Carlsen and Nakamura advance to semifinals
GM Magnus Carlsen defeated GM Vladislav Artemiev 13.5-9.5 whereas GM Hikaru Nakamura dispatched GM Vladimir Fedoseev 21.5-5.5 in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the Speed Chess Championship. Carlsen will now face GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semifinals; Nakamura will now face GM Wesley So. Before this Speed Chess match, Carlsen and Artemiev had played four games at fast time control, with the Norwegian winning two besides two draws. However, the players drew twice in the 2020 Chessable Masters this summer. Carlsen was the favorite and Artemiev a dangerous dark horse. The match started equal, with a win for Artemiev, then one for Carlsen, followed by a draw. In game four, it was Artemiev who took the lead for the second time when he won a model game against his opponent’s Hedgehog setup. Carlsen retaliated and then after another draw won two games in a row and finished the five-minute games 5-3 on the scoreboard in his favor. Artemiev put his opponent under pressure in the first two 3+1 games (both draws) and then won the third, to bring back the margin to a point. Carlsen seemed furious on camera and perhaps that was because he kind of lost to himself in this game: However, every time Carlsen lost, he bounced back immediately with a win—and in this case, two. He was leading by three points, and in hindsight, we had reached the critical moment of the match. Indeed, Artemiev was completely winning in the next two games but lost both! The Russian player finally managed to string together two victories in games 20 and 21, bringing the score to 12-9. But by then, there wasn’t enough time left to make up for those three points. As the match was over, Artemiev reflected: “I think the match was very interesting and uncompromising but also I can say that I have big problems when I am down to my last seconds and probably I missed some great chances. But OK, it’s a fight and it’s only my problem so thank you Magnus, and congratulations.” Carlsen: “I have to say that the match overall was tough. Almost every game was tough. I think over the course of the match there was one game which I won without any hiccups. So if you’re talking about angry that was sort of my constant mood throughout the match. Every game was long. It felt like I was outplayed in almost every game and it was just a massive struggle. I played Vlad before so I knew that he is very strong and I knew that the match was never going to be easy but still, when you’re there, we both really felt the tension very much and in that sense, it was a very interesting and very open match as well.” The Nakamura-Fedoseev match was a repeat of the final of the Super Swiss, an one-day qualifier to the Speed Chess Championship in early October. Nakamura won 7.5-5.5 back then and Fedoseev became the qualifier because the winner was already seeded into the SCC as the reigning champion. In Titled Tuesdays, Nakamura scored 5-3 vs. Fedoseev between May and September of this year. All in all, he was the favorite but not by the huge margin that came on the scoreboard. He was in brilliant shape, while Fedoseev was not having his day. Nakamura started with an incredible 9-0, the second-best opening score in Speed Chess history. The games were not that lopsided actually, but somehow things went wrong for Fedoseev time and time again. The five-minute segment comprised the first eight of those nine wins for Nakamura, who said: “I played well when I had very little time on the clock, I think that was probably the main thing that I did well in the 5+1.” After the first break, Fedoseev wasn’t yet allowed a fresh start as he lost another game in an equally disappointing fashion. 10-0 would have meant “adoption,” but that didn’t happen as Fedoseev held the 10th game to a draw. After another loss and another draw, he finally managed to score his first win in game 13. Fedoseev promptly won another game, but Nakamura then finished the three-minute segment with three more wins. The score before the bullet was a devastating 14-3. However, we should honor where honor is due. The Move of the Match came from Fedoseev, who found a brilliant queen sacrifice in the second bullet game. Sadly for him, he couldn’t convert the game later on. Fedoseev got two wins and a draw in the bullet segment, with seven wins for Nakamura. The latter revealed that before the match he had taken his opponent very seriously: “Not to discredit my previous opponents, but for all the previous matches I didn’t actually do any preparation whatsoever whereas for this match I did quite a bit of preparation. Credit to Vladimir who is a very strong player and who did beat Alireza [Firouzja] in the first round.” Fedoseev: “The match started with a huge disconnection from my side and then I tilted. I don’t think that in the world we can name a second player who is so good as Hikaru in the situation when his opponent is tilting and that’s why this match ended how it ended. Also, he was perfectly concentrated till the end of the match. I found many great tactical ideas but he always was better physically and mentally and again and again outplayed me.” The 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event is a knockout tournament among 16 of the best grandmasters in the world who will play for a $100,000 prize fund, double the amount of last year. The tournament runs from November 1 to December 13, 2020, on Chess.com. Each match will feature 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess. Text: Peter Doggers
FIDE Online General Assembly 2020: Final List of Delegates
FIDE is publishing the final list of the delegates for the FIDE Online General Assembly. FINAL LIST OF DELEGATES (pdf)
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
In conversation with CM Samarth J Rao and his father, Jagadish Rao Basrur Shankar Written by Dora Martinez (dora@lensethics.org)Contributor: Seçkin SerpilPhoto courtesy of Jagadish Rao There is a way. We can plan out our lives as much as we’d like but, life more often than not, alters our path. As a parent of a son with a disability, I know what it means to push against the current, to not conform, to fight against the place society wants to carve out for people with disabilities. How do we create a path that honors us? In this edition, we connect again via Zoom and have a conversation with Samarth and his father Jagadish. When Samarth was a young boy, his mother saw that he was left out from playing on the school’s playground and introduced him to chess. This introduction to chess changed everything for Samarth. Samarth, you’ve had many challenges but, this has not stopped you from setting goals and trying to achieve them. How do you overcome wins and losses on and off the board? If I have a challenge against a player, I want to win. I am not worried about the loss because I see this as a challenge to try to win again. Whether I win, lose or draw, this is not a concern, it is yet another challenge to try to overcome and stay focused on my goals. Samarth is representing India in the Online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities. What do you think about playing in this event? This event is a good opportunity for players with physical disabilities because this allows them to play from home, which is more comfortable. Samarth doesn’t require assistance and does not use adaptive devices, just a normal laptop. How did you prepare for this event? He is taking lessons from several chess coaches, Mr. Ajith M P of Mysuru and team coach, Mr. Durgaprasad V. He has improved a lot because of this. Samarth also played in a practice match with WIM Jennitha Anto K from India, a 6-time World Champion in IPCA and he won this practice game against her. This made him very happy. Samarth, you are 21 years old now. How old were you when you played in your first chess tournament? What is it about chess that motivates you to continue? I played in my first chess tournament at 13 years. I want chess to be my career and one of my goals is to become a GM like Anand, this motivates me. I was very happy to be honored by Anand in Chennai and my favorite Anand game is one he played against Kasparov. Anand and Samarth Samarth is also studying in university. How are his studies going? Samarth has been focusing on chess and his university studies. He is very active! He is in his final year and will earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce. What has been the most rewarding experience in your chess career? Visiting the USA for the first time for the World Junior Chess Championship for Players with Disabilities and earning a medal made me very happy. How do you pick the tournaments you want to play in? Right now, due to the pandemic, he is playing a lot of online games. Taking this opportunity to expand his knowledge in chess with high rated players, maximizing his time and focusing on chess only. He studies and plays chess 12-13 hours a day. Do you prefer chess online or in person? In person, over the board. Who is your favorite chessplayer, living or in history? I love Fischer because he is an attacking player. As Samarth’s father, you have always believed in him, always supported him. What words of encouragement and motivation do you tell Samarth right before his games? I tell him to do his best. Don’t worry about your opponent’s rating. You play your game only. Everyone makes mistakes. If they make a mistake, take advantage of that, punish the mistake and then you can win the match. He has taken this advice and I think this is why he is at this level. I am happy and very proud of him. Samarth is unable to stand or walk independently and you assist him in every way you can. Having dedicated and supportive parents is very important. What is the most challenging thing about parenting? Where there’s a will, there’s a way! I have the will to do something about Samarth, so I took this as a challenge for me. I travel with him everywhere and as far as possible. At some point, I won’t be able to carry him because of my age. While I have the strength to hold and carry him, I will try to support him as much as possible in his goal of becoming a GM. He wanted to win the World Junior Championship for Players with Disabilities in New Jersey, USA but, because of a slight mistake in his game against Ilia Lipilin from Russia, he missed this opportunity. You’ve traveled to many countries, which is your favorite? USA and Czech Republic. What do you look forward to the most once this pandemic is over? I want to play online and offline as much as possible and start to play in over the board tournaments so that I can increase my rating to over 2000. I want my rating to be over 2000 because in the next Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, a goal I have set for myself is to be in India Team 1. Also, I would like to go back to the USA so if you organize a World Youth Championship for Under 25, I can take on this challenge and try to win a tournament in the USA. You are a big inspiration Samarth. Anything you’d like to say to people who might have a difficult time achieving their goals? Anybody can achieve anything! Wishing you the very best Samarth! Until next time…play on!