FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup: USA leapfrogs Europe
After eight rounds, China is already secured of a place in Sunday’s Superfinal of the FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup. The USA leapfrogged Europe in the standings on Friday and these teams will battle for second place in tomorrow’s final two regular rounds. Round 07 Ian Nepomniachtchi‘s woes continued as he lost another game in round seven. It was Hikaru Nakamura who kept a slight edge throughout their game (a 5.Na4 Grünfeld), and capitalized on what could be interpreted as a “positional” error in a rook endgame. India finally scored its first victory in the tournament thanks to wins by both Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna. Interestingly, Anand chose 1.d4 as the first move against Teimour Radjabov, who played his old love, the King’s Indian. There are only five games in the database by Anand against the KID, all of them featuring the Bayonet Attack (9.b4). He scored an unbeaten 3-1 in 1996 and 1997 but lost his last game in it to Nakamura in 2011. Although Teimour got some play, he was still slightly worse throughout and then made a big mistake on move 28. Harikrishna not only secured the victory for his team but also made arguably the most spectacular move of the day: 31.Nxe5! the knight is immune despite being under triple attack 1-0 Top seed China impressively secured a place in the Superfinal with two rounds to spare after another day with two wins. Europe was set aside by China’s MVP Yu Yangyi, who defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda in an elegant style and improved his score to a splendid 5.5/7 before he was rested in the next round. Round 08 With a straightforward win against Aleksandra Goryachkina, the #1 in women’s rating Hou Yifan brought her score to 3.5/4 and secured another two match points for China, who will go into the final day of the round-robin phase with a four-point lead over the USA. Europe was down 1-2 (as Vidit Gujrathi had won a good game against Aronian) but Jan-Krzysztof Duda leveled the score by defeating Harikrishna. This way, the team remained in striking distance of the US. Team USA managed to finish the day a point ahead of Europe thanks to a win against the Rest of the World, the only team that never seemed to have a chance in this event. Fabiano Caruana won a spectacular game against Egypt’s Bassem Amin where both players sacrificed an exchange, and the world number two eventually crashed through on the kingside. The tournament will be broadcast live across multiple outlets including FIDE’s and Chess.com’s own channels across Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, Twitter, and other international streaming platforms. With an estimated audience of several million worldwide, commentary by chess experts will be conducted in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, and Polish. You can watch live broadcasts and replays on FIDE YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmDtpw5HJEQ Text: Peter Doggers (chess.com) FIDEwww.fide.comDavid Lladapress@fide.com+34 623 021 120 CHESS.comwww.chess.comNick Bartonnick@chess.com
Carlsen and Lagno star in Steinitz Memorial
Historic event to remember the father of modern chess Reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen will star 20 top players compete in two sections FIDE event held on Chess24.com from May 14 From its inception in 1886 to Magnus Carlsen today, a mere 16 people have worn the official crown of undisputed World Chess Champion. Now, to celebrate the legacy of the man who started it all, the chess world is staging a unique online competition in memory of Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900). The International Chess Federation FIDE and broadcaster Chess24.com have joined forces to hold the first FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial tournament. It will take place over the Austrian-American legend’s birthday between May 14 and 17 and be a thoroughly modern online event – fitting for a true chess legend, considered the father of the modern game. The star performer is Carlsen, the current undisputed World Chess Champion and heir to. He’s joined by 3-time World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk, 2013 World Blitz Champion Le Quang Liem, and star players such as Peter Svidler and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. 2018 and 2019 Women’s World Blitz Champion Kateryna Lagno heads the women’s line-up, with former Women’s World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Tan Zhongyi, and 2018 World Blitz silver medalist Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, all in action. Photo: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Mr. Dvorkovich said: “Steinitz is the first official World Chess Champion, and with him began a long tradition lasting to our day. He was also a revolutionary, who created a whole new school of chess: ‘positional play’ was a concept that didn’t exist before him. His historic 25 game winning streak, or his 32 years undefeated in match play, speak volumes about his caliber as a player. He was also a celebrated author and publicist. All this is his legacy, a legacy to which we pay tribute today. We are very proud to have Magnus Carlsen taking part in this event, as a worthy heir of this long lineage of champions. Probably Magnus understands better than anyone that the role of a World Champion implies certain responsibilities, and he has always been on the frontline when it comes to giving chess the role it deserves in our society. It is safe to say that Steinitz would have been proud of him.” Carlsen added: “Organising the FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial is a nice way to commemorate the first official World Chess Champion and to highlight the significance of the strong tradition his match against Zukertort started for modern chess history.” The Steinitz Memorial will be a double-round robin blitz contest broadcast online in at least six languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Turkish. Steinitz, who moved to America and was buried in New York, was the dominating chess figure for most of the latter half of the 19th century. He was crowned the first official World Chess Champion after his match victory against Johannes Zukertort in 1886. Steinitz himself, though, claimed his reign truly commenced with his match victory against Adolf Anderssen at London 1866. Either way, the highly influential writer and chess theoretician’s place in chess history is secure: Steinitz is the original chess champion and the forerunner of today’s great players. Steinitz Memorial – List of the invited players N Open section Blitz Rating Women section Blitz Rating 1 Carlsen 2887 Lagno 2608 2 Grischuk 2765 Lei Tingjie 2530 3 Bu Xiangzhi 2760 Kosteniuk 2521 4 Svidler 2754 Tan Zhongyi 2510 5 Xiong 2724 Stefanova 2485 6 Dubov 2720 Sebag 2482 7 Mamedyarov 2716 Khademalsharieh 2431 8 Le Quang 2690 Abdumalik 2409 9 Korobov 2667 Paehtz 2396 10 Anton Guijarro 2590 Cori D 2391 FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial Regulations (pdf) Tune in to honor him at the Fide Online Steinitz Memorial, live on Chess24.com from May 15. Schedule (all times are CEST): Friday, May 15th Saturday, May 16th Sunday, May 17th Rounds 1-6 Women:15:00 – 18:15 Rounds 7-12 Women:15:00 – 18:15 Rounds 13-18 Women:15:00 – 18:15 Rounds 1-6 Open:18:30 – 21:30 Rounds 7-12 Open:18:30 – 21:30 Rounds 13-18 Open18:30 – 21:30 FOR MORE INFORMATION:David Lladadavid.llada@fide.com+34 623 021 120