because of that FIDE Events Commission has re-opened the bidding procedure for the FIDE World Youth (U14, U16, U18) Chess Championships 2021 (open for all continents) and FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2021 with the bidding deadline 27th January 2020. · A bid for any FIDE Competitions onwards shall include the name of a FIDE licensed International Organizer. · All bids should be submitted by the due date in a sealed envelope or scanned documents to the FIDE Secretariat postal address: Avenue de Rhodanie 54, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland, Tel: + (41) 21 6010039, email office@fide.com by 27th January 2020, 16:00 local time. · Each bid should be accompanied with a bid fee. · Bid Fees are not refundable. Bid fees should be paid the latest by 3rd February 2020 to the FIDE bank account (free of charges) or to be enclosed in the bid envelope. · All bidders must fill in the bid form and the new bid form annex. · Prices of hotels, details about the accommodation and tournament hall must be written in the bid. · FIDE EVE will make first bid inspections and send its report together with a bid evaluation form. There will be a second inspection of the awarded organisation two to four months prior to the event. Accommodation and local transfer costs of the inspections must be paid by organizers. · FIDE Officials – Appeals Committee, Chief Arbiter, Deputy Arbiter(s) – will be decided and appointed by FIDE following the proposal of organizers. The bid form and new added annex can be downloaded here. BID FORM BID FORM ANNEX
Women’s World Chess Championship resumes in Vladivostok
The second half of the Women’s World Chess Championship between Ju Wenjun (China) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) kicked off with an opening ceremony in Vladivostok, Russia. The ceremony began with welcome speeches by the organizers and sponsors and was followed by a concert. “Vladivostok is not only a commercial but also a cultural and sports capital of the region,” said Vera Scherbina, vice-governor of the hosting Primorsky region. “We are happy to host such a large-scale event. There are over 3,000 chess lovers here, and that’s why it’s a very big event for us.” “I thank all the partners and organizers of the Match, in particular, the Chinese Chess Association, all Chinese sponsors, Government of the Primorsky region, Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, Gidrostroy, Gazprom, Chess Federation of Russia, Far Eastern Federal University, all the partners of FIDE and CFR, and sponsors of the participants, including Andrey Simanovskiy and Ju Wenjun‘s supporters,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, welcoming the guests of the ceremony. “The whole world is watching the Match with great interest. I think that this event will help promote chess in this wonderful region. We will do our best to create comfortable conditions for both players. I declare the second part of the Women’s World Championship Match open,” he added. Wang Xiaochun, Deputy General Consul of China in Vladivostok, expressed his gratitude to the organizers and partners. “Such sports events enrich friendly relations between China and Russia”, he said. “Chess is very popular in both countries, the Russian and Chinese take leading positions in the world chess rating lists. This match demonstrates the strength and high level of our players. I wish success to both participants.” FIDE vice-president Nigel Short described the on-going Match as a very exciting chess battle and encouraged the younger fans — who are just starting their journey in the game — to come and experience it in person. “I welcome all chess fans to come to see the match with their own eyes and take part in the side events,” he said. “These impressions will stay with you for the rest of your life.” Alexander Verkhovsky, Chairperson of the Board of directors of Gidrostroy, general sponsor of the Match, sent a message of greetings to the participants and guests: “We are witnessing and partaking in a unique contest. Just like all chess games. In this lies its beauty and power. Chess is above and beyond time, politics, and all pretenses. Chess unites. Chess makes us all one family. Here’s to hoping that this Women’s World Championship Match will be remembered in history as a prime example of great sportsmanship and friendship between two great chess nations”. Gidrostroy is the largest fishery holding company in the Far East and second in Russia in terms of overall production. Its subsidiary businesses include all fishery-related operations such as oceanic and coastal fishing; processing, storage, and sales of fish products; artificial propagation; and construction.” Following the speeches, Vera Scherbina and Wang Xiaochun pushed the buttons of a legendary clock to launch the second part of the Championship. This clock, a historical artifact, had been used during the 1958 World Championship played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow. Speaking to journalists, both Ju and Goryachkina promised to play their best games and to satisfy all chess fans. “We’ve had very intense games, and, so far, the match is proving to be extremely interesting,” Ju said. “I believe my strength comes from being a more experienced player, while my opponent is younger and is very motivated.” Goryachkina confirmed her strong motivation. “I will give it my all,” she said. “The match is now tied and its an indication that we are evenly matched.” The Match is set to resume with the seventh game on January 16 with Ju Wenjun having the white pieces. The score is even at 3-3. Official website: https://wwcm2020.fide.com Text: Michael Friedman Photos: Eteri Kublashvili Contact: press@fide.com Photos in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account.
Tata Steel Masters 2020: So stops Firouzja
All eyes were on the 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja in the fourth round of Tata Steel Masters 2020. The sole leader after three rounds was playing with Black versus World Fischer Random champion Wesley So – his first game against a Top-10 player in this event. Firouzja went for Queen’s Gambit Accepted once again (he was close to a win in his Round 2 game against Duda), but So’s strategic approach to the game seemed perfect. He opted for a calmer line where White has no direct threats, but Black should be very accurate and patient. Patience is not a typical teenager’s virtue – Firouzja made some dubious decisions trying to solve all his problems too quickly. This game definitely needs a more detailed analysis, but 18…Na7 and especially 30…e4 were not the optimal defensive options. Black lost a central pawn and a bishop endgame was probably already lost but 37…fxg4 and 38…g5 just made things easier for the American GM. So taught the youngster a good lesson and became a new leader. Another winner of Round 4 is Vladislav Artemiev from Russia. His opponent and namesake Kovalev is struggling in Wijk aan Zee constantly finding himself in terrible time trouble. This time Kovalev was hanging in there till move 35. With only a minute on the clock he didn’t venture upon a counterattack with 35…b4!, lost a pawn on d5, but still had chances for a draw. However a horrible blunder by the Belarusian 39…Rd8?? became the last straw. A standard exchange sacrifice finished the game immediately as the black king was left without any guard. Black is still winless in Tata Steel Masters, but today they at least managed to draw all other games. In Dubov – Duda and Yu Yangyi – Anand encounters Black equalized comfortably and the games were over in just two hours. Anish Giri against Nikita Vitiugov and especially Jeffery Xiong versus Fabiano Caruana were pressing with White and probably are not completely satisfied with just half a point result. Magnus Carlsen desperately tried to change the course of a not very successful tournament and played the Two Knights Defense against Jorden Van Foreest. It’s not really a defense, but an attack with Black sacrificing a pawn for an active counterplay. In one of the sidelines that was first introduced by Isidor Gunsberg in his match against Mikhail Chigorin back in 1890 (!) Van Foreest proved once again that he was not afraid to mix it up with the chess tycoons – he gave a pawn back with 16.g4! and forced into a better endgame. If Jorden was bold enough to sacrifice an exchange with 29.dxc4 he would have a chance for a major upset. After 29.Rce1 Magnus was out of the woods and even made an attempt to play for a win, but van Foreest was up to the task. Carlsen is still at 50%, and the 20-year old from Utrecht (actually Van Foreest is an aristocratic Dutch family well-known since XIII century) has 2.5 points after 4 rounds. By making this draw, Magnus Carlsen took his unbeaten streak to 111 games with classical time control. The World Champion broke the record (110 games in a row without a loss) set by Sergei Tiviakov back in 2005. Tomorrow is the rest day. The participants have a chance to recharge batteries before Round 5, which will be played on January 16 in Eindhoven. Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami Tata Steel Masters 2020 Standings after Round 4: 1. So – 3;2-6. Firouzja, Xiong, Artemiev, Caruana, Van Foreest – 2½;7-10. Dubov, Duda, Giri, Carlsen – 2;11-12. Anand, Vitiugov – 1½;13. Yu Yangyi – 1; 14. Kovalev – ½.
Ummer Koya passed away
January 14, 2020 It is with the deepest sadness that we learned about the passing of PT Ummer Koya, who was Vice-President of the International Chess Federation for a whole decade, between 1996 and 2006. Besides his role in our organization, Ummer Koya (Calicut, 1951) was a cornerstone for the development of chess in his country. He was elected General Secretary of the All India Chess Federation in 1989, a post he held until 2005. We are very thankful for his dedication and his contributions to promoting chess from both institutions, and from FIDE we would like to express our sincerest condolences to his relatives, his loved ones, and all the members of the Indian chess community. Photo: https://english.manoramaonline.com/
Tata Steel Chess 2020: Firouzja forges ahead
Black has yet to score a victory after three rounds in Wijk aan Zee, but even another White’s 3-0 sweep in Round 3 of Tata Steel Masters was eclipsed by the clash at the top of the leaderboard – Alireza Firouzja became the sole leader after defeating Vladislav Artemiev. It looks like the outcome of the key game of the round was decided by better home preparation of the youngster. Artemiev chose the Caro-Cann Defense once again and Firouzja reacted with one of the sharpest lines 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.c4. Alireza left his b2 pawn hanging, but it was really risky to take it – Vladislav didn’t dare and started spending a lot of time on every move. Till the move 15 the game followed the footsteps of Sutovsky – Maria Muzychuk encounter, convincingly won by FIDE General Director in 2018. Artemiev deviated with 15…Qd8 but his position already looked very suspicious. After the e5-e6 breakthrough, Black was in dire straights with his king completely exposed. The Iranian prodigy, playing under FIDE flag, missed a few opportunities to finish the game quicker, but the result was never in doubt.Firouzja is sensationally leading the event, but Jorden van Foreest‘s performance is probably even a bigger surprise. In Round 3 he scored his second win – this time against Daniil Dubov. Jordan’s unassuming 3.c3 in the Sicilian indicated that he wasn’t striving for an opening advantage in the Sicilian, but Daniil probably underestimated the danger of White’s “c” and “d” pawns advance – he started tanking after move 20, but only managed to cause some turmoil while objectively his position was only getting worse. The Dutch GM remained unfazed and easily navigated through muddy waters to a victory. Fabiano Caruana is demonstrating some excellent chess at the early stage of the tournament and is just half a point behind the leader. Yu Yangyi played his favorite Petroff Defense against World #2 but became a victim of Caruana’s impeccable understanding of chess. His pawn advances on both sides (13.b4 and 16.g4) looked somewhat speculative, but Fabiano managed to gradually deny Black of any counterplay and secure space advantage. Even after Caruana won a pawn, the outcome seemed unclear, but he confidently thwarted all Black’s attempts and transposed into a completely winning pawn endgame. Very well-played, maitre! The other four games ended in draws. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is still out of his element – his attempt to fight for an advantage in a game against Jeffery Xiong looked completely unfounded and pretty soon he had to give up a pawn and switch to working for a draw. Carlsen was never losing but he is probably very disappointed with how the event has started for him. Magnus had no winning chances in any of the first free games and the fact that he is close to beating Sergey Tiviakov’s record in the number of the games without a loss is hardly satisfying him.Wesley So played against Nikita Vitiugov very accurately (keeping in mind that the Russian had knocked him out of the World Cup this September) and a draw looked a very logical outcome. Vishwanathan Anand was clearly better after the opening against Anish Giri. The Dutchman looked really uncomfortable in his chair, but probably yesterday’s drama took its toll on the Indian – he was too quick with 19.d5 (according to a chess engine, 19.Qb3 was a better move) and then offered a draw in a position where he still had real chances. Vladislav Kovalev obtained a comfortable position against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and if not for the disastrous start he would have probably played a promising 13.Nb5. Instead, he settled for a calmer continuation and Duda defended with relative ease.Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami Tata Steel Masters 2020 Standings after Round 3: 1. Firouzja – 2½;2-5. Xiong, So, Caruana, Van Foreest – 2;6-10. Artemiev, Dubov, Duda, Giri, Carlsen – 1½;11-12. Anand, Vitiugov – 1;14. Yu Yangyi, Kovalev – ½.
Togo hosts School Instructor Seminar
Togo will host the next School Instructor seminar in Lome, 27-31 January. The seminar, held at the Agla Hotel, will be in the French language, but there will be translations into English. The seminar will be led by Lecturer Bechir Messaoudi, assisted by FIDE’s General Secretary CM Enyonam Sewa Fumey. Applications from other countries are welcome and should be sent to: E-mail: ftdetogo@yahoo.fr.Tel: 228 9013 0628 https://www.facebook.com/ftdetogo/ Africa is buzzing at the moment. The last school Instructor seminar, in Bamako, Mali was just six weeks ago. Last week the Gambia Chess Federation launched a Chess in school program in the country.
Tata Steel Chess 2020: Five players atop after two rounds
White completely dominated in the second round of Tata Steel Masters 2020 winning 4 games out of 7. There are five leaders after two rounds with heavy favorites Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana still at the 50% mark. Iranian sensation Alireza Firouzja had a chance to grab the sole lead as he was clearly better after the opening in his game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. In the Queens Gambit Accepted Duda somewhat surprisingly went for the line with an early queen exchange, but the opponents still found a way to set fire on board. Firouzja came up with a creative 9…Ng4 novelty and Duda’s reaction probably wasn’t precise. Black won a pawn, but it seemed that White was only slightly worse before Duda put his king in front of the whole army with 23.Kc4?! Firouzja cemented his advantage and could have got clear winning chances had he foiled the activation of the white knight with 26…g5! Alireza opted for a natural rook move instead and Duda managed to save half a point for the second day in a row. Another Round 1 winner Jorden Van Foreest suffered his first defeat in a game against Jeffery Xiong, but once again he played fearlessly. In a typical Sicilian set-up, he went for an ambitious pawn breakthrough/sacrifice with 13…b5!? and 15…d5! Van Foreest moved his bishop to f6 one move too late and found himself in a worse position. He still had his chances in sharp complications later but went astray with kamikaze 29…Bf2+ and 30…Bh4. Xiong won a piece and the game. Russian up-and-coming stars Vlad Artemiev and Daniil Dubov also caught up with Firouzja. Dubov easily crushed Vladislav Kovalev after the Byelorussian decided to sacrifice a central pawn in an unpleasant position hoping for an active counterplay in the endgame. It was nothing more than an illusion though, and Dubov converted in style. Kovalev was unlucky to start with two Black games, but he seems out of form with 0/2 and that can be fatal in this kind of event. Artemiev outplayed his compatriot Nikita Vitiugov in a clear positional style. At some point, Vlad could have gone for a nice “little combo” with 27.Rd8+! but he was completely dominating in the center and on the queenside anyway. Unfortunately, even the greatest chess players can become a victim of a hallucination on a bad day, and this was the case for Viswanathan Anand today. He miscalculated when making decision to sacrifice a bishop with a tempting 12…Bxf2+. Anand was right that he was winning a piece back immediately but probably missed that his knight would be trapped in the White’s camp after that. Easy win for World Fischer Random champion Wesley So and frankly speaking he hasn’t even done that much to achieve it. (FIDE.com – Future analysis proved that the position was still completely unclear if Anand would have played 22…Nxg2! as after 23.Rxg2 Rxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Qe2+ 25.Kg3 Rf8! Black’s attack was sufficient for a draw) There were two more draws in Round 2. Yu Yangyi didn’t have any ambitions having White against Magnus Carlsen and was trying to exchange all pieces as soon as possible. Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana played probably the best game of the round on a level which can be achieved only by few players on the Earth – Giri put heavy pressure on his opponent and even won a pawn in the endgame, but the former world title challenger defended brilliantly and was never in real danger. Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami Tata Steel Masters 2020 Standings after Round 2: 1-5. Xiong, So, Artemiev, Dubov, Firouzja – 1½;6-10. Caruana, Duda, Giri, Carlsen, Van Foreest – 1;11-13. Anand, Vitiugov, Yu, Yangyi – ½;14. Kovalev – 0.
WWCC Game 6: Goryachkina puts pressure with black
The sixth game of the match, the last one to be played in Shanghai, ends in a draw. This leaves the score in 3-3 before the championship takes a short break and moves to the next host city: Vladivostok. Play will be resumed on Thursday, January 16. Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, and Lu Lin, vice-secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Sports Bureau, made the first symbolic moves of Game 6. Ju Wenjun, a predominately 1.d4 player, reverted to 1.e4, a move she played in Game 2 of the match. The Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez was repeated until move 10, with Ju opting for Re1. Ju failed to achieve much out of the opening with lethargic 17.b3, 18.c4, and 19.Bb2. With calm and measured play, Aleksandra Goryachkina managed to outmaneuver her opponent. By move 30 it became clear that Black would be playing for a win. Yet, similar to some earlier games of this match, Goryachkina was not able to build on her advantage. By the time players passed the first time control, the worst was behind Ju, and she was on the road to a draw. Nevertheless, Goryachkina made Ju sweat for it. Game 6 turned out to be the longest one of the match: it surpassed 100 moves.For the last 60 moves, Ju had to be extremely careful, while Goryachkina was playing with no risk waiting for her opponent to slip. Ju was visibly tired, her hand at times trembling. The game finally ended two moves shy of a 50-move draw rule. At the post-game press conference, Goryachkina said that she felt she was slightly better but just couldn’t find the decisive moves for a win. Ju was unhappy with her play and felt fortunate to escape with a draw. Stray observations: this was Goryachkina’s second consecutive game in which she was the only one pressing for a win. This must have felt great for her, following a loss in Game 4. It was also the first game where White was clearly worse. The stretch of four games in which Goryachkina had 3 black was akin to a test: she started with a loss but has done better than many expected, fully recovering in the last two games, and it feels like she has started dictating play.The break in the match—it’s moving to Vladivostok in Russia—is likely to benefit both players. Goryachkina is going home where large crowds are expected to support her, while Ju is getting the much-needed breather after six very long and draining games. Official website: https://wwcm2020.fide.com Text: Michael Friedman Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Lewis Liu, Michael Friedman Contact: press@fide.com Photos in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account.
Tata Steel Chess 2020: Young guns take the lead
After several rapid and mix events, traditional Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020 in Wijk aan Zee looks like a window into the glorified past of chess. A true classical super-tournament presents an interesting combination of established stars and ambitious newcomers in which every round is sure to deliver a lot of amazing encounters. Sometimes spectators and chess analytics will need to spend a lot of hours to understand the real nature of the players’ plans and concepts. The first round of the Masters event played on January 11 didn’t disappoint. 16-year old Alireza Firouzja was the first one to score a full point after he outplayed Challengers 2019 winner Vladislav Kovalev from Belarus with White. In a very well-known position of Zaitsev variation of Ruy Lopez Kovalev opted for dubious 16…c4 (instead of popular and standard 16…Nd7). Probably it was not a result of preparation, but a clear mix-up as Black was in trouble right away quickly losing two pawns without any compensation. Firouzja was ruthless in converting a clear opportunity into a win. Another leader after Round 1 is probably even more unexpected. Jorden Van Foreest is by far the lowest-rated participant of the event, but it didn’t stop the local hero from starting with a victory. His game against the World Cup semifinalist Yu Yangyi from China quickly transformed into a rook endgame where Black had to accurately defend his weak pawns. The endgame sharpened up rapidly and definitely needs much deeper analysis to understand what was really going on. One thing is clear though – after a few mutual inaccuracies, Yu was one to divert from a clear draw (44…Re8 45. Rxa7 Kg6! 46. Ra6+ Kg7 or even simple 44…e3) in favor of a suicidal maneuver 44…Kg4? 45.b6 Kf3? It was a point of no return for Black. The other five games were drawn but not without a fight. The most uneventful game was surprisingly played by World Classical, Rapid & Blitz Champion Magnus Carlsen. Facing the crowd favorite Anish Giri he chose an extremely rare line in the English opening (4.Qb3) but this approach did not pay off – Magnus did not get even a slight advantage; actually it was Carlsen himself who had to be accurate to reach a draw on move 25. Anand – Artemiev and a battle of American superstars Caruana – So ended in draws pretty quickly also. Wesley So seemingly had no problems equalizing in Gruenfeld while Vladislav Artemiev held his own in Caro-Cann where his two bishops were so strong that Anand decided to sacrifice an exchange and force a draw at some point. Youngsters Jeffery Xiong and Daniil Dubov were both out for the blood in their Sicilian showdown. When both white rooks paid a visit to an e7 square right in the center of Black’s defensive fortifications it became clear that it would be a tough day for Dubov. Being a pawn down (and for a few moves even two pawns) Russian GM was looking for some counterplay to escape and somehow succeeded. Xiong probably missed some chances, but the dubious “Miss of the Day” prize goes to Nikita Vitiugov who replaced Ian Nepomniachtchi two weeks before the event. Vitiugov who had a very successful 2019 was very close to starting 2020 with another excellent win, this time against Polish finest Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Vitiugov outplayed his opponent in Najdorf Sicilian and was winning prosaically with 30.c4 – instead, he decided to sacrifice an exchange and still had a huge advantage as his monstrous bishops were completely dominating black lonely knight, but after the time trouble GM from Saint-Petersburg let his advantage slip away (the clearest chance was probably Be3-c5-e7 maneuver), lost his key passed pawn and had to accept a draw. One more miraculous save by Jan-Krzysztof! In Round 2 Duda will examine one of the early leaders Alireza Firouzja. Their battles are always very interesting for the spectators – less than two weeks ago they exchanged blows in World Rapid & Blitz Championship in Moscow with Duda winning in the rapid game and Firouzja retaliating in blitz. Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami
WWCC Game 5: Goryachkina strikes back
Aleksandra Goryahkina bounces back and beats Ju Wenjun in the fifth game of the 2020 FIDE Women’s World Championship Match. The challenger sets the score to 2½-2½ after five games, with only one left to be played in Shanghai; the remaining six games will be fought in Vladivostok. Ernst Yurkin, Deputy Consul General of the Russian Federation in Shanghai, and Zhu Chen, former World Champion made the first symbolic moves of Game 5. Before today, Aleksandra Goryachkina has never beaten Ju Wenjun. In fact, prior to the match, the Russian Grandmaster has never had a better position against the World Champion in any of their games. However, Goryachkina is a very young player still at the peak of her development, and already in the first games of the match, she showed she could put Ju Wenjun against the ropes. In that context, Goryachkina’s defeat in the fourth game was a cold shower for the Russian fans, but the challenger didn’t display any signs of disappointment. And after a rest day, she came back to the board ready to put up a fight, and with today’s victory, Goryachkina demonstrated the world that she belongs in this match and is the rightful challenger. Goryachkina appeared to have surprised her opponent with 1. c4, which sent Ju into a short think. In the ensuing English Opening, players went for a very sharp line, with Ju producing the first novelty 12… Be4. This seemed to have taken Goryachkina out of her preparation and black quickly achieved a very promising position. However, facing a 16.Qb5+, Ju went astray with Qd7, unnecessary opting for a variation in which White was up an exchange, with Black having some compensation for it in the form of a very dangerous d-pawn. Interestingly enough, in the post-mortem, Goryachkina thought that Ju simply blundered the exchange. It seemed that Game 5 would follow a familiar scenario from Games 1 and 3 where the Russian obtained comfortable positions out of openings but squandered her chances with some little inaccuracies right before the first time control. In today’s encounter, after mutual mistakes 29…g6? and 31.Rxf7? the game appeared to be heading for a draw, but a serious blunder by Ju (34…Nc6?? instead of 34…Nc4) allowed Goryachkina to consolidate her advantage and convert it into a full point fifteen moves later. In the post-game press conference, Goryachkina said she was relieved and happy to be back into the match. Ju agreed that while today’s result was disappointing, it was a logical conclusion and the overall score reflected the match thus far. Official website: https://wwcm2020.fide.com Text: Michael Friedman Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Lewis Liu, Michael Friedman Contact: press@fide.com Photos in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account.