Health and safety measures at the FIDE Candidates Tournament
Update, 12.03.2020: Due to health concerns, the organizers have decided that spectators will not have access to the playing area. Other preventive measures may be put in place, depending on requirements. Press Release: March 6 2020, FIDE The outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), which has affected events globally, has led to concerns and questions whether the FIDE Candidates Tournament – due to take place between March 15 and April 5 in Yekaterinburg, Russia – should be postponed. The postponement of the tournament, however, is not legally and practically feasible. Without the introduction of an official ban by the state authorities of the Russian Federation, a unilateral transfer or postponement by FIDE is not possible. However, FIDE is closely following the developments regarding the Coronavirus as well as the situation in Russia and the steps taken by Russian authorities. It also should be noted that contrary to other large chess opens that have been canceled over the past few days, the Candidates Tournament is not a mass event. Being an elite, 8-player tournament, the reduced number of participants allows us to monitor their personal circumstances, health status, and provide them personal attention. In light of the concerns which have been raised, FIDE would like to inform all the participants of the upcoming Tournament as well as the public about the health and safety measures which will be in force: 1. A check-point with a qualified nurse will be created for all participants of the tournament, and officials and visitors in the auditorium. At this point, visitors will be checked for symptoms of Covid-19 before entering the game room, including checking their body temperature. 2. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers will be available at all times. 3. N95 face-masks will always be available in the required quantity. Depending on the assessment of the situation, the wearing of masks may become mandatory for visitors in the auditorium. 4. The distance between the first rows of spectators and players will be at least 15 meters. 5. Handshakes before and after the game are optional. 6. Preventive measures (masks, disinfectants) must also be provided in all hotel rooms where participants and officials will be staying, as well as in all vehicles used for the tournament. FIDE is closely following the developments on the ground and steps taken by Russian authorities. We will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of participants and spectators at the event.
Nana Dzagnidze clinches victory in Lausanne
The third leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix unfolded from March 1 to 13 in Lausanne. The opening ceremony took place at the Olympic Museum in the presence of Lausanne Mayor Grégoire Junod, and the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. This museum was the venue of the World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand in 1998. The field underwent a last-minute change, since Zhao Xue had to be replaced by Zhansaya Abdumalik due to increasing travel restrictions from Asia. The other Chinese participant, the World Champion Ju Wenjun, was not affected by this situation, as she had been in the US since January. With her and Aleksandra Goryachkina, both world championship finalists would meet again after their recent match for the world crown. The young Russian took a solid early lead in the event by winning her white games in rounds two and four against Alexandra Kosteniuk and Antoaneta Stefanova. Some players, at times, shared the temporary first place with her, but without the same consistency. Harika Dronavalli also reached 3 out of 4 but then lost against Alexandra Kosteniuk. The third Russian participant in Lausanne, Alina Kashlinskaya, had a strong first half. She beat Alexandra Kosteniuk and Marie Sebag to reach 4 out of 6 but later lost to Ju Wenjun due to a dramatic mistake that changed the course of the tournament. Because of a loss with white in round 4 to Dronavalli, few imagined that Nana Dzagnidze would take part in the race for the tournament victory. Yet, this is exactly what she achieved thanks to her powerful play and fighting spirit. The Georgian had already beaten Zhansaya Abdumalik in the second round, but the turning point for her came in round 5 when she managed to extricate herself from a difficult position and win against Anna Muzychuk. After further victories over Marie Sebag and Ju Wenjun, she emerged as the leader with 6 out of 9. Aleksandra Goryachkina reacted immediately in the 10th round with a nice win against Ju Wenjun. The luck of pairings pitted both leaders against each other in the last round. Aware of her tie-break advantage, Nana Dzagnidze took no risk and secured the draw. The mother of two declared afterward that she was delighted with this victory, as it came totally unexpectedly. “I haven’t been very successful in the past few years and was already thinking of quitting chess and raising my children”. Third place was surprisingly clinched by the youngest participant, the 20-year old Zhansaya Abdumalik, who scored 6.5 points. The Kazakhstani, the highest-ranked Junior player among women, beautifully recovered from her early loss and won a total of three games. The reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun was totally out of form. She finished at 4.5 points with a single victory and three losses. Alexandra Kosteniuk, winner of the second Grand Prix leg in Monaco, was also out of shape and finished joined last. Having competed in all three events, the Russian will not be able to qualify for the Candidates through the Grand Prix Series. Indeed, the overall standings before the last leg show that Humpy Koneru clearly holds the best cards in her hands. Only a disaster in the final tournament could prevent her from going through. The second qualification spot will be hard-fought between Nana Dzagnidze, Kateryna Lagno, and Anna Muzychuk, while some other players keep theoretical chances to create an upset. Side events also contributed to the social activity of the Grand Prix. Two rapid tournaments were staged on the weekend of March 7 and 8. Both took place in the House of International Sport, where FIDE has its office since May 2019. This “1st FIDE rapid open of the Olympic Capital”, as well as the rapid tournament for girls under 18 years old, were organized in partnership with the Swiss Chess Federation and helpers from different local chess clubs. The rapid open on March 7 was won by Russian GM Pavel Tregubov on tie-break, ahead of GM Vasquez-Schroeder from Chile and local FM Aurelio Colmenares, who all scored 6 points out of 7. The girls’ event was dominated by the French champion among university students Estée Aubert. Several prestigious guests visited the event, such as Lausanne Mayor Grégoire Junod, Councillor of State Philippe Leuba or the General Director of Athletissima Jacky Delapierre. At the closing ceremony, FIDE Vice-President Lukasz Turlej thanked all sponsors and partners which contributed to the making and the success of this event. In particular Total, Kaspersky, Sila Lawyers, the Swiss Chess Federation and the Olympic City of Lausanne. He added that the live broadcast had attracted a record number of viewers for a women tournament. The exposure of the Women’s Grand Prix was significant in the Swiss press as well. A recap with interviews appeared on primetime news of the national French-speaking RTS on March 12, something which had not happened since World Champion Magnus Carlsen played in Biel in 2018. The event was also presented live on national radio on the morning of the last round. Besides that, several main newspapers mandated journalists to write exclusive articles about the tournament. No doubt, FIDE has succeeded in promoting its first event in Lausanne, since they settled in the Olympic Capital in May 2019. Final standings of the Lausanne Grand Prix: 1-2. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) – 7 points3. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 6½4-5. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) et Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – 66-8. Harika Dronavalli (IND), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) and Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 5½9-10. Pia Cramling (SWE) and Ju Wenjun (CHN) – 4½11-12. Marie Sebag (FRA) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) – 4 Current standings of the Grand Prix Series 2019 – 2020 before the last event: 1. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Russia, 398 (3 tournaments)2. Humpy Koneru, India, 293 (2)3. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russia, 193 (3)4. Nana Dzagnidze, Georgia, 180 (2)5. Kateryna Lagno, Russia, 180 (2)6. Harika Dronavalli, India 180 (3)7. Anna Muzychuk, Ukraine, 165 (2)8. Ju Wenjun, China, 155 (2)9. Alina Kashlinskaya, Russia, 130 (2)10. Mariya Muzychuk, Ukraine, 120 (2)11. Zhansaya Abdumalik, Kazakhstan, 110 (1)12. Pia Cramling, Sweden, 105 (3)13. Elisabeth Paehtz, Germany, 95 (2)14. Valentina Gunina, Russia, 85 (2)15. Antoaneta Stefanova,
The new FIDE Charter: What is it?
One of the main decisions at the recent 90th Extraordinary General Assembly was the approval of the new FIDE Charter, that replaces the old FIDE Statutes and came into force on March 1, 2020. But what does this change implies, and why it was required? This reform was needed because the previous FIDE Statutes were severely outdated. There was a pressing need to renew them in order to turn FIDE into a more modern, transparent, democratic and efficient institution, in full compliance with International Olympic Committee stands. The main rules of our organization have a fundamental role in making this possible, clarifying the system of FIDE rules and regulations, defining the principles of FIDE, establishing clear management structures, improving the role of the independent Elected Commissions, and updating the role of Zonal Presidents. One of the main changes is that the “Presidential Board” is now replaced by the “FIDE Council”, a strategic and oversight body with law-making and executive functions. Its number of members was reduced to 15 members, to facilitate the efficient work process. In the former statutes, less than half of the Presidential Board members were elected independently of the President, while in the new Charter more than half of them are elected independently of the President. Votes on elections for the members of the FIDE Council must be made by secret ballot. The role of the FIDE President is now defined as “representing the institution in all external relations, managing day-to-day activities, signing contracts, maintaining good relations between FIDE and the Federations, and fostering a positive image of FIDE”. The new Charter also introduces term limits: a person cannot serve as President for more than two terms (including the current term). The President is assisted by the management board, an operational body with executive, operational and administrative functions, but without any legislative competencies. This body manages ordinary activities and resources, coordinates current activities of officials, commissions, FIDE offices and employees, and implements decisions and attains objectives set by the President and the Council. In the new Charter, the General Assembly is reinforced as the organ with the highest authority in FIDE, getting more powers: it becomes the main body dealing with all major issues, including FIDE elections, budget approval, and votes of no confidence. It acts as an internal appellate organ for all decisions taken by the Council and the President. To improve transparency, the new FIDE charter also introduces “a vote of no confidence”: The General Assembly may dismiss elected officials (including the President of the entire Council), with a majority of two-thirds of valid votes. Motions of no confidence can be debated following a proposal supported by a minimum of 65 member federations, or by 7 members of the council. The elected commissions, like the Ethics Commission or the Disciplinary Commission, remain as professional and independent organs for specific FIDE tasks. As it would be expected, such a profound reform initially raised many questions from the members of the chess community. The comments and suggestions gathered during months of open dialogue often turned in improvements that were introduced in the draft, producing, as a result, a more robust FIDE Charter that, on its final form, was approved with wide support: 112 votes in favor, 1 abstention, and 1 vote against. LINKS: The attendants to the General Assembly were shown the following presentation, which contains more details about this reform FIDE Charter (complete)
FIDE Qualification Commission: Coronavirus Announcement
The Qualification Commission has received a large amount of correspondence about the consequences with regard to FIDE-rated chess tournaments during the last week. The Qualification Commission’s approach will be to be as helpful as possible to national federations in assisting them to submit tournaments for rating with minimum difficulty, and National Rating Officers are welcome to contact us with any specific queries. It is not the responsibility of FIDE to cancel FIDE-rated tournaments in any given Federation. Each Federation may take their own decisions in accordance with their own constitution and statutes regarding FIDE-rated chess within their Federation. Registration of Tournaments It is expected that a number of tournaments that were registered will now be cancelled. In this case, Rating Officers should submit a deletion request for the tournament. There are no fees levied for this. If a tournament is postponed until another date, then Rating Officers are instructed to change their dates. These changes will be approved by the Qualification Commission. This includes any “long” events, such as a National League run over a season-long basis. Cancelled Tournaments while they are in Progress A number of tournaments have been cancelled by the local or national government while they were in progress; including the recent World Senior Team Championships in Prague. For the avoidance of doubt, rating files with fewer than the registered number of rounds will be permitted for FIDE rating. National Leagues A number of season-long national leagues have either had weekends postponed until later in 2020, or the rest of the season cancelled entirely. Title norms that have been achieved over the shorter seasons will be considered provided that at least 9 rounds have been played by the player. In addition, the terms of 1.41c of the Title Regulations will apply to National Leagues that have been postponed or cancelled after 8 of the scheduled rounds. Long Events Some events which last up to 90 days are rated in one rating file, rather than a separate rating file for each month. The end of these tournaments may now be postponed for several weeks. In this case, National Rating Officers are instructed to modify the tournament to a “long” tournament and submit a rating file of the games of the tournament played so far. The rest of the tournament can be registered as a continuation of the long tournament once its conclusion is rearranged. If you have any further questions, please contact QC. Alex Holowczakalexholowczak@gmail.comQualification Commission Secretary14th March, 2020
Introducing Candidates: Ding Liren
Ding Liren (China)Born: October 24, 1992 (27 years old)Rating: 2805Qualified as a finalist of the FIDE World Cup 2019. It will be his second Candidates Tournament. Ding Liren was born and grew up in Wenzhou, China. His father – a doctor by education – named him Liren, referring to a popular Confucian saying: “If you want to be healthy, make others healthy. If you want to grow, make others grow”. Liren means “to make (others) healthy”. Ding Liren finished high school in Wenzhou and later graduated from Law School from Peking University. Ding Liren learned to play chess when he was just four. Both Chinese and classical chess captured his attention in the beginning; his family chose for him to focus on the latter. The following career of a talented boy justified this choice. Ding Liren’s exceptional talent and strong work ethic quickly yielded a first significant result in 2009 – at the age of 16, he won the Chinese Championship and earned the title of grandmaster. Later he became a 3-fold champion of his home country, winning the tournament again in 2011 and in 2012. Playing for the national team he won gold at the Olympiad (Tromso 2014, scoring 7.5/10) and the World Team Championship (2015). Following a series of very good results in various tournaments, Ding Liren became the second Chinese player, after Wang Yue, to break into the top-10 of FIDE world rankings. Unlike his predecessor, though, he managed to cement his place in the chess elite. In 2017, Ding Liren made it to the World Cup final in Tbilisi and qualified for the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin. The first-ever Chinese to play in Candidates scored +1−0=13 (4th place) in this event and finished as the only undefeated participant. Two years later Ding Liren once again reached the final in the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk 2019, but lost to Teimour Radjabov in a tiebreak. Still, the Chinese GM qualified for the 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament and has another chance to challenge the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, whom he recently beat in a tiebreak in the final of Sinquefield Cup 2019. Ding Liren – Mamedyarov (7th Norway Chess, 2019) 28. d7!! Rd5 29. Bc2 Qxd7 30. Bb3 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Qc8 32. Qh4 Nf6 33. Rd6 Bxb3 34. Rxf6 1-0