Wojtaszek clinches Biel Grandmaster title
Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland) won the Grandmaster Tournament at the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival, the first major chess event in the world to be played with games over the board again since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. The Grandmaster Tournament was held in a new triathlon format with ten participants playing each other one game with classical time control (4 points for a win; 1½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss), one rapid game with colors reversed (2 points for a win; 1 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss) and two blitz games (1 point for a win; ½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss). The last round of the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon promised excitement, as three players had a chance to win the title – without facing each other directly. However, the leader Radoslaw Wojtaszek did not let his position at the top be taken away from him and defeated Noël Studer, even though the Swiss did not make his task easy. The Pole turned in an impressive tournament in Biel losing just a single game against Pentala Harikrishna. In an interview after his tournament victory, the champion stressed once again how important it was for him to be able to play normally again. Wojtaszek rated his victory on a par with his titles in Dortmund and the Isle of Man. Pentala Harikrishna (India) and Mickey Adams (England) also were victorious in the final round and finished second and third respectively. Harikrishna ended just a half-point behind Wojtaszek, a margin caused by his disappointing performance in blitz games. Mickey Adams was satisfied with his third place, just 1½ points behind the winner. The British champion finished the event on a high note, defeating Arkadij Naiditsch. Young Vincent Keymer (Germany) had a great start but lost steam closer to the end. Nevertheless, Keymer can look back at a strong tournament, which the 15-year-old finished in fourth place with an impressive margin over Arkadij Naiditsch. Final standings: Rank Name Games Classical Rapid Blitz Total 1 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 27 10 12 11 33 2 Pentala Harikrishna 27 16.5 10 6 32.5 3 Michael Adams 27 12.5 8 11 31.5 4 Vincent Keymer 27 13.5 10 4.5 28 5 Arkadij Naiditsch 27 11 5 6.5 22.5 6 David Antón Guijarro 27 9.5 4 8.5 22 7 Noël Studer 27 7 3 5 15 8 Romain Édouard 27 6 4 3.5 13.5 The organizing committee was satisfied with the festival that also included Corona Amateur Tournament (won by Christian Bauer) and Swiss Youth Championship. From an organizational standpoint, the pandemic-related requirements led to various additional expenses, but as things stand today, it can be concluded that the measures taken have proved their worth and could serve as a model for other organizers around the world. Thanks to the decision to hold the festival, “we were able to offer chess to the world, and it was noticed all over the world and associated with the name Biel/Bienne”, as Peter Bohnenblust, president of the organizing committee summed up. The triathlon format (classical + rapid + blitz) has proved its worth and found a positive response from the players. The fact that 4 points were awarded for a victory, with only 1½ in the case of a draw, has ensured exciting games. Only 10 of the 28 classic games ended in a draw, and in the last five rounds only five of them. Official website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/ Text and photo: the official website and Flickr
Kacper Piorun wins Polish Championship
The 77th Polish Individual Chess Championship took place in Warsaw from 21st to 28th of July. It was quite a challenge to run the event during the pandemic, but the federation was granted special permission by the government. It was extremely important for the national federation to run this historical tournament and not to abandon the tradition that traces back to 1926. The tournament was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki. Minister Lukasz Schreiber, former Polish Champion U10 (he defeated GM Wojtaszek then!) attended the opening ceremony as a special guest. President of Polish Chess Federation GM Jedynak and Mr. Schreiber played a friendly blitz game which eventually ended in a draw after a tense battle (Lukasz Schreiber is an accomplished player, rated 2100). For the first time in its history, the championship was held in a knock-out format. The exact system was two games of classical chess, then if it is 1-1 the opponents played two rapid games, if 2-2 – two blitz games and if it is 3-3 then Armageddon 5 minutes vs 4 minutes with White having to win. The tournament started with 16 players and the very first round spang a few surprises. The # 1 seed GM Mateusz Bartel, four-time Polish champion, faced 16th seed 17-year old IM Pawel Teclaf. Bartel had winning or much better positions in each of four games but lost the match 2,5-1,5. The first round was also devastating for one of the favorites GM Bartosz Socko, national coach of Polish team who lost to the eventual runner-up GM Daniel Sadzikowski. With this win, Sadzikowski started his incredible run which eventually propelled him into the final. In the second round, Sadzikowski and Orzegorz Gajewski qualified for the semifinals but both went through extremely dangerous positions. This is particularly true for Gajewski, whose opponent GM Marcin Dziuba had an overwhelming advantage +15.0 (according to a chess engine) but lost anyway! It looks like the stress of the knock-out system and a long break from tournament chess affected many players. In the semifinals, Kacper Piorun won over Gajewski 4-3 in Armageddon. It was 2-2 after classical and rapid games, in blitz Piorun delivered first punch, but Gajewski bounced back to make it 3-3. In the decisive Armageddon game, Gajewski chose white but lost and Piorun advanced into the final. Sadzikowski had a smooth sail in rapid games against GM Heberla, who defeated IM Teclaf one round before, ending youngster`s dream-run. In the final match, four first games were drawn and it went into blitz portion. After Sadzikowski shockingly forfeited on time in a drawish ending in the first game it looked like the end of a story. However, in a second blitz game, he came back sending the black king to the long journey up to the 2nd rank(!) and won a special brilliancy prize (a weekend in a luxury Dr. Irena Eris Spa hotel in the mountains). With 3-3 on the scoreboard, it came down to decisive Armageddon. Piorun confidently won the game and took the Polish Championship title for the second time in his career. In the match for third place, Gajewski downed Heberla 1,5-0,5. With Polish best commentators, GM Pakleza and IM Brodowski on the microphones the tournament had a record-breaking exposure doubling the number of spectators compared to any other previous championship. Only Jan-Krzysztof Duda games in the best events are comparable in terms of viewership.
Online Olympiad Division 4: Preview
On July 31, the matches in Division 4 of the first Online Olympiad in history will start on chess.com. 38 teams from all around the world are joined by 12 winners of Base Division (Myanmar, Lebanon, Cyprus, Brunei Darussalam, Qatar, Aruba, Pakistan, Bahrain, Haiti, Oman, Liberia & Mauritania). In Division 4, 50 teams are divided into 5 groups of 10 squads each. Three best teams from each pool advance to Division 3 – many strong squads with well-known GMs in their ranks will step into the competition at this stage. The official website of Online Olympiad olymp.fide.com presents a brief overview of all five Division 4 pools. Pool A (Bahrain, Nepal, Kenya, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Tanzania, Maldives) The preview of this pool is going to be very similar to the one of Base Division. Teams Myanmar and Brunei are in the same tournament again (up to Division 4 it is allowed for two teams qualifying from the same division to play together in the next one ) and again they enter the competition as favorites. Myanmar has some problems with the 6th board, but the rest of the team, which can boast of three IMs (out of 14, playing in Division 4), is head and shoulders above others. The Hj Azahari Siti Nur sisters are the main striking force of Brunei Darussalam, who can easily pull the team to the next division. Based on ratings, the third favorite in the race for a spot in Division 3 is Thailand. Chinese Taipei also looks strong – although with just 6 people in its line-up it is headed by IM Raymond Song (pictured below). Nepal and Kenya also have a fair chance to qualify. It will be challenging for other teams to succeed, but everyone has equal changes before the start, and one thing is sure – Myanmar and Brunei will not have an easy walk like in Base Division. Pool B (Kuwait, Rwanda, Qatar, Uganda, Malta, Pakistan, Mozambique, Cyprus, Syria, Namibia) This pool features one of the clear frontrunners of Division 4 – Syria national team. The team has four titled players led by IM Bashir Eiti. It looks like only a concourse of unfavorable circumstances or connection problems can prevent Syrian chess players from progressing into the next stage. The run for 2nd and 3rd places promises to be unpredictable. Malta (which at the last moment was headed by the president of the country’s chess federation IM Geoffrey Borg) and Mozambique have better average rating comparing to other squads, but both teams are short of strong Women U20 player, which gives some hope to Uganda or even the qualifiers from Base Division Pakistan and Cyprus. Geoffrey Borg Pool С (Sudan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Eswatini, Oman, Cameroon) Two teams stand out in this division and most likely they will confidently advance to Division 3. Nigeria has the best average rating in Division 4, but with only 6 players in the roster, any forfeit or connection problem can seriously damage this team headed by the IM Oladapo Adu (pictured below). In any case, this tournament will not be a cakewalk for Nigeria, as Lebanon has already shown its strength in Base Division. This Mediterranean team, staffed with good reserve players and strong women’s boards shouldn’t experience any problems in Division 4 – Lebanon is well-positioned to continue its campaign in Division 3. Third place will be contested by African teams with Sudan looking slightly stronger, at least on paper. IM Omar Eltigani on the first board and Eyhab Rawan (1521) on the very important 6th board make Sudan a favorite against its neighbor from Ethiopia and Cameroon. Pool D (Liberia, Ghana, Puerto Rico, Angola, Togo, Palestine, Senegal, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, Haiti) Since Angola is one of the leading African countries in terms of the number of FIDE-rated players it is no surprise that 9 out of 12 members of this team have international titles. Division 4 will be good practice for the Angolan players before much more difficult matches in Division 3, where they have to progress. David Silva (Angola) The only real competitor of Angola in Pool D is Puerto Rico. This team has very strong female boards; FM Danitza Vazquez Maccarini is a clear favorite when it comes to the best result on board 3. Suriname’s strength is on its sixth board, WFM Catherine Kaslan will surely become the main scorer for this South American country, famous for its vast rainforests and original cuisine (you can taste it not only in Suriname but also, for example, in Amsterdam). Haiti will try to make up for a lackluster performance in Base Division in matches against stronger opponents, but the chess players from this country need to raise the bar, otherwise, their Olympic quest will end at this stage. Pool E (Nicaragua, Jamaica, Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Honduras, Sao Tome & Principe, Sierra Leone, Aruba, Bahamas) This pool brought together mainly countries from Central America and the Caribbean; the African teams of Sao Tome & Principe and Sierra Leone are unlikely to keep up with more experienced and stronger chess players from another part of the world. The neighboring countries Honduras and Nicaragua look like clear leaders of this pool, and the outcome of their clash is absolutely unpredictable. The Honduran chess players are a little more experienced, but in any case, both teams have every reason to count on a spot in Division 3. Overall, this group should be particularly interesting for women’s chess fans. Rachel Miller, rated 2004 sticks out in team Jamaica. Since she is turning 20 this year, Rachel plays on the 6th board. Bermuda’s Zuzana Kovacova (pictured above) is the strongest active chess player in the country, regardless of gender. And of course, we all wonder if Thamara Sagastegui (Aruba), who delivered a breakthrough performance in Base Division, will be able to prove herself again. The matches of Division 4 will start at 08:00 UTC on July 31. The Pool A teams will be the first to enter the battle. The official website of the Online Olympics olymp.fide.com will follow the competition closely.
Legends of Chess: Semifinals are set
The four semi-finalists for the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess event were confirmed today as Magnus Carlsen settled all remaining questions himself. The World Champion, who has dominated this online tournament so far, comfortably beat legend Vladimir Kramnik 3-1 to end the prelim stage on top of the leaderboard. However, despite chalking up nine wins out of nine and taking 25 out of a possible 27 points, Carlsen was typically hard on himself afterward. Carlsen said: “It seems that in the last few matches, to use a football analogy, I am getting Lewandowski level chances but I am converting them at a Firminio level. “For those who don’t watch football, that’s pretty bad. But at least the last two games were kind of ok.” Carlsen’s swift win kept Peter Svidler in the final four ahead of Kramnik – despite the eight-time Russian champ losing against Anish Giri. Giri, lying in third, was already safely into the semis and took the match 2.5-1.5. Carlsen’s nearest rival Ian Nepomniachtchi, already assured of a place in the semis, was beaten by 52-year-old Boris Gelfand in an Armageddon but still finished a clear second. With the semi-final places now decided, Svidler – the only old guard legend to make it through – will face Carlsen on Friday after tomorrow’s rest day while Giri faces Nepomniachtchi. It means Kramnik, the former World Champion, is eliminated along with Gelfand. Vasyl Ivanchuk and Vishy Anand both had no chance of progressing and took their match to an Armageddon, which Ivanchuk won. Ding Liren beat Peter Leko 2.5-1.5. Ding was already heading out of the Legends of Chess but still has a chance to qualify for the $300,000 tour Grand Final if Carlsen wins the Legends event overall. On the evidence of the first nine days, the Chinese number 1 should be confident. The event, the fifth 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 is 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