European Youth Rapid & Blitz Champions crowned in Thessaloniki
European Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2022 took place from 20-22 July in Hotel Lazart Thessaloniki, Greece. 250 players from 28 European federations participated in the events which were played within 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18, open and girls separately. The first event on the schedule was European Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2022 which was held on 20th and 21st July. The Closing ceremony of the event took place on Thursday evening, with the ECU Secretary General Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, the Vice President of Mitropa Chess Association and Secretary General of Slovenian Chess Federation Ms. Nina Rob, Tournament Director Mr. Nikos Kalesis and FIDE Events Commission member George Mastrokoukos taking part in the Awarding ceremony. Maksym Kryshtafor (UKR) was the Winner of the U8 open section scoring 8/9 points. Uzun Pavlo (UKR) scored 7.5 points and claimed silver medal, while Kovacs Balasz (ROU) won bronze with 6.5 points. Ukrainian players topped the final standings in the Girls U8 section. Svitlana Russieva (UKR) convincingly won the event netting 8/9 points, finishing two points ahead of her compatriots Tetyana Molchanova who took silver and Bierta Gutserieva (bronze). Andrei Negrean (ROU) scored impessive 8/9 points and became a sole winner in the Open U10 category. Three players tied for the second place scoring 6.5 points, each, with tiebreaks favoring Shilon Rahav Eliran (ISR) who claimed silver and Diachek Andriy (UKR) taking bronze. clinched bronze and Hanache Kai (ENG) came fourth Solomiia Svitenko (UKR) and Varvara Matskevich (FIDE) shared first place in the Girls U10 section scoring 8 points, each. According to the first tiebreak criteria – direct encounter – Svitenko lifted the trophy as she defeated Matskevich in the fourth round. Evangelia Siskou (GRE) ended up iwth 6.5 points and won bronze medal. Tykhon Cherniaiev (GER) emerged as the sole winner of the Open U12 section with the score of 7.5/9 points. Three players were in a tie for second place netting 7 points each, with Henry Edward Tudor (ROU) and Pawel Sowinski (POL) claiming silver and bronze respectively thanks to better tiebreaks over Patryk Cieslak (POL) was fourth. There was a three-way tie for the top position in Girls U12 as well with Anja Beber (SLO) taking the title by dint of slightly better tiebreaks over Arya Aydogan (TUR) was second, while Sona Krkyasharyan (ARM) won bronze medal. Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (UKR) and FM Jakub Seemann (POL) were in a tie for the first place of the Open U14 category as they scored 7.5 points, each. Since they drew their fifth round game, the first tiebreak criteria – the direct encounter wasn’t enough to determine the winner. Svyatoslav won the gold medal thanks to the better Bucholz, and Seemann Jakub claimed silver. Mykhailo Podolskyi and Pilshofer Paul scored 6 points each to tie for bronze medal, but Podolskyi Mykhailo had better tiebreaks and came third. Five players were in a tie for the first place in the Girls U14 category. Sofija Vasiljeva had best tiebreaks and won the event, Guid Taja (SLO) came second, Pert Nina (ENG) clinched bronze. FM Aron Pasti (HUN) lifted the trophy in Open U16 section scoring 7.5 points. Two players followed him with 6.5 points, each, with tiebreaks favoring FM Edvin Trost (SWE) the silver medalist and FM Laurenz Borrmann won bronze. WFM Luisa Bashylina (GER) triumphed in the Girls U16 category with 7 points. She finished half a point ahead of Vesna Mihelic (SLO) and Weronika Zabrzanska (POL) who tied for second place scoring 6.5 points, each. Tiebreak criteria favored Mihelic Vesna (SLO) who clinched silver and Zabrzanska Weronika (POL) claimed bronze. IM Ruben Gideon Koellner (GER), IM Marcell Borhy (HUN) and FM Olexiy Bilych (UKR) tied for the top of the Open U18 section. According to tiebreaks, the gold medal goes to Gideon Ruben , IM MarcellBorhy won silver and FM Bilych Olexiy came third. WFM Martyna Wikar (POL) dominated the Girls U18 section scoring 8/9. WFM Emilia Dylag (POL) and Eszter Sulyok (HUN) tied for the second place with 7.5 points, each, but Dylag Emilia came second according to tiebreaks, and Sulyok Eszter won bronze. European Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2022 were played on 22nd July with the closing ceremony held right after the final round. ECU Chief Executive officer Mr. Erald Dervishi, FIDE Vice President Ms. Anastasia Sorokina and Tournament Director Mr. Nikos Kalesis took part in the awarding ceremony. Maksym Kryshtafor (UKR) scored perfect 18/18 (!) to win the double crown at the European Youth & Rapid Chess Championship 2022. Geroge Chen (ENG) was second with 13.5 points and Stefan Apostu Rares (ROU) won bronze with 13 points. Svitlana Russieva (UKR) triumphed in the Girls U8 tournament winning another gold medal at the event. Dominika Hachkailo (UKR) clinched silver with 13 points and Bierta Gutserieva (UKR) was third with 11 points. After winning gold at the European Rapid U10 Championship, Andrei Negrean (ROU) clinched gold also in Blitz event scoring 14.5 points. Hanache Kai (ENG) won silver with 13 points and Diachek Andriy (UKR) came third with 12.5 points. Varvara Matskevich (FIDE) and Solomiia Svitenko (UKR) tied for the top of the Girls U10 section scoring 15.5 points, each. This time, tiebreak criteria favored Matskevich who won the blitz championship in this category. Aleksandra Meshkova (FIDE) came third with 13 points. Tykhon Cherniaiev (GER) won the second trophy at the event winning the European Blitz Chess Championship 2022 in Open U12 section with 16.5 points. Lukas Dotzer (AUT) won silver medal with 14 points, and Patryk Cieslak (POL) clinched bronze with 13 points. Arya Aydogan (TUR) won the Girls U12 section netting 14.5 points. Sona Krkyasharyan (ARM) came second with 14 points, and Kler Caku (ALB) finished the event in the third place with 12 points. FM Jakub Seemann (POL) was the Winner of the Open U14 category. Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (UKR) clinched silver with 13 points and Cnejev Vladimir-Alexandru (ROU) won bronze with 12.5 points. Sofja Vasiljeva (LAT) clinched gold in the Girls U14 section scoring 14
Magnus Carlsen wins 2022 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz
The 2022 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz the 3rd stage of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour has come to an end. Magnus Carlsen did it again clinching the victory with two rounds to spare. The 10-player event took place in the Westin Hotel in Zagreb from July 20-24, 2022. The rapid was a 10-player single round-robin with 3 rounds each day on the first 3 days at a time control of 25 minutes for all moves and a 10-second increment from move 1. The final two days were a blitz double round-robin, with 18 rounds of 5+2 blitz. Rapid games counted double, with 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. A Test of Endurance While Magnus had a couple of nice games on the final day, he really paved the way in Day 4 after his 5-game winning streak. After securing the title he lost his last two games and scored 4.5/9. It just goes to show what a moment of relaxation can mean, even for the best player in the world. Not long into Day-5 it became clear that everybody else was fighting for second place. The first casualty to exhaustion was Jorden Van Foreest, who had finished the Rapid in clear 1st and began Day-5 in clear 3rd, but eventually finished 6th. Van Foreest was one of the many that saw his play suffer due to exhaustion | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The Dutchman had an incredible display of fighting spirit. He came back after every one of his losses, up until round 24, which is when it all went wrong for him. He was not able to recover from that blow and finished scoring 0.5/4 in the last rounds. Van Foreest – Vachier-Lagrave, Round 24 24.Bxe7+? [24.Nc5!! Bxc5 (24…Bxg5 25.Nxe6+ recovers the bishop with a winning position) 25.Rxc4+- Black cannot defend the minor pieces along the c-file] 24…Kxe7 and soon Black’s queenside pawns became overwhelming 0–1 Perhaps the greatest casualty to exhaustion was Wesley So, who began the day (and had spent the entire tournament at the top of the standings) in clear second and finished in a disappointing tie for 4-5 place. He seemed to have finally solved his problem with White (he won three games, more than in all the other days combined!). However, he conceded too many draws and in the final stretch only managed 0.5/3. Dominguez – So, Round 25 After endless maneuvering, Wesley takes the bait 85…Nxa5?? [85…Ne3 would have held on] 86.Bd5! the knight is dominated and was eventually lost. 1–0 Always with a cheerful disposition, Wesley’s final place in the standings did not reflect his protagonist throughout the event | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The final day was all about the Frenchmen. Alireza Firouzja scored an impressive 7.5/9, while Maxime Vachier-Legrave an unbelievable 8/9. While most struggled to keep a grip on themselves, the Frenchmen were frantically pouring energy into their games. Carlsen – Firouzja, Round 26 46.Bxh3?? [46.Rg4! Ne4+ (46…g2 47.Bxg2= White will happily give up the bishop for the two pawns; 46…h2 47.Bg2 now the pawns go nowhere) 47.Kb2 g2 48.Bxg2 hxg2 49.Rxg2=] 46…Nxh3 47.Rg4 Nf2!-+ White cannot take the pawn on g3 because of the fork on e4. 0-1 MVL displayed tremendous endurance and scored a whopping 8/9! | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Firouzja – MVL, Round 22 After defending tenaciously, Firouzja lets his guard down and allows the draw to slip away after 48.Kh4?? [48.Ra1 Rc7 49.Bf3 there is no way for Black to make progress] 48…Rc7 White cannot stop 49…Rh7 mate! 0–1 Firouzja scores a crucial win against Carlsen in the penultimate round on his way to shared 2nd place | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes No one would dare accuse the MVL or Alireza of lacking fighting spirit. And they certainly proved they have endurance as well. But unlike Magnus (at least in the case of Alireza and Van Foreest), they played better chasing the lead than when they had it. While Magnus, once he had it, took off with it. A lot has happened in the past five days. One of the main takeaways from the event is that despite the new format, the traditional virtues that define chess greatness remain the same: fighting spirit and endurance. From left to right: Grand Master and event organizer Zlatko Klaric, GCT Executive Director Michael Khodarkovsky, GCT Founder Garry Kasparov, tournament winner Magnus Carlsen, President of Super United Marin Marusic and President of Superbet Foundation Augusta Valeria Dragic | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The Grand Chess Tour will conclude with the final two legs of the tour being held in Saint Louis, MO the Chess Capital of the USA. The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz from August 25th – August 30th and Sinquefield Cup from September 1st – September 13th. Fans can follow all the action live on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: GM Robert Hungaski Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue: The Westin Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaJuly 20 – July 24, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.