Adly and Mezioud claim Africa Online Championship titles
GM Ahmed Adly has won the Open Section at the maiden edition of the Africa Online Individual Chess Championship 2021. With this win, he stands to walk away with the $3,000 first-place prize. In the ladies section, WGM Amina Mezioud stole the show and claimed the crown of African Chess Queen for 2021. The event was held on the Tornelo platform in five categories (9-round Swiss tournaments) with the prize money distributed as follows: Main Open Women Seniors U20 Open U20 Girls 1st Prize USD $3000 USD $2000 USD $1000 USD $400 USD $300 2nd Prize $2000 $1000 $750 $300 $200 3rd Prize $1500 $750 $500 $200 $100 4th Prize $750 $500 5th Prize $500 $250 Open Very little was separating the players in the Open section, where all games were tightly contested affairs. It was GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt), who snatched the gold in the end. His countryman and Africa’s number 1 Amin Bassem had to settle for the silver, just half a point behind. GM Bilel Bellahcene of Algeria notched the third-place position on tiebreak (tied for third with IM Fy Rakotomaharo and CM Donaldo Paiva) to take bronze. GM Ahmed Adly playing from home Final standings: Women WGM Amina Mezioud of Algeria (pictured below), won gold at the Women’s section. She scored two important victories in Rounds 8 and 9 to finish strong, surpassing Sabrina Latreche, who took the silver, just half a point behind Amina. Khadidja Latreche had secured her top 3 finish but lost her last game to Linda Dalitso Shaba of Zimbabwe. Photo: David Llada Final standings: Seniors As many predicted, 7-time South African champion, FM Charles De Villiers (RSA) clinched gold in the ‘madalas’ section of players over 50 with an unbeaten 8.5/9 score. Zoheir Slami (Morocco) and CM John Mukabi (Kenya) settled for second and third spots respectively. Charles De Villiers (right) podium finish in 2018 Photo: Cross Road Chess Club Facebook page Final standings: U20 Open FM Lamine Brahami of Algeria (pictured below) won the U20 Open gold with a beautiful win in the 8th round, and a draw with Banele Mhango in the last round. He ended the tournament joint first on 7.5/9 points, along with FM Domingoes Junior of Angola, however, having the better Bucholz points. Taking bronze on joint third place with Banele Mhango (both on 7 points), is Mauritania’s Mohamed Abderrahim Taleb Mohamed, also with the better Bucholz points. Photo: Adnane Nesla Final standings: U20 Girls WIM Lina Nassir of Algeria (pictured below) came out on top in the U20 Girls section scoring 8 points. She secured the title by defeating Egypt’s Yara Allam in Round 8 and drawing her last round game against Natalie Katlo Banda of Botswana on move 31. WFM Besa Masaiti, also of Botswana, “went home” with silver, finishing a point behind the leader. The untitled Davida Strong from South Africa finished in third place and took the bronze with 6.5/9 points. Photo: www.express-dz.com Final standings: Text: https://africachessmedia.com/
Alexei Shirov wins 2021 University of Salamanca Masters
Alexei Shirov came as the winner of the University of Salamanca Masters 2021. The eight-player round-robin with the time control of 40 min + 5 sec was a part of the third edition of the Salamanca Chess Festival running from February 2-6. The Masters brought together eight players from four counties including the last edition winner Eduardo Iturrizaga, FIDE World ex-champion Veselin Topalov, Alexei Shirov, the reigning Spanish Champion David Anton, and four female players. The winner delivered an excellent result 6 out of 7 making just two draws and finished a half-point ahead of Eduardo Iturrizaga and David Anton who tied for second place. Elisabeth Paehtz scored 3 points out of 7 and became the best female player in the event. Final standings: 1. Alexei Shirov (2662) – 6 2. Eduardo Iturrizaga (2607) – 5½ 3. David Anton Guijarro (2679) – 5½ 4. Veselin Topalov (2735) – 3½ 5. Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – 3 6. Nurgyul Salimova (2397) – 2½ 7. Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (2392) – 1½ 8. Almira Skripchenko (2418) – 1 Official website: www.salamancachessfestival.com Photo: Ajedrez Salamanca
Carlsen wins 4 in a row to set early pace
World Champion recovers from ‘funk’ 24 of 40 games end with a win Round-robin stage resumes tomorrow The Opera Euro Rapid online chess event got off to an explosive start as World Champion Magnus Carlsen won four in a row to end the day out on top. The Norwegian went into the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament on the back of a poor run of form he described as a “funk”. But after an early wobble that stoked fears, he wasn’t out of it, Carlsen roared back to post a quadruple of back-to-back wins. Carlsen said afterward: “I wouldn’t say the funk is over but what I would say is that this was a very enjoyable day of chess and I tried to win every game.” The result, Carlsen said, was “awesome”. He added: “Overall I’m very happy with my play – the spirit I had to always try for the maximum!” After losing to Wesley So in Round 1, Carlsen’s victims were Airthings Masters finalist Levon Aronian, German number 1 Matthias Bluebaum, 2018 US champ Sam Shankland and finally Cuban-American Leinier Dominguez. The champion wasn’t alone in hunting down wins. All 16 stars in action appeared to throw caution to the wind as an impressive 24 of the first 40 round-robin games finished decisively. In fact, the drama kicked off only seconds after the start of play as the Russian Alexander Grischuk made a horrible mouse-slip just four moves in. With the odds stacked against him, Grischuk then went on to save a draw against Anish Giri. The prelim stage taking place now is the first act of the $100,000 Opera Euro Rapid as the players battle it out to make it into the last eight knockout. Carlsen finished Day 1 of the nine-day tournament on 4/5, half a point ahead of Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, and Teimour Radjabov are tied for fourth place. Opera is the official browser of the Tour and title partner of the event which carries a $100,000 prize pot. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. The logo chosen for the event represents Daniil Dubov’s sensational win over World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the last Tour event, the Airthings Masters. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770 About Play Magnus AS The Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, CoChess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. About Meltwater Meltwater is the title partner of the Tour. Meltwater is a global leading provider of social and media intelligence. By examining millions of posts each day from social media platforms, blogs and news sites, and using patented artificial intelligence systems, Meltwater helps companies make better, more informed decisions based on insight from the outside.