ECU to hold Hybrid Qualification for FIDE World Cup 2021
In the course of the 2nd ECU Board meeting on February 20, 2021, several important decisions regarding the European Qualification system for the World Championship Cycle have been made. European Championship 2021 will be held in Reykjavik between August and September 2021, being a part of the next World Championship Cycle (FIDE World Cup 2023). The exact dates will be announced by the Icelandic Chess Federation the following days. The European Open Chess Championship 2022 will be organized in Podčetrtek, Slovenia from March 27th (arrival) to April 9th (departure) 2022 and is a part of the World Championship cycle. The Romanian Chess Federation confirmed the European Women Chess Championship 2021 in Iasi, Romania. The event is scheduled for the first half of June but may be rescheduled for later in the summer with a new announcement in March. Concerning the qualification stage for FIDE World Cup 2021, the European Chess Union Board taking into account: a) The existing health conditions, and travel restrictions in Europeb) The re-confirmation by FIDE that World Cup 2021 will be organized in Russia starting in the first half of July and so the continentals qualification stages shall be completed by May 2021.c) The quality of the European representationd) The main principle that qualification to FIDE World Cup shall not be restricted by any criteria of nominations or further geographical distribution that will exclude in advance a big number of European players made the following decisions: Forty (40) additional spots were set for the European players for FIDE World Cup 2021. ECU Board on its meeting on January 2020 in Larnaca, Cyprus decided not to keep 50% of these additional spots for the European qualification stages but to be distributed to forty (40) European federations. This decision ensured the wide geographicalfederations representation at the FIDE World Cup. Additionally, one (1) spot was awarded to the 10 federations of European Small nations (Zone 10.1) that do not get any of these 40 spots. Ten (10) spots will be awarded to the highest European rated players (average rating 1st July 2020 – 1st June 2021) after the 13 top FIDE rated players, World Champion, and World Cup 2019 four (4) finalists spots will be calculated and announced by FIDE. Thirty-six (36) spots will be awarded through a European Hybrid Qualification event that will be organized in 9 rounds from May 22-30. This decision ensures, under the current conditions the access to qualification to hundreds of players and many more through the national pre-qualification events. The exact regulations for the European Hybrid Qualification event will be finalized and announced by the mid of March. The hybrid event will have a 30,000 euros prize fund supported by the FIDE Continental Development fund. Full text of ECU Circular Letter Official website: https://www.europechess.org
Daniil Dubov gives masterclass at Lighthouse Children’s Hospice
On February 21, Daniil Dubov gave a masterclass for the residents of the Lighthouse Children’s Hospice (Moscow). Seventeen kids participated in a simultaneous exhibition by the popular grandmaster. The event was timed to the first online corporate charity chess championship “I Fight to the End!”. Maria Saushkina, a correspondent and presenter at the Russia TV channel, sang children’s songs at the opening ceremony. Svetlana Terekhina, an event manager of the Lighthouse Charity Foundation, Konstantin Bazarov, FIDE master, and Olesya Temerova, head of the Internal Communications Centre project of the Communications and Marketing Department of Gazprombank, greeted the participants. Camera crews from the Channel One and Match TV covered the story for national television. Several children managed to drew their games with Daniil Dubov. The grandmaster praised Roman Kurbanov’s play, calling him a strong opponent. All the children were presented with diplomas and souvenirs from Gazprombank. Text: ruchess.ru Photo: Lilia Demina