Teen star topples Carlsen as Russian takes the lead
Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi scored a sizzling three wins and a draw to storm into the lead in the Airthings Masters elite online chess tournament today. The day ended on a sour note, however, for World Champion Magnus Carlsen, whose revival after a tough first day of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour was pegged back by the youngest player in the field. Carlsen had racked up three wins in a row as he ominously cranked up the gears. But against 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa, he blundered badly, and the Indian star held firm for the win. It was Pragg’s first win in any form of chess against the Norwegian and came on the back of having lost three games in a row. Carlsen finished down in fifth – up from 11th on the leaderboard yesterday. Asked what he would do to celebrate, Pragg said: “I think it’s about just going to bed.” Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen’s world title challenger last year, had started with two wins to go five-in-a-row before being held to a draw by fellow countryman Vladislav Artemiev. Clearly, Nepo has a point to prove after losing the big match to Carlsen in December. The 31-year-old then beat another Russian, Alexandra Kosteniuk, to finish four points clear on the Prelim leaderboard. He will now almost certainly go through to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, China’s Ding Liren continued his strong form despite losing his overnight lead to Nepo. Ding remained unbeaten until a Round 8 loss to Levon Aronian and stands joint-second on 15 points. Level-pegging with Ding is the tournament underdog, Canadian streamer Eric Hansen, who continued to confound predictions. Having nearly beaten Ding in Round 5, Hansen followed up by toppling the exciting Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Hansen then made it four unbeaten with a hard-fought draw against Tour big beast Levon Aronian. But a brilliant final round win over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov left him with 15 points and propelled him up the leaderboard. At the halfway stage of the Prelims, can the fairytale continue? Eight make the cut from the round-robin Prelim stage to the knockout which begins on Wednesday. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments, contact: Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.
Iberoamericano Championship: Sandro Mareco clinches title
GM Sandro Mareco (Argentina) emerged as the winner of the VIII Iberoamericano Championship, a 9-round Swiss tournament that brought together over 150 players (including 17 GMs) from Iberian America and Spain. The event took place in the Complejo Cultural Los Pinos, Mexico, from 12–19 February 2022. In addition to a regular prize fund, special prizes for top-5 women and top-5 youngsters under 18 were established. The FIDE delegation – President Arkady Dvorkovich, managing director Dana Reizniece-Ozola and executive director Viktor Bologan – participated in the opening ceremony as part of their Latin American tour. As it often happens in Swiss tournaments, it all boiled down to the final round. Jaime Latasa Santos was the sole leader on 7 points, but he faced a real challenge of holding his own against the rating-favourite Jorge Cori with Black. Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero, Guillermo Vazquez and Sandro Mareco trailed the leader by a half-point, with the first two playing one another. In the final round, Jorge Cori made a quick work of Santos Latasa and caught up with the leader, whereas Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero and Guillermo Vazquez split a point in a fierce battle. Meanwhile, Sandro Mareco (pictured below) gradually outplayed Omar Almeida Quintana with black pieces and finished clear first with an excellent result of 7½/9. The second-rated native of Huedo, Argentina, received a check for $3,500 for his victory. A large group of players netted 7/9 and tied for second place, with Jaime Santos Latasa and Guillermo Vazquez taking second and third prizes respectively by dint of better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 GM Mareco, Sandro ARG 2643 7½ 2 GM Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2640 7 3 IM Vazquez, Guillermo PAR 2545 7 4 GM Cori, Jorge PER 2650 7 5 GM Obregon Rivero, Juan Carlos MEX 2536 7 6 GM Cordova, Emilio PER 2534 7 7 GM Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel CUB 2567 7 8 GM Meier, Georg URU 2631 6½ 9 GM Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando ESP 2552 6½ 10 IM Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos PAN 2407 6½ Official website: iberoamericano.fenamacajedrez.com/ Photo: Fenamac Ajedrez Facebook page
Pools for Second Leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022 announced
The pools for the second leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022 are determined. The Belgrade leg runs from February 28 to March 14 and features 16 elite chess players vying for a prize fund of €150,000 and the last two spots in the Candidates Tournament scheduled to take place in Madrid this summer. The drawing ceremony, held over Zoom and chaired by the Chief Arbiter, identified the pools of players for the second leg of the Series. As before the first leg, for the drawing of lots, the players were divided into four baskets according to February standard rating: Basket 1: 1. Anish Giri (Netherlands), 27722. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 27673. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764 4. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 Basket 2: 1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 27612. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 27273. Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 27264. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724 Basket 3: 1. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 27192. Yangyi Yu (China), 27133. Sam Shankland (USA), 27084. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704 Basket 4: 1. Alexei Shirov (Spain), 27042. Alexandr Predke (Russia), 26823. Etienne Bacrot (France), 26424. Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 The players were allocated by the Chief Arbiter through a randomized selection programme to four different pools, with the final pairings to be determined at the opening ceremony: Pool A: Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724Sam Shankland (USA), 2708Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 Pool B: Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2772Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 2726Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2719Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 Pool C: Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704 Pool D: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2767Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761Yu Yangyi (China), 2713Alexandr Predke (Russia), 2682 Photo: ihg.com The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in Belgrade’s Crowne Plaza Hotel From February 28 to March 14. The rounds start at 3 PM CET. The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com: https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13605 For further questions, please contact media@worldchess.com. About FIDE Grand Prix 2022: The competition consists of three legs that span over three months and two cities: First leg: February 3 — 17, Berlin, GermanySecond leg: February 28 — March 14, Belgrade, SerbiaThird leg: March 21 — April 4, Berlin, Germany The FIDE Grand Prix will feature 24 players, with each player competing in two out of three events. Each 16-player event will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final. At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of 2 regular time limit games, plus tiebreaks if needed. Players receive Grand Prix points according to their finishing position in each tournament: Round Grand Prix points Winner 13 Runner-Up 10 Semi-final loser 7 2nd in pool 4 3rd in pool 2 4th in pool 0 Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 (pdf) About World Chess: World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.