Ushenina and Gunina square off in first Grand Prix leg final
Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Valentina Gunina (Russia) became the finalists of the first Grand Prix leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship by FIDE and Chess.com Ushenina beat young Indian WGM Vaishali Rameshbabu 5.5-4.5 in a very close match coming from behind and taking an upper hand in the bullet portion. In the second all-Rusian semifinal, Gunina eliminated her compatriot GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 9-3. Valentina was on fire today despite being very tired from playing every day during the last week, as she confessed in a post-match interview. Unlike Kosteniuk, who was a seeded player, Valentina had to qualify for the Grand Prix and she did it only at the fifth attempt. The Russian GM will have a chance to recharge her batteries as there is a free day tomorrow before the final on Sunday. You can watch it live on our youtube.com/fidechannel and support your favorite player.
Loo Pin Xie wins FIDE Online Junior Cup for Players U20 with Disabilities
Following the success of its Online Cup for People with Disabilities, FIDE staged a similar event, the Online Junior Cup for Players U20 with Disabilities. The five-round Swiss tournament with time control 10 + 5 took place on a popular platform playchess.com on June 21, 2020. The event was officiated by Marco Biagioli (Chief Arbiter). The games were streamed live on the official site https://disabledchess.org/. The tournament brought together 38 junior players with various disabilities from 17 national federations, representing three continents. The participants and organizers were greeted by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “We are doing our best to provide access to chess at the top level and for amateurs all around the world these days by organizing tournaments online. I am very happy that you will take part in this event today… Of course, we are all hopeful that the pandemic will end and we will be back to over-the-board events, but we have to explore all the options, all the possibilities to play chess.” Ilya Lipilin (Russia), Max Dave Tellor (USA), and Jarno Scheffner topped the starting list, but none of them made it to a virtual podium. Loo Pin Xie from Malaysia (rated just seventh) won all five games and deservedly took the title. Rozas Lazcano Valeska from Chile finished a half-point behind the champion and became the winner in the girl section. Another Chilean, Tapia Loncon Andres Saul lost a key last-round game to the eventual champion and tied for third place with four players but ended in the top-3 thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings: Rank Name Rating FED Points 1 Loo Pin Xie 1570 MAS 5 2 Rozas Lazcano Valeska 1339 CHI 4.5 3 Tapia Loncon Andres Saul 1612 CHI 4 4 Kimsanboyev Axadxon 1638 UZB 4 5 Kieselbach Jannik 1379 GER 4 6 Rahatbekov Tilegen 1295 KGZ 4 7 Scheffner Jarno 1733 GER 4 8 Kieselbach Marvin 1447 GER 3.5 9 Lipilin Ilia 1983 RUS 3.5 10 Kartik Girish Nair 1283 IND 3.0 All the participants received souvenirs from FIDE, whereas the winners were awarded packages of goods, including a t-shirt, cap, and backpack with the logo of the event. The two top finishers were also presented with a 3-hour master-class by German Grandmaster Thomas Luther. Rozas Lazcano Valeska, the winner in the girl section and the second-place finisher in the open section shared her impressions of the event: “I am very happy to have participated in this tournament because it gives opportunities to people with different disabilities.” FIDE DIS has already started preparing its next online event for the players with disabilities which is scheduled for July 21, 2020. More details are coming soon. Live games: http://live.chessbase.com/games/1st-FIDE-Online-Cup-for-U20-with-Disabil?isCordova=False All the results: http://chess-results.com/tnr529007.aspx?lan=1&art=4&turdet=YES&flag=30 Video report with comments of GM Thomas Luther, FIDE DIS Chairman: https://dis.fide.com/LIVE_COMMENTS/m344