FIDE Grand Prix Berlin: So and Mamedyarov advance to semifinals
Wesley So defeated Sam Shankland in the rapid tiebreak games by a score of 1½:½ to reach the semifinals of the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series organised by World Chess in Berlin. The tiebreak games were played with the quicker time control of 15 minutes per game with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from the first move. In the second tiebreak match, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the first game against Vincent Keymer, but the 16-years-old local hero managed to win on demand and levelled the score. The tiebreak continued with a shorter time-control of 3 minutes per game with an increment of 2 seconds per move. Shakhriyar dominated the blitz outplaying his young opponent in both games, finishing the match by a 3:1 score. In the semifinals scheduled for the 30 and 31st of March, Welsey So is up against Amin Tabatabaei, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov will face Hikaru Nakamura. Both American players, Nakamura and So, will play with white pieces in the first game. Wesley So – Sam Shankland 1½:½ Sam Shankland got a nice position with White in the Catalan in the first the game against Wesley So. With a pair of bishops and the prospects to open the center, he was planning to fight for an advantage but Wesley had a solid position that was not easy to crack. After losing the central pawn, Sam was hoping his a-pawn would play a decisive role in the endgame, but Wesley’s pieces surrounded White’s king, forcing Sam to give up some an exchange. The rest was a smooth sail for So, who sealed the victory on move 54. In the second game, Sam got really good chances to equalise the score. He sacrificed an exchange and, after a few inaccuracies by Wesley, got a strong initiative on the kingside. So felt he was in trouble and returned material, moving the game into an ending with an extra pawn for Black. The only problem with Sam’s position was his rook on g5, which got stuck on the kingside. Sam didn’t find the precise way to activate his rook (33…f6! instead of 33…c5 looks much better) and let all his advantage slip away. The game was drawn in an equal rook endgame after 40 moves of play. Sam Shankland summed up his FIDE GrandPrix performance: “On paper, it was fine. I came in seeded number 3 in a group both times, and I finished in second both times, and I gained some rating. But I am sort of annoyed with myself that I never managed to get through.” “Sam is a very strong player and also very hardworking. He’s got a strong will to improve,” said Welsey So after the game. In a post-game interview, Wesly noted that he was looking forward to facing Iranian Grandmaster Amin Tabatabaei representing a new generation of Iranian players, who showed good play in the tournament. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Vincent Keymer 3:1 All the games of the tiebreak match between Mamedyarov and Keymer ended decisively. “It was a very fighting match – no draws. I tried to play for a win with both colours, and I think we had good tactical games,” commented the winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Certainly, all the games were very exciting, and Mamedyarov was the first one to break the ice. A very sharp position with opposite castling appeared on the board in the first game, and Shakhriyar, known for his aggressive style, felt like a fish in water. He managed to open the files on the kingside, aggressively arranged his pieces and launched an unstoppable attack on his opponent’s king. It was the first-ever tiebreak match for Vincent, and he managed to pull himself together and staged an impressive comeback by defeating Mamedyarov in the second game. “I know myself; I cannot play for a draw in such situations when I need to make a draw”, commented Shakhriyar on his opening choice in the second game. Vincent knew the Botvinnik Variation in the Semi-Slave Defense quite well and thought it was a pleasant position to play with White. In an unbalanced position with chances for both sides, Vincent played precisely and managed to stir into a favourable ending in which his passer on the h-file, created in the opening, played a critical role. Eventually, this pawn sealed the deal for Vincent, who levelled the score. Mamedyarov was not taken aback and scored a crushing win in the first blitz game. In the Anti-Meran system, both players were slowly manoeuvring, preparing for the fight in the center. After numerous pawns exchanges, it turned out Black pieces are much more powerful and active. Mamedyarov won in style after sacrificing his knight on g2. After the loss in the first blitz game, Keymer was in a must-win situation again, hoping to force Armageddon, but the second encounter also went wrong for the German Grandmaster, who found it hard to defend the open king with a few seconds on his clock. “I think, in our pool, he showed the best play… He is fighting, he’s very good and still young. I hope he will be 2800 – I think he can do it. His only problem, I think, is school, university. If he can solve it somehow, he can be the very top player,” said Mamedyarov about his opponent after the match. The semifinals starts on March 30 with the pairings as follows: Hikaru Nakamura – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Wesley So – Amin Tabatabaei The FIDE Grand Prix Series is brought to you by World Chess. Leading partners supporting the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 include: Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner; Algorand as the Official Blockchain Partner; Prytek as the Technology Transfer Partner; FIDE Online Arena as the official Partner. Photo: Official Photo FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Press kit and Niki Riga
Underdogs set pace on first day of Charity Cup as UNICEF donations hit $17,000
Vietnamese star Liem Quang Le and the teenage American Hans Niemann set the pace on day 1 of the Charity Cup as more than $17,000 was donated to UNICEF. The two underdogs both racked up three wins and a draw to finish unbeaten on 10/12 points. World Champion Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, ended on a sour note with a loss to the Chinese No.1 Ding Liren. The Norwegian suffered yet another slow start to a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event as he closed on 7/12 and way down in sixth on the Prelim stage leaderboard. Carlsen had begun the Charity Cup supported by NEAR Foundation in solid form with a draw against the Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda and then a win over Indian star Pentala Harikrishna. Carlsen then won again in Round 3 against Eric Hansen – but only after the Canadian streamer made a one-move endgame mistake in time trouble. The World Champion then spoiled his day with a Round 4 hiccup against Ding. Just like the start of the last event, the Airthings Masters, Carlsen has left himself work to do. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Niemann – the third-lowest ranked player in the event – was overjoyed with his performance. Sporting a new shaven haircut, the world No.123 said: “With the experience from the first [event], I really didn’t feel any nerves at all.” He added: “When I’m relaxed, good things happen.” Next up for Niemann, it’s Carlsen in Round 5 tomorrow. The world No.1 will be looking to get moving quickly against his young opponent. As the games were going on, the event was raising money for UNICEF to help its humanitarian work in and around Ukraine. By the end of play, more than $17,000 had been donated including $1,100 from Grandmaster and Tour commentator David Howell auctioning off his “lucky” chess tie. Tour commentator Jovanka Houska thanked viewers for contributing the cause. She said: “It’s a wonderful thing to show we are part of a chess community and to help a country that is in need. “My heart goes out to every single one of you who donated and I hope we can raise even more in the next few days.” The Prelim stage ends at Round 15 on Monday. Eight will progress to the Knockout stage and eight will be eliminated. Tune in at 17:00 UTC / 18:00 CET tomorrow for day 2 of the Charity Cup. 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. www.pmg.me
FFE acquires “delegation” status in France
More than 20 years after obtaining ministerial approval (Chess recognized as a sport), the French Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, granted French Chess Federation (Fédération Française des Échecs or FFE) the “delegation” status in accordance with the Sports Code. The delegation contract, signed by Jean-Michel Blanquer, French Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports and GM Éloi Relange, the President of FFE, on March 15, is a huge step forward in the recognition of chess as a sport discipline. The partnership between FFE and French State is deeply strengthened and the range of possibilities widened. From the legal point of view, this status means that newly delegated FFE receives prerogatives of public power: it is the only one authorized in the name of the State to enact the regulations of the competitions, to establish the selections of the French team, or to deliver the titles of national, regional, departmental champions. “We will benefit from increased support from our supervisory Ministry, which will provide us with Sports Technical Advisers. They will reinforce the team of employees in order to carry out all the projects of the term of office: professional chess players, training, increasing the participation of women, or even school development with in particular the Chess’Class project launched in partnership with the Ministry, the UNSS (national school sports union), l’USEP (school sports federation of the French primary school), l’Échiquier de la Réussite et le Crédit Mutuel Enseignant, on which I will have the opportunity to talk again soon,” reads the joint statement by the French Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports and FFE. The delegation status is also placing chess among the recognized high-level disciplines. From now on all the competitions, projects and achievements will be registered on a ministerial list which gives the right to a real status: adaptation for school time or work contracts for sports practice, social coverage by the State for accidents, facilities for registration for exams and competitions, support for professional retraining after career. This recognition is the fruit of long-standing work, started under the mandate of Jean-Claude Moingt, during which two applications were filed. FFE had to build ambitious and coherent framework documents in order to earn the confidence of the Ministry of Sports. “I would like to thank all the people, employees and elected officials, who worked discreetly and efficiently for several months to put together our file, particularly Mathilde Choisy, Didier Pascal, Yves Marek and Bertrand Guyard,” said Mr Relange. The “delegation” comes with obligations for FFE, in line with the project that it has been carrying out for several years. The performance plan aims to consolidate a place among the top-5 chess nations, and to win a medal at the Olympiads by 2028. The contract also includes strong requirements of the democratic functioning and transparency of governance. In conclusion, Mr Éloi Relange expressed his gratitude to all involved: “Our federation is now entering a new dimension… This historic step forward for our Chess Sport is a collective success. For so many years, our discipline has been supported by all its volunteers. I am happy and proud that we have been able to make all these efforts come true, and I am particularly grateful to you.”