Chessable Masters: Nakamura survives scare, Dubov out
Magnus Carlsen stormed into the Chessable Masters knockout stage today as his main rival overcame an almighty scare. The World Champion turned around a disappointing day 1 to march up the leaderboard and finish joint-top of Group A in the $150,000 online chess super-tournament. Carlsen said: “It was a bit nervy, at least at the very start, but certainly after I made a draw in the third game against Sasha [Alexander Grischuk] I calmed down and after that it was comfortable.” Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura – the #1 in blitz rating seen as Carlsen’s biggest threat – needed a dramatic final round win on demand to make it through. It averted what would have been a huge shock but meant Daniil Dubov, the young Russian who won the last Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event, was dumped out instead. It was harsh on Dubov, who finished level on points with Nakamura and three-time World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk but went out on a tiebreaker. Vladislav Artemiev, the in-form Russian GM who led after the first day, finished level with Carlsen at the top on 6 points. The day’s play started with an eagerly-awaited marquee match between Carlsen and Nakamura which saw the Norwegian score a thumping win. Nakamura was never in it and, having drawn all his previous encounters, sunk below 50 percent and into the drop-zone. In the other games, bottom-of-the-barrel Pentala Harikrishna’s loss to in-form Vladislav Artemiev which also left the Indian teetering on the edge of elimination. Harikrishna badly needed a win against Carlsen to stay in the running but, despite counter-attacking hard, was held to a draw which effectively ended his challenge. Artemiev, who led Group A after the first day, then lost against Dubov and the result left the pair level at the top. Nakamura, meanwhile, split the point with Grischuk. Round 8 was cagey as all three games were also drawn. Nakamura saved a difficult position against Grischuk, who missed a good opportunity to put himself in the top 4. Round 9 set up a fascinating finish. Carlsen put in a virtuoso performance to down Dubov and leapfrog the Russian in a menacing fashion. It took Carlsen to 5.5 points and secured his place in the knockout alongside Artemiev, who safely drew against Grischuk. For Dubov, however, it meant he now needed a draw in the final round to go through. Nakamura, meanwhile, was by now clearly out-of-sorts. But yet again he escaped what seemed like a lost position, this time against Harikrishna, to pick up a fortunate draw. In the final round, Grischuk was fighting it out for one of the final two places with several scenarios possible. Nakamura finally found his form to beat Dubov and sneak into the top 4 on the pair’s head-to-head score while Grischuk powered past Harikrishna to also edge past his fellow Russian. Carlsen, Artemiev, Nakamura, and Grischuk now go through to the quarter-finals which start on Thursday and will be joined by four more players from Group B. 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 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
TTCA stages 1st Regional Online Chess Championship
The Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association (TTCA) recently hosted the 1st Regional Online Chess Championship, a blitz tournament (3 min +2 sec increment) for Under 18 youth with an ELO less than 1800, over the period June 13-17, 2020. There seemed to be vast excitement surrounding this event as 173 players from 14 countries in the Caribbean Region played in the qualifying round on June 13, 2020. The tournament was played in the Arena format where players were paired continuously for 90 minutes. The top 14 players then joined the National Under 18 Champions of Trinidad and Tobago, CM Sean Yearwood from St. Mary’s College and WCM Shemilah James from St. Francois Girls’ College, in the Round of 16. FM Adrian Atwell, FM Ryan Harper, and FM Joshua Johnson provided live commentary throughout the event. The competition was aligned with FIDE and CCA policy to make online chess as an important tool for development. It was also integrated into the FIDE project Checkmate Coronavirus. The competition was dominated by the Jamaican players, with Darren Mc Kennis, Jaden Shawand, and John Stephenson taking the first places. WCM Raehanna Brown became the best-performing female, whereas Rohit Mahtani was the winner in the Under 12 category. The TTCA President was overwhelmed by the success of the tournament: “We felt we needed to engage the community in a positive way and the team supported an online event extended to the Caribbean Region. I could not have anticipated the level of support especially given the very short notice. This was the first time we embarked upon such an initiative, going as far as to have live commentary. A great deal of work had to be done in the back end to facilitate this and I thank TTCA Treasurer, Keelan Hunte, who served as the ‘anchor’, ensuring that the technical details were effectively addressed.” Covid-19 has presented challenges to all sports, while other opportunities emerged. The TTCA will continue to uses these online channels to deliver its mandate as far as possible until it can safely return to over the board play. Videos of the various rounds can be found on the TTCA Youtube channel. The TTCA is committed to hosting more events that seek to further develop chess both locally and throughout the region.
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Michel Nguélé Viang (1948 – 2020)
With profound shock and deep regret, FIDE has learned about the untimely death of Michel Nguélé Viang. Michel, who was President of the Cameroonian Chess Federation and Acting President of Zone 4.3 of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), died last Wednesday, June 17, 2020, at the age of 71 from cancer. Michel was a valuable member of the Board of the African Chess Confederation and he will be greatly missed by the Cameroonian and African chess communities. FIDE extends heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Michel Nguélé Viang.
Chessable Masters: Vachier-Lagrave and Giri lead in group B
Dutch star Anish Giri won a dramatic final round game to level with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on top of Group B in the Chessable Masters today. Giri, who had drawn his first four games, took full advantage of a slip by world number 2 Fabiano Caruana to leapfrog him in the table and finish unbeaten on 3/5. Vachier-Lagrave, meanwhile, closed out a final round draw to end what was an excellent first day for the Frenchman. The 29-year-old, who is ranked fifth in the world, also beat group favorite Caruana as the preliminary stage of the $150,000 super-tournament reached the half-way point. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored the first point of the day in Round 1 to take an early lead of Group B by crashing through against Teimour Radjabov. The other two games, Caruana vs Ding Liren and Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri, ended in draws. In the second, Nepomniachtchi went from hero to zero when Caruana meted out a killer blow against him. Again the other two encounters ended peacefully. Then in Round 3, it was the new sole leader again who lost as Caruana was the victim of a beautiful mate found by Vachier-Lagrave. For the third round in a row, the other two games were drawn. The pattern was broken in Round 4, however, as the leader Vachier-Lagrave kept in front with a draw against Ding Liren. Giri scored his fourth half-point in a row against Nepomniachtchi. But the day’s penultimate round was all about Caruana who showed all his skill to pull off an endgame win from a theoretically drawn position against Radjabov. Yet Caruana came crashing back down in a stunning end to a sharp final game of the day against Giri in which the American fell apart in a difficult position. Giri had taken 15 attempts to score a win when he appeared in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the event that kicked off the tour. In this tournament, however, it was five. Speaking of what’s needed to progress, Giri said afterward: “Fifty percent is pretty much a guarantee to qualify, which definitely isn’t ideal…” Tomorrow Group A is back in action with two players facing elimination before the knockout stage begins. 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 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