Online registration for the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2019 is open
Online registration for the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2019 is now open:https://wrbc2019registration.fide.com/ Please note that any national champions for the current year (2019) have to provide proof of their title via their national federation. In order to be accredited as a participant, an official letter must be sent from his/her national federation to the official representative of the Chess Federation of Russia, Artem Pugachev, to the email pugachev@ruchess.ru. The King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships will be held in Moscow from December 25 (the day of arrival) to December 31 (the day of departure) 2019. World Rapid & Blitz Championships schedule: December 25 — Opening CeremonyDecember 26-28 — Rapid competitionDecember 29-30 — Blitz competition The total prize fund for the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships amounts to USD 1,000,000. All players rated at least 2550 (men) and 2250 (women) in any of the FIDE rating lists (standard, rapid or blitz) from January to December of 2019, national champions, and nominees by the organizers (no more than ten in each one of the competitions) are eligible for participation in the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships. The entry fee in the open event is USD 100, before December 11, and USD 200 after this date. In women’s competitions, the entry fee is USD 50 before December 11 and USD 100 after this date. Bank details of the Chess Federation of Russia for entry fee payments: In Russian Rubles: Beneficiary customer: Chess Federation of Russia (CFR)TIN (INN) 7704016433 RRC 770401001Bank: Public Joint-Stock Company Sberbank of Russia, MoscowBeneficiary account: 40703810438260100813Correspondent account: 30101810400000000225RCBIC: 044525225 Payment reference: Registration fee for participation in FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2019, (player’s name), not subject to VAT Citizens of the Russian Federation shall pay the registration fee in Russian Rubles at the exchange rate of the Bank of Russia on the day of payment. USD Account: Beneficiary customer: CFRAddress: 119019, Moscow, Russia, Gogolevskiy boulevard, 14, build.1Bank: SBERBANK, MOSCOW, RUSSIABank’ address:117312, Moscow, Russia, Vavilova str., 19SWIFT code: SABRRUMMDollar Account: 40703840638260200813Bank correspondent: The Bank of New York Mellon, New York, NYSWIFT code: IRVTUS3N Payment reference: Registration fee for participation in FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2019, (player’s name), not subject to VAT. Any players rated at least 2750 (men) and 2500 (women) in any of FIDE rating lists (standard, rapid or blitz) from January 1 to December 1, 2019, are provided with full board accommodation in a standard room (4-star hotel minimum), from December 25 to December 31, 2019. The King Salman World Rapid Chess Championships are 15-round (open) and 12-round (women) Swiss tournaments with a time control of 15 min +10 sec. The King Salman World Blitz Championships are 21-round (open) and 17-round (women) Swiss tournaments with a time control of 3 min + 2 sec. VISA SUPPORT A participant can apply for a visa both in his home country and abroad. The main condition is to apply for a Russian visa only in official institutions such as the Consular Section of the Russian Embassy or Consulate-General. Other institutions (including an official Visa Application Center) and travel agencies offering their services will have no access to the information regarding the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2019. All the embassies and consulates have been informed about the Championship by a circular letter of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are ready to assist players with applying for a visa in a time pressure situation. When applying for a Russian visa, alongside with a complete set of documents requested by the Embassy, a participant shall provide the official invitation from the Chess Federation of Russia. This invitation is the main basis for issuing a visa that substitutes for a telex/reference number. Any accredited participant, who needs a visa to enter Russia, should download the visa invitation letter through the registration system. The visa application can start on December 3.
General Assembly and FIDE Congress: dates & venue
Dear members of the chess community, The Presidential Board made a final decision about the place and dates of an Extraordinary General Assembly and FIDE Congress. In response to a number of requests from delegates, and taking into account the opinion of the Chairman of the Constitutional Commission, Mr. Rivello, the Board scheduled the Assembly on February 26-29 in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The final agenda will be published no later than one month before the date of the meeting, according to the Statutes.
European Golden Pawn award debuts in Monte Carlo
European Chess Union Board established the annual award ceremony – European Golden Pawn – that will be held every year on the last Saturday of November in Monaco (Monte-Carlo). The first year of the award ceremony will be dedicated to European legends and their achievements The 1st European Golden Pawn Award Ceremony will take place on 30th November in a luxury Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo and in a way will serve as a prelude to the second leg of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix that starts in the Mediterranean principality just two days after the ceremony. The ceremony will be hosted by Jamaican-American chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and Georgian television presenter and singer Helen Kalandadze. The award winners: European Chess Legend (male): Garry Kasparov European Chess Legend (female): Judit Polgar Lifetime Achievement: Nona Gaprindashvili The Youngest European World Chess Champion of all time: Maya Chiburdanidze European Pioneer of Chess Development in Schools: Alexander Kostyev Best European Arbiter: Geurt Gijssen Best European Chess Project: Frederic Friedel Best European Chess Organizer: Bessel Kok Best European Chess Journalist: Leontxo Garcia Best European Chess Magazine: “New In Chess” Best European Movie: “The Chess Game” (1994, Director: Yves Hanchar, Starring: Denis Lavant, Pierre Richard, Catherine Deneuve) Best European Book (Fiction): Ruben David Gonzalez Gallego (“Chess”) The ceremony will be attended by the official representative of His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, adviser of His Serene Highness, the President of the World Olympians Association, President and Founder of Peace and Sport, President of the French Federation of Modern Pentathlon and Vice-President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne – Mr. Joel Bouzou; President of the European Chess Union Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili; Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili; the State Representatives of Monaco; FIDE President Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich; the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AiGroup Mr. Kakhaber Guledani and the representatives of the Georgian Industrial Holding AiGroup; officials of the ECU and FIDE Boards, Federations’ Presidents & Representatives, business, sports and art personalities. Besides the main Award Ceremony event and gala dinner, European Golden Pawn comprises also side events, such as a simultaneous chess exhibition by the legendary Garry Kasparov, with the participation of 15 kids and blitz game played between European Chess Legend prize Winner Garry Kasparov and Lifetime Achievement Winner Nona Gaprindashvili. Also, gala dinner and ceremony will be completed with music performances by Composer of the ECU anthem Nikoloz Rachveli; Carmen, Juga, Eliza Cipriani and Luca Condello and artists of NuArt. More about the European Golden Pawn The European Chess Union greatly desires for the award ceremony to be held in Monte-Carlo, in order to continue grand chess traditions and make this event a high scale and prestigious. In the very first year, the European Chess Union will give away its first special gift-medal and this prize will be awarded to His Serene Highness Albert II Prince of Monaco as chess is a royal game. Event Director: Basa PotskhishviliArt-director: Tamar PotskhishviliProduction: Studio 1,2,3What: Chess Award Ceremony – European Golden PawnWhere: Hotel de Paris. Monte-Carlo, MonacoWhen: 30 November. 20.00 AMOrganizers: European Chess Union/Monaco Chess Federation More about the Diamond Sponsor of the European Golden Pawn General Sponsor of the European Chess Union AiGroup The Georgian Industrial holding Aigroup brings together Aicar, Aienergy, Aipower and Aiproduction. Aigroup focuses on environmentally friendly projects and gives them priority. The mission of the company is sustainable development of green economy in Georgia. AiGroup – Tbilisi, 67 Tsknety Highway. Georgia / info@aigroup.ge / https://aigroup.ge/en
Official statement on WADA recommendations
Lausanne, November 28, 2019 Answering some queries we got in connection with WADA’s Compliance Review Committee recommendations that were made public on Monday, Nov 25th, we would like to state the following: 1. FIDE is an international sports organization, officially recognized by the IOC, and complies with all internationally recognized rules and regulations. 2. As noted in a WADA press release, “Where the right to host a major event in the four year period has already been awarded to Russia, the Signatory must withdraw that right and re-assign the event to another country, unless it is legally or practically impossible to do so”. FIDE officially confirms that the contracts for the Candidates 2020 and Chess Olympiad 2020 have already been signed. Given that only one application to organize the event was received in each case, we believe that both tournaments fall under the exception formulated by WADA. 3. Given that the final legally binding decision on this matter will be taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and that FIDE is not a party in these procedures, FIDE will refrain from other public comments or legal nature until a final decision is made. FIDE will always put the interest of chess and chess players above any other consideration, and we will continue working for the benefit of our sport.
Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz: Carlsen rules supreme
At the end of another exciting day of chess, Magnus Carlsen was crowned as the winner of the 2019 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. Despite starting the day under the weather, he scored 5.5 points in the final 9 blitz games, netting an impressive 27 total points. The World Champion surpassed his 26.5 point record from the Cote D’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz earlier this year. “It’s a big deal for me to have a good performance here. I haven’t played so well in rapid and blitz lately, and I think with this result, I showed I’m still the man to beat,” said Carlsen. Across the entire event, Magnus lost just two games; both in the blitz portion to Ding Liren. The World Blitz #1 Hikaru Nakamura maintained his ranking on top of the rating list with a solid performance today. He scored 5.5/9 points and finished in clear second place with 23 total points. Nakamura did not lose a single game in the 18 rounds of blitz. His only loss was to Carlsen in round 4 of the rapid portion. Hikaru proved why he’s still the top-rated blitz player in the world and took home $25,000 for his efforts. After another roller-coaster day for Vishy Anand, his hopes of qualifying for the GCT Finals came to an end. He fell just short of earning the 5 GCT points needed to pass Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the GCT Standings. Despite winning some games early in the day, Anand suffered a few heartbreaking losses. In Round 15 of blitz, he ran out of time with a winning position against Anish Giri; in the penultimate round, he lost to Magnus Carlsen in a chaotic game that could have gone either way. Levon Aronian had a very disappointing performance as he was struggling to find his form throughout the event and finished in the last place. GM Peter Svidler commented on the abysmal performance: “I don’t think I’ve seen him play this poorly in a blitz tournament in my life.” However, Aronian did perform well enough in previous GCT events this year to qualify for the finals. He will have just a few days to recover and find a better form. The four GCT finalists will be Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Ding Liren (China), Levon Aronian (Armenia), and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France). The GCT Finals will commence in just 6 days in London. The action can be followed with live commentary from GMs Peter Svidler, Alejandro Ramirez, Maurice Ashley, and WGM Jennifer Shahade from Monday, December 2 through Sunday, December 8.
“Together with the Candidates” wins 2018 FIDE Book of the Year
We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2018 FIDE Book of the Year, also known as the Averbakh/Boleslavsky Award in respect of these two giants of chess literature. GM Artur Jussupow presided over the three-man independent jury, which also included GM Nigel Short and the World’s oldest living grandmaster, Yuri Averbakh. They originally selected three titles for shortlisting: “The quality of the entire competition was very high. All three books in the final were so good that each book was the favorite of a juror! Nonetheless, we have a clear winner with one first and two-second preferences.” “On behalf of FIDE and the Trainers’ Commission, I would like to thank the jurors for giving up their time to go through the nominated books and select the shortlist and the winners”, added GM Jacob Aagaard, Chairman of FIDE’s Trainer’s Commission (TRG). WINNER:“Together with the Candidates”by Alexey KuzminPublished by Thinkers Publishinghttps://thinkerspublishing.com/product/alexey-kuzmin-together-with-the-candidates RUNNERS-UP: “The Complete Manual of Positional Chess”by Konstantin Sakaev and Konstantin Landa Published by New in Chesshttps://www.newinchess.com/the-complete-manual-of-positional-chess “Applying Logic in Chess”by Erik KislikPublished by Gambit Bookshttp://www.gambitbooks.com/books/Applying_Logic_in_Chess.html
Tata Rapid & Blitz: Carlsen loses to Ding, but still cruises
During 9 rounds of blitz, chess fans witnessed some dramatic and electrifying games. The tournament leader Magnus Carlsen continued to show his dominance over the field by scoring an impressive 6.5/9. This boosts his total score to 21.5 points and he maintains a 5 point lead over Hikaru Nakamura going into the final day. Magnus Carlsen Blitz score – 6.5 Total – 21.5 Best game: Anand – Carlsen (Round 8) World Chess Champion was not as invincible as in rapid part of the event, but still was by far the best player of the day. He won 5 games but was visibly perplexed when asked by a charming tournament reporter Tania Sachdev what was his best win. Carlsen mentioned that he was trying to play solid chess and succeeded in not making many serious mistakes. Winning against Anand on his home soil is always nice although Magnus admitted that Vishy could have made a draw a few times. Hikaru Nakamura Blitz score – 5.5 Total – 16.5 Best game: Nakamura – Carlsen (Round 3) Nakamura proved once again that his blitz skills are still almost impossible to match. He was the only one not to lose a single game throughout the day. Hikaru tried not to take any unnecessary risks, but it has nothing to do with his game against Carlsen, in which he did make the last brave attempt to start a real pursuit of the leader. Hikaru was very creative and sacrificed two central pawns to win time for a direct kingside attack. Although the World champion was quite pessimistic about his position during the game and even in the post-mortem, a beautiful draw with perpetual came as a logical outcome of this amazing duel. Ian Nepomniachtchi Blitz score – 5.5 Total – 12.5 Best game: Anand – Nepomniachtchi (Round 1) Best combination: Vidit – Nepomniachtchi (Round 3) The #2 in the FIDE blitz rating (after Nakamura, ahead of Carlsen) finally had some sleep in Kolkata started the day with all guns blazing. He won a very nice game with Black in a typical Sicilian endgame against Anand and came up with an excellent combo against Vidit. This game was far from perfect though as Vidit could have won exactly one move before he missed Ian’s amazing idea. Vidit – Nepomniachtchi 31…Qd1+ 32.Kg2 Ne3+! 33.fxe3 Rxb2+! 34.Nxb2 f3+ 35.Nxf3 Qxf3+ 0-1 A mediocre game against Carlsen somewhat slowed Ian down, but still, it was a much better day for him than Rounds 1-6 of rapid. Viswanathan Anand Blitz score – 4.5 Total – 12.5 Best game: Anand – So (Round 4) Anand needs to finish in top 6 to qualify for Grand Chess Tour finals in London and with his sound play, he seems to be on the right course. Vishy lost two games with white pieces when his opponents were playing amazing chess but created a masterpiece of his own in the encounter with So. The tournament commentator, quick-witted Peter Svidler mentioned that he would have been proud to play such a game in classical chess. Wesley So Blitz score – 4.5 Total – 13.5 The Fischer Random Champion had an uneventful day. His only win came when Giri lost on time in a winning position. So definitely needs to pick up some steam tomorrow if he wants to retain his third place in overall standings. Ding Liren Blitz score – 4.5 Total – 12.5 Best game: Carlsen – Ding Liren (Round 5) It would have been an event to forget for Ding if not for the game against Magnus Carlsen. Over the course of four days, Ding is the only one to outplay Magnus and he did it with Black. The moves 19…Kf7 and 27…f3 played in this game usually make any chess player feel good about himself. Anish Giri Blitz score – 4 Total – 13 Giri had a mediocre day in the office. His game against Aronian was thrilling, but despite a positive outcome, the ending was kind of disappointing – first Anish blundered a piece, but out-of-form Aronian blundered a rook in response. After a drama in the duel with So (Anish run out of time in a winning endgame) he was probably looking for the day to end. Pentala Harikrishna Blitz score – 4 Total – 12 It’s tough to keep your head above the water against such a line-up but the more experienced of two Indian wild cards managed to do it most of the time. He capitalized on his opponents’ hiccups twice and finished the day with respectable 4/9. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi Blitz score – 4 Total – 10 Best game: Ding Liren – Vidit (Round 2) The young Indian is doing much better in blitz, comparing to the rapid part of the tournament. In Round 2 he had his first win of the event beating Ding with Black. He easily refuted premature 10.d5, got a better game and slowly ground Chinese GM down. 4/9 scored against such opponents is not too shabby. Levon Aronian Blitz score – 2 Total – 11 Let’s just say that Levon needs to forget November 25, 2019, as soon as possible. Hopefully, he will rebound tomorrow. Combined rapid and blitz Day 1 standings: Photo: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour) Official site
Alexei Shirov wins Spanish Championship
For the period of November 16-24, 2019, Marbella hosted the Spanish Championship, one of the strongest in the history of the country. As many as 142 players (both men and women) took part in this 9-round Swiss system tournament fighting for the titles of Spanish Champion and Spanish Women’s Champion. The event also served as a qualifying stage for representing Spain at the European Team Championship. The first move in the tournament was ceremoniously made by none other than twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov, who visited the Championship as an honored guest. The competition was so close and intense, that despite relatively long tournament distance at no point the event had a sole leader. Before the last round, as many as fourteen players vied for the title including rating favorites Francisco Vallejo Pons (2694), David Antón (2686) and Alexei Shirov (2666). In the final round, the leaders GMs Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez and Ivan Salgado Lopez who were a half-point ahead of a big group of players quickly drew their game, giving the pursuers an opportunity to catch up with them. In such a situation, a massive tie for the first is more than likely and that is exactly what happened – seven players finished scoring 7 points each with Alexei Shirov taking the title thanks to better tiebreaks. Sabrina Vega Gutiérrez notched 5.5 points and took the title of Spanish Women’s Champion. Final standings: 1. Alexei Shirov – 7/92. Iván Salgado López – 7/93. David Antón – 7/94. José Carlos Ibarra Jerez – 7/95. Francisco Vallejo Pons – 7/96. Manuel Pérez – 7/97. Jaime Santos Latasa – 7/98. Miguel Santos Ruis – 6½ /99. David Larino Nieto – 6½ /910. Jose Fernando Cuenca – 6½ /9
FIDE statement on the recent misleading reports
UPDATE: On Aug 4, 2021, FIDE and World Chess have signed an agreement that regulates operations of FIDE Online Arena. FIDE Online Arena is the exclusive official FIDE gaming platform, FOA ratings and titles are recognized by FIDE and are included in the players’ FIDE profile. FIDE Online Arena regulations form part of the FIDE Handbook and can be found at https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B11FOARatingRegulations More information on chessarena.com Lausanne, November 25, 2019 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has noted a number of publications over the past few days regarding the planned “hybrid IPO” to be launched by the company World Chess. Some of these publications contain a number of misleading facts that require clarification from our side: 1. FIDE holds all the organizing and broadcasting rights for the World Championship Match. The company World Chess does not have either the rights to organize the Match, or to exclusively broadcast it on their platform. World Chess is an organizer of the Grand Prix Series 2019 and similar Series in 2021 – but these are the only official FIDE events this company organizes. 2. FIDE Online Arena was created under the management of private investors according to the agreement with the previous FIDE administration in 2014, without any tender or similar transparent procedure. Later on, World Chess has acquired these rights, and, as approved by the previous administration, it uses the platform to provide online ratings and titles. However, FIDE has no intention to use neither the platform nor its titles and ratings for any official events before conducting a proper examination of the matter and ensuring the proper functioning of the platform. 3. Until the end of 2018, World Chess had the rights for conducting major official events – like the World Championship Match, Candidates Tournament, etc. However, effective January 2019, this partnership has been drastically scaled-down. At present, only FIDE has the rights to organize the World Championship Match — the only event where the World Champion title is contested and awarded. All the related rights of World Chess are fully described in the joint press release of the parties dated January 2019. We would also like to emphasize that World Chess is a private company, and it should not be mixed up with FIDE, the International Chess Federation. With headquarters in Lausanne, and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Global Association of Sports Federations (GAISF), FIDE is the governing body of the game of chess, and regulates the international chess competitions and titles. FIDE is going to announce the venue of the World Championship Match-2020 within two weeks, and we are devising sponsorship and broadcasting packages, that will be offered to our partners.
Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz: Carlsen extends his lead
The rapid portion of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz concluded on day 3 with reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen extending his lead even further over the competition. The National Library of Kolkata filled up with chess fans this Sunday afternoon as the day commenced with Magnus Carlsen squaring off against Viswanathan Anand. This was their first encounter on Indian soil since the 2013 World Championship Match, in which the Carlsen dismantled Anand for the coveted world title. Round 7 The battle of champions between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand became a jewel of the 7th round. Somewhat unexpectedly, Anand opted for a very sharp line and tried to fight for the initiative from the very start. He sacrificed his h6-pawn then an exchange to keep the white king in the center. It is unclear whether this plan could have worked or not but 19…Re8, allowing the king to escape through f2 was definitely a mistake. Carlsen counterattacked in the center, activated his queen and won quite quickly increasing the gap from the whole crew to 4 points. Ian Nepomniachtchi chose the Scotch versus Vidit Gujharhi trying to turn the tide in a yet disastrous tournament. Once again, the Indian wild card was doing fine until the complex endgame. Even after winning a pawn Ian wasn’t in full command as Black queen was active and dangerous. Unluckily for Vidit, he completely missed Nepo’s idea of returning a pawn to force the queen’s exchange and secure a dominating c5-position for his knight. Commentators immediately pointed out that this endgame was hopeless for Black, and the course of the game proved that they were right. Nepomniachtchi won but remained at the bottom of the leaderboard. Aronian – So and Nakamura – Ding Liren were two Ruy Lopez games (the first one actually was Berlin Defense) where Black eventually equalized and forced massive exchanges. Anish Giri had an overwhelming advantage in the form of two extra pawns the endgame against Pentala Harikrishna but somehow let a victory slip away. Round 8 Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So began the day tied for second place and faced off in Round 8. The all-American matchup produced the only victory of the round as Nakamura displayed some brilliant technique. So misplayed an opening a bit and despite having white pieces immediately got a slightly worse ending. It looked like he never was in real danger, but these pesky bishops kept putting So under pressure. Finally, he made a few mistakes and fell apart. This result seriously damages So’s chances of qualifying for the GCT Finals in London. Harikrishna and Carlsen played a very interesting game in the Exchange variation of Slav Defense. In the position with highly unorthodox pawn structure Carlsen once again gradually outplayed his opponent and transposed into a rook endgame that was winning for Black. Harikrishna kept looking for chances and his efforts eventually paid off. The World Champion finally made a few human moves that were not that precise and allowed Harikrishna to escape. The outcome of the game looked like a miracle at this stage of the tournament. Right from the opening Ding Liren – Giri game went into an endgame slightly better for White. Ding seemingly had some possibilities to strive for more, but a draw was definitely a logical outcome. An all-Indian duel Vidit – Anand was an uneventful draw, but it was still much longer game then Nepo – Aronian in which the Russian GM didn’t get anything going and offered a draw on move 13. Round 9 The ninth and final rapid round saw a lot of fighting chess. Magnus Carlsen delivered yet another win, taking down Ding Liren. Levon Aronian defeated Vidit and increased his already great chances of qualifying for the GCT Finals in London. Meanwhile, Anand hiccupped as he failed to convert a winning position against one of two local wildcards Harikrishna. In order to qualify for the GCT Finals Anand needs to finish in clear 6th place or better to overtake Maxime Vachier Lagrave in the overall GCT standings. Play will resume tomorrow at 2 PM Kolkata time (GMT +5:30) with the first 9 games of blitz. Standings after Round 9 Photo: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour) Official site