Women’s Olympiad: Four-way tie on the top with two rounds to go
In a major setback for the sole overnight leaders in the Women’s section India A were upset by fourth seed Poland 1.5-2.5. Vaishali R lost the only game to WIM Oliwia Kiolbasa, who incidentally scored a whopping 9/9 while the three other boards ended in hard-fought draws. Humpy Koneru playing the black side of a QGD, showed good preparation and equalized early in the opening against Alina Kashlinskaya. Pieces were exchanged at regular intervals, and players decided to split a point in a dry rook ending just before the first time control. Harika Dronavalli and Monika Socko fought in a Queen’s Indian Defence, with the former grabbing the initiative from the start. Harika arranged her pieces in attacking formation to launch a real onslaught on the kingside but failed to find the winning continuation. Moreover, a hasty pawn move 25.f5 allowed Monika the trade the queens. Harika’s attack fizzled out with the game ending in a draw after 41 moves. Vaishali’s good run ended against Oliwia Kiolbasa. Vaishali lost her way in a theoretically drawn rook endgame, and Oliwia notched up her ninth (!) straight victory. India B whitewashed Switzerland 4-0, with Vantika Agrawal making her IM norm. India C also defeated Estonia 3-1. In one of the most important matches of Round 9, Georgia held second seed Ukraine to a 2-2 draw (the teams exchanged blows on boards 2 and 4), while Kazakhstan routed Bulgaria 3-1. With just two rounds to go, the race for medals is wide open, as four teams, namely Poland, Kazakhstan, India A and Georgia, are sharing first place. The complete results for round 9 can be found at the official website for the Olympiad, https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Standings after round 9 can be found at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage
Uzbek kids lead 44th Chess Olympiad
India B vs Uzbekistan, the clash of the youngsters The battle for the medal was all the rage in the ninth round of the Olympiad, played this afternoon at the Sheraton Four Points Convention Center in Mahabalipuram. No team is budging an inch, and the matches are fast and furious. Uzbekistan’s young squad, led by teenager Abdusattorov and coached by seasoned Dutch Grand Master Ivan Sokolov, compellingly defeated leaders Armenia by a 3-1 score, with wins by Sindarov and Vakhidov on the last two boards. Vakhidov’s feat is even more praiseworthy – he beat Robert Hovhannisyan (undefeated to date) with the black pieces. With this win, the Uzbekistan team is now the sole leader of the Olympiad sitting on 16 points with two rounds to go. In addition, they are the only undefeated team in the tournament – a huge surprise. As if that were not enough, the Uzbeks were greatly favoured by the other results of the round. Azerbaijan couldn’t get past a 2-2 tie against the India B juniors – Praggnanandhaa defeated Durarbayli on board three but young gun Sadhwani fell to experienced grandmaster Abasov on the fourth board. India B and Armenia are now sharing second-third places with 15 points, trailing the leaders by just one point. In the other key match of the day, the Netherlands and Iran also shared the points in a match that ended with four draws, leaving both teams with 14 points. The other teams didn’t miss the opportunity to keep their options open for the podium. Despite Levon Aronian’s unexpected defeat against Theodorou with White, the United States beat Greece by the minimal 2.5-1.5 score, in good measure due to Wesley So’s key win – he is still undefeated. Nonetheless, the hero of the day in the USA camp was Fabiano Caruana. After two consecutive defeats, he took down Greece’s number one player Mastrovasilis in a great game with Black in the Sicilian Sveshnikov Defense. The spectacular move 21…Bh6 was the beginning of a winning attack on the white king – a game for the ages. India A recovered positions at the expense of Brazil, who have been performing at a high level in the tournament. Erigaisi and Sasikiran, on the third and fourth boards, were the heroes of the national team, clearing a 3-1 victory for the local team. With only two rounds to go and three medals in play, tomorrow’s pairings are already pretty meaningful. India B (15) will face Uzbekistan (16) in a clash between the youngsters. Match two will see an Olympiad classic: Azerbaijan (14) vs Armenia (15). Whilst a draw might be a decent result for Armenia, Azerbaijan needs to go for broke to get a chance to fight for the gold medal. USA (14) vs Turkey (14), Iran (14) vs India A (14) and Serbia (14) vs Netherlands (14) are the other three pairings that will arguably decide the podium – a win is necessary, so a huge fight is expected. Alongside the Chess Olympiad, the International Chess Federation General Assembly – and general elections – have taken place in Chennai. Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected today for a second term as FIDE President with 157 votes, against 16 for his electoral opponent, the Ukrainian chess Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets. The third candidate, Bachar Kouatly from France, withdrew his candidacy before the voting started. Five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, who was part of Dvorkovich’s ticket, is the new FIDE Deputy President. Round 10 will be played on August 8 at 3 pm sharp and can be followed live on the tournament website. 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 Photos: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage
Arkady Dvorkovich, reelected as FIDE President
Arkady Dvorkovich has been reelected for a second term as President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) with 157 votes, against 16 for his electoral opponent, the Ukrainian chess Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets. A third candidate, the French Bachar Kouatly, withdrew his candidacy after giving his speech before the voting started. Five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, who was part of Dvorkovich’s ticket, is the new FIDE Deputy President. The elections took place during the FIDE General Assembly in Chennai, held alongside the Chess Olympiad, one of FIDE’s flagship events. The Olympiad is a team competition where countries are represented by their four best players. This year, despite the notable absences of Russia and Belarus (banned), and China (citing logistic difficulties derived from the pandemic), the Olympiad reached record participation, with 186 nations represented in the open competition, plus 160 more in the Women’s Olympiad. Born in Moscow on March 26, 1972, Arkady Dvorkovich was first elected as FIDE President in October 2018, succeeding Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Despite being questioned by some due to his nationality and to the fact that in the past, he held important positions in the Russian government, Dvorkovich’s landslide election victory shows that he has earned the trust of FIDE’s member federations – and the wider chess community. “Yes, I am Russian, and I have served the people of my country, including to Russian chess community, as Chairman of the Board of the Russian Chess Federation”, said Arkady during his speech before the votation. “I have been trying to do it professionally and with the highest possible level of integrity. And I took a strong position on the tragic events in Ukraine as well as supported FIDE Council decisions regarding scaling down Russia’s involvement in FIDE. Moreover, while abandoning Russian partners, we have been able to find new ones around the globe, organize this Chess Olympiad [in India] and ensure financial stability for FIDE. It is far from easy for me personally, but I hope that chess can re-unite people again.” During his electoral speech before the FIDE delegates, Dvorkovich cited the following points as his main priorities for his second term: 1) To keep improving its top events, those that are part of the World Championship cycle, like the driving force of FIDE. “Not only do they generate a large interest for the game – they are a source of income required to invest in different parts of the world where chess is being developed. That should help us to make FIDE a sustainable institution, financially stable, and independent of politics”, he said. 2) To expand FIDE’s online projects, seeking new partnerships and reinforcing the existing ones, “leveraging both on the strong positive image chess has earned throughout the centuries – and the ability of chess to thrive with new technologies.” 3) To maintain and strengthen the support to member federations. After fulfilling the goal of waiving or reducing most of the fees, Dvorkovich expressed his intention “to send our best people to help, to train, to share best practices. We will provide chess materials and help to raise a new generation of arbiters, organizers, and coaches, as well as school instructors”. 4) To keep investing in promoting women’s chess. “For years, the level of female engagement stood at 10-15 percent. We already see it rising above 20% – but that is not only about the numbers. We will continue creating a friendly environment, we will provide incentives, we will engage coaches and build programs”, said the President. “These initiatives must be shaped like a long-term project, rather than punctual activities.” 5) To continue expanding FIDE’s social programs. “We will keep promoting the idea that chess is a culture and a tool to improve our societies – more than just a game or a sport. Chess is an excellent tool to develop useful skills for children in their future, like complex problem-solving, as well as socio-emotional intelligence”. Dvorkovich’s second term will also be the last, as one of the first tasks that he undertook shortly after being elected in 2018 was to renew the FIDE Charter, introduce term limits, and other democratic reforms. Among them, the “FIDE Presidential Board” was replaced by the “FIDE Council”, effectively limiting the President’s powers.
Checkmate Coronavirus: Vanakkam Chennai!
A massive online project, Checkmate Coronavirus, was launched by FIDE in May 2020. Over 720 non-stop hours of this chess marathon, 2,762 tournaments were played by 120,000 unique participants from at least 140 countries. The weekly project prize draw winners received 1500 prizes, including souvenirs, free master classes, and mini-matches with top grandmasters. The luckiest ones got the major prize of the event – a six-night trip to Chennai with paid air tickets, a full board, and a chance to attend the Chess Olympiad, a flagship event of FIDE with 186 national teams participating. After two years of anticipation, the winners of the major prize of FIDE’s Checkmate Coronavirus project arrived in Chennai, India and are now enjoying their stay in a 382-year-old city, the chess capital of India and the home of five-time World Champion GM Viswanathan Anand. The chess fans representing Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden and Thailand have already visited the Olympiad venue, watched the games of their favourite players and participated in the side events, including festivals, concerts, and performances organized by AICF to show the big cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu. “I had an excellent impression of this Olympiad. I was very well received from the arrival at the airport to the hotel. I went to the beach and pool and took a walk on the sand. I can’t say what I liked the most because I loved everything. Indian people are very hospitable. At the Olympiad venue, I saw several famous players, including Magnus Carlsen. I want to thank FIDE for this great present and also for the wonderful gifts we received,” said Carlos Gomes from Taguatinga, the oldest member of the delegation. “I’m enjoying the Olympiads very much, and I’m glad to see so many top players fighting in live action instead of Youtube streaming! I played a few friendly games here and there with random players from around the world,” – adds Nicolas Noel from Thailand. During the pandemic, he played online a lot on many platforms and participated in hundreds of Checkmate Coronavirus tournaments. “Chess Olympiad is my dream. I’ve never been to foreign countries before,” said Than Min Hlaing from Myanmar. “There is no word to say how happy I am. The Olympiad chess games are the greatest games I’ve ever seen. I’m feeling ecstatic. The person I want to see the most here is Magnus Carlsen. I also want to play chess with a great player. I’ll never forget this memorable huge event. I hope that we will meet at the next Olympiad too.” With two more rounds of the Chess Olympiad to go, Checkmate Coronavirus winners have all the chances to meet in person many chess ledends, take selfies with them and get autographs. The visit will end with a spectacular closing ceremony which includes Indian traditional performances and awarding the strongest teams of the event.