FIDE Grand Prix Berlin: Final goes to tiebreaker
Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So drew their second game in the final match of the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix organised by World Chess. The winner of the event will be determined tomorrow in a tiebreaker. Hikaru Nakamura picked White for the first rapid game against Wesley So during the drawing of lots procedure. It was a short draw in the Berlin Variation of the Ruy Lopez today, where both players deviated from the playable lines and quickly entered a famous drawish variation. After three-fold repetition, the shortest game in the tournament ended after 14 moves. Hikaru explained his decision in a post-game interview: “My main question was if I want to play something like Re1 and try to play some game, but the problem is that I’m also playing the online tournament at the same time today [The tournament was planned to start at 6:30 pm – Ed.]. If you go to the game trying to play something and hoping that I guess you will win the game like in 3 hours, it’s not a good attitude cause later on your choices will be affected”. Wesley So added with a smile that he planned to use all his time on the clock if Hikaru decided to play a long game. He knew Hikaru would like to play online and could try “to torture” his opponent.” I was ready to use every single second on my clock until the checkmate”, said Welsey So and made Hukaru laugh during the interview. Most likely, we are witnessing a new era of chess. It’s hard to imagine just a few years ago that, one of the top grandmasters would prefer playing the online rapid event to trying to use white colour advantage in a classical game. Both players admitted that such a quick draw could be disappointing for the spectators but expressed their hope to have an exciting tiebreak tomorrow. 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
FIDE marks World Autism Awareness Day with panel discussion on Chess and ASD
People across the globe observe April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day – designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This year marks the 15th World Autism Awareness Day. In celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, a supervision panel of the Infinite Chess FIDE Project was held online. The Infinite Chess is one of the key social initiatives of FIDE, and it aims to enhance knowledge and awareness about chess for children with ASD, give practical advice to teachers and parents, study the benefits of introducing chess and develop teaching methods. The event was joined by the organizers of the pilot projects for children with ASD that are currently running in Turkey, France, Spain, Gibraltar, Norway and South Africa. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola opened the discussion: “I already see that the first steps that we have made are very concrete, successful and give a very good basis for further enhancement of the project. I think it is very important to keep the regular communication, to see what progress has been made. Today you will exchange information on what activities have been carried out on the national level in our partner states. It gives ground for a better understanding of how we should proceed with the project. For this kind of initiatives, we work with the key stakeholders outside of the chess world, the international organizations that can come with their experience, with their platforms for the project results dissemination so that it doesn’t remain in the pure chess world. It opens up new opportunities for additional fundraising. I think it is very important for such initiatives because however good our intentions are, we need resources for them.” During the discussion, the Erasmus application, an 18-months cooperation partnership program that launches at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, was presented. The project made by Alcala University (Spain) and supported by educational institutions and chess organizations in Spain, France, Bulgaria, Norway, Germany and Turkey is devoted to chess training for children with autism spectrum disorder and research on its effectiveness. Another key topic was raised by Franck Droin, President of the Health Social Disability Commission of the French Chess Federation, who presented national chess projects for people with different kinds of disabilities, including ASD. FIDE supported Chess for People with Autism program will be launched in France later this year. Sixteen autistic young people between 6 and 12 years old will participate in an adapted program carried out in four specialized centers in different regions of France. Forty hours of lessons per year will be carried out by the trained facilitators of the centers. By 2024, the number of centers where chess is used to support the development of children with autism spectrum disorders, the DYS (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia) or attention and hyperactivity disorders will reach 80. “In coordination with Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice President and leader of the Infinite Chess, we are very confident about the project’s success. We feel proud to be partners with FIDE, as well as Spain, Greece, South Africa and other countries. This is very important because we need to share results and ideas, especially for the evaluation program,” Franck Droin said. In South Africa, the pilot Chess for children with ASD project started in February 2022 for pupils aged 8-13-year old. Chess lessons were aimed at improving the children’s social skills and creating an awareness of friendship. Positive changes were also noted in their logical thinking and reasoning. Very soon, similar pilot projects will be launched in Turkey and Norway. FIDE Vice President and project leader Anastasia Sorokina emphasized the essential impact of all parties: “Although in the Erasmus application we were limited by the geography of countries, this does not negate the fact that all those present are part of the global Infinite Chess project. We are grateful to all partners and colleagues for their work and professionalism.”