Three-way tie for the lead after Day 1
The Polgar Challenge, the first event of the new $100,000 Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, got underway today with a series of fighting games that ended in a three-way tie for the lead. Top seed Nodirbek Abdusattorov grabbed the first win of the five-month tour with a convincing victory over Bulgarian teen Nurgyul Salimova. Abdusattorov, from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, famously beat two Grandmasters in a tournament when aged only nine. The ambitious 16-year-old aims to be World Champion one day and showed his class by finishing joint-top of the table on day one of four after scoring an unbeaten 4/5. Abdusattorov shares the lead with India’s exciting prodigy R Praggnanandhaa and the youngest International Master in American history, 14-year-old Christopher Yoo. Round 1 finished with eight decisive outcomes and only two draws. Round 2 followed the pattern with only two more draws. In total, there were only 14 draws in 50 games played over the first five rounds – a stat that demonstrated the fighting chess on display. The 20 young talents on the show are divided into two teams, Team Kramnik and Team Polgar. The overall day 1 score is 25-25. Going into the final round of the day China’s Lei Tingjie was the leader after beating America’s top-ranked female player, 17-year-old Carissa Yip. However, Lei was caught by Abdusattorov after a final-round loss to Praggnanandhaa that allowed both of them to leap-frog her. The young stars of chess represent 12 nations and are competing for a prize pot totalling $100,000 and places on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. They are receiving coaching and support from teams of coaches, which include world champions and legends of the game. The Polgar Challenge, named after Judit Polgar, is the first of four tournaments before a tour final in September organised by the Play Magnus Group. The team that wins the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour overall will also get a trip to this year’s World Chess Championship in Dubai. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770 About the Tour: Fronted by the strongest female player of all time, Judit Polgar, and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour will run alongside the hugely popular Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Tour is organised by the Play Magnus Group and is designed to tackle head-on the lack of female role models competing in top events and promote emerging talent. More information here. Team Kramnik:Nodirbek Abdusattorov (aged, 16, Uzbekistan); Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (15, India); Dinara Saduakassova (24, Kazakhstan); Jonas Bjerre (16, Denmark); Leon Mendonca (15, India); Lei Tingjie (24, China); Christopher Yoo (14, United States); Olga Badelka (18, Belarus); Carissa Yip (17, United States); Nurgyul Salimova (17, Bulgaria) Team Polgar:Nihal Sarin (aged 16, India); Awonder Liang (17, United States); Vincent Keymer (16, Germany); Gukesh D (14, India); Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (24, Iran); Volodar Murzin (14, Russia); Polina Shuvalova (20, Russia); Zhansaya Abdumalik (21, Kazakhstan); Jiner Zhu (18, China); Gunay Mammadzada (20, Azerbaijan)
Alireza Firouzja wins 2021 Bullet Chess Championship
GM Alireza Firouzja won the 2021 Bullet Chess Championship presented by SIG. The Iran-born super-GM first eliminated top favourite GM Hikaru Nakamura in the semifinals and then was too strong for GM Andrew Tang in the final. The Bullet Chess Championship presented by SIG ran April 5-7, 2021 on Chess.com among the very best bullet players on the planet. Only World Champion Magnus Carlsen was missing from an otherwise star-studded field. Firouzja earned $10,000 for his victory. Semifinals In the semifinals, the action started with GM Daniel Naroditsky, making his first moves in the championship, against Tang. Because GM Eric Hansen had to withdraw at the last moment, Naroditsky reached the semis without playing. Charlotte resident Naroditsky didn’t need much of a warmup as he took a 4-3 lead before the half-time break and later increased it to 6-4. Tang, however, levelled the score to 6-6 with incredibly fast play. As 7-7 was on the scoreboard with three minutes left, Tang convincingly won two games in a row to secure a place in the final. Right after, the much-anticipated match between Firouzja and Nakamura started. It was a repeat of the final of the Bullet Open Championship from the end of 2020 and also of the 2019 quarterfinal when both times Nakamura emerged victoriously. The American GM was definitely the slight favourite again, also because he had just beaten GM Arjun Erigaisi 13-3 the other day. Nakamura had an excellent start and was about to go 3-0 when he blundered a piece and it was 2-1 instead. He still reached 4-1 anyway, winning game five in the nick of time. With Nakamura leading 6-3 at halftime, few would have predicted Firouzja to win this match. However, the second half saw a completely different picture with the Iran-born prodigy winning that second “set,” also nine games, 7-2 to take the match 10-8. “[During the break] I thought I had to play more relaxed and play more like I’m playing every day against Naroditsky or like this,” Firouzja explained his comeback. “That way I could have a chance, at least.” The end was an absolute nailbiter, with Nakamura winning a must-win game to make 8-9 with 21 seconds left on the match clock. Having double the amount of time (22 seconds vs. 11 for Firouzja) he seemed on his way to flag his opponent, make 9-9 and force a playoff. He also could have won a piece there but instead, he blundered his own rook. “It was a bit of luck I guess, but overall I think I played good chess against Hikaru,” Firouzja would later say. “The first games were a bit shaky but after that, it was pretty decent.” Final Having taken such a huge hurdle, Firouzja then dominated the final against Tang. He won the first five games before Tang, who was sporting his Cloud9 jersey, could do something back. Now known for his slow starts, Tang had come back from being down 5-1 the day before. This time, it wasn’t going to happen as he simply couldn’t get into top form while Firouzja is simply on fire these days – he also won the last two Titled Tuesdays. By winning the last two games, Tang could at least set an “acceptable” final score but the 11-6 didn’t leave any doubts. Firouzja took the $10,000 first prize while Tang earned $6,000. Both Nakamura and Naroditsky won $2,500. Firouzja definitely had his share of winner’s luck as GM Vladislav Artemiev had him on the ropes in the quarterfinals and only needed to let the match clock run down for nine more seconds to win their match. Instead, the Russian GM resigned, allowing another game after which Firouzja eventually won. Speaking after the final, Firouzka called that quarterfinal match “a miracle,” adding: “I should have lost that, a 100%. I got lucky, I guess.” The 2021 Bullet Chess Championship is presented by Susquehanna International Group, LLP (SIG). SIG is a global quantitative trading firm founded with a growth mindset and an analytical approach to decision-making. As one of the largest proprietary trading firms in the world, SIG benefits the financial markets by providing liquidity and ensuring competitive prices for buyers and sellers. SIG brings together the brightest minds, the best technology, and an expansive library of industry data to design and implement qualitative trading strategies that make it leaders in the financial markets. Beyond trading, SIG is active in global private equity, structured capital, and institutional brokerage. Text: Peter Doggers (chess.com) Photo: Chess.com