Chess Legends: Carlsen, Gelfand and Svidler lead after Round 2
Chess great Vishy Anand went toe-to-toe with World Champion Magnus Carlsen today before finally collapsing in round 2 of the chess24 Legends of Chess online super-tournament. The veteran former world title-holder, playing the man who took the crown off him seven years ago, battled hard but ultimately came up short in today’s marquee tie. Anand and Carlsen famously played World Championship matches in 2013 and 2014 in which the Norwegian came out on top. Carlsen has dominated world chess since. But any thoughts that an in-form Carlsen would brush aside the 50-year-old legend were quickly dispelled as Anand played solidly to hold for three consecutive draws. Carlsen, who is playing from a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, eventually broke through in the final game to pick up the maximum 3 tournament points. The World Champion is looking in ominous form having won both his opening matches in the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event which he entered on the back of winning the Chessable Masters earlier this month. World number 3 Ding Liren‘s woes continued as he looked badly out-of-form against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Ding, who has been dogged by connection problems in previous tournaments, went down 2.5-0.5. He has now lost 2/2 rounds while the Russian Nepomniachtchi has won both his matches. Boris Gelfand, the oldest in the field who downed Ding yesterday, claimed another scalp when he overpowered Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final game to take the match 2.5-1.5. Vladimir Kramnik, the man who dethroned Garry Kasparov to become the 14th World Chess Champion, blew a chance to take his match against Anish Giri to an Armageddon tiebreak. Giri, Netherlands number 1, then secured the draw he needed in their last game to take the match 2.5-1.5. The “Peter derby” match-up between 2004 world title challenger Peter Leko and eight-time Russian champ Peter Svidler also ended in a 2.5-1.5 win for Svidler. The Russian was not particularly happy with the level of play he demonstrated in two starting games but found consolation in two straight wins in games 3 and 4. The event, the fourth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund. The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August. Tournament rules and schedule The time control will be a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed. The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST. Highlights in English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Gazprom becomes General Partner of FIDE Online Olympiad
On July 22, 2020, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Gazprom PJSC signed a partnership agreement. Under this agreement, Gazprom becomes the General partner of the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad, the largest online chess event in 2020. FIDE Online Chess Olympiad will be held from July 25 to August 30, 2020. This massive tournament is a digital twin of the XLIV World Chess Olympiad, which was postponed to the summer, 2021 (due to the spread of coronavirus infection). Chess matches will be held on the world’s largest online platform Chess.com. 163 teams representing national chess federations – members of FIDE – will take part in the Olympiad. Commentary by chess experts will be conducted in multiple languages, including English, Russian, Spanish, German, French, and Chinese. The FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: “Today, when the world is in the epicenter of a crisis caused by a pandemic, events whose mission is to unite people and give hope, are particularly significant. Over the past few months, we have seen explosive growth in interest in chess – tens, and perhaps hundreds of millions of people around the world play at a real or virtual chess board every day. We are very grateful to our partner, Gazprom, for supporting the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad and for the opportunity to bring together chess fans from all over the world at this truly global sporting event.” About Gazprom Gazprom is a global energy company focused on geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel, as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power. Gazprom is the global leader measured by the amount of reserves and volumes of gas production. Gazprom sells gas to Russian consumers and exports gas to over 30 countries within and beyond the former Soviet Union. Gazprom is the biggest gas supplier to Europe. Gazprom is among the top three oil and gas condensate producers in the Russian Federation, ranking number one in Russia in terms of electricity generation among thermal generation companies and in terms of thermal energy generation. More info: www.gazprom.comContact: pr@gazprom.ru About FIDE Founded in Paris in 1924, the International Chess Federation was one of the first sports associations in history, and the first one to organize an official World Championship. With headquarters in Lausanne, FIDE is now one of the largest sporting bodies in the world, with 195 member federations. More info: www.fide.comContact: press@fide.com
Legends of Chess: Boris Gelfand thrashes world number 3
Golden oldie Boris Gelfand rolled back the years today as the chess world welcomed back a host of great players from the past in the chess24 Legends of Chess super-tournament. Gelfand, who was ranked world number 3 in 1990, thrashed the 2020 world number 3 Ding Liren in what was a stunning start to the $150,000 battle of the generations event. The 52-year-old, playing in his first major online tournament, was so dominant he signed off with a 13-move win as fans on social media proclaimed him the “OG” – or “Original Gangster”. Gelfand, nicknamed “Gandalf”, is the most senior in a field of top players from the past and present taking part in the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event. He won game 2 after a first game draw and then came very close to beating his 27-year-old opponent outright with a game to spare. That disappointment didn’t stop him though. Game 4 saw Gelfand post his super-swift win to comprehensively end the match 3-1. “Of course it’s great to beat one of the best players in the world,” Gelfand said afterward. “To win against him it’s a really great feeling.” Vladimir Kramnik, the man who conquered Garry Kasparov to become the 14th World Chess Champion, also rattled his younger opponent, Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi, but ultimately fell short. Kramnik, aged 45, took the lead against the world number 4 in game 2 but Nepomniachtchi hit back in the next game. The match went to an Armageddon play-off which the younger player smoothly won. India’s greatest ever player Vishy Anand, 50, and eight-time Russian champ Peter Svidler drew three games in a row before Anand blundered in the final game to hand his opponent victory. Meanwhile, reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen battered his rival Anish Giri, the Netherlands number 1. Carlsen won the second and fourth games to post a 3-1 score. In his interview afterward, Carlsen confirmed rumors that he has not played on land. “Yeah, I’m on a boat,” he said. “But I’m going back on Thursday so I’ll be playing from home.” Asked about his on-going Twitter exchanges with Giri, Carlsen added: “If [Giri] feels offended by something that wasn’t supposed to happen. It was always friendly banter to me. “I do take pretty serious exception to the notion there’s a PR campaign against him because Team Magnus sees him as a serious threat…” The legends match-up between 2004 world title challenger Peter Leko and Vasyl “Chucky” Ivanchuk finished all square and went to an Armageddon play-off with the Hungarian winning. The event, the fourth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund. The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August. Carlsen, Anand and Kramnik are the last three undisputed world champions together in one tournament. Anand is the man Carlsen wrestled his world title from seven years ago, while Kramnik ushered in a new era in chess in 2000. Commentary is provided by Jan Gustafsson, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, and Tania Sachdev and special guests – including more legends to be announced later. The event is also be broadcast in 10 languages by chess24.com. The official tournament social media hashtag is #ChessLegends. Tournament rules and schedule The time control will be a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed. The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST. Highlights in English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770