Introducing Candidates: Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk (Russia)Born October 31, 1983 (36 years old)Rating 2777Competed in four Candidates Tournaments (2007, 2011, 2013 and 2018). Born in Moscow, Sasha (a common diminutive for Alexander in Russia) learned the rules of chess at the age of four and almost immediately showed great promise. Mikhail Godvinsky became the first mentor for the talented boy; later Grishuk worked with renowned chess trainers Maxim Blokh and Anatoly Bykhovsky. Alexander won the Russian Junior championship in various age groups, but never took the title in the World and European Junior events. Nevertheless, by January of 1998, he became FIDE Master and eighteen months later completed all the required GM norms. The first major success came to Grischuk in 1999 when he tied for first place in the strong Chigorin Memorial. This victory paved his way into the national team, for which Alexander has been playing for more than 20 years, winning all kinds of medals at Olympiads (two golds in 2000 and 2002), European and World (two golds in 2005 and 2010) Team Championships. Grischuk joined the chess elite in the early 2000s, after making it into the semifinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, at the age of 17. Later on, he demonstrated very good, stable results in many prestigious tournaments, including the Aeroflot Open (second), Wijk aan Zee 2002 (second), Poikovsky 2004 (tied for first), the Elista Grand Prix (tied for first), the Russian Championship 2009 (became the champion), Linares 2009 and 2010 (first and second places respectively), the Petrosian Memorial 2014. Alexander has the reputation of a great master in rapid and blitz chess formats, which he treats as seriously as classical chess. Indeed, Grischuk has three World Blitz Champion titles under his belt (2006, 2012, 2016), a record beaten only by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Somewhat counter-intuitively, Grischuk is also known for his constant time trouble in classical chess with much longer control, which he calls his chief shortcoming. Nevertheless, Alexander’s level of play under time pressure is good enough to rank him among the top GMs. Arguably, the year 2011 was a pinnacle of Grischuk’s career as he reached the finals in the two most important competitions: the FIDE World Cup and the Candidates Matches. Only brilliant play by Boris Gelfand prevented Alexander from challenging the World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Grischuk had two more chances in the Candidates Tournaments (2013 and 2018) but came sixth both times. Grischuk has not lost heart; he stepped up his game and braced himself for a new campaign. He got back into the top-5 and turned in a very strong performance in the FIDE Grand Prix 2019. Alexander secured his spot in the Candidates Tournament before the last leg in Jerusalem, in which he did not play. Who knows, maybe fifth time the charm? Grischuk – Adams (Euro-Cup Kallithea, 2002) 24. Rf1! (“The best move in my life” – Alexander Grischuk) 24…Qxg3? 25. fxg3 Rc8 26. h5! Bd3 27. Bxf7+ Kf8 28. Rf2 Ke7 29. Bd5 Rf8 30. Nf4 + – 1-0
Introducing Candidates: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)Born: October 21, 1990 (29 years old)Rating: 2767Replaced Teimour Radjabov as the highest-rated reserve player. It will be his debut in a Candidates Tournament. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was born on October 21, 1990, in Nogent-sur-Marne, just outside of Paris. Often referred to as ‘MVL’, he quickly gained the reputation of a chess prodigy after winning his first French championship (in the Under-8 category) at the age of six. This was the first in a series of four titles in the youth French championships, which ended with a title in the Under-20 category in 2004, achieved when Maxime was just 13. Just a year earlier, in 2003, Vachier-Lagrave took second place in the World Youth Chess Championship in the Under-14 category. Aged 16, Vachier-Lagrave won the adult French Championship (2007). He has repeated this success twice more, in 2011 and 2012. In October 2008, following a streak of strong performances, the Frenchman joined the elite 2700-rating club. In 2009 Vachier-Lagrave became the World Junior Champion. That same year, playing in Biel, he beat Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Morozevich, and – another rising star – Fabiano Caruana, making his mark in the elite chess circles. Vachier-Lagrave has won the Biel International five times so far – in 2009 and four years in a row from 2013 to 2016. After obtaining a BA in mathematics in 2010, Vachier-Lagrave decided to take up chess professionally. The victory in the Hoogeveen (2010) that followed, justified the path he had chosen. In December 2010, the Frenchman won the European Blitz Championship in Warsaw (a success which he repeated in 2012). So far, Maxime has taken part in seven Chess Olympiads (2006–2018) and four European Team Chess Championships (2007, and from 2011 to 2015). His most prominent result so far is a clear first place in the Dortmund Sparkassen (2016), where he finished ahead of the previous winners Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik. Thanks to his performance in Dortmund, Vachier-Lagrave crossed the 2800 rating mark (reaching maximum ELO of 2819 in the August 2016 FIDE Rating list) and rose to #2 in the rating list. In the past three years, however, Vachier-Lagrave narrowly missed chances to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. In the 2017 World Cup, he lost to Levon Aronian in the semi-finals and then also failed to take the FIDE Grand Prix the same year (he finished sixth), which left him out of the 2018 Candidates. Similar misfortunes befell the Frenchman in 2019 when he finished third both in the Grand Prix (then only the top two qualified – Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi) & World Cup. After Teimour Radjabov decided to drop out of the 2020 Candidates, Vachier-Lagrave became eligible to take part in the event as the next highest-rated player who was not initially a participant. Vachier-Lagrave – Vaisser (French Team Championship, 2014) 16. Nxd5! cxd5 17. Rxd5! Bxe5 18. Rxd8+ Kh7 19. Bd3+ g6 20.Rxa8 Bf4+ 21.Kb1 Rxa8 22.Bxf6 1-0
WSTCC 2020: The winners declared after the 7th round
In connection with the current development of the situation in Europe, the government of the Czech Republic and the National Security Council have declared preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday 10th, the National Security Council banned all cultural, sport, and social events with above 100 participants. Following the advice of the Czech Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic Roman Prymula, the World Senior Team Championship was split across several smaller venues to be able to continue. It must be noted that Mr. Prymula, apart from being a FIDE Master, is an epidemiologist – the biggest national authority in this field. FIDE would like to take the chance to thank him for his personal involvement and support. However, as the situation worsened, new measures have been put in place, effective today. The authorities have decided to cancel any event that involves the gathering of 30 or more people. In view of this new measure, the winners were declared after the seventh round. The final ceremony was moved to 12th March 2020, 10 PM. FIDE would like to thank the Tournament Director Jan Mazuch, the Deputy Director Petr Laušman, the tournament managers Jiří Petružálek and Michal Horacek, and all their team, for their professionalism and their many efforts into keeping this tournament going despite the difficulties. 50+ final standings: 1. USA – 122. LASKERSCHACHSTIFTUNGGK – 113. CZECHREPUBLIC1 – 114. ISLAND – 115. 1960-61 – 106. YAMAL – 107. ENGLAND1 – 108. CANADA – 109. SLOVAKIA – 1010. MOSCOW – 9 65+ final standings: 65+ final standings: 1. RUSSIA – 122. FRANCE – 123. SCHACHFREUNDE LEIPZIG – 114. GERMANY 1 – 115. ISRAEL – 106. SWEDEN 1 – 107. SSC GRAAL-MUERITZ & FRIENDS – 108. CZECH REPUBLIC 1 – 109. DIE FRANKEN – 1010. GERMANY 3 – 9 Official site: http://wstcc2020.net/
TRG Forward Chess Discount Program
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission Forward Chess Discount Program provides an exclusive discount for all FIDE Licensed Trainers at the e-book store Forward Chess, www.ForwardChess.com. What Is Forward Chess? Forward Chess combines e-books, the chessboard, and a powerful engine in the palm of the player’s hand. They have partnered with all the major chess book publishers and have developed a proprietary system where the reader can purchase chess e-books either via the web or mobile apps and play through the moves in the book interactively. It’s a powerful tool often used by players preparing for matches or tournaments. FIDE Licensed Trainers who are interested in taking advantage of this special arrangement with Forward Chess will need to register an account with Forward Chess (either in any of their apps or on the website) and let TRG know under what name and email it is registered. TRG then will confirm your eligibility with Forward Chess. (Please note: limited numbers of books are available as prizes for tournaments and events). Forward Chess is an interactive Chess e-book reader for mobile (iOS and Android) and desktop (Windows and Mac). You can purchase your favorite e-books from leading publishers, play through the moves in the book, try out your own lines and even analyze with the powerful Stockfish engine. Why Buy A Book From Forward Chess? Forward Chess allows you to take your chess library with you anywhere you go. You can sync your books between your favorite mobile (iOS / Android) and desktop (Windows / Mac) devices. You don’t need a physical chess board. The built-in chess board and engine help you study your favorite books. Other advantages include instant delivery, no shipping cost and free publisher corrections and book updates. How Many Books Are On Forward Chess? There are nearly 500 titles available with more titles constantly being scheduled for release every month. Each book featured on Forward Chess also offers free samples. E-mail: trainers@fide.com to learn more!
WGP Round 9: Dzagnidze beats Ju Wenjun and takes the lead
The Mövenpick Hotel was overcrowded at the start of the ninth round of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix. Two special guests opened the round in front of the cameras of national TV. The Councillor of State and Head of the Canton of Vaud Department for Economics, Innovation and Sport, Philippe Leuba, played the symbolic first move for Ju Wenjun. A few seconds later, the racing cyclist European Champion Théry Schir opened the game for Marie Sebag. Both decisive games of the day were also the longest. Nana Dzagnidze neutralized the World Champion’s aggressive intentions and took the advantage after the exchange of Queens. The Georgian correctly spurned a threefold repetition after the time-control and slowly but surely crushed Ju Wenjun. She crowned her game with a study-like flourish and overtook Aleksandra Goryachkina at the top of the standings. The Russian played a Berlin Defence against Marie Sebag and seemed happy with the same early move repetition that already had occurred in her third round with Abdumalik. Pia Cramling went through another long battle but her opponent Alexandra Kosteniuk is known as a trained marathon runner. The Russian eventually squeezed a full point from a drawish endgame and inflicted the first defeat on the Swedish legend. The encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Alina Kashlinskaya was as balanced as a true Exchange French can be. Nothing really happened there and both players shared the point on move 31. Anna Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova produced some action in the middle game, but everything simplified quickly after the central advance 18…d5. Zhansaya Abdumalik sacrificed a pawn with Black on move 16 but failed to obtain full compensation for it. Her opponent Mariya Muzychuk did not play actively enough and suddenly had to proceed with caution to keep the balance. She was up to the task and secured a draw on move 40. The long-awaited remake of the World Championship final between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ju Wenjun will take place on Thursday’s round 10. Given Ju’s poor shape in Lausanne, the Russian will certainly try to take small revenge in her fight for the first place. Results of round 9: Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) ½-½Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – Antoaneta Stefanova(BLG) ½-½Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) – Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) ½-½Pia Cramling (SWE) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 0-1Marie Sebag (FRA) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) ½-½Ju Wenjun (CHN) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) 0-1 Standings after round 9: 1. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – 6 points2. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 5½3-6. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS), Anna Muzychuk (UKR), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) and Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 57. Harika Dronavalli (IND) – 4½8-10. Pia Cramling (SWE), Ju Wenjun (CHN) and Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 411-12. Marie Sebag (FRA) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 3 Program of round 10, March 12 at 3 pm: Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – Ju Wenjun (CHN)Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – Marie Sebag (FRA)Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – Pia Cramling (SWE)Antoaneta Stefanova (BLG) – Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)Harika Dronavalli (IND) – Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Follow all the action live with commentary by grandmasters Mikhail Gurevich and Keti Tsatsalashvili on the tournament website http://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: David LladaContact: press@fide.com
WSTCC 2020 crossed the halfway mark
The participants of the World Senior Teams Chess Championship in Prague passed the halfway mark. In these complicated days, organizers had to expend much more effort to ensure the smooth running of this important event. The resolution by the Czech government on COVID-19 caused some doubts and worries among the players and resulted in dozens of telephone calls and questions. But the perfect preparation for the event and the flexible attitude of the organizers allowed an undisturbed continuation of the battles on chessboards. To comply with the resolution (which restricts all events with more than 100 people), some changes in the arrangement of the tables had to be made. Playing halls are now divided into smaller, separated venues. Visitors are not allowed to go into the playing halls, but can still watch the games online, or on the projection in front of the playing hall. On Tuesday, March 10th the weather was good for chess – showers and mostly cloudy. One more reason for 34 chess players to stay indoors and play a Blitz tournament in the Hotel Olympic in Prague. The format was nine rounds with 2 x 4 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. IM Yuri Boidman from Germany scored 7 points and won the event. Second place went to FM Viktor Plotkin from Canada, GM Jouni Yrjola from Finland finished third, followed by FM Adolf Denk from Austria (4th) and FM Frantisek Vrana from Czech Republic (5th). The fifth round featured the duels of the leaders in both age categories. In the 50+ category, team USA prevailed over Czech Republic 1 2.5 – 1.5 thanks to the victory of Gregory Kaidanov on the first board. On the other tables, five matches, namely Yamal – Lasker Schachstiftung GK, Slovakia – England 1, Sk Ziguda Turnov – Moscow, Canada – Czech Republic 2, and USA Too – Russia Women 2:2 were drawn. After five rounds, the USA is clear first with a perfect team score, followed by the Czech Republic 1, Island, and Slovakia. In the 65+ category, Germany 1 and Russia were pitted one against another on the first table. Germany 1 won 2.5:1.5 and pulled away. Schachfreunde Leipzig lost to Czech Republic 1 1.5 – 2.5, France edged out Germany 3 2.5 – 1.5. After five rounds, Germany 1 is leading the field, with Germany 2, Russia, Israel, Hungary, Czech Republic 1, Die Franken trailing by two points. With four rounds left to play, we look forward to more exciting chess games and hope for less exciting life circumstances. Chess must go on! All results you can find at Chess-Results. All photos are available at Zonerama. Text: Marta Motuzova, Venuse Souralova Photos: Vladimir Jagr