Giri tops leaderboard as Chessable Masters heads into KO stage
The all-star field in the Chessable Masters was cut in half today as a nervy climax to the $150,000 event’s prelim stage saw eight go through to the knockout. Anish Giri finished top of the leaderboard on 29 points and $7,250 earned, pipping World Champion and long-time Meltwater Champions Chess Tour rival Magnus Carlsen. Giri and Carlsen sailed into the quarters along with world no.2 Ding Liren and the Indian teen sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who both secured the points they needed early. It was left to the rest of the line-up to scramble for places. And the drama was plenty. In a crucial Round 14 game, Norway’s no.2 Aryan Tari faced Wei Yi. Wei, who led the leaderboard on first two days, hadn’t won a game since Round 8 while Tari was on a run of four straight wins and going for a fifth. But it was Tari who was on the defensive for most of it before he suddenly had a chance to win in the endgame. The 22-year-old went for the safe option of a draw, however. It could have proved costly – but it didn’t. Wei sealed his place on 24 points, but Tari still had more to do. Also through at this point was the Azerbaijan no.1 Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov who drew his first two games to progress safely. Going into the final round six players were safe, and four were still in with a shout of filling two spots. It was a straight shootout. Wins for Tari and Anton meant they would be safe, while Harikrishna and the Swede Nils Grandelius needed results to go their way. On paper it was Tari who had the toughest opponent in Giri, who was yet to lose a game in the tournament. After taking only a draw in the previous round the Norwegian badly needed a win. Luckily for Tari another contender for a quarter-final place, Pentala Harikrishna, quickly found himself in big trouble against the former US champ Sam Shankland and lost. Soon after Giri and Tari agreed their draw – a result which aided both of them and meant Tari was nearly through and Giri finished top of the leaderboard. Seconds later, Pragg ended Vidit Gujrathi’s hopes by beating his fellow Indian and rubbering-stamp Tari’s place. Tari said: “I feel really good, it means a lot for me to qualify.” Meanwhile, Jorden van Foreest blew his chance of beating David Anton to claim a quarter-final berth when the Dutchman fell for a nasty trick while right on the brink of victory. It was heart-breaking for van Foreest. Anton had looked like being eliminated, but the draw instead dumped van Foreest out. The Knockout starts at 18:00 CEST tomorrow. Carlsen will be the favourite when he faces Anton. Giri takes on Tari and the battle of two prodigies will see Pragg vs Wei and the last quarter final is Ding vs Mamedyarov. For further comments contact: Leon Watson leon@championschesstour.com About the Chessable Masters The eight-day Chessable Masters started on May 19 and coverage will focus on the study of chess openings. A prize pot of up to $150,000 is up for grabs and two qualifying spots for the next Tour Major. For the first stage of the event, all 16 players will compete in a round-robin with the top 8 progressing to a knockout. The final will be staged on May 25 and 26. The Chessable Masters is leg 4 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The overall Tour winner in November will be crowned the world’s best online chess player. Action will be broadcast live with commentary from chess24’s studio in Oslo via chess24.com’s YouTube and Twitch channels, also available at chess24.com/tour. Play begins at 18:00 CEST / 16:00 UTC. 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 chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit 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
Mr. Sheripov announces his candidacy for FIDE President
On May 19, Inal Sheripov (Belgium) announced his intention to run for FIDE President. His ticket has already been officially submitted to the FIDE office, with supporting letters from the federations of Ukraine, Zambia, Sierra-Leone, Barbados, and Timor Leste. The ticket includes Lewis Ncube (Zambia), current President of the African Chess Confederation, as a Candidate for the position of FIDE Deputy President. Born in Grozni (USSR) in 1971, Sheripov made a career as a filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter, a field in which he has won several awards. Among others, he is twice the winner of the Lumiere Brothers Prize (Naples, Italy), as well as the Angel Film Awards (Monte Carlo, Monaco), and the Federico Fellini Award (Jakarta, Indonesia). In the late nineties, he moved to the USA and has resided in California and, more recently, in Belgium. An art collector, he has one of the largest collections of Belgian impressionist painters. There, in 2017, he founded, together with FIDE and the Belgian Art Institute, the International non-profit association “World Chess Culture” that he presides. World Chess Culture is currently involved in developing an interactive chess museum, which plans to open in 2024 for the 100th anniversary of the founding of FIDE. Sheripov learned to play chess at the age of 5 and became a member of the Grozny chess club. During the eighties, he won several championships of the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic, and in 1988 he became the winner of a zonal championship of the USSR in the junior category. Even though his later career would take a different path, chess has always been part of his creative work, founding the theoretical movement “chess cinema”, which he defines as “a multilevel system of signs and symbols, which, through the semantic definition, creates language constructs”. “Throughout my professional career, I have remained in touch with the chess community and developed various initiatives aimed at strengthening the popularity of chess in our lives. As a member of the KSK Rochade Eupen-Kelmis Chess Club, I have managed to occasionally participate in chess tournaments whenever time allowed”. His rapid rating is 2290, and the last time he competed was at the Rapid Belgian Championship 2018, where he took 6th place. Since 2020, he has played under the Belgian flag. “I have assembled a team of experienced and dedicated chess enthusiasts and administrators who want to ensure the desired growth of our global chess community. I am sure that my experience in the film industry, combined with the individual and collective competencies of my team, will contribute greatly to the promotion of chess around the world and make FIDE more successful. I have therefore decided to stand for election as President of FIDE in Chennai, India, in August 2022”, reads the announcement distributed by Sheripov. “I am pleased that my friend, the renowned chess organizer, President of the African Chess Confederation, Lewis Ncube, is running as my Deputy President. His years of experience and talent as an organizer will certainly be a reliable support for all the plans that I would like to implement in FIDE”, it concludes. It is not the first time that Sheripov runs for an official position in chess. In 2019, he was a candidate for the ACP Board.
Chessable Masters: Anish Giri takes the lead
Magnus Carlsen played one of the worst possible opening moves and still secured his place in the Chessable Masters knockout on a day his Dutch rival Anish Giri powered into the lead. Giri, a beaten finalist in the $150,000 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event two years, emerged from rounds 9 to 12 unbeaten with three wins and a draw to clinch his place in the next stage. Netherlands #1 Giri, playing from The Hague, said: “I came in today thinking everything was going to be great, and it turned out well so I’m lucky.” He will be joined in the last eight by Norway’s World Champion who went all-out attack to guarantee his place. Carlsen also entertained with a highly unorthodox opening idea – 1.h4. The champ started the day aiming to put his loss against Indian teen Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa firmly behind him and was at his super-sharp best as he demolished England’s Gawain Jones. Carlsen then crushed Vidit Gujrathi of India in a Round 10 game when his brave but brilliant move 25.f6! caught the eye. It also led to the champ overtaking caught Wei Yi, the leader over the first two days. Following a draw in the 11th, Carlsen was then in showboating mood as he played the bizarre first move 1.h4 against Wei Yi in Round 12. Carlsen admitted after that his choice was “not great”. In fact, it’s one of the worst opening moves possible! Wei seemed unperturbed, but didn’t take advantage and Carlsen went on to push hard for a win. Right at the end, however, Wei found a way to escape with a draw and save his blushes. It was Carlsen’s third bizarre opening choice on the Tour, having already played 1.f3 and 1.c3. Carlsen said the end was a surprise and his opponent “defended really well, to a certain point”. He added: “It was a bit of a disappointing way to end the day. I think if you’re going to play a rare first move, it’s no less important to be well prepared.” Carlsen said: “I felt like my play was a lot better today than it was yesterday and the day before. It’s still looking up.” Behind Giri and Carlsen, China’s new Ding Liren also virtually secured his place in the last eight with three wins and a draw. Tomorrow he faces Carlsen in a fascinating world #1 vs world #2 clash. Norway’s second strongest player Aryan Tari also had a storming day. The 22-year-old had looked dead and buried in the tournament after a disappointing first two days. Today Tari won three games in a row to haul his score up to 15 points and give himself a shot at making the Knockout. Tari said: “Today, I couldn’t be more happy with my play and everything just worked out.” Jones grabbed his first win of the event with a Round 10 win over “El Niño” David Antón, who suffered a slump after performing well on day 2. Play resumes at 18:00 CEST tomorrow with Rounds 13-15 before the Prelims end and the competition heads into the Knockout stage. For further comments contact: Leon Watson leon@championschesstour.com About the Chessable Masters The eight-day Chessable Masters started on May 19 and coverage will focus on the study of chess openings. A prize pot of up to $150,000 is up for grabs and two qualifying spots for the next Tour Major. For the first stage of the event, all 16 players will compete in a round-robin with the top 8 progressing to a knockout. The final will be staged on May 25 and 26. The Chessable Masters is leg 4 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The overall Tour winner in November will be crowned the world’s best online chess player. Action will be broadcast live with commentary from chess24’s studio in Oslo via chess24.com’s YouTube and Twitch channels, also available at chess24.com/tour. Play begins at 18:00 CEST / 16:00 UTC. 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 chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit 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