FIDE World Senior Team Championship 2022: England wins golden double
Team England wins a golden double at the FIDE World Senior Team Championship, taking titles in both the 50+ and 65+ categories. The event brought together 43 teams from 24 federations, competing in 9-round Swiss tournaments and took place in Acqui Terme, Italy, from June 20-29. 50+ section After five rounds, two rating-favourites of the tournament, England 1 and USA, were tied for the top position winning four matches each and drawing their direct encounter in Round 4. Italy and Iceland were close behind, scoring four team victories each but losing to the leaders (the USA and England, respectively). England 1, headed by Michael Adams and Nigel Short, won all four matches in the second half of the event and deservedly clinched the title. To illustrate England’s dominance, it suffices to say that Adams, Short, Hebden and Arkell each won the gold medal for the best performance on individual boards. The USA stayed in the race for gold for the most part (the team had to close a 2-point gap of game points), but it all came to an end in Round 8 after a draw with Hungary. Still, the USA comfortably secured silver. Team Italy 1 lost to England 1 in Round 6 but then scored three straight victories and came out third. Finals standings 50+ 1 England 1 17 27½ 2 USA 16 24½ 3 Italy 1 14 25 4 Iceland 12 21½ 5 Hungary 11 22 6 England 2 11 20 7 Canada 10 19½ 8 Still active NL 10 19 9 Scotland 10 18 10 Georgia Winery Khareba 9 21 65+ section England 1, lead by John Nunn, eased through the field in the 65+ tournament and clinched the title with a round to spare. Its main rival team Germany could not keep pace with the leader and finished second. After a poor start, the rating favourite, Israel 1, bounced back and wrested bronze from Germany 2 and France after beating the champions in the final round. Final standings 65+ 1 England 1 15 24 2 Germany 1 13 20½ 3 Israel 1 12 22½ 4 Germany 2 12 21½ 5 France 12 20½ 6 Hungary 11 20½ 7 Skakklubben af 2012 10 21½ 8 SC Kreuzberg 10 18½ 9 SG Riehen 10 18 10 Israel 2 9 20 Photo: Federazione Scacchistica Italiana Facebook page, Keith Arkell facebook page and englishchess.org.uk/
2022 Candidates, Round 10: A major setback for Caruana, Nepomniachtchi pulls away
Fabiano Caruana suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who scored his first victory. With another draw, Ian Nepomniachtchi edges closer to winning the Candidates Round 10 brought a major upset as Fabiano Caruana played poorly and was defeated by the young chess star from Poland. Caruana is still in second place but is now joined by Hikaru Nakamura and Ding Liren, who both won their games. All three have 5.5 points. Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi has edged further ahead. After a comfortable draw with Teimour Radjabov, he is now on 7/10. With four more games to play and a point and a half ahead of Caruana, Nakamura and Ding, Nepomniachtchi seems almost unstoppable. In a very solid game in the Catalan, Ian Nepomniachtchi secured an edge against Teimour Radjabov, putting pressure on an isolated c4 pawn, potentially leading to a b-file runner for White. Nepomniachtchi opted to simplify things and brought the game to a draw. At no point was he in any serious trouble. Nepomniachtchi continues to play confidently – he is the only player in the Candidates without a loss and he is playing very solidly, edging closer to taking this event for a consecutive second time. Hikaru Nakamura scored an important victory as White against Alireza Firouzja. In the Najdorf line of the Sicilian Firouzja, playing with black pieces introduced a dubious novelty: he captured on f6 with his g-pawn, leading to a weaker pawn structure and, ultimately, to his demise. The young French superstar, who finally won his first game in the previous round, completely broke in the duel with Nakamura. After choosing a path which got him into an inferior position, he then opted to open the centre weakening the light d5 square, which Nakamura used to take over control and then organize an attack on the black king to which Firouzja had no defence. Just as it seemed that after the last round’s victory over Rapport, Firouzja’s creativity was finally ascending, he came down crashing. After the game, Nakamura said that he thinks Firouzja was under a lot of pressure and that it was a mistake for him to lose his momentum and stop playing for nine months in preparation for the Candidates. Nakamura, on the other hand, achieved a crucial victory as he is now in shared second place with Caruana and with Ding Liren. The biggest surprise of the day is Fabiano Caruana’s loss to Jan-Krzysztof Duda. His ambitions to stay in the race for the first place and catch up with Nepomniachtchi if he stumbles have now suffered a crushing blow. Playing as White, Duda opted for the Italian Game – an opening Caruana is considered to be a leading expert in. From early on, Caruana was playing aggressively. He obviously thought that his best chances are against Duda, who entered round ten as the only player without a victory in the tournament so far. Caruana was overly optimistic: he overstretched himself on the kingside, organizing an attack on the white king, but – on the contrary – ended up creating more weaknesses in his own camp. As it turned out, not only was Duda’s king secure, but White ended up opening the g-file, and he was the one attacking the (black) king. Caruana was in a significantly worse position and desperately in time trouble, but this is where Duda stepped in. He couldn’t find the right path to victory and allowed Caruana breathing space. Still, Black’s position was so dire that even Duda’s unprecise play did not help him to get away. In the end, Caruana had to come to terms with the inevitable and admit defeat. A shocking loss by Caruana (which now throws his ambitions completely off balance) and an important victory for Duda, who needed his confidence lifted, having suffered three defeats in the previous four rounds. Richard Rapport finally lost steam as he suffered a second loss in a row. In the Ruy Lopez a very sharp position developed on the board. Ding managed to get out of the opening as slightly better but his uncastled king was a potential weakness. Rapport gave up a pawn on the queenside in an attempt to open the position and get to Black’s king. True to his aggressive style, Rapport did not hesitate to sacrifice a knight to complicate matters even more, but he was first to buckle under pressure. The opponents ended up in an endgame substantially better for Black despite being down an exchange. Ding demonstrated good technique and scored a full point. Rapport is down, while Ding – after a slow start, has now stepped further up, sharing second place. Here follows a closer look at the games from round ten of the Candidates. Richard Rapport vs Ding Liren: Fire vs fire It was a sharp game where two players did not shy from trying their luck. In the Ruy Lopez with 4.d3, Rapport avoided the main lines, and by move 12, the opponents stepped into uncharted territory. Ding aggressively advanced his pawns on the kingside, but his king remained in the centre which suggested a very sharp play. Rapport pushed on the queenside with 16.b4 and 17.Bb3, centralized his light-squared bishop and then offered a very interesting pawn sacrifice to engineer some activity on the kingside. Ding grabbed the pawn – 21…Rxc3 and proceeded to consolidate his position. Still with his king in the centre, Black could not feel safe. White opened the f-file maintaining pressure but without real threats in sight. 28…Qd6 29.Qf1 was played and here Ding made an inaccuracy – 29…Bd4, and after 30.Bf7+! it was even. In the subsequent complications, Rapport added some fuel to the fire on the board, with an impressive knight sacrifice. Rapport bravely played 33.Nc4!? Although computers recommend 33.Ba2 and 33.Bf7, Rapport deserves full credit for his panache. The position was very sharp and Rapport went for the black king. However, he was the first to buckle under pressure. Rapport played a natural but wrong move 42.Rc3 (much better was 42.Be7 with a roughly equal position),