Yu Yangyi and Tan Zhongyi win Chinese Championship
The 2020 Chinese Championship in open and women sections took place in Xinghua Jiangsu from 19-30 December 2020. Both tournaments were 12-player round-robins with the time control of 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. The open section was a three-man race among Yu Yangyi, Lu Shanglei, and Wei Yi taking turns on the top throughout the tournament distance. All three GMs scored 8/11 each and tied for the first Yu Yangyi clinching the champion title thanks to the best result in the direct encounters (he beat Wei Yi in the 9th round clash whereas Lu Shanglei drew both games). Photo: Kirill Merkuryev The Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun turned in a solid performance and came in clear fourth, two points behind the top trio. Final standings open: 1. Yu, Yangyi (2709) – 8/112. Lu, Shanglei (2615) – 83. Wei, Yi (2732) – 84. Ju, Wenjun (2560) – 65. Zhao, Jun (2638) – 5½6. Bai, Jinshi (2618) – 5½7. Xu, Xiangyu (2573) – 5½8. Xu, Yinglun (2554) – 5½9. Lin, Yi (2408) – 510. Huang, Renjie (2422) – 4½11. Wen, Yang (2594) – 412. Zhang, Rui (1658) – ½ Photo: John Saunders In the women’s tournament, the highest-rated participant Tan Zhongyi lived up to her reputation and took the title despite losing her first-round game. Guo Qi and Zhai Mo gave the champion a good run for her money and finished just a half-point behind. Final standings women: 1. Tan, Zhongyi (2510) – 8/112. Guo, Qi (2418) – 7½3. Zhai, Mo (2366) – 7½4. Ni, Shiqun (2389) – 75. Song, Yuxin (2290) – 76. Yan, Tianqi (2207) – 67. Yuan, Ye (2081) – 5½8. Xiao, Yiyi (2301) – 59. Ning, Kaiyu (2327) 4½10. Li, Xueyi (2328) – 311. Hu, Yu A. (2094) – 2½12. Gu, Xiaobing (2263) – 2½ Official website: cca.imsa.cn
FIDE World Cups 2021: Players nomination
In accordance with Article 2.1.VIII of the updated recently FIDE World Cup Regulations, one hundred Federations are selected according to the average rating of their ten highest-rated players in the December 2020 FRL (not more than 40 per Continent). These Federations should nominate any player of their choice who is registered to their Federation by June 5th, 2021 (in addition to players already qualified through other paths). Note: nine Americas’ “Federation” spots are transferred to Continental events (see Article 2.1.V of the Regulations) in accordance with the Continental President’s request of February 22nd, 2020. Therefore, the list below consists of 91 Federations. N FEDERATION Avg of Top 10, FRL dec 2020 1 Russia 2735 2 United States of America 2713 3 China 2702 4 India 2670 5 Ukraine 2666 6 Armenia 2659 7 Azerbaijan 2656 8 Hungary 2645 9 France 2643 10 Poland 2632 11 Germany 2630 12 Netherlands 2628 13 England 2623 14 Spain 2623 15 Israel 2610 16 Czech Republic 2605 17 Norway 2581 18 Croatia 2576 19 Georgia 2575 20 Argentina 2571 21 Serbia 2567 22 Romania 2564 23 Greece 2559 24 Turkey 2555 25 Bulgaria 2549 26 Peru 2548 27 Belarus 2547 28 Iran 2547 29 Sweden 2547 30 Uzbekistan 2547 31 Denmark 2545 32 Cuba 2544 33 Brazil 2542 34 Latvia 2535 35 Canada 2534 36 Italy 2534 37 Switzerland 2526 38 Bosnia & Herzegovina 2518 39 Kazakhstan 2518 40 Slovenia 2512 41 Austria 2511 42 Australia 2505 43 Vietnam 2505 44 Belgium 2499 45 Iceland 2499 46 Slovakia 2498 47 Colombia 2488 48 Lithuania 2484 49 Egypt 2479 50 North Macedonia 2472 51 Philippines 2470 52 Mongolia 2461 53 Chile 2459 54 Moldova 2445 55 Montenegro 2443 56 Finland 2442 57 Estonia 2439 58 Indonesia 2431 59 Mexico 2421 60 Venezuela 2418 61 Portugal 2410 62 Paraguay 2407 63 Turkmenistan 2377 64 Algeria 2361 65 Uruguay 2356 66 Morocco 2349 67 Bangladesh 2346 68 Malaysia 2336 69 New Zealand 2329 70 Singapore 2329 71 Costa Rica 2328 72 Myanmar 2315 73 Zambia 2314 74 United Arab Emirates 2311 75 South Africa 2301 76 Kyrgyzstan 2287 77 Tunisia 2283 78 Japan 2275 79 Iraq 2273 80 Tajikistan 2266 81 Nigeria 2265 82 South Korea 2258 83 Angola 2242 84 Uganda 2217 85 Yemen 2216 86 Jordan 2214 87 Syria 2199 88 Lebanon 2197 89 Libya 2181 90 Sri Lanka 2156 91 Zimbabwe 2151 In accordance with Article 2.1.V of the updated recently FIDE Women’s World Cup Regulations, thirty-nine Federations are selected according to the average rating of their five highest-rated women players in the December 2020 FRL (not more than 15 per Continent). These Federations should nominate any player of their choice who is registered to their Federation by June 5th, 2021 (in addition to players already qualified through other paths). N FEDERATION Avg of Top 5, FRL dec 2020 1 China 2544 2 Russia 2516 3 Georgia 2473 4 Ukraine 2469 5 India 2455 6 United States of America 2406 7 Kazakhstan 2401 8 Poland 2395 9 France 2388 10 Spain 2371 11 Hungary 2364 12 Azerbaijan 2362 13 Bulgaria 2361 14 Germany 2356 15 Armenia 2345 16 Netherlands 2342 17 Romania 2336 18 Iran 2333 19 Mongolia 2328 20 Cuba 2322 21 Serbia 2318 22 Turkey 2315 23 Vietnam 2303 24 Indonesia 2284 25 Canada 2256 26 Argentina 2244 27 Uzbekistan 2206 28 Australia 2187 29 Colombia 2162 30 Brazil 2130 31 Philippines 2129 32 Mexico 2121 33 Peru 2096 34 Egypt 2084 35 Venezuela 2028 36 Chile 2016 37 Turkmenistan 2016 38 Saudi Arabia 2014 39 Malaysia 2012 As previously announced, FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women’s World Cup were expanded to 206 and 103 players, with prize funds in both competitions substantially increased.