27th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival brings together 195 players from 49 countries
The 27th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, runs from December 12-16 at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi Hotel, UAE. The event organized by the Abu Dhabi Chess and Mind Games Club, under the supervision of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, has a total prize fund of USD 40,000. The official opening of the festival took place today and was attended by Aref Al Awani, the Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the International Chess Federation, Hussein Al Khoury, President of the Abu Dhabi Chess Club, Dr. Abdullah Al-Wahshi, Chairman of the Festival Organizing Committee, and Muhammad Al-Mudhahki, President of the Qatar Chess Federation. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich opened the event by making the ceremonial move in presense of distinguished guests and players. At the board are the tournament’s rating-favourite, top UAE GM Salem A.R. Saleh and highest-rated African GM Bassem Amin. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the number of participants was reduced to 195 players from 49 countries, competing in six different tournaments: Masters Rapid and Masters Blitz Tournaments, Open Rapid and Open Blitz Tournaments, Juniors Rapid Tournament and Frontline Heroes Chess Tournament, open for members of military, police and national service health workers in the UAE. The line-up of the festival includes Vladislav Kovalev (FIDE), Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran), A.R. Saleh Salem (UAE), Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), Bassem Amin (Egypt), Jules Moussard (France), Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine) and many others. After five rounds of Masters Rapid Tournament, Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) emerged as a leader with 4½ points, followed by Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), sitting on 4 points. Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan) and Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) are tied for third place with 3½ points. In Round 6, Eljanov emerged as a new leader after beating Maghsoodloo, whereas Fedoseev defeated Jumabayev. At this point, the Russian GM rose to the fore as he scored two consecutive victories over the Ukrainian and the Iranian to create a full point margin over his rivals before the final round. In Round 9, Fedoseev made a quick draw with Viktor Erdos to secure first place. Bassem Amin pulled off a crucial victory over Rinat Jumabayev to finish second; Viktor Erdos is third, edging out Pavel Eljanov thanks to the higher average rating of the opponents. Final standings Abu Dhabi Masters Rapid: 1 Fedoseev, Vladimir RUS 2692 7 2 Amin, Bassem EGY 2614 6½ 3 Erdos, Viktor HUN 2601 6 4 Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2641 6 5 Fridman, Daniel GER 2542 5½ 6 Mchedlishvili, Mikheil GEO 2589 5½ 7 Maghsoodloo, Parham IRI 2512 5 8 Jumabayev, Rinat KAZ 2562 5 9 Sadhwani, Raunak IND 2454 5 10 Socko, Bartosz POL 2562 5 More information about the event can be found here. The blitz event (a Swiss tournament with 3+2 time control) was played on Wednesday, December 15th and saw Vladimir Fedoseev scoring double in Abu Dhabi. The Russian GM tied for the first with Bartosz Socko, but came out on top as the winner of their direct encounter played in Round 7. Final standings Abu Dhabi Masters Blitz: 1 Fedoseev, Vladimir RUS 2690 6½ 2 Socko, Bartosz POL 2571 6½ 3 Sadhwani, Raunak IND 2562 6 4 Bellahcene, Bilel ALG 2493 6 5 Fridman, Daniel GER 2663 5½ 6 Amin, Bassem EGY 2617 5½ 7 Erdos, Viktor HUN 2599 5½ 8 Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2642 5 9 Van Wely, Loek NED 2593 5 10 Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2602 5 More information about the event can be found here.
Third Chess in Education Lecturer course to run from December 17-19
The third edition of the Chess in Education Lecturer course will be held on 17-19 December. Those who gain this qualification (CEL) will be those, exclusively, who we appoint to the paid lectureships of the FIDE School Instructor seminars. ‘I have learned a lot’ WGM Eva Repkova, Chairperson of FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess. CEL Lecturers will be experts in educational chess (not necessarily experts in competitive chess). They will be trained by the EDU Commission, after an online capacitating course of 15 hours, with some offline extras. This training has a cost of €75, which covers both access to materials and preparation, and the exam. Those who successfully pass the course will receive the diploma of Certified FIDE Chess in Education Lecturer (CEL). This is valid for three years, and it implies an administrative fee of €50. ‘A nice experience, fantastic course’ FM Vlad Ungureanu, national coordinator of Romania chess in schools program. Applications for the course are open now and will close on 14 December. If you want to apply, please fill in the registration form for “Preparation of Lecturers”, Your CV & Motivation letter should pay special attention to your relevant experience in “educational chess”, rather than “sport chess” (please check this explanatory document if you are unsure about the difference between these two concepts: https://edu.fide.com/educational-chess-vs-sport-chess/ ). ‘This kind, of course, is a very good idea’ FM Leontxo Garcia. The course will be held from December 17-19, in English, online 15:00-20:00 CET (Central European or FIDE time). Applicants must complete the registration form: https://cloud.fide.com/s/Zpd6ynNnLf7Sckp (DOC)https://cloud.fide.com/s/xWDW5E66RpHHTAY (PDF) The course is limited to a maximum of 20 people (first come, first served). The applicants who cannot be given a slot will be placed on the waiting list for the subsequent course.