FIDE Council postpones World Amateur Chess Championships
The FIDE Council has approved the postponement of the World Amateur Chess Championships (Greece). This measure was suggested by the organizer in view of the current pandemic situation, and the Management Board made a recommendation to the FIDE Council to postpone the event to 2021. These are all the FIDE competitions that have been postponed to 2021: World Junior and Girls U20 Championships (India) World Amateur Chess Championships (Greece) World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships (Greece) World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships (Greece) World School Individual Championships (Panama) World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships (Romania) World Olympiad U-16 (Azerbaijan) World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships (Georgia) World Senior Championship (Italy)
German Masters caps off German Championship Summit
It was the first big chess event in Germany since the beginning of the Corona pandemic: the German Chess Championship Summit took place in Magdeburg from August 14th to 22nd and brought together amateurs, professionals, and officials in one place – of course with extensive safety and precaution measures. The highlight of the event, which was organized in 2019 for the first time, was the German Masters held in two sections: open and women’s tournaments. In each event, the eight strongest German players competed in a round-robin format for an unofficial title of the best chess player in the country. At the same time, the champions of the various German state associations also determined the German Champion and the German Women’s Champion who, in addition to the players seeded by rating, qualified for the Masters in the following year. GM Matthias Blübaum won the German Masters and became a new German number one in the Live Elo rating. WIM Fiona Sieber triumphed in the women’s event, despite being ranked the last on the starting list. The new champion overtook the bronze-winner of the Women’s European Championship 2019 and a former top-ten player IM Elisabeth Pähtz. The second youngest German Grandmaster Luis Engel qualified for the Masters 2021 after taking German Championship title and turning in an impressive performance of 2729. In total 10 tournaments took place at the summit this year: German Masters Women’s German Masters German Championship Women’s German Championship German Lightning Championship Women’s German Blitz Championship German Cup German Seniors Championship German Seniors Lightning Championship German Seniors Rapid Championship Besides, the German national team, which is currently competing at the FIDE Chess Olympiad, played their matches together during this summer forum. The summit was initially planned for May but had to be postponed due to Covid-19. The event became possible thanks to a safety concept found in cooperation with the city of Magdeburg. This included wearing a mask after leaving the board, regular airing, disinfection. No spectators were allowed to the playing venue.