FIDE announces Online Olympiad 2021
The International Chess Federation is excited to announce the FIDE Online Olympiad 2021, to be held between August 13 and September 15. The event will follow a format similar to one used last year, with member Federations being represented by their best players and top juniors. The national teams will compete in rapid chess matches played on six boards (see tournament regulations for details). Chess.com will be again the hosting platform for this event that, on its inaugural edition, became one of the highlights of 2020. With more than 1,500 participants representing 163 national teams, it was a truly global competition, very much in the spirit of the traditional chess Olympiads. It helped our big chess family to unite around a wonderful event at a time of crisis, when it was most needed. The second edition of the Online Olympiad will receive the support and sponsorship of the Shenzhen authorities, which include the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen Chess Academy, Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club. Simaland, the Russian wholesale online store and proud sponsor of the Candidates tournament 2020-21, will also be a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021. Once again, the event will consist of two stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage with the top eight teams qualified from Stage 1 battling in knockout format. Usually, at live Olympiads, the teams that can’t boast of the world’s best players in their lineups are not in the spotlight, as the general chess audience focuses on favorites. The unique format of the FIDE Online Olympiad gives us a chance to take a closer look at the teams bereft of chess stars but united by a sincere love for the game and a strong desire to develop and make progress. The qualifying format of tournaments in divisions also allows us to make some predictions and try to figure out the teams that will advance to the next stage. The qualifying events will kick off on August 13. Top Division, featuring the strongest 25 seeded and 15 qualified teams, will begin on September 08. The decisive play-off stage is scheduled for September 13-15. Like a year ago each team will consist of six players, including at least 2 women, at least 1 player U-20 (born in 2001 or later), and at least 1 girl U-20 (born in 2001 or later). The time control will be 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1. Each federation intending to take part in the FIDE Online Olympiad shall confirm its participation by July 31, 2021. Tournament regulations (pdf) List of Teams by Starting Divisions (pdf) Schedule: DATES EVENT NUMBER OF TEAMS SYSTEM STAGE 1. DIVISIONS 13 – 15 August BASE DIVISION TBA TBA 20 – 22 August DIVISION 4 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from BASE DIVISION) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to DIVISION 3 27 – 29 August DIVISION 3 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 4) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to DIVISION 2 2 – 4 September DIVISION 2 50 (35 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 3) 5 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 3 best teams of each pool advance to TOP DIVISION 8 – 10 September TOP DIVISION 40 (25 seeded + 15 qualified from DIVISION 2) 4 pools, 10 teams each. RR, 9 r. 2 best teams of each pool advance to STAGE 2 STAGE 2. PLAY-OFF 13 September QUARTER-FINALS 8 (qualified from TOP DIVISION) KO duel of two matches + TB 14 September SEMI-FINALS 4 (qualified from QUARTER-FINALS) KO duel of two matches + TB 15 September FINAL 2 (qualified from SEMI-FINALS) KO duel of two matches + TB FIDE.com and the official website of the FIDE Online Olympiad (http://onlineolympiad.fide.com) will provide daily coverage of the event. The games will be broadcast live with multilingual expert commentary on the on the FIDE’s official Youtube channel and by Chess.com.
2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education to be held at the end of July
The 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education will be held July 29-30, 2021, at the Cherry Hill, N.J., Crowne Plaza, where the U.S. Chess Open Championship will be held. The Conference will explore many practical topics. Presenters are eminent in their fields. Presentations will discuss: Chess and neuroscience Possible preventive effects of chess on Alzheimer’s Chess philanthropy Creating a chess curriculum Linking chess to STEM and Artificial Intelligence Chess as an equalizer for those with disabilities And other topical ideas in chess and education Question-and-answer sessions will follow each presentation Photo: ihg.com The 3rd International Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education July 29-30, 2021 Cherry Hill, New Jersey Sponsored by the US Chess Trust www.USChessTrust.org The 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education is held in honor of Dr. Tim Redman, founder of the championship Chess Program at The University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Redman organized the first (2001) and second (2011) Koltanowski Conferences on Chess in Education. The 2021 conference will be held in-person with a limited audience. It will be live-streamed online and available for later viewing. 2021 Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education is sponsored by the U.S. Chess Trust. “The Chess in Education conference is more significant than ever. In the last twenty years, there have been serious advances in chess across many fields — education, social development, cognitive research and many more. With panelists and speakers active in their specialties, the conference emphasizes praxis. The Board of the US Chess Trust values your participation in this conference,” said Beatriz Marinello in her letter to participants on behalf of the organizing committee and the US Chess Trust. Date Held: July 29-30, 2021 Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey For more information, contact: Al Lawrence, mailto:al@uschesstrust.org or Beatriz Marinello, beatriz@uschesstrust.org For more details go to: http://www.uschesstrust.org COVID-19 policies apply: Face masks and social distancing will be in effect for the limited audience. If you wish to attend in-person, please fill out this form:
Shri Ram College of Commerce clinches the title
On Sunday, July 11, the three-day international chess tournament FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 has come to its end. For the first time in history, 32 teams of graduates from the largest business schools representing Russia, USA, Canada, India, Mexico, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Philippines, Bangladesh, Zambia and Fiji fought for the champion’s title. After two days of the group stage, the eight strongest teams advanced to the playoffs. The list of the quarterfinalists included Shri Ram College of Commerce (India), the Finance University under the Government of Russia (Russia), MIPT Business School (Russia), MGIMO (Russia), University of Toronto (Canada), Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO 1 (Russia), Perm State National Research University (Russia), The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). In the final, Shri Ram College of Commerce (India) defeated MIPT Business School (Russia) 2:0 and became the FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 Champion. FM Jeet Jain from Shri Ram College of Commerce (India) shared his emotions after the victory: “It was an interesting tournament with very difficult games played. Our team knew each other long before the tournament as we are all from one college – some are juniors, some are seniors. We travel all around the world to play chess tournaments together, so we know each other pretty well.” Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO 1 (Russia), that was also a co-organizer of the event, finished third. The live broadcast of the final day of the tournament was attended by the FIDE Director General Emil Sutovsky. He shared his support for the project and expressed his hope to see it grow: “The fact that in a short period it was possible to gather several dozens of participating teams, proves that the tournament arouse interest among the audience. This is already a success for a newborn event. This project can and should grow, I think it will work out the next time. It is important for FIDE to hold tournaments not only for chess players of the highest level, and not only for standard categories such as children, youths, veterans, but also tournaments like this. The project seems to me to be in demand, and I will be very happy if it gets a continuation.” The 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik gave some advice to future champions: “First, you must not forget that this is still a game, that it is not only self-expression, fame or money. Secondly, to keep a cool head in critical stressful situations when there is little time. It is extremely difficult, but it must be learned little by little. Whoever does it better is at the top. Chess players of the very top level are distinguished precisely by their ability to play well under tension, under maximum stress. And thirdly, do not forget to enjoy the game itself, and not just the result of it. It seems to me that if there is no pleasure in the process, then it is very difficult to reach success.” The champions will be awarded the first NFT Trophy by FIDE. All the prize winners will get their medals and the right to participate in an online simultaneous chess game against one of the top Grandmasters in the world. In addition to the prizes from organizers, all the participants of the tournament will get official NFT tokens of the Cup from Binance. Viewers of the broadcast will also be able to get NFT drop, if they use a promo code CHESS until the end of July. The daily online broadcasts of the FIDE Binance Business Schools Super Cup 2021 were made in English and Russian languages from the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO and were available on the official FIDE channels on Youtube, VK and Twitch. Various experts attended the broadcasts to comment on the games and talk to the participants. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and other famous grandmasters from different countries were among the guests. The general sponsors of the event are Binance — the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem, Tiger.Trade — an innovative software package for securities and cryptocurrency traders, CryptoUniverse — one of the largest mining platforms in the world.