FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg: Duda advances into the final
Having concluded the classical leg of their semi-final match at the Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix with two draws, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Daniil Dubov had to fight it out once again on Wednesday to determine a winner who will meet Alexander Grischuk in the final. The modus of the tiebreak at the FIDE Grand Prix demands two rapid games with the time control of 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment as the first step. Game 1 saw Duda playing with white pieces. The reaction to his 1.e4 was the Kalashnikov variation of the Sicilian Defence. Dubov chose a sideline and played much faster than his opponent. Before move 20, the players had exchanged queens and several minor pieces to reach an equal endgame with a rook and a light-squared bishop respectively. But while the position looked stable, Dubov stirred things up by offering a pawn on his twenty-fourth move. Perhaps, it was best for Duda to avoid taking the pawn, but he decided to take the risk. In turn, the black forces immediately sprang into action. A passed pawn soon appeared on the ‘e’ file, and the active black pieces fully backed up its advance. Duda struggled to keep this pawn under control and ended up resigning on the 54th move. The Polish GM needed a win in the second game to level the score. With the black pieces, he opted for the Modern Defence and got an unbalanced position. In contrast to the first game, the players reached a closed setup in the middlegame which gave Duda chances to fight for the win. Dubov used his space advantage to launch a kingside attack, whereas Duda obtained a long-lasting edge on the other side of the board. The position soon became very complex, and with time running down both grandmasters failed to find the best continuations. After a bit more than 40 moves, time-trouble was making an even bigger impact on the evaluation of the position. First, Duda reached a winning position, but an oversight on his part allowed an equal rook endgame. Then, it was Dubov’s turn to blunder. He permitted the black king to penetrate into his camp and to get to his key b2-pawn. Dubov’s loss meant that the tiebreak was to continue. Another mini-match of two further rapid games with an even faster time control of 10 minutes + 10 seconds soon began. The first game was a short and painless affair. Dubov offered a draw after only twelve moves, and Duda accepted it. The second game, however, was a completely different story. Duda chose the Torre Attack and went out for the K.O. For the most part, the Polish grandmaster had the upper hand but Dubov, again, was playing faster. At some point, Daniil silently offered a draw by repetition, but Jan-Krzysztof was resolved to continue the fight. With only two minutes on the clock, Duda managed to force a better rook endgame and finally overcame the resistance of his opponent. Semi-final, tiebreak results:Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Daniil Dubov 2,5-1,5 Modus for the tiebreak:Two 25+10 rapid games are played. If still tied, there are two 10+10 games, then two 5+3. Finally, a single Armageddon game is played, where White has 5 minutes to Black’s 4 (with a 2-second increment from move 61), but Black wins the match with a draw Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Georgios Souleidis Official Photographer: Valeria Gordienko World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press via the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerPella Sietas Shipyard as Official PartnerPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
Judit Polgar inspires ‘Chess and Female Empowerment’ conference
The strongest female chess player of all time, Judit Polgar, will be the inspirational headline speaker at the 7th London Chess and Education Conference (November 30-December 1, at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith). The conference, a regular feature of the festival of events during the London Chess Classic, will feature a stellar line-up of expert speakers from around the world and focus on the ground-breaking theme ‘Chess and Female Empowerment.’ Conference participants from up to 40 countries, including female and male chess players, educators and organisers, are expected to offer insights on how to improve the gender balance in chess and examine initiatives to make the game more welcoming and accessible to women and girls at all levels. Judit, an Honorary FIDE Vice-President, will relate how her experiences – breaking through to the world top 10 while overcoming obstacles to female participation in professional chess, and promoting chess for all in her home country of Hungary and around the world – can inspire new generations of female players to excel and compete on equal terms with their male counterparts. Other keynote speakers at the conference will include US Chess Federation Executive Director Carol Meyer and Grandmaster Viktorija Cmylite-Nielsen, a former professional chess player who is now a leading politician in Lithuania. The conference will reach a fitting conclusion with Judit Polgar leading a wide-ranging roundtable discussion, “A Century of Women´s Chess: What Have We Learned?” on Sunday, 1st December. Speakers from the UK will include England’s top female professional chess player, IM and WGM Jovanka Houska, the renowned chess writer and investigative journalist Sarah Hurst, leading chess educators Sarah Kett and Samantha Ali, of charity Chess in Schools and Communities, and Chris Fegan, Director of Women’s Chess for the English Chess Federation. Roundtables and workshops will include: * Creating a safe and welcome environment for women * Successful women who have played chess* How can girls be encouraged to excel at chess?* How to make chess more accessible to women* Challenges for female chess officials* Lessons from other sports Underlining the conference’s important role in promoting women and girls in chess will be the presentation of two brand new surveys on women and girls in chess – a statistical analysis of numbers of women and girls in national chess federations by the European Chess Union, and a study conducted through the US Chess Federation, with qualitative insights into chess and gender issues. A third study of online chess games in the Netherlands will provide details of how girls and boys compare. An extra highlight will be a Q&A discussion during the Saturday lunch break featuring leading chess author Jonathan Rowson, an acclaimed expert in applied philosophy, who will be sharing insights from his new book, “The Moves That Matter: A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life” in conversation with Guardian journalist Stephen Moss. The fee to attend the London Chess and Education Conference: ‘Chess and Female Empowerment’ is £65 for one day and £95 for two days. Participants of the London Chess Classic Open or Weekender events can take part on both days with a one-day-ticket. Tickets can be bought directly here. The 7th London Chess and Education Conference takes place at the Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black’s Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9DT from 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM on Saturday, November 30 and 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM on Sunday 1st December. It is organized by ChessPlus and sponsored by FIDE, the European Chess Union, leading UK chess and education charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC), the London Chess Classic and the ECF. Official site: www.londonchessclassic.com