London will host the 2019 Grand Chess Tour Finals
The fifth edition of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) will culminate at the beginning of December in Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, London. The Tour Finals will be the part of the 11th London Chess Classic (November 29 – December 8) alongside the other festival events. The schedule of the GCT fifth season includes two classical (Zagreb and Sinquefield Cup) and five rapid and blitz tournaments. Twelve GCT-2019 participants play in both classical events and in three of the five rapid and blitz tournaments. The four top-scoring players will square off in London in two semi-finals and the final/3rd place play-off matches. Each match will consist of classical, rapid and blitz games and will see the players competing for an enhanced prize fund which totals USD 350,000 this year. The prize fund will be split amongst the four finalists as follows: 1st Place: USD 150,0002nd Place: USD 100,0003rd Place: USD 60,0004th Place: USD 40,000Total Prize Fund: USD 350,000 With two rapid and blitz tournaments to go (Bucharest, November 4-11 and Kolkata, November 20-27) World Champion Magnus Carlsen (54.5 points) leads the 2019 Grand Chess Tour standings and has already qualified for the Tour Finals. Ding Liren (37.8 points), who is currently second, has very good chances of making a trip to London. Most likely, the Chinese GM will improve his tally picking up some points in one of two remaining tournaments. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (36.8 points) occupies the third position the standings, but it is his final score after five events. In a large group of other potential semi-finalists Levon Aronian (25.5 points), Vishy Anand (24 points) and Wesley So (23.5 points) stand out from competitors as they have two more tournaments to play. (Image: Grand Chess Tour) The schedule for the GCT Finals:Dec 2: Semi-Final – Classical Game 1Dec 3: Semi-Final – Classical Game 2Dec 4: Semi-Final – Rapid & Blitz GamesDec 5: Corporate Day – Pro-Biz CupDec 6: Finals and match for 3rd place – Classical Game 1Dec 7: Finals and match for 3rd place – Classical Game 2Dec 8: Finals and match for 3rd place – Rapid & Blitz GamesDec 9: Prize Giving and Charity Dinner for Chess in Schools & Communities Charity Each match will consist of 2 classical games, 2 rapid games and 4 blitz games with points allocated to each game within the respective matches as follows: 6 points for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 2 Classic games.4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 2 Rapid games; and2 point for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 4 Blitz games. If tie-breaks are required, they will be contested over two rapid games followed by an Armageddon game if required.
Arkady Dvorkovich: “The real evaluation shall be made by the chess world”
During the first week of October, on the occasion of the first anniversary of Arkady Dvorkovich as FIDE President, we invited some representatives of the media to send questions to him. The result of this joint-interview offers some insight into the work of the new FIDE management along the past 365 days. Q: At the end of the first year of your work, which of your achievements would you list among the most important ones? I would say that the main achievement is the obvious change of attitude from the chess community, professionals and federations towards FIDE and our activities. This can be sensed from the meetings, the responses, the many suggestions we receive… This trust in FIDE management shall be used wisely for the benefit of chess. In particular, I would like to point out the following: – The successful organization of the top-level tournaments during this year: The World Rapid and Blitz, the World Cup, the Women’s Candidates tournament, several stages of the Grand Prix… We also reinstated the Women’s Grand Prix, and the first leg, played in Skolkovo, was a great success. The Grand Swiss is in full swing on the Isle of Man, and since we know the work done in previous editions by the organizers, we are sure it will be a fantastic event as well [this interview was conducted right before the start of this event]. – We regained rights over our flagship events, the FIDE World Championship cycle. This is of paramount importance in order to attract sponsors and to showcase the game of chess in the eyes of a global audience. – We implemented massive programs for chess development. About 50% of national Federations are developing such programs with our assistance, and the volume of this support has increased several-fold compared to previous years. – The internal FIDE organization. We built a new team with dozens of members, including full time, temporary employees, and volunteers. Of course, for this staff to perform like clockwork will still need some more time, but the team is already showing its determination and efficiency. Some other challenges, like agreements with sponsors and partners, are long term goals, but we have already taken some promising steps. We commissioned global marketing research to Nielsen, and the results of this research have us now in a position to talk to sponsors with a clear focus. We have established positive cooperation with the giant, Coca-Cola, and that speaks volumes. Many potential partners have started a dialogue with us, and we are now fully immersed in the sponsorship recruitment phase. Q: Which of your campaign promises would you consider fulfilled? The reform of the Women’s World Championship cycle, which has been unified similarly to that of men. It is a consistent system that includes World Cup, Grand Prix, Candidate’s tournament and the title match. The prize fund has also been increased significantly. I believe it is important that the Grand Prix system is now back; its absence in recent years felt like an omission. By the way, should be there more women’s round-robin tournaments in the future calendar, the system might be replaced by knockout competitions, following men’s pattern. We don’t have Women Grand Swiss currently, but we are working on it and I hope that we will be able to add it to the calendar. The agenda of the General Assembly to be held in December includes a suggestion to make a major reduction of the FIDE fees. This one may have come later than we expected but it has been done finally. The packages are aimed at all countries and various social groups. FIDE veterans’ fees have been cancelled already, while we also allocated an additional €50.000 to support senior chess players [€20.000 as stipends, and €30.000 to reinforce the prize structure of the Senior World Championships]. Veterans, kids, and developing countries benefit the most from these decisions. Q: What were the mistakes made during this year? There are always certain mistakes in organizing tournaments and hosting events. We are putting in place a reporting system after each event, as a routine, in order to make sure that these mistakes are not repeated. It is really important for us to listen to criticism and we are doing our best to address all concerns. The World Fischer Random Chess Championship deserved somewhat more attention probably. On the whole, and speaking in chess terms, I would say that all mistakes were about tactics, not strategy. Q: How would you rate yourself after this first year? Would you like to specifically praise anybody based on his/her performance? I’d prefer not to praise anyone in particular because this is teamwork, and every member who has contributed to the implementation of our projects has my gratitude. As for my own self-evaluation, I have certainly made one, but rather for myself – not for public consumption. The real evaluation shall be made by the chess world and FIDE stakeholders. If the delegates support my suggestions regarding the new FIDE Charter, the budget and fees reduction at the General Assembly, then I would rate my activity as successful. Q: One of the first sports executives who congratulated you for your election in Batumi was Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA. Do you think that chess can experience in the next decades a boom comparable to that of football in the 20th century? I do not think that our beloved game of chess should be compared with the beautiful game of football. Our world needs both. To make chess a really universal game, FIDE should focus on two priorities: bringing chess to schools as one of the best possible tools to improve the intellectual capabilities of our kids, and expanding online chess playing and training. On top of that, finding ways to make chess interesting to watch is critical for success. And I am sure that new technologies would allow us to do so. Q: Before you got elected you promised strong cooperation with FIFA. What has materialized out of this in the first year? Any material collaboration requires proper preparation. While I am confident that