FIDE resumes the Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament, the biennial 8-player event that decides who will be the Challenger for the World Chess Championship title, will resume on the 19th of April in Yekaterinburg, Russia. This double round-robin tournament kicked off on March 16, 2020. However, it had to be abruptly stopped 11 days later when the Russian government announced the closure of air traffic with other countries, amid a rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic. The sudden crisis left hanging this prestigious event, one of the oldest traditions in the world of sports. Since half the rounds had already been played, this interruption created an unprecedented situation, as the regulations stipulate that the results obtained until that point must stand – rather than having the tournament re-started from scratch. When the tournament was interrupted, the French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi were in the lead with 4½ points after seven games. Fabiano Caruana (USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Wang Hao (China) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia) are in the chasing pack, all with 3½ points. After a long wait, the challenger to Magnus Carlsen’s throne will be finally known by the 28th of April. This is the detailed schedule for the second half of the tournament, to which all players have agreed on and expressed their readiness to take part in: 19th April 2021, Round 820th April 2021, Round 921st April 2021, Round 10(22nd April 2021, rest day)23rd April 2021, Round 1124th April 2021, Round 12(25th April 2021, rest day)26th April 2021, Round 1327th April 2021, Round 1428th April 2021, tie-breaks (if required) The eyes of the entire chess world will be on this tournament, which is expected to receive massive coverage. The recent surge of interest towards chess and the special circumstances around the event guarantees the biggest number of spectators for any Candidates Tournament in chess history. Standings after Round 7: Player Points Rating 1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 4½ 2767 2 Ian Nepomniachtchi 4½ 2774 3 Fabiano Caruana 3½ 2842 4 Anish Giri 3½ 2763 5 Wang Hao 3½ 2762 6 Alexander Grischuk 3½ 2777 7 Liren Ding 2½ 2805 8 Kirill Alekseenko 2½ 2698 Pairings for round eight: Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Maxime Vachier-Lagr. (FRA) Hao Wang (CHN) – Liren Ding (CHN) Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) – Anish Giri (NED) Kirill Alekseenko (RUS) – Alexander Grischuk (RUS) About the Candidates Tournament The current format of the Candidates Tournament was established in 1950 as the best way to determine who should be the World Champion Challenger. Currently, it is fought under the format of a double round-robin tournament (14 rounds), with the eight best players on the planet- except the champion himself. The selection process from which the World Chess Challenger emerges is probably one of the toughest of any sport. The scarcity of opportunities to ascend this summit makes any mistake more tragic, increasing the epic nature of the struggle. About the World Chess Championship The winner of the Candidates Tournament will be Carlsen’s rival in the World Championship Match, a face-off between two contenders where they play to the best of 14 games. The 2021 World Championship match will take place 24 November – 16 December 2021 as one of the highlights of the Expo 2020 Dubai. The two players will compete for a prize fund of 2 million euros.
Superb turnout for FIDE World Corporate Championship
We couldn’t have dreamed of a better welcome for the inaugural edition of the FIDE Online World Corporate Chess Championship that will be played next weekend (February 19-21). With 284 teams registered from 78 different countries, the event will bring together 1,467 players. This turnout widely surpassed all our estimations, and we would like to thank our partners at Chess.com and the Chief Arbiter, Alex Holowczak, for the extra effort they are making to accommodate all the participants. However, quality is even more important than quantity, and here is where things get really exciting. Most of the top companies in the world have joined the competition. So much so, that it would be just easier to name the ones that did not! The list of participating teams includes giants like Amazon, Samsung, Ford, Microsoft, Gazprom, Facebook, Siemens, Dell Technologies, Bosch, Airbus, IBM, Boeing, Sony, Intel, ArcelorMittal, Equinor, HP, Twitter, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Vodafone, Sberbank, American Express, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Oracle, Credit Suisse, and Airbnb – just to name a few prominent names from the Fortune Global list. And the line-ups are no less impressive, with none other than the World Champion himself topping the list! Magnus Carlsen will defend the first board for Kindred Group (which encompasses Unibet, the company that sponsors him), while Anish Giri will play for Optiver, a Dutch trading firm that has supported him during the past five years of his career. Companies are allowed to have just one invited player for the event, so we also find Ian Nepomniachtchi playing for Sberbank, Vladislav Artemiev playing for Aeroflot, and Salem Saleh playing for Emirates Airlines, among many others. In total, 204 titled players will take part in the competition, including 36 Grandmasters. We hope that some of these collaborations will turn into long term sponsorship agreements for many of these players. We also find top executives playing for their teams, like Bernhard Spalt, CEO of Erste Group Bank, and Tomislav Topic, who is now the CEO of a telecom company in Ecuador, Telconet. However, the strongest executive is the two-time French Champion and former top-player Joel Lautier, a Member of the Supervisory Board of Sovcombank, who will make a temporary comeback to play in the championship. There was no entry fee of any kind for this competition. However, FIDE is organizing a fund-raiser in cooperation with the platform Softgiving, and participant companies are encouraged to donate towards one of three social projects currently being developed by FIDE: Chess in Education programs for underprivileged children, Chess for people with Disabilities, and the FIDE veterans support program. If you also want to contribute, you can do it through this link: https://give.softgiving.com/FIDE
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New appointments in FIDE Commissions
The following changes have been approved in FIDE Commissions: Mrs. Ilaha Kadimova to be appointed as the Secretary of Events Commission. Two-time Junior World Champion (1992 and 1993), Ilaha Kadimova became WGM in 1994. For several years she served as a secretary for Commission for Women’s Chess and now has been transferred to the Events Commission where her experience may prove valuable. Mrs. Christelle Jager-Hafstad to be appointed as the Secretary of Commission for Women’s Chess.
Wesley So wins Valentine’s Day final
US star Wesley So inflicted a heartbreaking defeat on World Champion Magnus Carlsen to win the Opera Euro Rapid on Valentine’s Day. So became the first player to take two Meltwater Champions Chess Tour titles as he moved into a slender lead in the year-long series. The 27-year-old, who plays from his home in Minnetonka, MN, has toppled Carlsen in both finals and appears to have moved up a gear in online rapid chess. He can now stake a strong claim to have usurped Carlsen and be considered the world’s best in this format. Having saved a late draw in the first set yesterday, So struck early in the first game today after Carlsen launched a risky attack that went badly wrong. Two draws followed before a thrilling final game that could have gone either way ended with a third draw that handed victory overall in the tournament to So. The Filpino-born star defended brilliantly against Carlsen’s increasingly desperate attacks. Try as he might, Carlsen just couldn’t breakthrough. Carlsen blamed himself for not trusting his intuition and failing to make accurate moves. He also praised So for putting him under pressure. So’s win was a repeat of his impressive triumph over Carlsen in the Skilling Open, the first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The new Opera Euro Rapid champion had gone into today’s decider having only just saved a 2-2 draw in the first set. It suggested today’s final set would be tight. But any thoughts that it would turn into a battle of attrition were dashed almost immediately. In the first game Carlsen, believing an opportunity was there, rolled the dice with a speculative bishop sacrifice. Was it genius or bluff? Carlsen said earlier that he wanted to take the match into more dangerous waters – and he did. But So cooly kept Carlsen at bay and the Norwegian was soon left regretting his decision. It was 1-0 to So after just 28 moves, and already Carlsen was left needing a comeback. Pressure mounted in the second game as Carlsen let an advantage slip. So defended and it ended in a draw. Carlsen now was up against it, needing to win in one of the last two games to take the match to a tiebreak. So, however, just needed a win or to avoid defeat. Again in the third Carlsen pushed and had opportunities, but the champion’s form has been up and down in this tournament and he did not take them. The game ended in another draw meaning Carlsen was left under immense pressure to win the final game of the set to level the score. So was never going to play safe and the two-time US champ launched a gutsy attack that left his king wide open. Carlsen, meanwhile, countered to set up a full-blooded battle between the two. Carlsen had momentum and went for it, but was somehow missing his killer instinct. The champion had lost the thread and his attack fizzled out as So defended brilliantly yet again. Carlsen said: “I’m a bit frustrated again today. Losing to Wesley is OK, he clearly had the most convincing tournament coming into today. But I do feel like I missed a lot of chances, that’s the frustrating part.” Carlsen added that he should have trusted his intuition more and taken his chances. “Overall no shame in losing to him,” Carlsen said. “But I feel like I could have done a whole lot better and it’s not going to sit well with me tonight.” In the battle for third-place, Teimour Radjabov – who led the Tour before this event – beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in two straight games. Radjabov put his win down exhaustion on MVL’s part that contributed to a major blunder as the nine-day tournament came to an end. 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. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770