Gibraltar Masters 2020: Esipenko leads halfway through
One of the best open tournaments in the world, Gibraltar International Chess Festival is underway in the British Overseas Territory. The festival includes several tournaments in three sections, running January 22-30: Masters, Challengers and Amateurs. More than 500 players are taking part this year. In the Masters tournament, Andrey Esipenko (Russia, #6 in the juniors rating list) emerged as the sole leader with an excellent score 5½ out of 6 points after beating Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria) with black pieces on the first board in Round 6. Mikhail Antipov (Russia), Wang Hao (China), Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran, #3 in the juniors rating list), David Paravyan (Russia), Mikhail Kobalia (Russia), Indian wunderkind Praggnanandhaa R (who knocked over Veselin Topalov in Round 6) and Alan Pichot (Argentina) are trailing by a half-point. A large group of players, that includes Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Michael Adams (England), Krishnan Sasikiran and Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) among others is on 4½. GM Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia) who also belongs to this large group mentioned above is leading the women’s field. With 4 out of 6 points Nataliya Buksa (Ukraine), Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan), Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) and Natalija Pogonina (Russia) are also in the contest for the top women’s prize (£20,000). With four rounds to go, the event is still wide open. As it is often the case in Gibraltar, most likely the winner will be determined in the last round. Official site: https://www.gibchess.com/Photo: John Saunders and Niki Riga Top 10 after 6 rounds: 1. Andrey Esipenko – 5½ 2. Mikhail Antipov – 5 3. Wang Hao – 54. Parham Maghsoodloo – 55. David Paravyan – 56. Mikhail Kobalia – 57. Praggnanandhaa R – 58. Alan Pichot – 59. Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez – 4½10. Ivan Cheparinov – 4½
Marking the centennial of Lim Kok Ann’s birth
(Photo: Singapore Chess: A History 1945-1990) On January 27, 2020, Lim Kok Ann, a chess player from Singapore, the General Secretary of FIDE from 1982 untill 1988 would have celebrated his 100 anniversary. Lim Kok Ann is called one of the “Fathers of Asian chess” and rightly so. For more than 50 years Lim Kok Ann relentlessly promoted chess in his native Singapore and the entire Asian continent. Having started with organizing the first chess championship in the history of Singapore back in 1949, he was gradually fulfilling his dream which he formulated as “a chessboard in every Singapore house”. When more than forty years later Singapore team debuted at Chess Olympiad, it had three IMs in its line-up. Lim Kok Ann won the first Singapore championship and then took the title two more times in 1960 and 1968. (Photo: https://qcdchess.com) Lim Kok Ann‘s achievements did not go unnoticed in the chess community – as a result, Florencio Compamanes appointed him the General Secretary of FIDE in 1982. Lim Kok Ann served in this position for six years, till 1988. None other than Lim Kok Ann created and published FIDE Handbook (you can find the current version on our site), which became his most important work. One of the areas the professor focused on was a well-known fifty-move rule. Despite his advanced age and status, Lim Kok Ann was no alien to spontaneous decisions sometimes – having made his mind to move to Switzerland to work for FIDE he simply asked his wife to pack their bags. Not many people in the world of chess know about another side of Lim Kok Ann’s life. He was awarded the title of professor for his achievements in medicine. Back in 1957, a talented scientist, he revealed and isolated the virus which causes Asian flu. He has worked beside future Nobel prize winners in the research laboratories all around the world, and later on, became the Dean of the Medical School of the University of Singapore. There is one medical achievement Lim Kok Ann was particularly proud of: when working at the Houston headquarters of the World Health Organization in 1959 he devised and implemented a new diagnostic procedure that simplified the identification of enteroviruses – viruses which cause enteritis. (Photo: http://www.chesshistory.com) In later life, Lim Kok Ann returned to Methodist faith, from which he distanced at some point, but continued to officiate at major chess events as Chief Arbiter. On March 8, 2003, Lim Kok Ann died of a heart attack; ironically, shortly after the infamous SARS epidemic broke out, one of the deceases the professor was fighting against his entire life. When asked what chess had taught him in an interview in 1995, the professor said, “People compare chess with life. You prepare your forces, make split-second decisions, take risks and learn from defeat. All these are valuable lessons in life”.
International Arbiter Training Seminar held in Moscow
The International Arbiter Training Seminar, the fifth event in the FIDE & CFR Pilot Project for Training and Certification of the International Arbiters for the 2020 World Chess Olympiad, took place at the Russian State Social University in Moscow on January 24-27, 2020. Held in Russian and English, this IA Training Seminar was a flagship event in the business program of the XVI Moscow Open International RSSU Chess Cup. The number and geography of participants grow with every subsequent Training Seminar. The Moscow event featured 35 International Arbiters representing five national federations: Russia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Despite different origins, citizenships, and ages, the attendees shared a common language and were brought up in the cherished traditions of the renowned Soviet school of chess arbitering that was established by such luminaries as Lev Abramov, Vladimir Dvorkovich, and Yuri Averbakh. This shared background allowed them to work out common interpretations of the finer points in the Laws of Chess and to agree on the best processes and practices to be used in the upcoming competitions. The Pilot Project’s objective is to train and to certify a cadre of IAs, especially female arbiters, who are on top of all recent changes in the Laws of Chess and the FIDE Competition Rules, plus are able to communicate in English efficiently and to be integrated into multinational arbiter teams at the top-level FIDE events, culminating in the Chess Olympiads 2020 and 2022. The specific task is to build an expanded list of arbiters who will serve in various capacities at the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Moscow and the 1st World Chess Paralympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. The unique innovative approach by the Chess Federation of Russia offered the leading International Arbiters of the partner countries both an intensive refreshment course on the most difficult areas of high-level arbitering and a chance to practice and to apply new skills during the 2020 Moscow Open, the largest chess festival in this country, where many of the workshop attendees are serving in senior roles. The Principal Lecturer, IA/IO/FL Alexander Tkachev (Russia), the CFR Technical Director, generalized the lessons learned from previous Pilot Project events in Moscow, Tashkent, Baku, and Sochi, as well as shared first-hand experience of the challenging situations that occurred during the recently completed World Rapid & Blitz Championships in Moscow and the World Women’s Championship Match in Vladivostok. In his responses to multiple questions from the audience, Mr. Tkachev described in detail the criteria that arbiters shall meet in order to be nominated for the World Chess Olympiad in Moscow and the 1st Chess Paralympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. The Guest Lecturer, IA/IO Vadim Tsypin (Canada) presented a refresher on the FIDE Competition (Tournament) Rules for team competitions and led a group discussion that focused on the officials’ interactions with team captains. The workshop attendees used this topic as a springboard to share their opinions on a wide range of chess life issues. Mr. Tsypin directed participants through problem-solving sessions that had them practice using English in real-life chess game situations that sharpened the attendees’ analysis and communication skills. IA/IO Vladimir Makhnev shared his experience of leading an anti-cheating team during the 2019 WRBC. A lively discussion on the priority of the host nation’s laws followed. For the second time in the pilot project, an examination test featured an equal number of questions in Russian and English, including several open-ended questions. A post mortem discussion allowed participants to see their marked tests, to review difficult questions with the Lecturers, and to provide feedback on the Workshop. Several IAs asked to extend such events to at least one more working day and to expand them faster to other countries with experienced Russian-speaking arbiters who would be an asset to the 2020 Olympiad. Photo galleryPhoto: Galina Popova
Tata Steel Masters 2020: Rich Man, Poor Man
Fabiano Caruana finished Masters event in Wijk aan Zee in style winning his last game against Vladislav Artemiev in the longest and the most interesting encounter of the round. All the other games were drawn. FIDE.com summarizes the results of the first super tournament of 2020. Fabiano Caruana guaranteed himself a tournament win after Round 12, but he still wasn’t in a hurry to get a bowl of traditional pea soup. He easily equalized after highly unorthodox 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nd7!? and then secured a clear advantage after Artemiev ran in circles for a while in the middlegame. All games were over long ago, but Caruana kept looking for a win. The Russian GM found an interesting opportunity to escape by sacrificing his knight to activate the queen and deliver a perpetual. Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong “checking route” – 49.Qd7+ would have saved the game as after 49…Rf7 50.Qd4+ Kf8 there is a key check from d8. After 49.Qe7+ Artemiev was doomed as Caruana’s king ran away and found a safe haven in White’s camp. 4 out of 6 other games were not exciting at all as in So – Carlsen, Duda – Anand, Firouzja – Dubov, and Kovalev – Vitiugov duels both participants had nothing against a peaceful outcome. On the contrary, Anish Giri badly wanted to beat Jorden van Foreest and to surpass him in the tournament standings – he had a clear advantage at some moment after van Foreest didn’t dare take a pawn on b4, but even White’s extra pawn in the rook endgame wasn’t enough for a win. Yu Yangyi had a chance to shut the tournament door with a bang as he was up an exchange against Jeffery Xiong, but suddenly the Chinese GM just offered a draw in a position where he could have pushed for a win for a long stretch of time. Tata Steel Masters 2020 will be remembered for Fabiano Caruana’s outstanding performance. He finished with a remarkable score of 10 out of 13 (7 wins with no losses) two points ahead of Magnus Carlsen. It’s his best tournament performance since Sinquefield Cup 2014 when he won 7 games in a row at the start. Here, in Wijk aan Zee he won the last 4 games. Twice, against van Foreest and against Anand he was on the brink of defeat but managed to escape both times – in the game with the Dutchman by simply offering a draw. Caruana’s live rating is up to 2842 after the event, only 20 points behind Magnus Carlsen. Magnus Carlsen was out of form at the beginning of the tournament but still finished in clear second place with a respectable 8/13 keeping his unbeaten streak alive. His most important achievement is undoubtedly a victory over Firouzja with Black – a prelude for their long upcoming battle. Wesley So finished third with 7.5 points and also undefeated. He started the event with two victories and was even leading for a short moment, but his energy level was seemingly not high enough as he went on nine game drawing streak. Jorden van Foreest turned in by far the best tournament in his life. He managed not only to finish with +1 score (three wins and two losses) but played some fighting, spirited chess throughout the event and showed absolutely no fear in mixing up with the “big boys”. The lowest-rated participant tied for the 4th place with Daniil Dubov who was actually 3rd lowest-rated player in the tournament. It’s also a pretty good result for Dubov who is almost back into “2700 class” with live rating of 2699. Meanwhile, Jorden will increase his rating by 23 points and enter the top 100 (Open) for the first time in his life. Alireza Firouzja once again became the main magnet to spectators’ attention in Wijk aan Zee. The 16-year-old prodigy from Iran, now living in France and playing under FIDE flag, was sensationally leading the tournament until Round 9. He played some amazing games (his wins against Artemiev and Xiong were especially good) and went for the big battles against the world’s best – he suffered three losses in a row in these clashes, but definitely can be really proud of how he handled himself in his first classical chess super tournament. 50-year-old Vishwanathan Anand also played a nice tournament. His two wins – against the two youngest opponents, Firouzja and Xiong – were almost perfect, and his two losses were dramatic: he could have forced a draw after very deep combo versus So and was clearly winning against future tournament winner Caruana. All other players were not at their best in Wijk aan Zee, but still contributed into a tournament that was a real joy for all the chess fans around the globe. FIDE.com team and the whole chess community are already waiting for Tata Steel 2021. One participant is already known – David Anton Guijarro won the Challengers event and according to a long-standing tradition will play Masters next year. Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami Tata Steel Masters 2020 Final Standings: 1. Caruana – 10;2. Carlsen – 8;3. So – 7½;4-5. Van Foreest, Dubov – 7;6-9. Firouzja, Duda, Giri, Anand – 6½;10-11. Artemiev, Xiong – 6;12. Vitiugov – 5;13. Yu Yangyi – 4½;14. Kovalev – 4