No surprises at 44th Women’s Chess Olympiad, as top teams have an easy ride
Led by Koneru Humpy on the top board, the top-seeded Indian Women’s team asserted their supremacy on the lower-ranked Tajikistan in the first round of the 44th Chess Olympiad that got underway after a glittering opening ceremony on Thursday. In what turned out to be a short hassle due to huge media present to cover the event, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Mr. Anurag Thakur – The Union Cabinet Minister for the Information and Broadcasting as well as Sports in India, Mr S Meyyanathan, Sports Minister Tamil Nadu, Dr Sanjay Kapoor, President AICF made the symbolic first moves on a few boards. Meanwhile, there were no upsets on the opening day as almost all the seasoned teams scored identical 4-0 victories. Notable among them were second seed Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, France, Azerbaijan and USA. Teams like Germany, Armenia and Kazakhstan also whitewashed their opponents, winning all the games on all four boards. If the Indian eves were stretched a little by the Tajik women, second seed Ukraine was quite brutal in stamping their authority over South Africa. Anna Muzychuk was up to the challenge against Jesse February, a popular steamer and the current African champion, and Anna Ushenine coasted to a crushing victory over Chloe Badenhorst. On the remaining two boards, it was also smooth sailing for the Ukrainian ladies that reminded them of their strong presence here in the absence of Russia and China. The Women’s Chess Olympiad is an 11-round team Swiss competition with the winner awarded based on the match points (two points for a match win and one for a draw). Each team includes four main players plus one reserved player. The winner of the last Olympiad, China, skipped the event without giving many reasons, but most likely, it was the impact of Covid that stalled the chess activities and tournaments for almost 18-20 months across the globe. Russian women are the other notable absentees due to the sanctions by FIDE after the war with Ukraine. With China and Russia out of the fray, the focus is on the Indian team that is the top seed for the first time in the event ever. Apart from Humpy, a lot has been spoken about 8-month pregnant Harika, who decided to play. A real challenge could also come from the Georgia team lead by Nino Batsiashvili (pictured above), a four-time champion with some seasoned campaigners in the line-up. “This is the biggest platform in the world for chess players, and it gives me immense pleasure to launch the first move of the event. I have been Chairman of the last FIFA world cup in Russia, but Chess remains my first love. It is indeed a pleasure to see that the organization has made some great efforts to ensure maximum comfort in stay, a fantastic venue and some brilliant facilities,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in a private conversation with the team. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Text: Vishal Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage
44th Chess Olympiad: Favorites start strongly
In the absence of arch-rivals Russia and China, only the Indian team, playing on home turf, seem capable of depriving the USA of the gold medal Five-times World Champion and Indian chess superstar Vishy Anand opened the first round of the 44th Chess Olympiad at 3 pm sharp this afternoon in the main hall of the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort & Convention Center. Anand played the first move for GM Anna Muzychuk on board one of the Ukraine-South Africa match in the women’s section, while on the other boards, Sports Minister Mr Anurag Thakur led the dance on board one of India’s A-team. After a few last-minute withdrawals, a total of 188 teams began the round in the open section of the event – at four players per team, 752 players, including thirteen women – broke all the previously existing participation records. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, All India Chess Federation President Dr Sanjay Kapoor and Tournament Director Bharat Singh Chauhan were also present on the occasion, heading a massive entourage of security, press and chess enthusiasts. As usual in the first round of the Chess Olympiad, most of the favourites had an excellent start – the top three teams, the United States, India and Norway, scored solid victories. Top seed USA defeated Angola by a clear 3.5-0.5 to start their campaign on a positive note. As has long been the norm for most of the top teams in the first round, where there is often a big disparity in the strengths of teams, the number one USA player, GM Fabiana Caruana, decided to save energy and gave up his seat to GM Sam Shankland, the team’s reserve player. GM Levon Aronian, therefore, moved up to the first board, but the three-time Olympian for Armenia quickly drifted into trouble with some over-enterprising opening play. However, luck was on his side when his opponent, Angola’s board one IM David Silva, accepted a draw in an arguably won position. The rest of the top teams defeated their opponents effortlessly, with India A crushing Zimbabwe by 4-0, the same result as Spain – Wales, Azerbaijan – Algeria and Poland – Syria, arguably three other favourites for the medals. Although Ukraine isn’t fielding their best players this year – Vassily Ivanchuk is a classic that will be dearly missed – they still started off strongly whitewashing Thailand. A glimpse over the results panel shows a startling statistic: no underdog was able to score a tie in any match: that is quite unbelievable in Swiss System events, in which most favourites usually win, but there are always a few surprises. Tomorrow’s second round will feature some exciting clashes: USA vs Paraguay and Moldova vs India will put the two top teams to the test, while there is a very good chance that World Champion Magnus Carlsen – who was spotted playing soccer this afternoon near the venue – will make his debut against Uruguay’s lucky first board. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/open-results/ Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Chennai Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage
Hou Yifan eliminates Kosteniuk to reach semifinals
GM Hou Yifan defeated GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in the quarterfinals of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship to reach semifinals. This clash of two worthy opponents produced many exciting tactical battles. The last year champion, Hou, took an early lead and despite Kosteniuk’s stubborn resistance won the first 5+1 segment by a score of 6-3. Alexandra did not lose her heart and after scoring two victories in a row made up ground, but Hou responded with three straight wins to seal the second 3+1 stage of the match (5.5-3.5). Kosteniuk reduced the gap at the start of the 1+1 games but Hou struck back and clinched the match despite eventually losing the third segment. Hou earned $3,115.38 in prize money for her victory while Kosteniuk picked up $884.62 for her efforts. In the post-match interview, Hou told about her warm-up for the match: “The only preparation I’ve done was just trying to play some practice games with friends or students. But to be honest, in those games, I was actually performing very poorly, giving away pieces or making blunders. I remember one of my friends said that ‘you’ll do better in a real match.’ Maybe that helps, you know.” The FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online event where titled women players will play a series of blitz and bullet matches for a share of the $70,000 prize fund. To follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship, watch a live broadcast of the event with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com Twitch Channel. More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Queen’s Pavilion and Social Pavilion are Open
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Managing Director Dana Reizniece Ozola opened the Queen’s and Social Pavilions on the first day of the 44th Chess Olympiad. Sonja Johnson, Chairperson of the Planning and Development Commission, welcomed Dana to the stage, and Dana addressed the audience. “188 Men’s teams, 162 Women’s teams are participating; it seems like the whole world is participating! Such diversity, such enthusiasm! We make the world round by putting together these little elements, and this is something that very much connects with our social initiatives,” said Dana, further adding, “Chess is not only about professional sports: it’s about using our great game for the benefit of society, embracing its diversity.” Deputy President Bachar Kouatly, Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, and President Arkady Dvorkovich opened the Social and Queens’ Pavillions. Photo: Lennart Ootes Dana also explained how these two Queen’s and Social pavilions would be telling the stories of the projects that FIDE has launched. There will be special days dedicated to Women in Chess, Chess in Prisons, Chess for Refugees, Chess for ageing people and more! These pavilions will celebrate the beauty, minds and achievements of the women chess players. Strong women, getting stronger! She also thanked the men in the audience for being there and supporting the Year of the Women in Chess. Sonja Jhonson welcomed the attendants. Photo: Lennart Ootes President Arkady Dvorkovich thanked the All India Chess Federation, the host association of the 44th Chess Olympiad, for pulling off the biggest festival of chess in such a short time. He also extended his gratitude to every chess federation that has been involved in FIDE’s social initiatives. Arkady said “I would like to thank the people who devoted their hearts and time and their lives (partially at least!) to chess!” He added, “Human capital is not just a word; it’s a real thing! You have to put your hearts to make these projects a success story.” A Bharatanatyam dance closed the event. Photo: Lennart Ootes How can a splash of colour and joy not be added to such a beautiful and important project by FIDE? The event ended with a Bharatanatyam dance piece by two professional dancers.
FIDE, AICF, & Tech Mahindra Unveil Fan Nxt.Now App at the 44th Chess Olympiad
App to drive hyper-personalised data-driven fan experiences by leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR), among others The International Chess Federation(FIDE) and the All-India Chess Federation have strengthened their partnership with Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions, to launch FIDE’s first ever app for iOS and Android built on digital platform, Fan Nxt.Now, on the sidelines of the 44th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE. The Fan Nxt.Now App was unveiled in the presence of the top chess personalities and representatives of Tech Mahindra. PHOTO: Stev Bonhague Celebrating the importance and popularity of Chess in India, the launch event, held at the Olympiad venue in Mamallapuram, was graced by several eminent personalities, including Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Dr Sanjay Kapoor, President, AICF, Bharat Singh Chauhan, Secretary General, All India Chess Federation, and Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra. DOWNLOAD link for Android DOWNLOAD link for IOS You have a batch of high-resolution photos from the event at this link: https://we.tl/t-KG6exQW5WV. Photo credit: FIDE / Stev Bonhague Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra. PHOTO: Stev Bonhague