FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss: Round 3 Recap
After three rounds of games in Riga, out of 157 participants, naturalised Frenchman Alireza Firouzja became the only player – in the entire Grand Swiss – to have won all three games The third round of the Grand Swiss was opened by FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, by making the first move on board one of the women’s tournament. This is the first time that the Grand Swiss is featuring a women’s section. “FIDE is strongly committed to improving women’s chess, and having the women’s tournament was very important. Also, Latvia – my home country – is a place where approximately half of the managerial positions are held by women, without any quotas, but naturally, so, this seems to be the natural place to launch a bigger fight for women in chess”, says Dana Reizniece-Ozola. The Open Tournament After three rounds of games, the Iranian-born rising chess star Alireza Firouzja has managed to distinguish himself as the sole leader in the Open section of the Grand Swiss. Playing on the first board, Firouzja was up against Alexandr Predke who had a spectacular win in the second round against Nodirbek Yakubboev. In the Ruy Lopez, Firouzja gradually arranged his pieces, slowly numbing Black’s resistance. With a strong bishop on b2 and an extra pawn in the centre, he exerted serious pressure on Black’s position. However, Alireza did not find the most precise moves and Alexandr managed to transpose into an even endgame at the cost of a pawn. Firouzja pressed on and, after a trade of the rooks in the 42nd move, White gradually regained the advantage making the most of Black’s inaccuracies. Predke continued to resist, but White’s b-passer became the decisive factor – Firouzja ultimately forced his opponent to resign, having played for nearly six hours. On board two, Fabiano Caruana was leading white pieces against Ivan Saric of Croatia (pictured below), who had an excellent start with two out of two. Before this game, the two met five times with Caruana leading two to one, with two draws. After dropping half a point in round two to Nihal Sarin, the world number two Caruana – who had white – was eager to win against Saric. Caruana managed to grab the initiative in the Four Knights Sicilian at the cost of being low on time. After Black castled on the queenside, White launched a dangerous attack on the left wing, which gave him an extra pawn and the decisive advantage. However, when the time came to rip the harvest White captured on g5 with a wrong piece and missed a clear win: Fabiano Caruana – Ivan Saric Most likely, Fabiano instinctively turned down 31.Nxg5, wary of 31…Rd2 but after 32.Bxe5 Rxg2+ 33. Kh3 White captures the f7-pawn, winning. Instead, 31.hxg5 was played and after 31…Rd4! 32.Rc7 Bxe4 33.Rc8+ Kb7 34.Rxf8 Bg6 the game transposed into an opposite-coloured bishop ending in which the Croatian defended well, and after nearly five hours, the two agreed to a draw. There was almost a big upset on board three in the game between Levon Aronian and Anton Demchenko. In the Four Knights opening, the game progressed normally, but after an imprecision in the middlegame by Aronian – who is the fifth strongest player in the world – White’s queen penetrated the queenside, leading to the loss of a pawn by Black. Demchenko gradually advanced his free runner on the a-file, and after the exchange of the queens, the game entered a rook endgame that looked extremely dangerous for Black. After a heroic effort and having shown patience and defiance, Aronian managed to save a draw but not without some help from his opponent, who missed a couple of winning continuations. One of the top seeds, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, drew as Black with Alexander Donchenko. With two out of three, the Frenchman still has strong chances to fight for the top. The first game with a decisive outcome in the Open section was one between Vasif Durarbayli and Daniil Dubov, in which the Russian instructively exploited his dominance over the light squares. Also among the top boards, Yu Yangyi was victorious against Matthias Bluebaum. There are now as many as six players trailing Alireza Firouzja by half a point: Yu Yangyi, Pavel Ponkratov, Robert Hovhannisyan, Nihal Sarin, Ivan Saric, and Evgeniy Najer. The Women’s Tournament After just three rounds, there are no more players with a maximum score in the Women’s section. The top group is made up of nine players with 2.5 points, led by Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Nana Dzagnidze, who had a perfect start with two out of two, found herself in trouble as White against Natalija Pogonina (pictured above). The Reti opening was played, where White plays slowly, trying to gradually outmanoeuvre the opponent. After 11.g4, the position quickly sharpened, and Pogonina came up with an interesting pawn sacrifice. Dzagnidze accepted the offer but fell under a vigorous attack. Caught on the backfoot, Nana had to give up her queen, and the position transpired into a rook and two bishops vs a queen and knight endgame. Nana built some sort of a fortress that did not look unassailable but using Black’s inaccuracies, the Georgian held her defence line, and the game was eventually drawn. On board two, Harika Dronavalli defeated the former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova although, for the most part, Black was in no danger of losing. However, the Bulgarian made a wrong choice in a rook endgame that cost her half-point: Harika Dronavalli – Antoaneta Stefanova Being in some sort of zugzwang, Antoaneta decided to keep material equal and played 38…f5? but after 39.exf5 Kxf5 40.g4+ Kg6 40.Ke4! things went downhill for her. Black should have sacrificed a pawn instead (38…c5! 39.Rxc5 Rd1) to activate her rook with good drawing chances. Round 3 saw the – so far – shortest game of the tournament. On board four, after some 40 minutes of play, Elisabeth Paehtz drew as White against Lei Tingjie. The Ruy Lopez was played, and after massive exchanges in the centre, the two ended up in a drawish endgame. After 30 moves of play, the opponents decided to split a point. Shortly after this, another quick draw occurred – between Salome Melia and Olga Girya. As was noted by Anna Muzychuk, there are clear lines that lead to a
16th IBCA Chess Olympiad: Russia carries the day
The 16th Chess Olympiad for the Blind and Visually Impaired, organized under the auspices of the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), took place in Rhodes, Greece, from October 16-26, 2021, as part of the 2021 Rhodes Chess Festival. Despite the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olympiad was well-attended and featured teams from twenty-two countries on three continents, including, for the first time in the IBCA history, Team Canada-Québec that became the only one to make an exhausting and dangerous journey from the Americas. The Olympiad for the Blind and Visually Impaired was a nine-round Swiss team tournament under the FIDE Olympiad rules. Each team featured four players and one reserve. A remarkable new sports record was set by Team Russia that won all its nine matches and became the champion scoring 18 match points. The silver medals (14 match points) went to team Poland thanks to better tiebreaks over team Serbia which earned bronze. The closing ceremony on October 26th became a massive celebration for Braille players and their supporters. Non-seeing players, their accompanying guides (human and canine), captains, coaches, officials, and spectators gathered in the sumptuous Jupiter Hall of the Rodos Palace Hotel, adorned with Greek national motifs. A real constellation of dignitaries attended the ceremony, including Mr Nikos Nikolis, Vice Governor of the Region of South Aegean, responsible for sports; Mr Giannis Papas, Member of the Parliament of Greece; Mr Antonis Kambourakis, Mayor of the Rhodes municipality; Mr, Stefanos Fasias, Vice-President of the Hellenic Sports Federation for Persons with Disabilities; Mr Efstathios Efstathopoulos, President of the Greek Chess Federation; Dr. Charudatta Jadhav, the IBCA President, and the newly elected members of the IBCA Presidential Board. In his opening speech, Mayor Kambourakis reminded that the IBCA Olympiad was one of five constituent events of the Rhodes 2021 Chess Festival, along with the 2021 FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship, the 44th World Chess Solving Competition, and two Congresses. Greece became one of the pioneers in reopening chess life after the pandemic. The strategic thinking of Greek national and regional authorities, the excellent collaboration between FIDE, the IBCA, the WFCC, the organizers and local authorities made it possible for over three hundred participants from more than fifty countries to meet in person and enjoy chess. The people of Rhodes Island opened their hearts and minds to everyone. They especially welcomed the non-seeing players, displaying courtesy and friendliness that made the stay of people with disabilities especially enjoyable and memorable. An extended address by the IBCA President Dr Charudatta Jadhav summarized new achievements of the Braille chess community. He remarked that the 16th Olympiad Chess Olympiad for the Blind and Visually Impaired was a complete success and a remarkable achievement for players, officials and organizers, made possible with the unparallel hospitality of Rhodes and its people. Non-seeing players demonstrated bravery, focus, discipline and a high level of maturity. Everyone showed fair play and good sportsmanship. The strongest teams and the strongest players won their matches and games in an exemplary manner. Dr Jadhav thanked the Chief Arbiter and the Deputy Chief Arbiter for their excellent work. They always acted in the best interests of the competition and ensured the best conditions for the players with disabilities. The CA and the DCA also generously used their considerable skills in Braille chess arbitering to train a cadre of local arbiters in the intricacies of these specialized competitions, thus ensuring cohesiveness and excellent functioning of the arbiter team for the tournament with challenging time control. The IBCA President reminded that the quadrennial IBCA Congress was held during the Olympiad. The elections to the IBCA governing bodies achieved unprecedented diversity and gender balance. Congress adopted a new Constitution which strengthens the IBCA governance and makes the organization more democratic and transparent. The IBCA and its national members, the organizations, specifically established for the promotion of Braille chess for blind and visually impaired, work in harmony with respective countries’ governments, NGOs, national Paralympic Committees, FIDE, and other international associations as partners respecting each other’s core areas of expertise and advancing the goals set in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and similar documents. Dr Jadhav thanked the FIDE President, Mr Arkady Dvorkovich, for his personal attention to the needs of handicapped players and many new initiatives, such as the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad for the Disabled and the 2020 FIDE Olympiad for the Disabled. The IBCA President highlighted the record set by the Braille players from Russia at the Olympiad and stated that several lessons can be learned from Russia’s magnificent performance. It took two components to achieve such a remarkable feat: the bravery, skills and dedication of Russian players plus exemplary institutional support provided by the Russian state and chess authorities. Federal and regional authorities in Russia understand the needs of disabled people and view sports, including chess, as an essential tool for their full and effective participation and inclusion in society. The leadership of the Chess Federation of Russia supports visually impaired players organizationally, financially and morally, and celebrates their successes widely, which is evident from the personal congratulations sent by the CFR President to the IBCA Olympiad winners. Other countries would do well if they studied the Russian model of government, NGO, and public support to adjust to their national conditions. The Vice-President of the Hellenic Sports Federation for Persons with Disabilities Mr Stefanos Fasias continued with the theme of the importance of government and societal support for players with disabilities and described the measures Greece takes in this direction. The President of the Greek Chess Federation, Mr Efstathios Efstathopoulos mentioned the importance of all constituent events of the Rhodes Festival for chess life in Europe and worldwide and congratulated the players, organizers, officials, arbiters, and volunteers from all events on their dedication and excellent conduct of the events. It was a big challenge to hold competitions of such magnitudes while strictly adhering to the health measures and COVID-19 protocols, but