Mongolia vs. Zimbabwe in the final, Georgia dominates women’s tournament
The teams of Mongolia and Zimbabwe will battle it out tomorrow (CET 10:00) for the gold in the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners – the biggest ever chess event among correctional facilities. Both teams topped their groups in the championship stage today. Mongolia advances to the final Mongolia was the first team to progress to the final by winning the Group 1 round-robin tournament with a perfect score. Team Russia became a runner-up with four victories (the Philippines, Georgia, Palestine and Germany) and one loss (to Mongolia). “I think we underestimated our opponent in the beginning, and when we realized how strong they are, it was too late to turn the match around,” said Vladimir Sarkisov, player of team Russia. “This event is very important for all of us. It is a big honour to represent our correctional facility, our city and even our country on the international level. Every Sunday, we gather, study and play chess, and I give lectures on chess to my inmates. Sometimes we feel there is a lack of practice; with tournaments like this, we can play against new opponents and practice better.” Vladimir Sarkisov, team Russia Zimbabwe came out on top in Group 2, beating all its opponents – the USA, England, Croatia, North Macedonia and Argentina. North Macedonia finished second after splitting the points with the USA 2-2, defeating England 3.5-0.5, Croatia 4-0, Argentina 3-1 and losing to Zimbabwe 1-3. According to Chief Sup Moses Gukurume, Officer in Charge at Cikurube Maximum Prison, Zimbabwe, playing chess is an important part of the rehabilitation of inmates: “We are very happy to advance to the final of the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. It takes our rehabilitation programs to another level. It was very exciting for our players to interact with people who are outside their prison, outside Zimbabwe. We are encouraging our inmates to participate in activities that keep them busy, that exercise their minds and their bodies”. Leo Matimbe, team Zimbabwe captain, added that chess does not only help him during his time behind bars but gives hope for new opportunities in life: “Chess is the opening to reorganize my life and to look forward to a better future.” Team Zimbabwe For the first time in the history of international chess tournaments held in prisons, winners were determined in the women’s section too. Here, the Georgian team won all three matches and came in clear first, Russia finished second with two victories, Trinidad and Tobago scored 4 team points each, and Ukraine netted just 1 point. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich congratulated the participants and winners of the women’s tournament: “My warm greetings and congratulations to the team of Georgia, who won the women’s tournament. You were really good! But also I would like to say to all the participants, please continue to play chess, and it will bring you more and more benefits in your life.” The final match of the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners will start tomorrow, October 15, at 10:00 CET. The games can be followed live on the FIDE Youtube channel.
All India Chess Federation signs a historic agreement with MPL
The All India Chess Federation (AICF) signed a historic agreement with the MPL Sports Foundation for a sponsorship amount of Rs. 10,000,000 (approximately $132,860) for the Indian National Championships over the next five years, with a 20% increase every year. The agreement comes soon after Indian women’s first-ever silver medal in the World Women’s Team Championship, and the bronze medal at the Online Olympiad won by the national team. MPL Foundation, primarily associated with gaming, will hold the right to be the title sponsor for various National Championships across all formats starting from the U-7 age group. For the time ever, a corporate sponsor has entered into a long term agreement with the AICF. The credit primarily goes to the new team that has been getting a lot of praise for its efforts. The new team took over AICF in January this year and since then has compiled an impressive list of achievements, including: 1. Organization of Online Arbiter (Referee) refresher Courses and development of 500+ arbiters equipped to organize online and over the board events. 2. Training and certification of more than 1200 trainers for Chess in Schools program, conducted by Grandmasters and International Masters. 3. Organization of 28 national level championships online with participation of more than 15000 players. 4. AICF awarded prize money of Rs. 4,000,000 (roughly USD 53,200) in the national championships. 5. Creating a Covid-relief fund for chess fraternity involving such top Indian players like Anand, Koneru Humpy, D. Harika, Vidit Gujarati, etc. More than Rs. 1,300,000 (approximately USD 17,300) were distributed among 50+ beneficiaries. 6. Creating a welfare fund of Rs 5,000,000 (approximately USD 66,500) for players and arbiters for emergency assistance. 7. The Indian team participated in online Asian School championships & Western Asian Championships, winning 51 medals. 8. The Indian team participated in the Online World Youth Championships, winning four medals. 9. The Indian team captained by V. Anand took part in the Online Chess Olympiad and won bronze. 10. The Indian women’s team won the silver medal in the World Women’s Team Championship. “This is a new era for chess in India, and we are committed to keep working for the betterment of the game and also to make India the number one chess-playing nation in the world”, said Dr Sanjay Kapoor, President of AICF. AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan attributed this success to a selfless approach: “I am proud to say that we have people who are very committed to uplifting of the game; the game has grown many-folds in the last one year, and this is only the beginning.” About MPL Sports Foundation: MPL Sports Foundation(MPLSF), established in 2021, is the dedicated philanthropic arm of Mobile Premier League (MPL), India’s biggest esports platform, to steer all our community-based initiatives, going beyond mere corporate social responsibility. The Foundation supports meaningful activities and transformational change across various fields and works towards community service and nation-building.The foundation aims to democratise sports, make it more accessible, diverse, equitable and inclusive, and support and strengthen the development of sports, sports-related ecosystem and sporting culture in India, with a special focus on esports. Further information: Bharat Singh Chauhan, AICF Secretary E-mail: indianchessfed@gmail.com Mobile: 9810000007
Global Chess Festival: Judit Polgar Method earns international recognition
This year’s hybrid – on – and offline – Global Chess Festival has been a roaring success, with over 3000 visitors attending the event. Held on the 9th of October, the chess universe created in the Hungarian National Gallery has been home to many interactive programs, a series of lectures about creativity and innovation, and – last but not least – the Educational Chess Summit. The summit welcomed professionally acclaimed lecturers from all around the globe, exploring the power of chess in schools, which examples how educational chess can improve the pupils’ different skills, logical and critical thinking, self-esteem, and gave international recognition to the Judit Polgar Method. On the 9th of October, the Hungarian National Gallery went through a great transformation: it has become a chess palace, home to the Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival of 2021, bringing exciting lectures and activities for everyone who wanted to discover the diversity of chess: its connection to education, arts and science. Many countries joined the global celebration of the game: among others Nepal, Uruguay, Israel and Mexico, joined with their own local festivals, amplifying the event’s cross-cultural voice. Those interested were able to follow the event from the comfort of their home as well: apart from the 3.000 visitors in the Hungarian National Gallery, more than 45.000 viewers joined online from all around the world. Throughout the day, creativity and innovation took the main role: spectacular lectures like Ashwin Subramanian’s presentation about biofeedback – investigating the player’s pulse and eye movements and how it influences their performance and decision making. The Indian software engineer also described how analysing the data harnessed through biofeedback can help during preparation. Furthermore, according to Ashwin: “Thanks to biofeedback, even outsiders can witness the stress the players feel”, as biofeedback can be visualized during broadcasts. Presenters of the Educational Chess Summit have also showcased the latest results of their work regarding the effectiveness of chess in individual skill development. According to Ernő Rubik, gamifying education is the way to effectively engage and develop children. Jerry Nash, National Chess Education Consultant also stated that gamification does indeed have positive effects, highlighting that – according to his experience – children playing chess possess a certain “can-do attitude” towards any challenge that comes their way. In his speech, he claimed that “chess does not only change classrooms, but the whole culture of entire institutions.” He stands by the positive effect chess has on children’s attitude towards learning. Patronate of the event, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth for the European Commission welcomed the visitors in a video message, where she praised the Judit Polgar Method. “I certainly hope that Erasmus+ teacher academies will engage with your Chess Palace approach.” Furthermore, the International Chess Federation, the European Chess Union and the Ministry of Human Capacities also endorses the exemplary nature of the Judit Polgar Method, by publishing a statement in order to popularize Judit Polgar’s chess-based educational programs throughout the world. In addition to thought-provoking presentations on the importance of chess in education, especially in STEM, many exciting games of chess were played the day leading up to and during the festival. Among them were the finals of the inter-office tournament of Morgan Stanley – which attracted more than 400+ entrants from across the investment bank’s global offices. During the festival, visitors were also invited to stop by the Morgan Stanley Chess Café, where they could challenge the firm’s chess masters for a game. Over the last few years, simuls have become a tradition of the festival. This year challengers could play in a simultaneous exhibition with Judit Polgar and grandmaster Zoltan Almasi. The lectures of the Global Chess Festival can be found on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIJqim4QR5A A summary video of the event can be found on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27IW64ogaSs Pictures: https://we.tl/t-W1NjvWVCBN Mission of the Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival Facebook Website Pictures Twitter The Global Chess Festival promotes the 1000 faces of chess all around the world. We aim to share the beauty of chess with 5 million people by 2025. Chess Connects Us! More Information: Csató Krisztina krisztina.csato@skyrocketgroup.hu About Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com. For updates regarding our Budapest office, please visit www.morganstanley.hu.
FIDE launches the biggest chess event among prisoners
The first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners – the biggest ever chess event among correctional facilities – kicked off on October 13. 41 teams from 30 countries representing all continents participated in the tournament, which aimed to popularize chess as an efficient tool for reintegrating incarcerated people. The online opening ceremony featured FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. In his introductory speech, Tom Dart talked about the importance of the tournament for the inmates. “It is remarkable how chess transforms so many people’s lives. In our jail system, we have well over a hundred of inmates engaged in chess. This event is a culmination of it. I cannot tell you how many of our people in this facility looked forward to it for like a year. They couldn’t wait for this day to come, because this is where they can represent their country in a sport that they are very good at, they are passionate about. We have a really good team this year. And I want to say thank you to FIDE and its President Arkady Dvorkovich; without FIDE this couldn’t happen,” he said. Arkady Dvorkovich underlined that chess could work as an educational tool for many people: “It’s my pleasure and honour to sent greetings on behalf of the International Chess Federation to all the participants and organizers of the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners! We wanted to do something good for people who made mistakes and who are going through a difficult period in their lives but have all chances to recover from that and live a better life in future. And chess helps! And the fact that we have so many participants today is proof of this. 30 countries, around 40 teams after just a few months on preparation, but also a 10-year experience of working together. I would like to thank Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and the world champion Anatoly Karpov, who was very instrumental and very enthusiastic about bringing chess to prisons all around the world. We are doing this on the occasion of the International Day of Education in Prison, recognized by the United Nations. For us, one of the things that is really important is to send a signal that chess is an excellent educational tool for everyone – kids, people at risk, like refugees, and whose people who made wrong steps in their lives.” FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola added that the Chess for Freedom program launched by FIDE in May 2021will not be limited to hosting chess events among prisoners: “We shall continue with tournaments and conferences, but also we are willing to prepare a new methodology that could be used by the countries that don’t have a training system yet and are willing to introduce chess in prisons. We are also planning to research how chess impacts the inmates and concentrate on preventive measures, promoting chess to children and youth at risk. Many special guests – experts, chess activists, and chess teachers in prisons – joined the event’s broadcast. Among them was WGM Padmini Roup, an ambassador of the “Parivartan – Prison to Pride” project, launched by IndianOil for training prison inmates in specific sports: “We had training camps in 17 different prisons,” – she said. – “It’s a unique and new initiative, and I am very happy to be a part of it. I hope playing chess will give participants motivation to become better people. Also, this tournament is a team event, so it can teach how to be a team player. They come from different backgrounds, and a lot of them are normal people who had unfortunate times, wrong decisions at certain moments and ended up behind bars.” Some former prisoners also told their stories about chess helping them to change their lives. Simosakhe Ngwane, an ex-convict from South Africa, was one of them. “I started playing chess in prison, and I fell in love with the game,” he confessed. “Learning chess made me develop a positive attitude. It taught me that life is built by the decisions we make every day. If I do what’s right, then I can enjoy the positive results and enjoy life. Chess is very important for those in prison and people who don’t want to go to prison because it makes you think about the future and worry more about the consequences of your decisions now. Chess brings discipline and calm; you must wait, think, prepare before you make a decision or a move. I hope the program expands into schools as well because that’s where our kids start making mistakes.” The two-day tournament started with a group stage where all the teams, made of 4 players each, were divided into 6 groups competing in round-robin chess tournaments. Two top teams from each group advanced to the Championship round that will be played tomorrow, October 14. Those teams are Philippines and Mongolia (Group 1), Argentina and USA (Group 2), England and Croatia (Group 3), Russia 1 and Germany (Group 4), Zimbabwe and North Macedonia (Group 5), Georgia 1 and Palestine (Group 6). The event will continue tomorrow, on October 14, with the Championship round, where 12 teams divided into two groups will play round-robin tournaments with the winners facing off in the championship match. Two best women’s teams will play a separate final match. The broadcast of the event starts at 10:00 CET: https://youtu.be/T0c5rOZsSh0 The Championship can also be followed on Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/events/2021-intercontinental-chess-championship-for-prisoners/results To learn more about the Chess for Freedom program, please visit chessforfreedom.fide.com.