World Cup: White dominates in the round of 16
The contest resumed after a day off at the Ugra Chess Academy on September 20. Curiously, all victories of the day were achieved with White. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Peter Svidler. White got a comfortable game in the opening and won a pawn in the middlegame. Approaching the control move, Black, being in a difficult position, sacrificed a piece but did not manage to get any compensation, as Vachier-Lagrave found the most accurate defensive moves. The Russian GM resigned on the 42nd move. Jan-Krzysztof Duda had White against Jeffrey Xiong. Soon after the opening, the Pole captured a poisoned pawn, missing a strong reply from his opponent, and ended up an exchange down. However, in the subsequent play, the American first allowed White to achieve dynamic equality and then tripped up on the 34th move. Duda capitalized on it with an impressive pawn thrust 35.e5, got an overwhelming advantage and won the game. “Obviously, I am playing very good here. So far, I have 100% with White pieces. Usually, I play with White in the first game and then manage a draw or an even better result in the second,” commented Jan-Krzysztof after the game. Nikita Vitiugov outplayed Welsey So in an attractive positional style. The Russian GM was slowly increasing the pressure and ended up with a dangerous passed pawn on b7. Black managed to block the pawn, but it cost him two of his own. So defended tenaciously, but on the 58th move his king got caught into a mating net. Black resigned on the 60th move. In the longest game of the day, Alexander Grischuk defeated Lenier Dominguez. The Russian GM gained the upper hand in a dry ending with rooks and opposite-colored bishops and won a pawn. Black retained good drawing chances after the rooks were exchanged, however, being under the strong time pressure, Dominguez committed a fatal mistake and lost the battle. Four encounters – Le Quang Liem – Aronian, Mamedyarov – Radjabov, Nepomniachtchi – Yu Yangyi, and Ding Liren – Alekseenko – ended peacefully. The return games with the colors reversed will be played on Saturday, September 21. Results: Ding Liren – Alekseenko: 1/2 Duda – Xiong: 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave – Svidler: 1-0 Vitiugov – So: 1-0 Nepomniachtchi – Yu Yangyi: 1/2 Le Quang Liem – Aronian: 1/2 Mamedyarov – Radjabov: 1/2 Grischuk – Dominguez: 1-0 Photos Videos The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. Official website: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/ General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC.Official airline – Utair.Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft.FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”.General media partner – News Agency TASS.Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRC “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru News of Ugra regional newspaper, AIF-Ugra newspaper.
Presidential Board in Budapest: Key decisions
List of the main decisions taken at the 2019 Third Quarter Presidential Board meeting in Budapest (7-8 September): 1) The joint bid of Shanghai (China) and Vladivostok (Russia) to hold Women’s World Championship match in January of 2020 has been approved. Thanks to the consolidated effort of two cities the guaranteed prize fund of the match reached €500,000 (2.5 times as much comparing to the previous classical World Championship match in the spring of 2018). The match will be played in both participants’ native countries, thus ensuring full equality for the opponents. 2) The bid of Yekaterinburg (Russia) to hold FIDE Candidates Tournament in the spring of 2020 has been approved. Yekaterinburg is known for its long chess traditions – it is sufficient to recall that in 2006 the city hosted the knockout Women’s World Championship; the local team has won the European Chess Club Cup. FIDE expects the highest level of organization of the upcoming event. 3) The deadline for submission of bids to hold the World Championship match has been extended to November 1, 2019. We reaffirm that several potential organizers are showing strong interest to host the match, although for some operational reasons the formal bids are yet to be submitted. We are confident that the extended period of bids submission will help up us to provide the best conditions for the participants of the upcoming match. FIDE is aiming to take the match to an entirely new level – both in terms of its organization and global visibility, as well as from a financial standpoint. 4) The Presidential Board has adopted new revolutionary rules for the FIDE World Cup 2021. Under the new rules, the number of participants will be substantially increased from 128 to 206 players which will make the event more representative and enhance overall interest to chess. Dozens of federations will get a chance to nominate their best players – and that is for the first time in history. All extra expenses will be covered by FIDE. 5) After considering the suggestions to reduce fees, FIDE Presidential Board recommended submitting for approval by General Assembly a substantial reduction in fees, including: 40% reduction on youth competitions fees; waiving all veteran fees; waiving all fees for the developing countries (levels 4-5); 50% reduction for level 3 countries; a quota for additional 30% tournaments to be rated for free (countries level 1-2). We consider such a substantial reduction as the fulfillment of the obligations we had committed to during the electoral campaign. 6) The Presidential Board essentially approved the draft of a new FIDE Charter developed by the Task Force and requested to finalize it by incorporating the comments made at the meeting. This project is aimed to improve FIDE’s functioning in the current context given all the modern managerial challenges. Needless to say that FIDE is open to all constructive suggestions and comments from National Federations, which keep coming. 7) To implement FIDE’s fee reduction and to adopt new FIDE Charter as soon as possible, the Presidential Board decided to hold an unscheduled FIDE Assembly later this year. All the related materials will be published in strict conformity to the Statutes, no later than a month before the start of the Assembly. Official documents: List of Q3 2019 Presidential Board Decisions FIDE Resolution on Financial Regulations
List of Q3 2019 Presidential Board Decisions
LIST OF Q3 2019 PRESIDENTIAL BOARD DECISIONS Q3PB-2019/01 To call an Extraordinary GA and Executive Board in the second half of December 2019. Q3PB-2019/02 To encourage the CCA and NCF to propose a longer term (up to three years) development plan within their jurisdictions. Q3PB-2019/03 To approve a motion of non-disclosure related to the 2014-2018 Forensic Audit. Q3PB-2019/04 To approve the bid of Yekaterinburg (RUS) to organize the 2020 Candidates’ Tournament. Q3PB-2019/05 To extend a bid deadline for the 2020 World Chess Championship Match until November 1, 2019. Q3PB-2019/06 To approve a split venue – Shanghai (China) and Vladivostok (Russia) – for the 2020 Women World Championship Match. The event will be organized in January 2020. Q3PB-2019/07 To confirm а filing of a report to the Ethics Commission in a so-called Morgunov case on behalf of the Board. To investigate ethical incidents reported by the President and to confirm the authority of the FIDE President to sign all necessary documents in this regard on behalf of the Board, including the subsequent filing of a report to the Ethics Commission. Q3PB-2019/08 To consider a ban on smoking in FIDE tournaments. Q3PB-2019/9 To approve holding consultations with EXPO 2020 organizers in Dubai regarding hosting one of the FIDE events at EXPO facilities. Q3PB-2019/10 The Board approved the regulations of the World Cup 2021, conditional on the confirmation of the Belarus Government for the proposed changes, regarding final dates and length of the event. Q3PB-2019/11 To approve the Euro as the main currency for the FIDE tournaments from 2022. Q3PB-2019/12 To instruct the Task Group headed by the FIDE Constitutional Commission Chairman Mr. Roberto Rivello to summarize and consider all the suggested amendments by the end of October 2019. Q3PB-2019/13 To approve a resolution on fee reduction that builds upon the Q2PB decision taken in Baku. Q3PB-2019/14 To approve the federation name change from FYROM to North Macedonia. Q3PB-2019/15 To ask the Constitutional Commission to review the membership status of Netherlands Antilles. Q3PB-2019/16 To continue monitoring the situation in the Ivory Coast CF until the local elections are over. Q3PB-2019/17 To approve an agreement with SILA International Lawyers. Q3PB-2019/18 To study further a possibility of organizing the World Club Cup. Q3PB-2019/19 To approve the following members of the panel for the Gligoric Fair Play Award, as proposed by its Chairman Mahir Mamedov: GM Judith Polgar and GM Eugenio Torre. Q3PB-2019/20 To approve new QC titles. Q3PB-2019/21 To note that a work of Arbiters’ Commission, Rules Commission and Technical Commission requires a serious improvement. To acknowledge that a report of the Technical Commission was poorly structured and a report of the Rules Commission did not contain proposals on a number of topical issues. To call upon all Commission Chairmen to present their reports and annexes in a clear way. Q3PB-2019/22 To approve new ARB titles. Q3PB-2019/23 To draw the ARB Chairman’s attention to such crucial areas as arbiter training, retraining, recertification and nomination. Q3PB-2019/24 To demand the ARB Chairman to produce by October 01, 2019 pools of arbiters to assist GSC in choosing arbiters for FIDE major events scheduled for the next few months based on evaluation criteria reported on Board meeting. Q3PB-2019/25 To demand the Arbiters’ Commission to establish a comprehensive system of arbiter retraining and recertification based on successful initiatives already tested by continents and national federations. Q3PB-2019/26 To organize training events in all continents and large FIDE zones in order to guarantee high quality of arbiters that will serve in the 2020 and the 2022 Olympiads. Q3PB-2019/27 To approve new TRG titles. To invite eligible voters to cast their votes for nominees for five FIDE Trainer Awards 2018. Q3PB-2019/28 To approve new EVE titles. Q3PB-2019/29 To acknowledge qualified bids for the 2021 World Amateur 2021, World Seniors and 2021 World Senior Team Championships from Russia, Germany, Malta and Italy. To instruct EVE to follow up with the regular inspection process. Q3PB-2019/30 To approve a request from the Medical Commission concerning details of emergency medical response protocols (including personnel). Q3PB-2019/31 To ask the GDPR Committee to report on the actions necessary in order to ensure FIDE compliance with the GDPR. Q3PB-2019/32 To delay any decision on Grenada membership until more information on the setup of the federation is provided. Q3PB-2019/33 To approve new Legal Regulations concerning the FIDE Moscow office. Q3PB-2019/34 To not approve the proposals of the Fair Play Commission that sought to establish a new, parallel, system of titles for Anti-Cheating Officers, Lecturers and Experts. Q3PB-2019/35 To acknowledge that the Czech Chess Federation expelled Mr. Igors Rausis. To remove Mr. Rausis’s affiliation from the FIDE rating list once the Czech Chess Federation submits all documents that were pertinent to its decision. Q3PB-2019/36 To approve in principle the regulations for the 2024 Olympiad. After minor adjustments are made, to open a bidding procedure in October 2019.
WGP: Ju Wenjun wins again, Humpy Koneru stays in the race
After the 8th round, the first leg of the Women’s Grand Prix in Skolkovo is starting to feel like a two women race: both Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru won, and they are 1½ and 1 point ahead of the rest of the field respectively. The clash between the current World Champion Ju Wenjun and the former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk was won by the Chinese player. Ju came out of the Catalan opening with a slight advantage and improved her position with caution. When given a chance to take the game to a rook endgame with a better pawn structure, she went for it without hesitation. The Ju Wenjun demonstrated excellent technique, getting a passed pawn and avoiding any counterplay from her opponent. She achieved her third victory in a row, raising her score to 6½ out of 8 games. Humpy Koneru also won her game, with black pieces, inflicting Elisabeth Paehtz her first defeat in this tournament. Humpy once again played the Petroff Defence, and after an inaccuracy by Paehtz, she got a better endgame and converted her advantage into a full point. With this victory, the Indian record holder manages to keep the pace with the tournament leader, and will probably maintain the excitement until the last moment, since she will play Ju Wenjun in the last round. The third one in the standings is Aleksandra Goryachkina, with 5 out of 8, a full point behind Koneru and 1½ behind Ju. Goryachkina went for a standard Variation of the King’s Indian Defense against Alina Kashlinskaya. The position was double-edged: Kashlinskaya launched a pawn attack on the kingside; however, Goryachkina came up with an effective way to gain space advantage on the other side. The opponents settle for a draw after a threefold repetition on the move 40. Two players, namely Valentina Gunina and Pia Cramling managed to put themselves together and come back after having suffered several defeats in a row. Gunina, who had capitulated in seventh and eighth rounds, played Bishop’s Opening with white pieces against Kateryna Lagno. The game came down to a rook endgame in which White had an extra pawn, but with accurate play, it should have probably been a draw. However, Lagno made some dubious moves by her rook and found herself in a losing position. It took Pia Cramling 50 moves to take down Marie Sebag. The French Grandmaster played Slav Defence with black pieces but somehow allowed Pia Cramling to grasp the initiative. This time around, the Swedish legend displayed her proverbial excellent technique and converted her advantage into a flawless victory. The Ragozin was played in the game between former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova and Harika Dronavalli. Stefanova started a kingside attack with g4 but Harika countered this aggression by opening up the center and targeting white’s king on e1. However, Stefanova found a rook sacrifice that allowed her to seal the draw with a perpetual check. Standings after 8 rounds:1. Ju Wenjun – 6.5; 2. Humpy Koneru – 6; 3. Alexandra Goryachkina – 5; 4-5. Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina – 4.5; 6-7. Elisabeth Paehtz, Harika Dronavalli – 4; 8. Alexandra Kosteniuk – 3.5 9-12. Marie Sebag, Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya, Pia Cramling – 2.5. The 9th round games will be played on September 20, at 3 pm local time (GMT +3). Spectators can follow the games with English and Russian commentaries: www.youtube.com/fidechannel Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.com