FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship 2021: Registration begins
The registration system for the FIDE Open World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2021 and the FIDE Women’s World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2021 has begun. Eligible players, accompanying persons, FIDE Principals, arbiters and media are invited to register via the following link: https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/registration/ The registration deadline is 12:00 PM Lausanne time on 18 December 2021. Players are expected to read the tournament regulations before starting the registration process. Regulations for FIDE Open Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf) Regulations for FIDE Women’s Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf) Open tournaments eligibility: – Players rated at least 2550 in any FIDE rating lists (Standard, Rapid or Blitz) from January to December 2021. – The reigning National Champions representing their National Federation regardless of their title or rating. – The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 15 additional players of his/her own choice. Women’s tournaments eligibility – Players rated at least 2250 in any FIDE rating lists (Standard, Rapid or Blitz) from January to December 2021. – The reigning National Champions representing their National Federation regardless of their title or rating – The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 15 additional players of his/her own choice. Please select the event from the menu you would like to participate. If you want to participate in both Rapid and Blitz, please tick both events. The Reigning National Champions should send a proof of their titles via their National Federations to worldrapidandblitz@fide.com in order to be accepted. Once your registration is approved, it will automatically be validated upon receiving an entry fee. Entry fee payment of 100 USD (single payment for both tournaments) in the open section and 50 USD (single payment for both championships) in the women’s section shall preferably be made before 21 December 2021. Late payments for both events will be accepted until 24 December 2021; they will amount to 200 USD for open and 100 USD for women’s competitions. The registration fees shall be transferred to the following USD account: Name: KAZAKHSTAN CHESS FEDERATION RPA Currency of the account: USD Account No: KZ15998BTB0000540882 Your code: 18 ( Beneficiary code) Legal entity’s BIN: 911240001354 Bank: The Capital branch of “First Heartland Jusan Bank” JSC BIC TSESKZKA Address: NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN, Sarayshyk, 5A BIN 040741000057 Correspondent Bank: USD Bank of New York Mellon, New York, USA IRVTUS3N USD Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany COBADEFF Payment reference: Registration fee for participation in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2021, (player’s name), not subject to VAT. If needed, an invoice can be requested from the organiser at worldrapidandblitz@fide.com. If you have any questions regarding the registration, feel free to contact the organiser via email: worldrapidandblitz@fide.com
Ukraine and Russia win European Team Championship 2021
Ukraine and Russia are the winners of the European Team Championship that took place in Terme Catez, Slovenia, from November 11-22. Four teams, namely Armenia, France, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine were coming into the final round tied for first place on 12/14, and making things even more interesting, the leaders faced each other. France defeated Azerbaijan thanks to Alireza Firouzja’s victory over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The Iran-born teenager (who debuted for his new federation in a team event) had another great tournament as he scored a phenomenal 8/9 and surpassed the 2800 mark in the live rating. After this impressive performance, Alireza will jump to the second position in the December rating list, right behind Magnus Carlsen. Meanwhile, Ukraine beat Armenia by a score of 3-1 (Anton Korobov and Andrei Volokitin scored victories on the first and second boards) and took gold thanks to a better Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak over France. Congratulations to team Ukraine, winning its maiden European Team Championship title. The seventh-rated team proved that a balanced line-up, experience and camaraderie are sometimes more important than average rating in team competitions. France had to settle for silver; Poland and Spain scored victories in the final round and tied for third place. Sonneborn-Berger favoured Polish GMs who earned bronze. Final standings: 1 Ukraine 14 2 France 14 3 Poland 13 4 Spain 13 5 Azerbaijan 12 6 Russia 12 7 Armenia 12 8 Serbia 12 9 Netherlands 11 10 Germany 11 In the Women’s Championship, the Russian team put in a dominating performance winning all the matches and clinching the fourth consecutive title with a round to spare. In the final round, the champion prevailed over Poland 2½-1½ to complete the perfect tournament. All the members of the Russian squad did exceptionally well, losing just a single individual game, with Polina Shuvalova (7/8) and Alina Kashlinskaya (6½/7) being the top scorers. Georgia secured silver in the penultimate round after routing Greece 3½-½, but the bronze was up for grabs until the last moves of the final round – as many as seven teams had a fair chance for third place. In the end, Azerbaijani women took the third position on the podium thanks to better tiebreaks over Ukraine. Final standings: 1 Russia 18 2 Georgia 15 3 Azerbaijan 12 4 Ukraine 12 5 Germany 11 6 Serbia 11 7 Poland 10 8 Netherlands 10 9 Italy 10 10 France 10 Photo: ECU Press Official website: euroteamchess2021.eu/