Round 7 Game 01: Kosteniuk pulls ahead in the Women’s final
Solid draws in Carlsen-Duda and Fedoseev-Karjakin Sunday, August 1st 2021 – After a well-deserved free day, the eight remaining players returned to the venue this afternoon to continue the fight for the 2021 World Chess Cup. They were joined on the stage by Polina Lion, Chief Sustainability Officer of ROSATOM, the largest producer of electricity in Russia, who played the first move in the women’s final. On board one in the open group, Norwegian World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen (2847), opened with 1.d4, and his opponent, Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2738) opted for the Queen’s Gambit declined, starting with the 1…Nf6 move order. In other games here, Carlsen has preferred the Catalan opening but today he went for 4.Nc3 allowing 4…dxc4, transposing directly into a fashionable variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, in which White sacrifices a pawn for development. Nothing new under the sun, of course: both players had already tested this line in the 2019 Tata Steel tournament. In that game, Carlsen emerged victorious. However, today he brought a new, and rather less-known, idea to the table. Duda decided to play it safe by giving the pawn back in order to reach an equal position albeit with an imbalance in the pawn structure and minor piece (knight against bishop). Although Carlsen tried his best to push for a win in the rook ending, Duda played with great precision and a draw was agreed just after move thirty. Before he left the venue to prepare for tomorrow’s game, Jan-Krzysztof gave us his thoughts in a brief interview. A fun fact occurred in the other all-Russian semi-final between GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2696) and GM Sergey Karjakin (2757). The former 2015 World Cup winner chose a very solid side-line in the Queen’s Gambit Semi-Tarrasch variation. Funnily enough, the same opening was being played a few metres away in the Women’s third-fourth place match! As luck would have it, both games deviated on move thirteen. The position remained equal for most of the game: neither player wanted to risk being essentially eliminated in the first game due to an unforced blunder. Soon enough, all the minor pieces were exchanged and some lengthy manoeuvring with the queen and rooks began. After more exchanges, Karjakin voluntarily went into a rook ending a pawn down, but in any case, a clear draw due to his passer. As top Russian GM Peter Svidler put it “Karjakin doesn’t lose many of these”. A draw was agreed on move sixty-nine. In his post-game interview, Fedoseev considered that he was pressing most of the game and that some of these rook endings can be won. In the all-Russian women’s final, between GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2596) and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2472), the rules stipulated that Goryachkina would play with White in the first game. She opened with 1.d4 and soon the game followed the theory of the Catalan opening, one of her favourite set-ups. On move seven, 7.Be3 was definitely a surprise for Kosteniuk – 7.Bg5 and above all 7.e3 are by far the main moves – and she thought for nearly ten minutes before replying with the sensible 7…Nd5. She was able to keep the balance, in which her two bishops and optimal pawn structure compensated White’s extra space in the centre. However, fate struck hard on move twenty as 20…e5? was a big mistake. Obviously, 21.dxe5 would just return the blunder due to 21…Rd3 winning, but 21.b4! (after only two minutes of thinking time) was the perfect response. Goryachkina won a pawn and was clearly in the driving seat. She gradually increased her advantage and could have sealed the deal on move thirty-six if she had played 36.Rd1 intending Rd6 or Rd7, and Black is in big trouble. However, low on time, Goryachkina missed the win. With both players approaching move forty, huge complications commenced and this time Kosteniuk came out on top. Goryachkina – Kosteniuk Unfortunately for Kosteniuk, she threw away most of her advantage with 41…Qd4? (instead of either 41…c2 or 41…Qe3 which are both winning), but was lucky enough to get a second chance a few moves later when Goryachkina misplayed the ending, and this time she scored the win. In the match for third place between China’s GM Tan Zhongyi (2511) and GM Anna Muzychuk (2527), representing Ukraine, the Semi-Tarrasch variation of the Queen’s Gambit declined was played, just as in the men’s second semi-final. However, White’s 13.Bxf6 followed by 14.Nxd5 just didn’t have enough punch to achieve a serious advantage. After a few exchanges, Muzychuk spotted from afar the neat trick with 25…Nd4! and held the queen ending to a draw with no trouble at all. A good result for Muzychuk, who will now enjoy the white pieces in the second game tomorrow. Pairings of the rounds, live games and PGN files can be found on the World Cup website alongside a great amount of other interesting information such as daily videos, a complete photo collection and other useful data. Text: Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer press@fide.com Photo: Eric Rosen and Anastasiia Korolkova About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from July 12th (Round 1) to August 6th (finals), the 2021 FIDE World Cup will gather together in Sochi (Russia) 309 of the world’s best chess players, with 206 of them playing in the Open World Cup (and 103 participants in the first-ever Women’s World Cup. The top two finishers in the tournament, aside from World Champion Magnus Carlsen who is also participating, will qualify for the 2022 Candidates Tournament, in addition to winning the 110.000 USD first prize (80.000 USD for the runner-up). Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE), Chess Federation of Russia, Russian Ministry of Sports, and Government of Krasnodar Krai. Partners: Gazprom – general partner Nornickel – general partner PhosAgro – general partner Chessable – event’s partner Aeroflot – CFR’s partner Educational centre “Sirius”
Online Cadets and Youth World Cup 2021 kicks off on Tornelo
Online Cadets and Youth World Cup 2021 has started today. The qualifying stage tournaments will run until August 20, followed by finals on 26-31 August. More than 1600 participants from more than 100 national federations take part in the event. It is the first stage of the world championship cycle that also includes the Grand Prix series and culminates in a Super Final in December. The games are played online on Tornelo platform with substantive anti-cheating measures in place. FIDE Vice President Akaki Iashvili welcomed the players on behalf of FIDE and the Georgian Chess Federation: “Despite the global pandemic, FIDE moves forward with tangible results. Last year, we organized World Cadets and Youth Championships. This year, we have the world championship cycle, with World Cup, Grand Prix and Super Final in December.” “We wish you the best luck and to continue loving chess as you do. We rely on you as a new generation of players to come to the highest possible rankings in the next few years,” was the message to the participants from the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. You can watch the opening ceremony here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijhFVu2KLEo The event is supported by SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic. You can find the results, regulations, and other information on the official website.
FIDE distributes an additional €37,500 among chess seniors
FIDE is pleased to announce the names of the additional fifteen chess seniors who will benefit from the FIDE’s support program to chess veterans this year: Andrei Lukin (RUS)Jan Plaсhetka (SVK)David Dzhanoev (GEO)Sergio Mariotti (ITA)Ewen Green (NZL)Svetlana Mednikova (RUS)Nathan Zilberman (KGZ) Mikhail Marandyuk (UKR)Tõnu Truus (EST)Khandsuren Sandagdorj (MGL)Nelson Borges (DOM)Luben Popov (BUL)Rakhil Eidelson (BLR)Silvino Garcia (CUB)Maria Macieja (POL) They will join the twelve recipients already announced back in March: Sergey Makarychev (RUS)Tamaz Giorgadze (GEO)Hanna Erenska-Barlo (POL)Roman Hernandez (CUB)Avigdor Bykhovsky (ISR)Juzefs Petkevich (LTV)Anatoly Noskov (KAZ)Bosko Abramovic (SER)Jan Kalendovsky (CZE)Nina Medyanikova (RUS)Julio Ostos (VEN)Irina Ostry (KGZ) Each one of them will receive a grant of €2,500, with the total amount allocated to this program during 2021 rising to an unprecedented €67,500. As we did in March and in other previous occasions, we will pay tribute to these illustrious veterans with a few words about each one of them, summarizing their careers and achievements: Andrei Lukin (Russia) International Master (1982), Master of Sports of the USSR (1966) and Honored Trainer of Russia, Andrei Lukin combined participation in chess tournaments with his job as an engineer for some time but later devoted himself to the profession of chess trainer. Andrei Lukin is a five-time champion of Leningrad (1972, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988) and a prize winner of the Russian Chess Championship (1993). His best results in international competitions include Nałęczów (1981, 1st – 2nd place) and Leningrad (1984, 2nd-3rd place). As a part of the St. Petersburg chess team, he won the Russian Team Chess Championship (1992). He is also a medalist of the Russian Club Chess Championship (1995) as a member of the “University” team (St. Petersburg). Photo: Vladimir Barsky For his achievements in fostering many talented chess players, Andrei Lukin was awarded the title of Honored Trainer of Russia. Andrei Lukin trained grandmasters Konstantin Sakaev (until 1993) and Peter Svidler (since 1993). He headed the youth team of Russia at world tournaments, became the winner of the Russian Chess Federation “Coach of the Year” award. Peter Svidler attributed his breakthrough into the elite of world chess to his cooperation with Andrei Lukin and stated that he was lucky to have him as his chess trainer. Lukin also trained grandmasters Kirill Alekseenko (since 2008) and Anastasia Bodnaruk (since 2013). Jan Plachetka (Slovakia) Born on February 18, 1945, in Trencin (Czecho-Slovakia) Jan made his debut in the national championship in 1962 and soon joined the Chezco-Slovakian student team. After graduating from university, he climbed to the podium of the Chezco-Slovakian championship (1973) and became a member of the national team. Five years later he earned the grandmaster title. His tournament resume includes the victories in Rimavska-Sobota (1975), Polanica Zdrój (1975), Maribor (1977), Vincovici (1977), Sofia (1979), Champagnol (1984), Prague (1984), Strasbourg (1985), Metz (1986), but his glory moment came at the Olympiad in Luzern (1982). Jan turned in an excellent performance and helped his team to win silver. Overall he participated in Chess Olympiads (seven as player, seven as a team captain) Jan is making first move at Prague Chess Festival 2020 Photo: praguechessfestival.com/ FIDE Senior Trainer since 2010, he served as coach of men´s and women´s team of Slovakia in the period 1992 – 2014. With Plachetka at the helm, Slovak women were the European Champions in Batumi in 1999. A prolific author, Jan penned many articles in several chess magazines. David Dzhanoev (Georgia) David Dzhanoev (born on November 22, 1938, in Tbilisi) is one of the most successful chess trainers, working in Georgia (when it was a part of the USSR). He is most known as the coach of Nana Alexandria with whom he productively worked from 1977 to 1991. He also helped Gennady Zaichik, Sergei Movsesian and Giorgi Bagaturov (the Senior World Champion 50+) at different periods of their careers. After moving to Russia he coached Sanan Sjugirov, Pavel Shkapenko and Evgeny Reshetnikov. David lavishly shared his coaching experience consulting national teams of Bolivia, Ecuador, Syria and Columbia. Sergio Mariotti (Italy) Born in Florence (Italy) on 10th August 1946, Sergio Mariotti had quite a successful career in chess: after becoming Italian junior champion in 1964 (Turin), he won the international tournament in Naples in 1968-69 and became Italian champion for the first time in 1969 in San Benedetto del Tronto. One of his best tournament results is second place at the Venice international tournament in 1971 (behind GM Walter Browne and ahead of champions like GM Vlastimil Hort, GM Lubomir Kavalek and GM Svetozar Gligorić), also scoring his maiden GM norm. Sergio represented Italy at the Chess Olympiads in 1972, 1974, 1986 and 1988. At the 21st Olympiads in Nice (1974) he won the individual bronze medal on the first board and got my final GM norm, becoming the first-ever Italian chess player to get the title. British Chess Magazine nicknamed him “The Italian Fury”, referring to his enterprising, tactical style. Mariotti is still one of the most successful Italian players in World Championship cycles, winning the zonal tournament held in Caorle in 1975 and qualifying for the Manila Interzonal tournament of 1976, where he reached 10th place together with former World Champion GM Boris Spassky. Photo: novisad2017.org He served as President of the Italian Chess Federation (Federazione Italiana Scacchi – FSI) between 1994 and 1996, and later worked as a Technical Director (Direttore Tecnico) of Italian national teams between 2002 and 2007. A true ambassador of the game he has been supporting spreading chess across Italy and launching a long-term valorization process of Italian young talents. A milestone has been the creation of a team of young players for the 37th Chess Olympiad (Turin 2006), that represented the first opportunity for the new generation of Italian chess players to appear at the international level. Ewen Green (New Zeland) Born on April 4, 1950, Ewen Green represented New Zealand in World Under-20 Chess Championship in Stockholm 1969 and later played under the banner of his country at the 1970, 1974 and 1976 Olympiads. He participated in many NZ Championships jointly winning the 1979-80 New Zealand Championship and represented New Zealand again in the 1977 Asian Teams Championship and 1978 Zone 10 Championship in Japan.
$100,000 Chessable Masters gets underway
US star Wesley So is a half-point clear of the pack after the $100,000 Chessable Masters got off to a thrilling start today. The Fischer-Random World Champion, who is chasing the overall lead in the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, scored three fine wins to finish on 4/5. Hot on his heels are fellow American Hikaru Nakamura, talented teen Alireza Firouzja and the Russian hotshot Vladislav Artemiev who all scored 3.5/5. The event’s 15-round prelim stage started with a huge interest in 12-year-old American prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra. Mishra is the world’s youngest Grandmaster having broken Sergey Karjakin’s long-standing age record last month. Mishra was making a big step up in class and was not expected to challenge, and it was predictably tough for the youngster. He suffered four successive defeats before picking up a draw in the final round against India’s Humpy Koneru. But Mishra, from Englishtown, New Jersey, wasn’t downbeat afterwards. “It’s an honour to play in this tournament, it is a very good learning opportunity for me,” he said. What wasn’t expected was that top seed Levon Aronian, the winner of the last Tour event, would have a catastrophic start. Aronian blundered away a winning position against the Dutchman Jorden Van Foreest and found himself on only half a point after three rounds. Two successive wins against Mishra and the Norwegian Aryan Tari got him back on track but the experienced Armenian still has a lot to do. The three-day prelim stage will resume tomorrow with rounds 6 to 10 before the cut is made on the final day and eight players are eliminated. All matches in the Chessable Masters are hosted in chess24.com’s playzone and available to watch on the platform’s Twitch and YouTube channels for free. The Chessable Masters is the penultimate leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour before the Finals event in San Francisco, where the ultimate winner will be crowned the world’s best online chess player. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770