FIDE launches a new podcast
FIDE is pleased to announce the launch of its new podcast, a format that keeps growing in popularity in general, and particularly among chess players. Hosted on Podbean, the first podcast episode is already available there. In the coming days, you should also be able to subscribe from all the leading apps like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Google Podcasts. This initiative is born under the roof of the Year of the Woman in Chess, thanks to a cooperation between FIDE’s Commission for Women’s Chess, Michael Busse of Schachgeflüster podcast, and Lilli Hahn of Chess Sports Association. FIDE would like to express its gratitude to Lilli and Michael for their generous and enthusiastic contribution, without which this podcast wouldn’t be a reality now. With the idea of giving voice and visibility to women, the inaugural season of the broadcast will feature a series of monthly interviews with remarkable women in the chess world conducted by Lilli Hahn. Players, organisers, arbiters, authors, and journalists will take the floor to share their knowledge, experience, and vision with us. Our first guest has been the Woman Grandmaster and seven-time Slovenian Women’s Champion Jana Krivec, who is also a Doctor of Psychology and a university professor. Jana knows exactly how you can “Improve Your Life By Playing A Game“. This is the title of her 2021 book, in which she brings new insights into the connection between psychological concepts and chess. “Chess is a true polygon to learn things that are really important for life in general. It is more and more popular in the sense of educating children. But I still think that people see chess as something that is mainly useful for developing mathematical skills. This is not the main thing that chess develops,” says Jana in his chat with Lilli. “We can learn a lot from a chess game from a psychological point of view if only we pay attention and understand what we are doing; what feelings are behind a particular action or move.” Click on the following link to listen to the first episode of the FIDE podcast.
Workshop: Increase your inner strength
WGM Jana Krivec is a Doctor of Psychology and a university professor, apart from a seven-time winner of the Slovenian Women’s Championship. Last year she authored a book titled “Improve Your Life By Playing A Game“, an exciting journey through a wide range of psychology topics explained from the perspective of a tournament chess player. You can learn more about this book and Jana’s experience by listening to the first episode of the FIDE podcast, in which Jana was our inaugural guest. As part of the initiatives that the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess has prepared for the Year of the Woman in Chess, Jana Krivec will offer a series of monthly workshops under the title “Increase your inner strength”, between February and November 2022. Their aim is to increase awareness of the power of the mind, help you to get to know yourself better, understand your inner world and learn some useful mental techniques to increase your inner strength. The first of them is scheduled for Sunday, February 27, at 15:00 CET. If you are interested, please fill out this form. To be led by women, these workshops are part of the Queens’ Festival, also under the umbrella of the Year of the Woman in Chess.
Tata Steel Chess: Winners crowned in Wijk aan Zee
The winner of the Tata Steel Masters, Magnus Carlsen, did not make a single move in the final round as he got a win over Daniil Dubov by forfeit. The World Champion scored 9½/13 and finished 1½ points ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport, who tied for second place. Looking back at his performance in the Tata Steel Masters 2022, Magnus Carlsen said: “I think there have been a lot of very good moments here in this tournament. I think I’ve had nine winning positions, and I converted five of them, which is probably one or two too little considering what I had, but there are a lot of positives, especially compared to the last couple of years where I didn’t play well and frankly didn’t get many chances. So the huge amount of chances that I got, it’s of course partly due to my opponents playing a bit weaker than usual, but I think I also managed to create more of them than normal. And obviously, the total score, plus five, is great and more than enough for tournament victory, but there’s always this thought that it could have been even better, but that will have to be another time. I’m really satisfied, in general.” Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport preserved the status-quo by making quick draws with white pieces with Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri. Other games of Round 13 were much more exciting. Sergey Karjakin tested Vidit Gujrathi in a well-known endgame, that emerged from the Four Knights Opening. Although it looks drawish, Black had to demonstrate some accuracy, which the Indian GM failed to do. White kept posing problems here and there and snatched a pawn on the move 29. Sergey’s conversion might not have been optimal, but he got the job done in a bishop endgame. Nils Grandelius got a great attacking position on the white side of the Sicilian against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but did not play the most energetic 19.g5! and allowed Black to grab the initiative. With his back against the wall, the Sweed found the way to muddle the waters by sacrificing a pawn, but it would not have worked had Duda found the precise move 26…Qb7. After the Polish GM imprudently captured the knight on c3, Nils set the board on fire with a nice bishop sacrifice 27.Bxg7! White’s heavy pieces pounced on Black’s king, but Jan-Krzysztof defended with precision and liquidated into an equal queen endgame in which the opponents shook hands. Sam Shankland did not manage to equalize on the black side of the London System against Jorden Van Forest but set up a defensive line with the knight on d6 in an endgame. The American had all the chances to save a half-point in a pawn race on the opposite wings, but his idea of the b-file interference led to disaster – White seamlessly converted two extra pawns in a queens and bishops endgame. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Andrey Esipenko waged a fight in Saemisch System of the Nimtzo Indian. After Andrey made a few hesitant moves, the Indian GM regrouped his pieces, sacrificed a pawn and got a dangerous initiative in the center and the kingside. To relieve the pressure, the Russian GM gave up an exchange but found himself in a hopeless position. Rameshbabu could have finished the game quickly by keeping the queens on the board, but he traded the most powerful pieces and allowed Andrey to build some sort of fortress. White still had to find the right plan of breaking, but Esipenko dismantled the entire construction with 58…Be6? and resigned immediately. Final standings: 1 Carlsen, Magnus 9½ 2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 8 3 Rapport, Richard 8 4 Giri, Anish 7½ 5 Karjakin, Sergey 7 6 Van Foreest, Jorden 7 7 Esipenko, Andrey 6½ 8 Caruana, Fabiano 6½ 9 Duda, Jan-Krzysztof 6 10 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi 6 11 Shankland, Sam 5½ 12 Praggnanandhaa R 5½ 13 Grandelius, Nils 4½ 14 Dubov, Daniil 3½ The Challengers tournament that took place concurrently with the Masters saw the rating-favourite Arjun Erigaisi steamroll his opponents. The Indian youngster turned in a brilliant performance and, just like Magnus, won the event with a round to spare. His main competitors Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Jonas Buhl Bjerre fell two points shy of the champion’s impressive result (10½/13) and tied for the second position in the final standings. Final standings: 1 Erigaisi, Arjun 10½ 2 Nguyen, Thai Dai Van 8½ 3 Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 8½ 4 L’Ami, Erwin 7½ 5 Jumabayev, Rinat 7½ 6 Van Foreest, Lucas 7 7 Murzin, Volodar 7 8 Warmerdam, Max 6½ 9 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar 6 10 Dardha, Daniel 5½ 11 Shuvalova, Polina 4½ 12 Maurizzi, Marc`Andria 4½ 13 Vogel, Roven 4 14 Zhu, Jiner 3½ Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022