WSCC: Assaubayeva, Girya advance to Grand Prix stage
WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva and WGM Olga Girya qualify to the Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix from the 4th qualifier. 172 players joined the Swiss 5+1 blitz tournament held on June 21. After nine rounds, the top eight finishers made it to the knockout stage: WGM Olga Girya (Russia), WGM Elena Tomilova (Russia), WIM Vaishali R (India), WIM Margarita Potapova (Russia), GM Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan), WGM Deysi Cori (Peru), and GM Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia). A young Kazakhstani star Bibisara Assaubayeva is the world’s highest-rated girl in the under-16 age category who has the titles of World Youth Champion (Girls U8) and World Cadets Champion (Girls U12) under her belt. In the quarters, she defeated Vaishali R 2-0. However, her semifinal match against Elena Tomilova was not an easy walk. After a draw in the first game, Assaubayeva managed to win the second one from the lost position – her opponent was a knight up but miscalculated when going for simplifications, erroneously sacrificed her extra piece and found herself in a lost pawn ending. The reigning Russian Women’s Champion, WGM Olga Girya took the second qualifying spot. She started both her matches against Dzagnidze and Stefanova from losing the first game but showed her mettle not only bouncing back both times but also winning the decisive Armageddon games. GM Robert Hess who was commentating on the games even called Olga a “comeback queen” and for a good reason. The position in her “sudden death” game against Stefanova was still unclear in the sharp queens’ endgame when the Bulgarian ex-world champion lost on time. The FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for female players held between June 18 and July 20, 2020. The championship consists of four separate stages, with the first now underway. Two more of these Swiss tournaments, followed by a knockout, will be played and to deliver two qualifiers each for the Grand Prix stage that follows. WSCC Super Final in which two best players of Grand Prix face-off, crowns the competition. The Swiss tournaments are open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/IM/GM). Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner. The prize fund of WSCC Super Final amounts to 10,000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. More information about the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Chessable Masters Day 1: Artemiev tops leaderboard
Vladislav Artemiev crashed the party on day one of the Chessable Masters to finish unbeaten on top of Group A. The 22-year-old Russian, playing in his first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event, burst out of the blocks early with two straight wins. He then cruised through three more rounds bagging draws to leave the big pre-tournament favorites in his wake. Group A features World Champion Magnus Carlsen, speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura and Daniil Dubov, the winner of the last Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event. But none of them got into top gear and will have to play well on Monday to guarantee making it through to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna, the other tour debutant, had a tough time early on but pulled it back in the last two rounds to draw against Nakamura and win against Alexander Grischuk. Harikrishna had earlier missed a clear win against Carlsen. “I can’t complain,” he said afterward. “It was disappointing but of course I was happy to draw against Hikaru. I was completely lost, but it was just lucky.” He added he was “very happy” to win the last round and admitted, “after two games, everyone wanted to win against me”. The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the latest stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize fund of $1 million, a record for online chess. With both players hoping to kick-start their campaign with a win against a key rival, Carlsen had the best of it but Nakamura – sporting a new, clean-shaven look – defended stoutly. Round 2 upped the tempo as Artemiev won again, beating his in-form countryman Dubov to post a 2/2 start and install himself as the early tournament leader. Carlsen overpowered Harikrishna – but not without the scare – to get his first win and leave the Indian pointless. Meanwhile, Alexander Grischuk and Nakamura agreed to a tame draw. Round 3 saw Nakamura and Artemiev end their game early with a draw by repetition. Carlsen ran into trouble against Grischuk but the champion escaped with a draw after the Russian let him off the hook when his clock was down. Meanwhile, Harikrishna’s nightmare start continued as he went down against Dubov. Carlsen’s luck ran out in Round 4 though as he blundered badly against Dubov to tumble down to 50%. Seconds later Nakamura also blundered in a strong position against Harikrishna to clock up another draw. Grischuk-Artemiev also ended in a draw. Nakamura ended a quiet day for him unbeaten with five straight draws on 2.5/5 after sharing the final round point with Dubov, who finished a half-point better. Carlsen drew with Artemiev in the last round to finish on 2.5 alongside Hikaru. Asked how his day went afterward, Carlsen said: “It was… pretty bad.” About the tournament The event, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer. Players are split into two groups (A and B) of six which play on alternate days for the preliminary stage before eight progress to the knockouts. The A Group consists of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Grischuk, Vladislav Artemiev and Pentala Harikrishna. The B Group features Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Teimour Radjabov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Anish Giri. The final winner will take home top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here:https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
FIDE and Asian Chess Federation hold training program for refugees
Following the International Chess Federation’s vision to spread the game across all layers of society in an inclusive way that leaves no one behind including the refugees, and believing in the effect of every initiative towards a world of fairness and equity, Asia Chess Academy, supervised by the International Chess Federation and the Asian Chess Federation, has proceeded with its training program devoted to refugees launched in July of 2019. Asia Chess Academy, in cooperation with one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) schools in Amman, conducted an intensive chess training program for 45 students. The program targeted students with no previous experience or knowledge about the game of chess and guided them all the way to a competitive level, where their minds clashed in the closing tournament celebrating World Refugee Day. The General Secretary of the Asian Chess Federation, Mr. Hisham Al Taher supervising the training session. With five hours of hard work every day, the program lasted for 9 days and witnessed the kids’ passion and desire to learn in every session. The perseverance the kids showed in improving their level changed the way they perceived the game; a great tool to utilize free time as they put it! On World Refugee Day, the day intended to draw the public’s attention and awareness of refugees and their suffering, the chessboard with its even distribution of black and white provided those kids with some equity they miss and gave them some hope for a just world. FIDE Executive Director, Mr. Victor Bologan, and FIDE International Director, Mohd Al-Mudahka wishing players good luck before the start of the tournament The Asia Chess Academy intends to stay committed to helping refugees. The Academy emphasized that its effort is sustained by the continuous support of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who consistently encourages such initiatives addressing refugees’ problems.
WSCC: Mammadzada, Dronavalli through to GP stage
The third qualifier for the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix is in the books. GM Natalia Zhukova owned the Swiss event leading throughout the 21 rounds of fierce battles and finishing clear first. However, in order to get one of the two qualification spots, a player needs to prove superior in the knockout playoff that includes the top eight finishers: GM Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine)WGM Deysi Cori (Peru)GM Valentina Gunina (Russia)GM Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)WGM Nino Khomeriki (Georgia)GM Harika Dronavalli (India)IM Alina Kashlinskaya (Russia)IM Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan) Here Zhukova succumbed to young Azerbaijani IM Gunay Mammadzada 0-2. Most likely the Ukrainian will try her luck in the next qualifier. In the semis, Mammadzada defeated GM Nana Dzagnidze in the Armageddon after going through a loss in their second game and claimed the qualification spot. Gunay made herself an excellent present for her 20th birthday that she had celebrated just a day earlier on June 19. Another qualification slot goes to Indian star Harika Dronavalli. In the quarters she defeated Valentina Gunina 2-0 and in another semifinal dispatched Alina Kashlinskaya 2-0. The FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for female players held between June 18 and July 20, 2020. The competition consists of four separate stages, with the first now underway. Four more of these Swiss tournaments, followed by a knockout, will be played and to deliver two qualifiers each for the Grand Prix stage that follows. WSCC Super Final in which two best players of Grand Prix face-off, crowns the competition. The Swiss tournaments are open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/IM/GM). Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner. The prize fund of WSCC Super Final amounts to 10,000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. More information about the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.