ASTANA wins Four Cities Friendship Chess Championship 2020 – Junior Division
Four Cities Friendship Chess Championship 2020 – Junior Division an online competition that brought together youngsters from Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Hong Kong, Singapore and Penang (Malaysia) ended in a convincing victory by team ASTANA from Nur-Sultan. This team event, organized by the chess federations of Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, was held from July 25th till August 08th, 2020 on a popular platform chess.com. The tournament attracted 72 young players from four cities, competing in U8, U10, and U12 categories. The tournament became possible thanks to the initiative and assistance of the General Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Hong Kong. Three rounds of online chess were played in a good and friendly atmosphere under the FIDE motto «Gens una sumus!» with team ASTANA winning all three matches by a huge margin. Final standings (number of points scored by each team): 1. Astana – 44 2. Singapore – 28 3. Hong Kong – 19 4. Penang – 16 Team “ASTANA” consisted of the champions and prize-winners of the Kazakhstan junior championships in their age categories: Ayat Abdullayev, Akhilbay Imangali, Daniyal Sapenov, Aldiyar Ansat, Alikhan Khazhatuly, Sauat Nurgaliyev, Nazar Talgatov, Edgar Mamedov, Alidar Aryn, Danis Kuandykuly, Nursultan Namazkeyev, Alisher Abdsattar, Kaliza Aizharyk, Zarina Nurgaliyeva, Malika Japarbekova, Elnaz Kaliakhmet, Daliye Diaskyzy, Khanzada Amanzhol.
Magnus Carlsen Tour Finals: Ding exacts revenge
A breathless first round full of intense drama opened the richest online chess tournament ever today. The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals benefiting Kiva is the World Champion’s signature event which features the four best-performing stars from four qualifying super-tournaments. And Magnus Carlsen, Daniil Dubov, Hikaru Nakamura and Ding Liren were all in explosive form straight away as the battle for the $140,000 top prize lit up on day 1. While both semi-final stage matches were close, yet again it was Carlsen who stole the limelight – this time for the wrong reasons – as the Norwegian’s 19-match winning streak came to an end. Carlsen, the winner of three of the four qualifying tournaments, had to overcome a shock opening game loss and a freak technical glitch to take China’s number 1 Ding Liren to a tense blitz play-off. The problem happened during game 3 when Carlsen didn’t receive a move from the chess24 server and timed out through no fault of his own. After the confusion was cleared up, the game resumed and Ding missed a winning chance to leave the match on a knife-edge. Game 4 was a swift draw that took the match to a two-game blitz play-off which, again, couldn’t separate the two and finished 1-1. The match then hung on an “Armageddon” tiebreaker which Ding played flawlessly. Carlsen shook his head in disbelief as the game ended in a draw and a match-loss for the champion. Ding was overjoyed afterward, saying Carlsen was the “big favourite” in the Armageddon. Dubov, the only other tour event winner, meanwhile got off to a scintillating start when he crushed Nakamura in 17 moves. But ultimately the young Russian missed a chance to beat the blitz king. Dubov continued his blistering start in the second but made enough of a mistake to let Nakamura back in and the American took full advantage to force a resignation. Nakamura, who commands an army of fans online, then gave Dubov no chance in the third to go 2-1 up, needing just a draw to win. Yet the see-saw match had yet another twist as Dubov hit back hard to level the set score at 2-2 and take the match into a two-game blitz play-off. The first was drawn but Nakamura overpowered Dubov in the second to take the tie. Nakamura said: “I got the win and so I’m pretty happy today.” Day 2 of the Tour Finals starts at 16:00 CEST tomorrow with Carlsen-Ding and Nakamura-Dubov playing their second set. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Division 3: Day 2 Round-up
The second day in Division 3 divided all the pools into two big categories – in some pools the circle of potential candidates for the spots at the next stage shaped up, whereas in the others even six rounds down the road virtually all the teams still have a chance to qualify for Division 2. Everything will be decided today but in the meantime let’s looks back at the key Saturday events. Pool A Singapore finally showed its strength. The most balanced team in this pool went through the second day without a hitch – after whitewashing Hong Kong, Singapore beat Malaysia and Albania in the key matches with the same score 4:2. Singapore emerged on top and basically secured its spot in the next date. Despite losing to its main competitor Albania also should progress into Division 2. As for the third spot, it is still wide open. Most likely its fate will be decided in the last round match Malaysia – Monaco. Since Ireland lost to both main rivals, it has just a slim chance to qualify. The Monegasques unexpectedly lost two very important match points against South Korea, but late at night, the Fair Play Panel (FFP) disqualified one the South Korean players and Monaco got these two points back. Unfortunately, Syria lost the momentum it had picked up on the first day. One of the reasons might be the absence of one of its key players Manar Khalil. Pool B Unfortunately, this micro-tournament is marred by various non-chess problems. Team Nigeria withdrew from the event due to serious discrepancies between the players and the local federation. Another African team Angola is pestered by the internet disconnections. As a result, neither of Angolan players managed to finish his or her game in the match with Chinese Taipei. An unpleasant incident happened in the top-3. After six rounds Portugal had a commanding lead but one of its players got disqualified. After the FFP’s decision, the team lost three match points and fell back to the third position, whereas team IPCA moved atop the standings. Portugal (despite disqualification) and Scotland seem to be the main candidates for two remaining qualifying spots, although Sri Lanka and Tadjikistan are still capable of springing a surprise. Pool С It was crunch time for Belgium and the team mobilized its best players – GM Bart Michiels got into action on the second day. Overall, the plan worked out – the victories over Lebanon and Jordan and a draw with Thailand propelled Belgium to the top position and pretty much secured a spot in Division 2. When playing in the higher division the team will have to solve the problem of its second women’s board though. There are six (!) contenders for the other two spots with Jordan and Thailand being slightly ahead of the pack. The tournament situation is so complicated and unpredictable, that any of these six teams can advance to the next stage. The commentators of the official stream are rooting for the underdog, team Thailand, which could have settled all the issues if it wasn’t for an accident in the match with Jordan: Prin Laohawirapap – Malek Saif In this double-edged position 14-year old up and coming Thai Prin Laohawirapap ventured upon a breakthrough in the center 29.e5?!. Malek Saif erroneously reacted – 29…bxa4? (29…fxe5 was necessary) 30. Bxc6! bxc6 31. Rxc6+ Kd8 and White could have wrapped things up with 32.Rc8+! Rxc8 33.Qxa5+, but the Thai player went astray – 32. exd6?! Qd7 33. bxa4?? Rxa4 34. Qb6+ Ke8 35. Qe3+ Kf8 and Black’s king escaped; White resigned a few moves later. Pool D Even an overwhelming favorite of the entire Division 3, team Denmark might not survive in this “group of death”. On Saturday the Danes threw a rising star GM Jonas Bjerre into the fray on a junior board but failed to enlist their best women. Bjerre crushed his opponents, but the absence of the best women translated into four defeats in the key encounters with Venezuela and Bolivia and two lost matches. Bolivia doesn’t look invincible, but the team has won all the matches so far (there is no other team like that in Division 3) and is bound to qualify. Chile also should advance – this team has a very balanced lineup and a deep bench. Suffice it to say that twelve players Chilean players have already participated in the event. Venezuela occupies the third position, but it will be a major challenge for this team to hold its ground after a devastating defeat 1:5 in the match with Chile. Despite its Saturday’s collapse, Denmark should solve all its problems and advance to the next stage. Pool E If bets on Online Olympiad had been accepted, bookmakers would have earned huge money in this pool. Any given match looks like a thriller with an unpredictable outcome; there are neither favorites nor underdogs, only Suriname fell behind but this team was very unlucky on several occasions. Suffice it to say that in Round 4 the leader, Mexico lost to Honduras, the team that was lagging behind all the competitors after the first day. What is more, Honduras scored a well-deserved victory. Then Honduras drew with Costa-Rica and had a great chance to join the leaders but lost the final match of the day against the Dominican Republic. Christopher Guzman – Nahun Gavarrete FM Nahun Gavarrete could have won several times, but even in this position, it is hard to imagine that anything can go wrong for Black. After all, he has an extra pawn and good winning chances. However, a knee-jerk 34…Ba6?? sprang a trap – 35. Qd8+ Kh7 36. g5! Qg6 37. h4! and Black has no defense against Bh3-f5. Christopher Guzman prevailed and handed the victory to the Dominican Republic. Dominicana moved up to the fourth place, Honduras is just ninth again but both teams have a shot for a spot in the top-3. Costa-Rica and Mexico are out of reach, but climbing to the third place is a feasible task for both squads. On Sunday at 08:00 UTC, Division 3 enters the final stage. Let’s hope that all 15 teams advancing to a prestigious Division 2 will be determined over the chessboard, rather than by the FFP team which did a great job on Saturday.
PDC: mission and current projects
The Planning and Development Commission, often shortened as PDC, is one of the most important bodies within FIDE. The crucial role played by PDC is perfectly acknowledged by the federations, but it is not so well known by the general public – at least, not to the extend we think it should. So it seemed sensible to devote a blog post to this commission and offer an update to the chess community about its most recent initiatives. The primary goal of the PDC is the institutional strengthening of the various arms of FIDE including federations, continental bodies, and member associations. FIDE comprises 195 members of which greater than 70% are under-developed as it relates to chess activity and management within their countries. To tackle this problem, the PDC was given the mandate in 2018 to manage the FIDE development fund, and in 2019 seventy-seven federations were approved for funding totaling just over US$1 million. However, the support provided by FIDE and the PDC to these federations is not limited to financial support. “After having reviewed a year of the funding programme, Team PDC felt that it was critical to better understand the environment in which federations operate in order to enhance the effectiveness of the PDC’s work and programmes”, explains Sonja Johnson, who currently serves as the Chairperson for PDC. The Planning and Development Commission has been recently restructured to have a complement of four designated councilors which allowed for more active management of the various continents. It is in this context that PDC’s latest project, the PDC Fed Forums, was conceptualized. PDC Fed Forums Over the past two years, the Planning and Development Commission has collected quite a bit of information on the operations of federations and therefore feels it’s best positioned to engage federations in talks surrounding their development. However, the PDC felt that in order to develop programs for the benefit of members, it is important to include the members so that they are part of this important process. This is where the PDC Fed Forums come into play. These forums are virtual meetings of about 60-90 minutes, which aim at engaging the federations in small groups, e.g. as a zone and/or by language, since even within zones there may have different languages spoken by the members. “Our feeling is that these sessions should be structured to facilitate active participation and therefore sessions will mostly be conducted in English and allow for translation in multiple languages: French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian: while also being held at more convenient times, such as on evenings or even weekends”, explains Sonja. This engagement seeks to: – Determine the specific needs of the federations in that group – Provide feedback on the performance of federations based on reports submitted as a result of prior funding – Identify areas where there may be common solutions to needs to optimize the use of the development fund. The PDC Chair, Councillors and PDC Secretary participate in these meetings, in which it is expected to have at least 2 members of each federation in the meeting, and not just the President. The following forums have already been held: Zone 3.6 Zone 3.3 Zones 2.3.1., 2.3.2. and 2.3.3 Zone 1.10 Here you can check the schedule of the upcoming PDC Fed Forums. “The initial feedback from federations has been extremely positive as federations have indicated this is the first time that they are being provided with an opportunity to directly share what matters to them. We are also committed to working with federations towards their sustained development”, concludes Sonja. The meetings are being recorded, and the outcomes shared via various means including the PDC website and a dedicated Youtube channel. Based on the discussions, the PDC will structure a series of knowledge-sharing activities which may include: Workshops, webinars, or Panel Discussions. PDC will mainly tap into internal resources, e.g. other commissions or experts within FIDE to assist in the delivery of these sessions. More info: Contact: planninganddevelopmentsecretary@fide.com Website of the Planning and Development Commission. PDC Fed Forums project.