44th Chess Olympiad: Participating teams announced
FIDE is excited to announce the participating teams of the 44th Chess Olympiad. 187 teams in the Open section and 162 in the Women’s will gather in Chennai, India, from July 28 to August 10 for the biggest chess competition of the year. The Chess Olympiad is growing with every edition, and the 44th in Chennai is going to be the largest. Open Section # Team Av. Rt. Captain 1 USA 2771 Donaldson, John 2 Azerbaijan 2705 Abasov, Nijat 3 India 2696 Narayanan, Srinath 4 Norway 2692 Haarr, Jon Kristian 5 Spain 2687 Magem Badals, Jordi 6 Poland 2683 Socko, Bartosz 7 Netherlands 2672 Smeets, Jan 8 Ukraine 2666 Sulypa, Oleksandr 9 Germany 2664 Gustafsson, Jan 10 England 2662 Pein, Malcolm 11 India 2 2649 Ramesh, R B 12 Armenia 2642 Pashikian, Arman 13 Iran 2636 Pourramezanali, Amirreza 14 Uzbekistan 2625 Sokolov, Ivan 15 France 2621 Maze, Sebastien 16 Hungary 2621 Acs, Peter 17 Czech Republic 2612 Simacek, Pavel 18 Croatia 2611 Kozul, Zdenko 19 Romania 2605 Miron, Lucian-Costin 20 Turkey 2602 Kanmazalp, Ogulcan 21 Greece 2602 Nikolaidis, Ioannis 22 Israel 2598 Glaz, Ilana David 23 Serbia 2595 Perunovic, Miodrag 24 Georgia 2580 Sturua, Zurab 25 Italy 2574 Van Wely, Loek 26 Denmark 2566 Hansen, Sune Berg 27 Brazil 2563 Priyadharshan, Kannappan 28 Australia 2559 Rodgers, Jack 29 Argentina 2558 Hungaski, Robert 30 Bulgaria 2557 31 Sweden 2556 Ahlander, Bjorn 32 Cuba 2552 Oscar Perez Garcia, Rodney 33 Austria 2546 Predojevic, Borki 34 Slovakia 2543 Movsesian, Sergei 35 Lithuania 2540 Vaznonis, Donatas 36 Switzerland 2534 Hindermann, Felix 37 Peru 2533 Gutierrez, Renzo 38 Egypt 2530 Mohamed, Farag Amrou 39 Kazakhstan 2526 Ibrayev, Nurlan 40 Montenegro 2521 Kosic, Dragan 41 Slovenia 2510 Sebenik, Matej 42 Chile 2510 Garcia Cardenas, Pablo 43 Iceland 2509 Petursson, Margeir 44 Canada 2496 Plotkin, Victor 45 Mongolia 2478 Gan-Od, Sereenen 46 Indonesia 2472 Majella, Rudijanto 47 Turkmenistan 2469 Kakabayev, Mergen 48 Paraguay 2467 Riquelme, Andres 49 Moldova 2462 50 Uruguay 2460 Rivera, Daniel 51 Belgium 2460 Hovhannisyan, Mher 52 Colombia 2456 Mosquera, Miguel 53 Philippines 2452 Torre, Eugenio 54 Portugal 2440 Galvao, Henrique 55 Albania 2434 Muco, Fatos 56 Finland 2433 Keinanen, Toivo 57 Singapore 2427 Kvon, Andrey 58 Estonia 2414 Kaido, Kulaots 59 Andorra 2398 Martinez Balastegui, Marti 60 Ireland 2396 Jackson, Carl 61 Faroe Islands 2394 Gaard, Ingolf 62 North Macedonia 2389 Nedev, Trajko 63 Mexico 2389 Della Morte, Pablo 64 Latvia 2382 Ungurs, Edgars 65 Bangladesh 2380 Mallick, Masudur Rahman 66 Ecuador 2370 Noboa, Silva Kevin 67 Kosovo 2343 Fejzullahu, Afrim 68 Scotland 2342 Minnican, Alan 69 South Africa 2342 Grover, Sahaj 70 Kyrgyzstan 2337 Imanaliev, Talaibek 71 Bolivia 2324 Munoz Contreras, Nelson 72 Venezuela 2317 Palacios, Lanza Antonio 73 Zambia 2314 Banda, Aaron 74 Malaysia 2304 Subramaniam, Sumant 75 Dominican Republic 2286 Mazara Ruiz, Adan Manuel 76 Costa Rica 2280 Fernandez Sanchez, Mario Andres 77 Tunisia 2270 Bouaziz, Mehdi 78 Nigeria 2263 Akhiwu, Eugene Ehidiamhen 79 Luxembuorg 2263 David, Alberto 80 Japan 2258 Stojanovic, Mihajlo 81 Yemen 2257 Abdulla, Ba Mallm 82 Guatemala 2249 Leyva, Hector 83 Panama 2246 Collantes, Juan Ramon 84 Iraq 2244 Al-Sahlanee, Hayder A. Jaafar 85 New Zealand 2242 Bojkov, Dejan 86 Tajikistan 2242 Hisoriev, Shorahmat 87 South Korea 2228 Song, Jinwoo 88 El Salvador 2222 Castillo, Nelson 89 Monaco 2216 Loseva, Yulia 90 Uganda 2216 Teeba, Jorden 91 Trinidad & Tobago 2213 Hunte, Keelan 92 Angola 2209 Domingos, Catarino 93 Zimbabwe 2208 Moyo, Lloyd 94 Lebanon 2198 Khodashenas, Mersad 95 Wales 2192 Hunt, Adam C 96 Syria 2191 Hamad, Alsaed 97 Algeria 2189 Badreddine Khelfallah, Omar 98 Jordan 2180 Kruppa, Yuri 99 Thailand 2176 Pitirotjirathon, Jirapak 100 Sudan 2161 Delchev, Aleksander 101 Cyprus 2148 Antoniou, Stathis 102 Nicaragua 2147 Rocha, Maximiliano 103 United Arab Emirates 2146 Erdogdu, Mert 104 Madagascar 2143 Ramalanjaona, Andrianantenaina 105 Pakistan 2114 Amer, Karim 106 Nepal 2110 Bogati, Dhan Bahadur 107 Jamaica 2107 Pitterson, Jomo 108 South Sudan 2101 Henry, John 109 Ethiopia 2091 Birhanu, Tegegn Mehadem 110 Puerto Rico 2089 Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando 111 Sri Lanka 2086 Barsov, Alexei 112 Botswana 2069 Thompson, Modisane 113 Honduras 2049 Colindres, Javier Medina 114 Netherlands Antilles 2046 Curiel, David 115 Malta 2040 Novak, Atilla Robert 116 Malawi 2028 Sharra, Leonard 117 Haiti 2026 Luxama, Jacques Muller 118 Suriname 2019 Kaslan, Marlon 119 Qatar 2010 Kuzmin, Alexey 120 Namibia 2009 Mishra, Neeraj-Kumar 121 Libya 2008 Abokrais, Kaled 122 Cape Verde 2004 Carapinha, Francisco Manuel 123 Barbados 1998 Gurevich, Mikhail 124 Myanmar 1995 Maung, Maung Kyaw Zaw Hein 125 Liechtenstein 1982 Frick, Renato 126 Mali 1977 Doumbia, Amadou 127 Jersey 1968 Mooney, Graham 128 Mauritania 1961 Mohamed Salem, Yahi 129 Bahrain 1957 Abdulgaffar, Jamal 130 Afghanistan 1949 Farazi, Khaibar 131 Saudi Arabia 1935 Haddouche, Mohamed 132 Chinese Taipei 1932 Tsai, Yao-Hung 133 Somalia 1931 Mohamoud Farah, Mustafa 134 Kenya 1928 Magana, Ben 135 Ghana 1918 Ribli, Zoltan 136 Cote d’Ivoire 1917 Mosso, Guy Serge 137 Liberia 1905 Tamba, William Saa 138 Sao Tome and Principe 1897 Sharma, Hemant 139 Hong Kong 1895 Lam, Chi Wang Raymond 140 Palestine 1893 Sader, Naji 141 Guam 1888 Tirador, Elias 142 Mozambique 1887 Alice, Mateus Felizardo Viageiro 143 Kuwait 1865 Abdel Razik, Khaled 144 Mauritius 1865 Bhowany, Koomaren 145 Oman 1865 146 Aruba 1863 Bueno Perez, Lazaro Antonio 147 Saint Lucia 1862 Comas, Martin 148 Togo 1859 Numatsi, Yawotsu Dzigba 149 Senegal 1838 Izeta Txabarri, Felix 150 Gambia 1836 Kenmure, Jamie 151 Guyana 1826 Mars, Davion 152 Maldives 1807 Li, Jackson 153 San Marino 1797 Caruso, Augusto 154 Bermuda 1796 Dimitrijevic, Aleksandra 155 Palau 1779 Cabunagan, Tito 156 Bahamas 1777 Gonzalez, Renier 157 Tanzania 1763 Mussa, Mangula 158 Nauru 1762 Depaune, Inza 159 Rwanda 1736 Nkuyubwatsi, Eddy Christian 160 Cameroon 1707 Fouda Tocko, Paul Aristide 161 Timor-Leste 1704 dos Reis, Tito 162 Lesotho 1692 Mphetole, Mona 163 Sierra Leone 1670 Lwebuga, Ronald 164 Brunei Darussalam 1657 Hj, Sulaiman Amir Fakhry 165 Eswatini 1657 Siame, William 166 Papua New Guinea 1641 McCoy, Tom 167 Gabon 1608 Bongo, Akanga Ndjila Barthelemy 168 Guernsey 1602 Akshat, Khamparia 169 Fiji 1591 Arvind,
FIDE July 1 Rating list is out
There were no significant changes in the Top 10 of the July rating list as the Candidates Tournament is still underway in Madrid. Alexandra Kosteniuk gained 11 points in French Team Championship 2022 and re-entered the Women’s top 10, while Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave swapped places in the Open list. We have three new players in the Top-100 Open. Shant Sargsyan (pictured below) made his debut on the list following his good performance in the 13th Annual K. Asrian Memorial, while Nils Grandelius and Etienne Bacrot returned into the top-100 open (the latter after a 10-month break). Biggest gains (top 100 Open and Women) Eswaran, Ashritha FM 2394 (+86) Fataliyeva, Ulviyya WGM 2372 (+31) Abdusattorov, Nodirbek GM 2688 (+27) Navrotescu, Andreea WIM 2373 (+23) Harikrishna, Pentala GM 2720 (+19) Savina, Anastasia IM 2377 (+19) Shirov, Alexei GM 2704 (+18) Korobov, Anton GM 2692 (+17) Padmini, Rout IM 2374 (+17) Martirosyan, Haik GM 2672 (+16) Zawadzka, Jolanta WGM 2416 (+16) Melia, Salome IM 2384 (+16) Barcot, Etienne GM 2656 (+15) Tabatabaei, M. Amin GM 2664 (+14) Efroimski, Marsel IM 2456 (+14) Photo: Lennart Ootes | Saint Louis Chess Club Young FM Ashritha Eswaran (pictured above) is the clear winner in this nomination. The 22-year-old strung together three impressive results in PNWCC vs Bulgaria Memorial Day 2022 Match, 2022 National Open in Las Vegas and PNWCC June FIDE Hybrid Match – PNWCC vs Bulgaria and netted 86 rating points. Thanks to these achievements, she not simply made her way into the Top 100 Women but soared up to 56th position in this list. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (pictured below) had the biggest rating gain (+27) in the top 100 open after sharing first place in the 5th Sharjah Masters (+19 rating points) and then picking up another 8 points in Prague International Chess Festival – Challengers. The talented youngster from Uzbekistan broke into top-50 Open for the first time in his career. Photo: Petr Vrabec Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Jolanta Zawadzka and Marsel Efroimski did an excellent job in strong open tournaments – Teplice Open, 5th Sharjah Masters and Norway Chess Open – and increased their rating by 31, 16 and 14 points, respectively. The Masters event in Prague saw the triumph of Pentala Harikrishna, who delivered an impressive performance in a very strong field and earned 19 points. Photo: Anezka Kruzikova Alexei Shirov crossed a 2700 mark again following his convincing match-victory over Jorden Van Foreest, which translates into 16 rating points. French Team 2022 – Top 16 and Top 12 Women, as the name suggests, brought together many good players, and those who make a strong showing in this event got substantial rating gains: Anton Korobov (+19), Etienne Barcot (+15), Andreea Navrotescu (+23) and Anastasia Savina (+19). Amin Tabatabaei continues his ascendance in the rankings – the Iranian emerged as the winner of the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2022 and earned 14 rating points.
Nepomniachtchi half a step away from winning the Candidates
Ian Nepomniachtchi keeps control of the tournament following a draw with Hikaru Nakamura as Ding Liren’s three-game winning streak is brought to an end With 8.5/12, tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi is just half a point away from winning his second Candidates in a row. He is due to play Rapport and Duda in the last two rounds (he beat both of them in the first part of the tournament). Nepo just needs one draw from those two games to secure total victory. Today’s game between Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi was very short. After just eight minutes of play, following a forced drawing line in the Berlin, they agreed to split a point. The way this draw was achieved will be criticized by many. In the post-game interview, Nakamura said that he didn’t think ‘the risk-reward was there’ and that, had he lost, ‘there’s no shot at second place’ (which has become ever more important in this tournament in light of the prospects of Magnus Carlsen deciding not to defend his title, as this could lead to the top two players from the Candidates playing the match for the world title). Teimour Radjabov stunned Ding Liren with a crushing victory as Black in 26 moves. After three consecutive victories (not seen in the Candidates since 2013), Ding Liren was unrecognizable in today’s game. He played well below his 2800 level and was completely shattered by the motivated Teimour Radjabov. Already after 21 moves, with a lot of help from Ding, Black had an overwhelming position. With this defeat, Ding Liren’s miraculous recovery from the bottom of the table in the first part of the tournament to the top has now hit a dead end. He is tied in second place with Hikaru Nakamura, and the two will be playing in the final round. Jan-Krzysztof Duda missed several opportunities to win with white pieces against Alireza Firouzja today. In a sharp line of the Semi-Slav, Firouzja again – like in some previous games – started outplaying himself by weakening his castle and launching his pawns on a goose chase on the move 22. Duda responded with an energetic f-pawn push and grabbed the initiative. However, as in some other previous games in his case, he just couldn’t find the right moves in several critical moments and dropped the advantage. Firouzja was again offering winning chances to White and he took them, but when the moment of execution came Duda was not up to the task. In the end, Black forced a line leading directly to a draw. Firouzja was lucky, while Duda missed a great opportunity. The Candidates are a long and demanding event and the signs of tiredness were shown by both players today. Duda is on five points, sharing 6-7th place with Rapport, while Firouzja is at the bottom with 4.5 points. The last game to finish was between Richard Rapport and Fabiano Caruana. In the anti-Berlin, the opponents found their way into a fresh position as early as on the move ten. The game was mostly played on the kingside, where Rapport advanced his pawns. The Hungarian GM got some initiative, but the American neutralized it with several precise moves and equalized it completely. After exchanges of heavy pieces, the opponents transitioned into a rook endgame where Black had an extra pawn on the h-file, but Rapport’s active rook saved him from trouble and helped him hold Caruana to a draw. Unlike in the previous games where in even positions, he pushed for a long time, Caruana was in no mood to force today’s game, and the two agreed to split a point. With plus three, Caruana is on a mere 50 percent, in the middle of the table (joined by Radjabov), while Rapport is further below with 5/12. Here follows a closer look at the games from round twelve of the Candidates. Richard Rapport vs Fabiano Caruana: Loss of appetite After suffering three defeats in the last four rounds, which completely wrecked his tournament ambitions, it was interesting to see how Fabiano Caruana comes back in a game against a very tricky opponent. Rapport was in his salmon-pink jacket which he wore in round eight when he scored a great victory against Duda. As in previous rounds, he delayed making his first move. Psyching himself up for the match, gathering his final thoughts or just trying to play a psychological game against his opponents? Only Rapport knows. In the anti-Berlin, both sides played very solidly and came out of the opening with sound positions. The two went off the beaten track on the move ten, after Fabiano introduced a novelty, parting with his light-squared bishop followed by castling long. Rapport also built his fortress on the queenside and proceeded to pressure Black on the right flank with 21.f4 White went on the initiative here, pressuring Black’s weak f6 and g6 pawns. Black responded by pushing his f6 pawn forward, seeking to ease the pressure. The position is roughly even, but White had a clear attacking plan. Caruana made an inaccurate move with 26…Qe7, which gave Rapport a slight edge. However, feeling danger, Caruana was finding the right moves he needed to hold his kingside line of defence. After 30.Qe4 Qd6, the two sides traded several pieces, which directly led to an even endgame. It looks like Rapport relaxed on his guard at some point and allowed Black to get his rook and queen down to White’s second rank. Rapport had to exchange the queens and give up his h-pawn, but he had enough compensation in his position. White had an active rook situated on the sixth rank, preventing the black king from joining his h-runner and attacking the opponent’s pawns when needed. This time Caruana had no desire to grind it and soon opted for a draw. Following several hard and long games where he pressed in even positions and pushed even harder in the ones he lost, Caruana’s appetite for long gruelling games seems to have evaporated. Ding Liren vs Teimour