Day 02: Dominguez surges to the top
Leinier Dominguez surged to the top of the standings after winning all three of his games today, finishing with a total score of 4.5/6. Yesterday’s leader, Caruana, could only score 1.5/3 and ended the day in clear second place with 4.0/6. Meanwhile, former World Champion Garry Kasparov bounced back from a rocky start to score 2.5/3 in today’s games, with wins over Shankland and Aronian. Along with Kasparov, both Vachier-Lagrave and Shankland are currently on 3.5/6, a point out of first place. And with three rounds left to play, everything will be on the line during tomorrow’s final day. The time control for the event is 20 minutes per side with a 5-second increment starting from move one. Before each round, the players are shown the unique starting position 15 minutes ahead of time and are allowed to prepare using the physical boards. Round 4 Starting position – Round 4 The first round of the day saw the standings get blown wide open as Caruana misplayed a winning position against Nakamura, at one point missing a beautiful forced win. Instead, he allowed counterplay for Hikaru, who soon sacrificed his queen for a rook and two pieces, with a decisive advantage. 24…Qe5!! would have won the game for Caruana, as 25.Rxe5 loses to 25…Rd1+ 26.Kc2 Rc1 mate. Instead 24…Qa5 was played, and Naka turned the tables with 25.Bxg4! Bd3+ 26.Qxd3 Rxd3 27.Rxe6+- | 1-0, 41 moves Nakamura could have started 0-4 but instead took down the leader Caruana’s loss allowed So, MVL, and Dominguez to all catch up with 2.5/4, while Kasparov scored his first win of the event, defeating Shankland in his classic attacking style. 13.0-0! secured an enormous advantage for Kasparov, who went on to decimate Black’s queenside. | 1-0, 24 moves Round 5 Starting Position – Round 5 The fifth round saw Caruana defeat MVL and Dominguez beat Mamedyarov to both stay in the lead, while So lost to Shankland. 12…Ndf4+! was a nice tactic for Dominguez, winning the exchange after 13.gxf4 Qg2+ | 0-1, 23 moves With a bit of fortune, Kasparov was able to win his second game in a row, taking advantage of a sacrificial blunder by Aronian, who ended up down an exchange and lost in the endgame. Aronian had sacrificed his exchange to get the c-pawn running, but here 36…d4+! turned the tables for Kasparov. Both 37.Kxd4 Rc2! and 37.Kxb3 Rxg3+/Rc3 are winning for Black. | 0-1, 67 moves The 13th World Champion showed great form today, scoring 2.5/3 Round 6 Starting Position – Round 6 In the sixth round Dominguez continued his fantastic streak, beating Nakamura to win his fourth game in a row, while Caruana was held to a draw by Kasparov, despite having an extra exchange. Vachier-Lagrave managed to defeat Svidler, winning a nice endgame with a rook versus two knights. 30.Qa6! was a killer move from Dominguez. | 1-0, 47 moves After starting with 0.5/2, Dominguez has won four straight games Day 3 of the 2021 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX will take place Wednesday, September 10, with all of the action covered live by commentators GM Alejandro Ramirez and GM Maurice Ashley starting at 1:30 PM CDT. Fans can watch the action live at uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller Dates & Location: September 8 – September 10, 2021Saint Louis Chess Club Livestream:USChessChamps.Com Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClubInstagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClubYouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub#ChampionsShowdown #Chess9LX #STLChessClub Press Contact:Rebecca Buffingtonrbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)
Invitation to support FIDE’s initiatives of social value
For the International Chess Federation, organizing chess competitions is not the only mission. The competitive aspects are just a means to achieve higher goals. Sharing the values of the Olympic Movement of which FIDE is a proud member, its mission must go beyond that. Chess can make a huge impact on people lives: to develop their intellectual skills; prevent cognitive ageing and general brain decline of our senior citizens; provide people with disabilities with an activity to compete on absolutely equal terms; work as a great equalizer helping every child to reach their full potential, regardless of their background, etc. The FIDE Social Commission (SOC) has been working tirelessly to fulfil its objectives, and in recent months, FIDE has launched multiple projects of high social value that should make us all proud. In April, the first seminar on chess and autism became a resounding success. In May, the Chess for Freedom project kicked off with an online conference and an exhibition tournament followed this October by the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. More recently, FIDE has also launched the Chess for Protection project at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the first of several initiatives that we plan to develop at refugee camps in different parts of the world. The next step of the roadmap is to encourage and support our member federations and the whole chess community so that these initiatives resonate in your respective countries. In order to identify and support already existing (or planned) initiatives of social value, our member federations kindly ask you to fill out the survey developed by FIDE Social Commission and designate a contact person within every federation for dialogue and possible cooperation with the FIDE Social Commission. The initiative was supported by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who sent a letter to all member federations asking to support FIDE’s initiatives of social value. “Diversity, equality, and inclusion are values rooted in our organization. This is clearly stated in the new FIDE Charter that came into effect in 2020, as well as in our Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines that were approved at the beginning of the current year. It is a priority for FIDE to increase the activity level of chess initiatives with social value, and we will be there to help all the way, in whatever capacity we can.“ the letter says. But it’s not only federations that could help FIDE to achieve these goals. We ask everyone aware or involved in organizing any social chess project – whether teaching or playing chess in prisons, refugee camps, homes for the elderly, etc. – to approach FIDE Social Commission via socialchess@fide.com. Your support, advice or experience will be highly appreciated and help us create networking and collaborative spirit for SOC projects. We strongly believe that chess changes people’s lives. Joining our forces and promoting the game to those in vulnerable situations can make the world a better place.
Kazakhstan, Russia and USA on 100% heading into the last three rounds
Thursday, September 9th, 2021 – Day 2 of the Top Division was played today with no major incidents to speak of. Teams are split into four pools which play a Round Robin all-play-all format for three days and the two top teams advance to the quarterfinals. Top Division – Pool A With a 3½-2½ win over China in the first round of the day, Kazakhstan took the lead in group A. The team won all six matches and with 12/12 stands an excellent chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals. The key game of the match was GM Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan) vs GM Hou Yifan (China) on board three. In the diagram, it’s clear that White is already doing very well and the win is near. Abdumalik missed a chance to win on the spot by 32.Nxc5+ but the sequence she opted for 32.Rxe5 Nxe5 33.Qxe5 gave her two pieces for a rook and a comfortable victory. China is now in second place with 10/12, just one point ahead of Iran (9/12). However, China did defeat Iran 3½-2½ in the last round of the day. In this situation, with all other things being equal, tomorrow’s Round 8 match between Kazakhstan and Iran will probably decide which of these three teams advances to the next stage. The Chinese team in action – Photo: Liang Ziming The rest of the teams are already too far behind to be in contention, but they could eventually participate indirectly: Armenia (in fourth place) still has to play with China. The top scorers in this group are IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) with an impressive 6/6 on board six and GM Ju Wenjun (China) with an equally remarkable 5½/6 on board four. Also performing very well are the players from Iran: GM M.Amin Tabatabaei is on 5½/6 on board five, while his teammates GM Poya Idani and IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh are both on 5/6. Top Division – Pool B Day 2 ended in a two-way tie between India and Hungary at the top of the leader board with 11/12. Today it was Hungary’s turn to drop a match point against ninth-placed Belarus, which allowed India to overtake them on tiebreaks. They will face each other tomorrow in the first round of the afternoon. Whoever wins will most definitely be the winner of the group while the loser will still have to finish strong, as France (8/12) is just behind them, waiting for an opportunity to push through. Another key match for tomorrow might be the ninth-round clash between France and Azerbaijan, who currently stand fourth with 7/12. It would definitely be a long shot, but they could still have an outside chance to qualify with the right results. The top scorer for the Indian Team is board six WGM Vaishali R. She is the only player of the team who has been selected to play on five occasions and she has scored an undefeated 4/5. Former World Champion GM Vishy Anand holds the team’s first board with a solid undefeated 3/4. Vishy Anand gets some technical advice before the game – Photo: Amruta Mokal However, the best score of the group for the moment is shared between GM Marie Sebag from France and GM Zhao Xue from Shenzhen China. Both are playing on board three and have performed at a very high level with 5½/6. In the next diagram, the position is more or less equal, although many players would prefer Black because of the attacking potential. A move like 30.a4 would have been fine, and the game continues. However, White lashed out with the very risky 30.g4? and was duly punished after 30…fxg4 31.Rxg4 Rxd4! (maybe White missed this idea) 32.Qxc6 Rd2+ 33.Kg3 Rxg4+ 34.Kxg4 Qg6+ 35.Kh4 h6! 36.Rf1 Rg2 mating. Top Division – Pool C In group C, Russia continued its streak of crushing victories and with 12/12 they are just a step away from claiming first place and mathematical qualification to the quarterfinals. Today they took down Paraguay (4½-1½), Israel (5-1) and Argentina (6-0). The depth of the team is unbelievable: no less than six of the twelve players are on 100% scores with 3/3. The Russian Team at the Moscow Central Chess Club – Photos: V.Barsky Precisely Argentina had one of those days which you want to forget as soon as possible. After finishing day one in second place, three straight defeats have relegated them to seventh place in the standings, with no chance to make a comeback. Ukraine, now on 10/12, won their three matches and have climbed to second place, while Germany (8/10) have also made a comeback and have edged out Spain from third to fourth. German FM Lara Schulze has a great online gaming setup There are still direct encounters between these team’s tomorrow, the most important clearly is Ukraine-Spain. One of these three will accompany Russia to the next stage and tomorrow it will be a moment of truth. GM Andrey Esipenko’s 4½/5 on board five is the best score for the Russian team at the moment. Also performing very well is IM Ana Matnadze, who always shines at team events. She is on 4½/5 defending Spain’s board four. Top Division – Pool D Qualifying in Group D is definitely going to be a huge challenge. After six rounds, USA is in the lead with a clean score of 12/12, followed by Poland (11/12) and Canada (10/12). One of these three teams will NOT make it through to the quarterfinals. The most solid of the three is USA. They are scoring at least four points in each and every match and the eight players in the team have all played between four and six games. However, they still have to face Poland tomorrow (and Cuba), so the first place is not a lock. Netherlands board 12 Machteld Van Foreest fully concentrated Poland is also performing very well. They convincingly won their three matches this afternoon, especially the 5½-1½ against Peru (a tough day in the office for them, with 0/6). Recent World Cup winner Duda is on a roll with 5½/6 on the very tough first board. Canada is the third team in contention, hanging in there with three rounds to go. They have direct clashes with Poland Cuba and Peru, so it’s all in their hands to grab one of the two