Second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners announced
The International Chess Federation is excited to announce the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners, to be held from 13-14 October 2022, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Being a part of the Chess for Freedom program and continuing the international championship first held in 2019 and the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners 2021, the event aims to introduce chess as a tool for education social inclusion in prisons of different countries. The championship, organized by FIDE and the Cook County (Chicago, IL, USA) Sheriff’s Office and hosted by Chess.com, is open for teams made of 4 players representing any correctional facility (jail or prison) without any specification by age and gender of prisoners. The tournament will be played online and live-streamed on FIDE’s Youtube channel. “In Autumn 2021, the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners became the largest event of its kind ever. It attracted teams from 31 countries representing all continents. Our plans are even bigger this year: we aim to expand the event to at least 64 teams,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola added that FIDE’s role was not limited to hosting chess events among prisoners: “We are inviting new countries, even those that have not yet started their chess in prisons activities, to join us. We are ready to assist with any advice, sharing methodologies and best practices. Chess is an excellent educational tool for everyone. Together we can give inmates around the world a chance to get back to normal lives.” In addition to covering the games, the broadcast will include interviews with special guests of the event – FIDE officials, government officers, members of the penitentiary administration and policymakers sharing the best practices of introducing chess to inmates, as well as former convicts proving from their own experience the positive impact of the game on prisoners. The second edition of the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is expected to bring together over 200 players from 50+ countries, encouraging communication and positive use of leisure time, and motivating them to change for the better. Each country can have up to three teams for the event: – main team – team representing a female correctional facility with all four female team players – team representing juvenoid correctional facility (under the age of 20). Each correctional facility shall apply by filling out an online registration form. The registration deadline is September 21, 2022. There is no entry fee. Tournament regulations (pdf) For more information about the tournament, schedule and regulations, visit chessforfreedom.fide.com/tournament Contact person: Mikhail Korenman, Chess Program Coordinator at Cook County Department of Corrections, FIDE International Chess Organizer and Member of FIDE Social Commission Email Mikhail.Korenman@ccsheriff.org Tel.: 1-785-906-0402 About the 1st Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners Forty-two teams representing 31 countries played in the group stage of the inaugural event held in the autumn of 2021. Prisoners from Italy, England, Armenia, Spain, Palestine, Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Portugal, Philippines, Australia, Norway, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Mongolia, Uruguay, Ukraine, Serbia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Turks & Caicos Islands, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, Cyprus, The Netherlands, USA and Macedonia were divided into six groups. Two top teams from each group proceeded to the Championship round. Mongolia became the winner of the 1st Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners, while Georgia dominated the women’s tournament.
Praggnanandhaa wins third straight match in Oslo Esports Cup
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is “having fun” after recording a third straight match-win today to continue his perfect start to the elite Oslo Esports Cup. India’s 16-year-old superstar-in-the-making is the only player with 9/9 points and has won the maximum $22,500 so far after he crushed Liem Quang Le with a game to spare. Pragg now faces World Champion Magnus Carlsen in Round 4. Beat Carlsen, as he did two months ago, and the youngster will be the hot favourite to win the first Major of the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season. That would be a huge shock, regardless of Pragg’s immense undoubted talent. As Grandmaster David Howell said: “Imagine if he beats Magnus, that would be the biggest sensation we’ve seen on the Tour!” The teenager was overjoyed with his win against the speed chess specialist Liem, who beat Carlsen yesterday. Pragg has now played only 9 games to win three matches and has a 3-point cushion ahead of Carlsen on the tournament leaderboard. The boy from Chennai’s event could not have gone better up to this point. Pragg said: “Today it was difficult. In the first game, I was winning and then I played b3 quite quickly and he got counter-play. In the second game it was very complicated and in time-trouble I didn’t know what was happening.” He added: “In the last game definitely I didn’t play so well but in time trouble he definitely made some mistakes.” “When you win of course you have a lot of fun! In general I’m having a lot of fun playing these players… It’s always a very good experience.” Carlsen, meanwhile, has complained of feeling under the weather during this event. He looked ill again going into his Round 3 match against his old rival Anish Giri. But on the board the world No.1 was in fine fettle as he got back in the groove after his loss to Liem with a smooth 2.5-0.5 win over Giri. There were no moments of concern for the champ who needs to beat Pragg tomorrow. Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda picked up his second match-win in a row with a dominant 2.5-0.5 win over the Dutchman Jorden van Foreest. In the final match to finish, the “ChessBrah” streamer Eric Hansen, by far the lowest-ranked player in the event at world No. 237, stunned world No.10 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The 29-year-old Canadian took the first game before Mamedyarov hit back but then Hansen dominated his Azeri opponent and then overcame some final-game nerves to pick up his first $7,500 match-win pay packet and 3 points. Round 4 starts at 18:00 CEST on Monday. Full coverage with commentary from the Oslo arena is available on chess24’s Twitch and YouTube 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. www.pmg.me