World Rapid & Blitz 2021 to be held in Warsaw, Poland
FIDE is happy to announce that Poland will host the World Rapid and Blitz Championships and Women World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2021 in Warsaw on the originally planned dates (December 25 – December 31, 2021). The relevant guarantees, both financial and visa-related, are provided to FIDE by the Government of the Republic of Poland. All the related information will be published shortly on the official website: worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/ “FIDE is sincerely grateful to Poland, a country with great chess traditions, for proposing to host the Championships despite the short notice. I am sure that it will be a wonderful event,” Arkady Dvorkovich, President of FIDE, said. “The game of chess is an important part of the history of Poland. I am very glad to know that our country will host the best grandmasters for the World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships,” noted Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.
Zdenko Kožul wins Croatian Championship
Zdenko Kožul is a new Croatian champion. The 55-year old native of Bihac won his third national title with a round to spare. Zdenko completed the event unbeaten and scored impressive 8½/11 The Croatian Championship, a 12-player round-robin tournament with classical time control, took place at the Continental Hotel in Rijeka from 30 November to 10 December 2021. The top-seed and three-time Croatian champion Ivan Saric faltered in the starting round but pulled himself together and competed for the title with Kozul almost until the very end, finishing just a half-point behind. IM Leon Livaic scored a solid +3 (7/11), beating the silver winner along the way and suffering no defeats, just like the champion. The 21-year old earned bronze, completed a GM norm, and picked 11 rating points. At the closing ceremony, the trophies were awarded to the winners by the president of the Rijeka Sports Association, Dorotea Pešić Bukovac. Final standings: 1 GM Kožul, Zdenko 2625 8½ 2 GM Šarić, Ivan 2665 8 3 IM Livaić, Leon 2537 7 4 GM Jovanović, Zoran 2523 6 5 GM Martinović, Saša 2542 5½ 6 GM Zelčić, Robert 2540 5 7 IM Dorić, Darko 2475 5 8 GM Ferčec, Nenad 2415 5 9 GM Bosiočić, Marin 2545 4½ 10 IM Srbiš, Jurica 2448 4½ 11 GM Šarić, Ante 2536 4 12 GM Kovačević, Blažimir 2399 3 Official website: phrijeka2021.com/ Photo: official website