FIDE Online Olympiad kicks off on August 20
The 2021 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad kicks off tomorrow, August 20, with Division 4 and will last until September 15. 155 registered teams are ranked according to their Federation Performance Ranking (FPR) based on their results in the open and women’s section of the 2018 FIDE Olympiad in Batumi and the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad. Based on their rankings, teams are divided into four divisions, from Division 4 to Top Division. Like the regular, biannual event, the Online Olympiad is a competition for teams representing their national chess federations. All federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. However, in the online version, each team consists of 6 players and must include at least two women, one player U20 and one female U20. 60 teams, broken up into 5 pools of 12, will battle in Division 4. Each pool will play a round-robin of eleven rounds, with the top three teams from each pool (15 total) qualifying for Division 3. This will be followed by Division 3 (50 teams), Division 2 (50 teams), and finally Division 1 (40 teams), the winners of which will join the seeded teams in the play-off stage. The second edition of the Online Olympiad is supported and sponsored by the Shenzhen authorities, including 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, is also a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021. Find more about the teams and their players here.Check out the crosstable of Division 4, team line-ups, pairings and results here. About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated with FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move time control. The full schedule can be consulted here. Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess.com as the hosting platform Partners supporting the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad: Shenzhen Longgang District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau Shenzhen MSU-BIT University Shenzhen Chess Academy Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club Shenzhen Longgang District People’s Government Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Simaland
Day 2: Wesley So joins leaders
Wesley So was the sole winner of Day 2, after managing to trick Dariusz Swiercz in a difficult rook endgame to earn the full point as Black. Meanwhile, the co-leaders Lenier Dominguez and Fabiano Caruana drew a complicated game, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave held against Richard Rapport to maintain the lead with 1.5/2. Swiercz – So | 0-1, 45 moves Despite being well prepared against So’s Berlin Defense, Swiercz burned lots of time in the well-known ‘Berlin endgame’ and could not fight for any tangible advantage. Instead, he fell under pressure in an equal rook endgame and soon had to defend a worse position while also in heavy time trouble. Facing a difficult decision to go into a king and pawn endgame with just two minutes left on the clock, Swiercz chose wrong, missing the precise path to hold the endgame. Instead, he opted to keep the rooks on the board but was simply lost, as So promptly converted his extra pawn into a victory. 36…Rc6! gave White a difficult choice in time-trouble, as 37.Rxc6 had to be followed with computer-like precision to draw in the king + pawn endgame, while 37.Ra5 led to a lost rook ending after 37…Rc3+ and a quick …Kg5 Svidler – Mamedyarov | ½-½, 46 moves Svidler fell into trouble early on as he walked into an unfamiliar line of the Italian Game and soon lost a pawn out of the opening. Mamedyarov managed to trade down into a rook ending, but accurate defence from Svidler allowed him to save the endgame without too much difficulty. Rapport – Vachier-Lagrave | ½-½, 36 moves A symmetrical English saw the players reach a balanced position in the middlegame, with Rapport having a bit of a space advantage while MVL secured a nice outpost on d4 for his knight. With neither player able to do much in the position, a repetition was found and the Game was drawn shortly before the first time control. Dominguez – Caruana | ½-½, 51 moves In what was an interesting struggle Caruana sacrificed a pawn in a topical line of the Italian, looking for long-term compensation in the form of active pieces aimed at White’s kingside. Dominguez played well to neutralize Black’s initiative, but ultimately couldn’t find the most incisive route to keep his advantage. Instead, Caruana earned enough activity to force White to give back the pawn, and the players soon simplified into a drawn queen and pawn endgame. Shankland – Xiong | ½-½, 63 moves The longest encounter of the day saw an incredibly sharp opening as Shankland castled queenside in a Maroczy Bind and seemed to achieve a considerable advantage. However, Xiong created serious counterplay on the queenside, soon forcing Shankland to trade down into an equal endgame. Despite pushing for several hours, Shankland was unable to generate any real winning chances, and the players eventually traded everything down to bare kings to force a draw. Round 3 of the 2021 Sinquefield Cup takes place on Thursday, August 19, starting at 2:50 PM CDT with all of the action covered live by commentators GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Alejandro Ramirez, and GM Maurice Ashley. Watch live on grandchesstour.org as well as twitch.tv/kasparovchess. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Lennart Ootes and Austin Fuller Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com