Harry Grieve wins Chessable British Chess Championship
The Chessable British Chess Championships held in various categories took place at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay from 8th to 21st August 2022. It was the 108th British Chess Championship in a series which has run almost unbroken since 1904, with Torquay having previously hosted the Championships on six occasions, most recently in 2019. The Championship event, a 9-round Swiss tournament, saw a major sensation as the 16th-rated FM Harry Grieve scored a fantastic 7.5/9 and came out on top. Harry completed his final IM, first GM norm and picked up 59 rating points. Photo: Brendan O’Gorman The defending champion Nick Pert finished a half-point behind the champion and took silver; James Jackson tied for third place with David Eggleston but claimed bronze thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 FM Grieve Harry 2390 7½ 2 GM Pert Nicholas 2537 7 3 IM Jackson James 2406 6½ 4 IM Eggleston David 2331 6½ 5 GM Gormally Daniel 2466 6 6 IM Wadsworth Matthew 2418 6 7 GM Arkell Keith 2409 6 8 FM Claridge-Hansen William 2345 6 9 CM Balaji Aaravamudhan 2194 6 10 GM Emms John 2474 5½ The women’s title goes to Lan Yao (pictured below) who netted 5/9; Kata Toma is second (4.5/9); Sheila Jackson came third (3.5/9). Photo: Brendan O’Gorman Midhun P U emerged as the winner in Major Open; Paul Motwani lived up to his rating-favourite status in the Over 50 section and took the title; John Nunn was head and shoulders above the competition in the Over 65 section winning all seven games. Complete results on chess-results.com Official website: britishchesschampionships.co.uk/
Two FIDE Trainer Seminars announced
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission will organise its second online seminar this year for North and Central America from 26-28 August 2022. This seminar is led by FST and GM Melikset Khachiyan, TRG Council Member, and he is assisted by FT and GM Elshan Moradiabadi, FT and IM Joel Banawa. WIM Dr Alexey Root will also be giving a special lecture on addressing Psychological Challenges in Training. Full details can be found at: FIDE Trainer Online Seminar for North and Central America held from 26 to 28 August 2022 – FIDE Trainers’ Commission A second FIDE Trainer Seminar will be held concurrently with the World Youth Championship in Mamaia, Romania. Organised by the Romanian Chess Federation from 7-12 September 2022, this seminar will be conducted on-site by Olympiad medal winning coaches FST and GM Ivan Sokolov and FST and GM Ramesh RB. Full details are available at: FIDE Trainer Seminar in Mamaia, Romania from 7-12 September 2022 – FIDE Trainers’ Commission
Magnus Carlsen clinches FTX Crypto Cup
Magnus Carlsen is the FTX Crypto Cup champion for the second year in a row after holding off a fierce challenge from Indian teen Praggnanandhaa. Norway’s World Champion overcame the talented 17-year-old with a game to spare in their final round shootout for the title. In doing so, Carlsen notched up a third win of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season and his first Major win. The result also stretches his lead at the top of the $1.6 million Tour leaderboard and wins him the tournament’s unique NFT trophy. Pragg and Carlsen were neck-and-neck throughout the whole tournament with the youngster putting in a real statement performance throughout. But in Round 7 of the all-play-all event Pragg faced the real acid test – world number 1 Carlsen. The youngster had chances in the first game and then had to defend like a lion in game 2. Finally, he ran out of steam in the third. Carlsen clinched the win that guaranteed him the title and in classic Magnus-style – with a piece of endgame brilliance and a huge sense of relief. Reacting before the final rapid game, Carlsen said: “This game was very nervy, I think, for both of us. Today I haven’t been able to find a rhythm at all, but hopefully I can relax a bit in the last game.” Carlsen did relax – but it barely mattered to him. In the fourth game the champion looked to be steering the game to a draw but blundered in the endgame. “I think Magnus just wanted to have more fun!” Pragg said, who still had work to do to finish second. In the final tiebreak, Pragg won the first and then ended it in a dramatic second game in which Carlsen blundered badly. Pragg ended the tournament on a high, securing the runner-up spot. Carlsen hailed his tournament win a “great result”. The $210,000 elite esports tournament, held at Florida’s Eden Roc Miami Beach, had gone into its final day with all eyes on Carlsen and Pragg’s eagerly-awaited showdown. But in the other matches, Alireza Firouzja was battling to overtake Pragg at the last hurdle and secured at least a third place finish with a 2.5-1.5 win over Levon Aronian. The struggles continued for 19-year-old New Yorker Hans Niemann, who has entertained everyone throughout with his interviews. Niemann finished pointless as he went down 2.5-1.5 to Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le. However, the newly-crowned “bad boy of chess” can take away from the tournament memorable wins over Carlsen, Pragg and Aronian, plus an army of new fans. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the winner of the Oslo Esports Cup, finished his tournament off with a 2.5-0.5 win over Dutch No.1 Anish Giri. Duda had a tough start to the event but finished with impressive wins over Carlsen, Pragg and then Giri. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will return with its next “Regular” event on September 19. For further comments contact: Leon Watson, Head of PR, Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+447786078770 About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit www.chess24.com/tour.