National championships records
What follows is an improved version of an article originally published on the FIDE newsletter #7 (June 8, 2020). If you want to receive this biweekly publication directly in your inbox, please subscribe here. ############ Today, Ramon Mateo (pictured above), the only GM from the Dominican Republic, celebrates his 62nd birthday. A few weeks ago, a spontaneous debate sparked on social media when Ramon posted on his Facebook account that he won the National Championship in 1979, and then again in 2010. With a total of eight national titles under his belt, there is an impressive 31-year gap between his first and last victory. “Is this a world record of some kind?”, he wondered. While very praiseworthy, Ramon’s achievement is not a record. To begin with, the World Champion Max Euwe also dominated the chess scene in his country for more than three decades: he won every Dutch championship that he contested from 1921 until 1952, and additionally clinched the title again in 1955. That’s twelve victories in total, over a span of 34 years. Bernardo Roselli improves Euwe’s record by one year, having won the Uruguayan championship 19 times in 35 years. His first victory was in 1984, and the last one, in 2019. So, having won the last edition and being still the fourth highest rated player in the country, Bernardo has very good chances of keeping accumulating titles. In 2013, Roddy McKay won the 120th edition of the Scottish Championship when he was 62 years old, 39 years after first winning his first title (shared with Eric Holt) in 1974. What makes this result very remarkable is the fact that his previous victory had been 25 years before, in 1988, so Roddy’s victory can be seen as a huge comeback, in a country that is home to several Grandmasters. Oscar Panno won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future strong Grandmasters as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Larsen, and Fridrik Olafsson. That same year, he achieved his first victory at the Argentinian Championship. He would only manage to win this competition two more times: in 1985, and in 1992. Between his first and last (for now!) victories, there is a 39-year gap. Oscar Panno However, to find the current holder of the world record for the longest time span between a first and latest title in the national championship of a certain country, we have to go to Oceania. Last January, the International Master Paul Anthony Garbett (Auckland, 1952) shared first place in the New Zealand Open Championship, held in Tauranga. Paul’s 7th title (out of 27 participations) comes a whopping 46 years after his first victory in 1973/74. For 19 years, between 1996 and 2015, victory scaped him, but now he seems to be experiencing a second youth, achieving two more titles when he is already in his sixties. Paul might even be able to catch Anthony F Ker and Ortvin Sarapu, who won the NZ Championship a total of 14 and 20 times respectively. Rani Hamid Among the ladies, Rani Hamid of Bangladesh seems to be the record holder. She won her 19th National Women’s Chess Championship in 2018, thus qualifying for the Batumi Chess Olympiad at 74 years old. She had won the title for the first time 39 years before, in 1979, barely one year after learning how to play at age 34. Rani seems to have instilled some of this competitive spirit on her offspring: one of her sons, Sohel Hamid, was a national squash champion, and the other, Kaiser Hamid, was a professional football player and the captain of the Bangladesh Football Team during the 1980s and 1990s. Whenever we talk about competitive longevity in chess, it is almost impossible not to mention Viktor Korchnoi. The fact that Viktor changed countries at the peak of his career explains that he is not listed above, among those whose victories in a certain national championship spanned over three or four decades. However, Korchnoi could boast a record of his own: between his first victory at the USSR Championship in 1960, and his last victory at the Swiss Championship in 2011, there is more than half a century. Different countries, different eras, but the same winner.
Chess vs Coronavirus: 1-0, Checkmate!
A new world record No other international sports federation and no other official organized sports event, has ever reached the numbers achieved this past month by FIDE’s Checkmate Coronavirus initiative. There were 520,000 entries, 120,000 unique participants from at least 140 countries, in a marathon of 720 non-stop hours, and 2,762 tournaments. These staggering numbers, unprecedented and unthinkable for any sport, speak for themselves. Never before has FIDE or anyone else done so much, for so many in such a short time. Unity and solidarity The message of unity and solidarity was strongly endorsed. 20% of all Grandmasters and 10% of all FIDE titled players, joined their forces saying “Checkmate Coronavirus”. Some top GMs like Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Wang Hao, Peter Svidler, David Navara, and four Women’s World Champions, Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, and Tan Zhongyi, were among the many chess professionals who honored the project with their presence. The unity of the chess world was showcased by thousands of youngsters and amateur players who had a chance not only to win the prizes but also to test their skills against very strong opponents. FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, invited the national chess federations to spread the message and actively engage in the initiative. The President’s letter found an overwhelming response. More than 60 national federations and two associations affiliated with FIDE, organized their own tournaments which were included in the project. Some federations staged more than 25-30 tournaments each, including School Championships and National Team Events! Moscow 2021 Olympiad We have received many stories from the main prize winners who will be invited to the Moscow 2021 Olympiad. Some of them are heart-warming. HisEloquency, an amateur chess player from Serbia said: “I didn’t even consider I would get drawn for a major prize, so I was very surprised, to say the least. I double, triple and quadruple checked everything before I started phoning friends and family. It all felt unreal”. Michael Danny Kurnia, 23 years old, from Indonesia, shared more or less the same exhilarating feelings: ”I was so happy that I couldn’t say any more words, I was just showing my cellphone to my brother, saying “How could I win?” Our winners are aged from 9 the youngest to 64 the oldest and from at least 37 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe! Aftermath Chess was affected by this pandemic like any other sport with tournaments postponed or canceled and clubs temporarily closed. Yet the nature of chess helped players, fans, and enthusiasts of our game to stay active and involved during this crisis whereas online chess got an unprecedented boost. Checkmate Coronavirus became one of many effective initiatives by FIDE in response to the crisis. It gave the chance to everyone, regardless of age, level of play, or any other division a real chance to win in the strict sense of this word and infused a new spirit to the Olympic motto of participation. The aftermath of Checkmate Coronavirus promises to be no less exciting than the chess battles in its tournaments. In July-September, top GMs will be giving masterclasses and play mini-matches with Checkmate Coronavirus winners. Very soon, more than 800 souvenir prize winners will get their FIDE Checkmate Coronavirus memorabilia. The 64 main prize winners are looking forward to visiting the 2021 Moscow Olympiad. And most certainly, we all wait for yet another great online chess initiative, which will unite us once again. Chess vs Coronavirus: 1-0, Checkmate!
WSCC: Vaishali, Cori get through to GP stage
WGMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Deysi Cori punched the tickets to Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix after winning the 5th qualifier. Nearly 200 players took part in a 3+1 Swiss event and after 13 intense rounds of chess, the top 8 made it to the knockout playoff stage: IM Anastasia Bodnaruk – 10.5/13GM Valentina Gunina – 10WIM Vaishali R – 10GM Antoaneta Stefanova – 10IM Alina Kashlinskaya – 9.5GM Nino Batsiashvili – 9.5WGM Elena Tomilova – 9.5WGM Deysi Cori – 9.5 It was the fourth time the strongest Peruvian female player Deysi Cori found herself in a playoff and this one was a charm. In her first match, she knocked out Bodnaruk in the Armageddon game; in the second one, she crushed Stefanova 2-0. The 19-year-old Chennai-native Vaishali R played her third playoff in this competition and she did not miss the opportunity this time. In quarterfinals, Vaishali defeated Kashlinskaya 1,5-0,5 and then prevailed over Gunina 1.5-0.5 in the semi-final match for a spot in the Grand Prix stage. It was a lucky day for siblings. Both Vaishali R and Deysi Cori have prodigy brothers – the fourth-youngest GM in history Praggnanandhaa R and Jorge Cori, who became a GM at 14, respectively. 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. Six Swiss tournaments, followed by a knockout are played 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.