Magnus Carlsen wins world’s first bitcoin chess tournament
Magnus Carlsen is the world’s first bitcoin chess champion after overcoming Wesley So in a thrilling FTX Crypto Cup final. The Norwegian takes home the $60,000 first prize plus a 0.6 bitcoin bonus offered by tournament sponsor FTX. It is the largest prize pot ever offered in an elite online chess event. After the see-saw match ended with Carlsen punching the air in delight, the champ said: “It’s pretty sick! I came back five times when I needed it, and I also lost twice. “It’s absolutely insane. I am just so happy to have pulled through. It’s a massive, massive relief.” Carlsen also stretches his lead at the top of the $1.5 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour table and avenges two defeats to So in finals this season. Carlsen had to dig deep to triumph over the US star as the record-breaking final went down to an incredibly tense “Armageddon” play-off. Nothing could separate the pair after two four-game rapid matches spread over two days both finished 2-2. But the reigning World Champion finally broke through when the pressure ramped up in with the quicker time control. When victory finally came, the relief showed. So has emerged as Carlsen’s most dangerous foe in the Tour, beating him in the Skilling Open and the Opera Euro Rapid events. But an unthinkable hat-trick of final wins against the champ proved one step too far. In the opener in the rapid section, Carlsen played a model game that showed off all his legendary crushing strengths. The Norwegian simply didn’t give So a chance. So, the World Champion at Fischer-Random chess had to resign and Carlsen was finally ahead. However, So wasn’t beat yet and Carlsen’s lead didn’t last long. It all went wrong for the champ in Game 2 as So calmly turned the screw on Carlsen to strike back immediately. The third was an unbalanced thriller that could have gone either way – but it ended in a fighting draw by repetition. Game 4 was completely different – a quick draw as both players drew breath before going into the blitz playoff. It started with incredible drama as Carlsen fell into a trap set by So and lost his queen. Carlsen was furious with himself and then had to resign. The champion was left needing to win with the black pieces to take it to an Armageddon tiebreaker. It seemed impossible: but he did it. Carlsen showed all his passion and punched the air shouting “come on” as So lost. Everything then rested on the Armageddon game with Carlsen with White and 5 minutes on the clock needing to win and So with Black having a minute less but only needing a draw. Carlsen won as So ran out of time in a losing position. With a huge release of energy, Carlsen punched the air again as his opponent resigned. So said afterwards: “I’d like to thank Magnus, I think he is the fully deserved winner as I think he played the best.” In the match between the losing semi-finalists for third-place, Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Teimour Radjabov 2.5-1.5. After a drab encounter that saw four straight draws yesterday, it was Nepo who secured $25,000 and 0.25 bitcoin prize for finishing third. The FTX Crypto Cup is leg 6 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organised by the Play Magnus Group. All games are played in the new chess24.com play zone. The next event is a Regular tournament that carries a $100,000 prize pot. It will run from June 26 to July 4. There are two more after that before the Tour Finals in September starting on September 25. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Eight American players qualify for 2021 FIDE World Cup
The American Hybrid World Cup Qualifier was an 8-group (16 players in each) knockout tournament taking place from May 22-29. The winner of each group qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup that will be held in Sochi, Russia from July 10 to August 7. All the games were played online on Tornelo platform from designated venues. All the matches consisted of two classical games (120 min + 30 sec) and tiebreakers (2 games, 10min + 3sec) when needed. In case of an even score after a tiebreaker, an Armageddon blitz-game was played. Playing venue – St. Louis Chess Club Photo: St. Louis Chess Club Twitter The following eight players punched their tickets to the 2021 FIDE World Cup: GM Mareco, Sandro ARG 2629 GM Tang, Andrew USA 2538 GM Krysa, Leandro ARG 2527 GM Henriquez, Villagra Cristobal CHI 2600 GM Bachmann, Axel PAR 2599 GM Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag BRA 2554 GM Moradiabadi, Elshan USA 2555 GM Hungaski, Robert USA 2514
Round 8: Zhansaya Abdumalik stretches her lead
IM Zhansaya Abdumalik, of Kazakhstan, increased her lead to a full point over the field in round eight of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix by defeating Alina Kashlinskaya of Russia. Zhansaya also took a big step towards achieving the rating she needs for her GM title. Kateryna Lagno, of Russia, a front runner for the Candidates’ place which will go to the highest placed eligible player, lost her game to Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, but despite that reverse remains the best-placed contender to go through to the Candidates. By scoring her third successive win Gunay has taken herself to the brink of a nine-round GM norm for which she needs a draw against Anna Muzychuk in round nine. The star game of the day was the one between two players on 4½ points, Gunay Mammadzada and Kateryna Lagno. Kateryna started the round as one of three undefeated players in the field. The opening was a Ruy Lopez, with Gunay playing her opening moves significantly quicker than Kateryna, indicating better preparation by the Azerbaijani player. Before long, Kateryna offered a queen exchange with 20…Qd3 but this allowed a minor piece exchange on f6 and then a piece sacrifice with 22.Qxf6. Gunay had a long think and then decided to go for this sacrifice, which could be followed by a further piece sacrifice to launch a dangerous attack on the black king. There followed a double oversight shortly afterwards (24. Rfe1 could have been answered by 24…Nd5! – instead 24. Rae1! was winning), but Gunay then reasserted her advantage with some powerful play, reaching a position with an extra pawn and a strong positional grip. Kateryna could not find any way to get back into the game and Gunay went on to score another remarkable win. We now think she needs just half a point in round nine for a nine-round GM norm. Though this was not a great result for her, Kateryna still has the best chance of the small group players in Gibraltar who are eligible, to annex a place in the Candidates. The game between the leader, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Alina Kashlinskaya started with a solid line of the Two Knights’ Defence. Zhansaya occupied the centre with pawns, but Alina developed comfortably and was soon able to exchange heavy pieces and reach an equal position in the late middlegame. However, Zhansaya kept pressing and she eventually emerged with an extra pawn. A queen endgame was ominous for those of us who were looking forward to our dinner but, unfortunately for Alina, she misplayed it and allowed Zhansaya a decisive f5 push after which the game ended with surprising speed. Another determined performance by Zhansaya, who seems to have made a quantum leap in strength recently. Mariya Muzychuk opened 1.e4 against Nana Dzagnidze, who defended with the Najdorf Sicilian. Mariya chose a line with h3 and g4, which Nana countered with a typical Sicilian exchange sacrifice (RxNc3), opening lines for her minor pieces. Veselin Topalov, on commentary, preferred Black “because I like exchange sacrifices.” However, he later criticised 22…f4 after which White’s king became safer. Also, White’s rooks got the open files to operate on. “I think Dzagnidze seriously misplayed,” said the former world champion. However, that wasn’t the end of the story as Nana’s position held together well and eventually, Mariya offered a draw. Antoaneta Stefanova versus Dinara Saduakassova started with a Queen’s Indian, developing into a small but stable edge for White. Then the game followed an encounter that Dinara had played earlier in the tournament against Valentina Gunina but came very imbalanced after a tricky phase of play in the late middlegame. Antoaneta gained two connected passed pawns for a minor piece. Dinara had earlier spurned a chance to draw by perpetual check and must have regretted not taking it as Antoaneta’s pawns steadily advanced up the board, ably supported by the king. Eventually, Antoaneta was able to sacrifice an exchange and force a promotion to clinch the point. Irina Bulmaga, playing against Valentina Gunina’s Caro-Kann Defence, opted for a quiet line (3.exd5 and 4.Bd3) which we old-timers recall Bobby Fischer using against Tigran Petrosian with some success. Irina’s 13.c4 looked suspicious, allowing Black easy equality and perhaps a little bit more. Valentina played quickly and confidently in response but faltered with 23…Bc7 when 23…b5 looked strong and natural. Perhaps encouraged by Valya’s slip, Irina gradually wrested the advantage back for White. However, Irina didn’t play the strong positional advance 29. c6, which Veselin Topalov thought was very good for White, instead opting for 29.Qb7 for a slightly better pawn structure. Later she conceded a pawn to Valentina and ended up in a worse position. After the time control, Valentina pushed a pawn to f3 and this enabled her to mount a successful attack on the white king which concluded the game. The round had started inauspiciously with a quick draw in 15 moves and around 35 minutes between Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) and Anna Muzychuk (UKR) in a Grünfeld Defence. This seems to indicate that Anna has given up on her rapidly dwindling chances of qualifying for the Candidates’ tournament. Round 9 is on Monday 31 May at 15.00 CET. Live transmission, with Veselin Topalov and Fiona Steil-Antoni, may be found at https://wgp2019.fide.com/#live Standings after Round 8: 1. Zhansaya Abdumalik – 6½; 2-3. Mariya Muzychuk and Gunay Mammadzada – 5½ 4-5. Kateryna Lagno and Elisabeth Paehtz – 4½; 6-8. Nana Dzagnidze, Antoaneta Stefanova and Valentina Gunina – 4; 9. Anna Muzychuk – 3½; 10. Alina Kashlinskaya – 2½; 11. Dinara Saduakassova – 2; 12. Irina Bulmaga – 1½ Leading Grand Prix Places after Round 8 (based on current positions) Women’s Grand Prix Points Nat’y Pr. events Gibraltar Total 1 Aleksandra Goryachkina * RUS 398 0 398 2 Humpy Koneru IND 293 0 293 3 Zhansaya Abdumalik ** KAZ 110 160 270 4 Kateryna Lagno RUS 180 85 265 5 Mariya Muzychuk UKR 120 120 240 6 Nana Dzagnidze GEO 180 60 240 7 Anna Muzychuk UKR 165 40 205 8 Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 193 0 193 Players marked in bold would