Daniel Gong wins New Zealand Championship
FM Daniel Gong is a new champion of New Zealand. The youngster from Auckland won his maiden national title just a few days before his 19th birthday. The New Zealand Championship (dating back to 1879!), a nine-round Swiss tournament, took place in Christchurch on the South Island and brought together 24 players. The future champion got off to a flying start winning four straight games but faced very dangerous opponents – seven times NZ champion IM Russell Dive and the defending champion FM Nicolas Croad – in Rounds 5 and 6. Daniel rose to the occasion and ground down both rivals in long endgames to grab a commanding lead. Gong made three draws in the end to finish on 7½/9, a half-point ahead of another youngster CM Felix Xie (pictured above), who claimed silver. Fourteen-time NZ champion IM Anthony Ker and FM Nicolas Croad scored 6 points each and tied for third place. The bronze goes to Ker, who has a slightly better Buchholz. Final standings: 1 FM Gong, Daniel Hanwen 2352 7½ 2 CM Xie, Felix 2301 7 3 IM Ker, Anthony F 2441 6 4 FM Croad, Nicolas 2449 6 5 IM Dive, Russell J 2388 5½ 6 McNabb, Matthew D 2231 5½ 7 Sole, Michael D 2004 5 8 FM Lukey, Stephen G 2353 5 9 CM Rains, Edward 2178 5 10 Winter, Ryan 2186 5 The Junior NZ Championship run concurrently with the Major Open. The winners in five age groups are: U8 Leo Yitao Lian U10 Justin Zhide Wang U12 Emily Gan, William Rui Liu, and Ryan Hwang U14 Isabelle Yixuan Ning U16 Ollie Archer 2022 NZ joint junior champions – Ollie Archer and Gavith Dharmasena Girl Champion – Isabelle Yixuan Ning The NZ Championship also includes rapid and blitz events scheduled for January 11 and 12. Official website: newzealandchess.co.nz/ Photo: NZ Chess Federation Facebook page
Decisions of 2021 FIDE General Assembly
28 December 2021 FIDE General Assembly Decisions GA-2021/1 To note the Constitutional Commission report. GA-2021/2 To approve the proposal of Mr. Rivello not to elect three Scrutineers. GA-2021/3 To approve the Report of the FIDE Treasurer. GA-2021/4 To approve the Verification Commission’s report. GA-2021/5 To appoint Ernst & Young as External Auditor for an annual audit of FIDE accounts for 2021. GA-2021/6 To discharge the Treasurer from the responsibilities for the financial year 2020. GA-2021/7 To approve 2022 Budget. GA-2021/8 To approve the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Chess Federation as a new member-federation of FIDE. GA-2021/9 To approve the Niger Chess Federation as a new member-federation of FIDE. GA-2021/10 To approve the Dominica Chess Federation as a new member-federation of FIDE. GA-2021/11 To approve the Belize Chess Federation as a new member-federation of FIDE. GA-2021/12 To note the letter of the Ukrainian Chess Federation regarding rapid & blitz ratings of Mr. Ihor Kobylianskyi (FIDE ID 14106329) and Mr. Iuri Shkuro (FIDE ID 14108836) and to support FIDE Council decision regarding this matter dated December 27 2021. GA-2021/13 Not to approve Papua New Guinea Chess Federation’s proposals regarding Associate Member Federations and regarding FIDE Charter amendment (Article 9.4). GA-2021/14 To approve the FIDE Electoral Rules. GA-2021/15 To approve the Ethics and Disciplinary Code. GA-2021/16 To approve the General Assembly Internal Rules. GA-2021/17 To note Continental reports. GA-2021/18 To approve the following FIDE Award: the title of the FIDE Honorary Member to Mr. Andrei Filatov, President of the Chess Federation of Russia. GA-2021/19 To approve amendments to the Laws of Chess regarding electronic scoresheets (effective from August 1, 2022). To grant the right to the FIDE Council to approve the necessary clarifications on this issue based on suggestions of the Rules Commission.
Decisions of 2021 4th FIDE Council Meeting
4th FIDE Council meeting 27 December 2021 List of decisions CM4-2021/01 To note President’s report. CM4-2021/02 To note financial report presented by FIDE Treasurer. CM4-2021/03 To note the Verification Commission’s report and recommend it for the approval by the General Assembly. CM4-2021/04 To recommend the budget 2022 for the approval by the General Assembly. CM4-2021/05 To approve Ernst & Young as FIDE External Auditor for 2022 and recommend it for General Assembly’s approval. CM4-2021/06 To support the draft of the Electoral Rules with the updated Article 22.8 and recommend it for the approval by the General Assembly. CM4-2021/07 To support the draft of the Ethics and Disciplinary Code and recommend it for the approval by the General Assembly. CM4-2021/08 To support the draft of the General Assembly Internal Rules and recommend them for the approval by the General Assembly. CM4-2021/09 To approve FIDE Congress Regulations. CM4-2021/10 To approve the Update of the Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines by adding as Annex “FIDE Guidelines for Avoidance of the Conflict of Interest in Employment and Appointments”. CM4-2021/11 To approve that the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 shall be organized in Madrid, Spain, 16 June – 7 July 2022. CM4-2021/12 To approve the unification of the FIDE Candidates Tournament tie-break regulations for open and women events, and to confirm that the play-off which will consist of rapid games will apply in the case of a tie for first place and to task the General Strategy Commission with finalization of the wording of the tie-break regulations for the FIDE Candidates’ Tournament 2022 not later than February 1, 2022. CM4-2021/13 To approve that the FIDE World Team Championship 2022 shall be organised in Jerusalem, Israel, April 2022. CM4-2021/14 To open bidding procedures for World Championship Match 2023 and Chess Olympiad 2026. CM4-2021/15 To extend bidding procedures for FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2022 and FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix series 2022 as no formal bids have been received. CM4-2021/16 To note the Global Strategy Commission’s report. CM4-2021/17 To note the Arbiters’ Commission’s report. CM4-2021/18 To approve the recommendations of the Arbiters’ Commission on Seminars, Classification upgrades, Amendments to the FIDE lecturer list, FA norms and titles. CM4-2021/19 To note the Events Commission’s report. CM4-2021/20 To approve the recommendations of the Events Commission on titles. CM4-2021/21 To note the Rules Commission’s report. CM4-2021/22 To support the Rules Commission’s proposal in respect of amendments to the Laws of Chess regarding electronic scoresheets (effective from August 1st, 2022) and to ask the General Assembly to grant the right to the FIDE Council to approve the necessary clarifications on this issue based on suggestions of the Rules Commission. CM4-2021/23 To approve the recommendations of the Qualification Commission on titles. CM4-2021/24 To approve the Technical Commission’s proposal in respect of electronic score sheets and request their coordination with the Rules Commission and the Arbiters’ Commission in elaborating of its practical implementations. CM4-2021/25 To approve the recommendations of the Trainers’ Commission on titles and Academies. CM4-2021/26 To note the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission’s report. CM4-2021/27 To note Continental reports. CM4-2021/28 To note the state of the play in federations of Peru, Ivory Coast and South Africa. CM4-2021/29 To further consult with Council Members on establishment of a separate Commission for Online Chess. CM4-2021/30 To approve proposal of the Jamaica Chess Federation to hold an annual tournament for Presidents of Chess Federations across the world and to make all necessary arrangements for a tournament in 2022. CM4-2021/31 To further study proposal of the Jamaica Chess Federation for national federations with official combined populations below 10 million, to be allowed to field a unified team (absolute and women) for each Chess Olympiad, beside their own separate teams. CM4-2021/32 To approve the Termsheet on electronic chess scoresheets to be signed by FIDE and Clono. CM4-2021/33 To award the title of Friend of FIDE to Mr. Thomas Thomsen (GER), and Mr. Abraham Tolentino (PHI). CM4-2021/34 To recommend to the General Assembly to award the title of the FIDE Honorary member to Mr. Andrei Filatov (RUS), President of the Chess Federation of Russia. CM4-2021/35 To approve the resolution regarding the rating of Mr. Kobylianskyi and Mr. Iuri Shkuro. CM4-2021/36 To recommend to the General Assembly the approval of the membership of the Dominica Chess Federation, Niger Chess Federation and St. Vincent and Grenadine Chess Federation with limitation of voting rights following the approval of the new FIDE Electoral Rules. CM4-2021/37 To recommend to the General Assembly not to approve the membership of the Belize Chess Federation for the time being due to the lack of required documentation. CM4-2021/38 To note the report on the state of the play with the US Virgin Islands Chess Federation and agree on a written procedure for the further decisions to be made.