FIDE and WR Group announce World Open Teams Championship
We are pleased to announce that FIDE has entered into a partnership with the German company WR Group Holding GmbH to launch together a new major competition: the World Open Teams Championship. The first tournament is planned to take place in Düsseldorf in May-June 2023, played over three days under rapid time control. It will be open to clubs from all over the world, with the prize fund expected to reach 250,000€ already for the first event. The regulations are undergoing an approval procedure by the different stakeholders and will be published by FIDE in the coming weeks. Teams will be expected to involve club-level players, tentatively reserving one board for a player rated under 2000. WR Group is a global provider of complex project logistics. WR also provides a range of services like certification, expediting, customs clearance, engineering and construction services. It currently has 12 offices in 8 countries. According to The Financial Times ranking, WR is the second fastest growing logistics company in Europe in 2022. Apart from being the main sponsor for at least the 2023 and 2024 tournaments of this new event, WR Group Holding GmbH will become a commercial partner of FIDE in the organization of this championship, cooperating with FIDE in seeking and exploiting commercial opportunities connected with the event. Wadim Rosenstein, CEO of WR Group, said: “The World Open Teams Championship has as its central aim the delivery of chess opportunities to people who may not ordinarily get a chance to play the “king’s game” in the world arena. Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Our approach is unique in that no matter what your gender and federation if you want to play chess there will be an opportunity to do so.” FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich expressed his satisfaction with excitement about this new event: “Team and rapid chess competitions are two of the most popular formats among players and chess fans. We strongly feel that an event like this would be an important addition to our portfolio of events. These teams are backed by their own sponsors and have their own fan base, so the championship is certain to increase fan engagement and, from the commercial standpoint, will be very appealing. We are excited to join forces with WR Group to make this happen.” Emil Sutovsky, FIDE’s Director General, added: “Chess is changing rapidly as does the world. I see it important for FIDE not only to align with the processes, but to generate new ideas and formats. I am sure it’s going to be an exciting event. The unusual blend of top-notch professionals and club players foreseen by the format, will allow for a unique atmosphere and create a lifetime experience for many.” FIDE intends to announce the exact dates as soon as possible, after a round of consultations with the organizers who could potentially be affected by overlapping dates. But we encourage all chess clubs to take this new event into account when planning their 2023 season, provisionally keeping late May and early June as tentative dates.
Alireza Firouzja wins 2022 Sinquefield Cup
World No. 4 Alireza Firouzja clinched victory in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5 in a rapid playoff for the title, earning an extra $10,000 in addition to his $87,500 first place prize. With his result in the Sinquefield Cup, Firouzja also emerged as the overall winner of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour, taking home a $100,000 bonus prize. Finishing second in the GCT was Wesley So, who earned a bonus of $50,000, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave placed third in the overall standings. Firouzja’s sensational performance follows his impressive win in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz held late in August. “In general, the Grand Chess Tour is the toughest tour in the history of chess I think, so to win it is an amazing feeling and I cannot be more happy,” said Firouzja after securing tour victory with a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in today’s final round. 2022 Sinquefield Cup – Final Standings FINAL ROUND VACHIER-LAGRAVE – FIROUZJA | ½-½, 33 moves Firouzja’s last round game was fairly uneventful, as Vachier-Lagrave essentially forced a draw out of the opening in a 5.Re1 Berlin. Firouzja knew his theory well and the players traded down into a dead-drawn single rook ending. Thanks to this draw, Firouzja was able to clinch first in the overall GCT standings, with the Sinquefield Cup still very much undecided based on the results of the games of Nepomniachtchi and So. No more fist bumps! The handshake is back in vogue at top level. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NEPOMNIACHTCHI – NIEMANN | ½-½, 54 moves After Firouzja’s quick draw, Nepomniachtchi had an opportunity to win the tournament outright with a victory over Niemann, who had been struggling over the last few rounds. A somewhat rare line in the English left Nepo with a much better structure in the endgame, and seemingly decent practical chances with a knight against bishop. But despite out-maneuvering Niemann and building up a decisive advantage, Nepomniachtchi somewhat inexplicably rejected an obvious capture of a pawn, opting to continue shifting his pieces around. This gave Hans a chance to consolidate his position and a few moves later Nepo blundered into a threefold repetition. After 38…Ke7, rather than taking the h6-pawn with a winning position, Nepomniachtchi played the surprising retreat 39.Rb8?, giving Black time to consolidate and hold. Niemann had a difficult position but managed to survive, finishing with a very respectable 3.5/8 in his first super-tournament. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes SO – DOMINGUEZ | ½-½, 39 moves With a win in the last game, So could catch up to the leaders and force a three-way playoff, but Dominguez’s play in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted was too solid, and So was unable to generate any serious winning chances out of the opening. Nevertheless with the draw, So was able to secure second place in the overall GCT. Despite losing an important game to Firouzja yesterday, So still managed to earn 2nd in the overall GCT. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller MAMEDYAROV – ARONIAN | ½-½, 39 moves An exciting 4.Qc2 Nimzo led to the players’ castling on opposite sides of the board, with a very sharp position. But after accurate play by both Mamedyarov and Aronian, the middlegame fizzled out quickly, with mass exchanges leading to a drawn double rook endgame. After the game, Aronian expressed disappointment with his overall performance in recent events, hoping to return to better form soon. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes PLAYOFF GAME 1: NEPOMNIACHTCHI – FIROUZJA | ½-½, 70 moves The first game of the playoff featured Nepomniachtchi’s pet Catalan, as the queens got exchanged early and it seemed like Firouzja had equalized comfortably. But a hasty decision (26…c5) by Firouzja gave Nepo the chance to establish a passed pawn, seizing a nice strategic plus. At this point, Firouzja started to defend well and Nepo lost his advantage when he allowed a trade of knights, leading to a rather drawish rook endgame. After 26…c5 27.d5!, White exerted some pressure, thanks to Black’s weakened b6-pawn, but this wasn’t enough to win the game. GAME 2: FIROUZJA – NEPOMNIACHTCHI | 1-0, 34 moves In the second game, Firouzja grabbed the initiative early on, after an inaccurate move (7…Na6) by Nepomniachtchi on the Black side of an English. Things escalated quickly when Firouzja offered a pawn sacrifice in order to get his kingside majority moving, but rather than accepting the pawn Nepo blundered a piece with 16…Qe7, missing a simple tactic in response. Firouzja pounced on the opportunity and converted with ease, clinching the playoff. After 17.e5! winning a piece in view of 17…Qxe5 18.Bf4+- The triple-crown winner of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and overall Grand Chess Tour. Next up for Firouzja is the Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX, which starts September 14. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Sponsors Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue: Saint Louis Chess ClubSeptember 02-12, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.
All set for the first leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix
The first event of the 2022-2023 Women’s Grand Prix Series will kick-off in a few days (September 17th) in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan. Formerly known as Astana, Nur-Sultan is a futuristic city in the middle of the vast steppe. With an estimated population of 1,136,008, it is the second-largest city in the country, after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. Nowadays, it’s one of the most modern cities in Central Asia. Рhoto: astanatimes.com The event will be held at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) while the players, accompanying persons and officials will stay at the Hilton Astana hotel, perched on the edge of the 2017 Exhibition Centre. Fielding 16 of the world’s top female players, the Grand Prix will spread out between four different events (Kazakhstan, Germany, India and Poland will be the organizing countries) and each player must participate in three out of the four tournaments. Photo: David Llada The stakes are extremely high: the top two finishers of the series will qualify directly for the 2023-2024 FIDE Women’s Candidates. THE PARTICIPANTS The twelve Nur-Sultan participants, with their starting numbers, are: 1. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2579 – FIDE)2. GM Kateryna Lagno (2547 – FIDE)3. IM/WGM Alina Kashlinskaya (2491 – Poland)4. IM/WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva (2443 – Kazakhstan)5. GM Tan Zhongyi (2525 – China)6. WGM Dinara Wagner (2358 – Germany)7. WGM/IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2477 – Germany)8. WGM Zhu Jiner (2464 – China)9. GM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2503 – Kazakhstan)10. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2521 – FIDE)11. IM/WGM Vaishali R (2449 – India)12. IM/WGM Polina Shuvalova (2510 – FIDE) Top Indian player GM Humpy Koneru withdrew from the first event a few weeks prior due to medical reasons and, according to regulations, has been replaced by IM Vaishali R, who also plays for India, only for this first event. Vaishali R Photo: Steve Bonhage THE FIELD The two top seeds, Goryachkina and Lagno, playing under the FIDE flag, seem to have a slight rating edge over the rest of their colleagues, especially two-time World Junior U-20 champion Aleksandra Goryachkina. In addition to being the overall winner of the previous edition of the Women’s Grand Prix, Goryachkina is the only player in the field to have overpassed the elite 2600 rating barrier. However, perhaps it’s too early to speculate if the lack of recent rated games may be a drag on any of them: Goryachkina, has only played 15 official classical rating games so far this year. As for two-time European women’s champion and three-time World Blitz/Rapid champion Kateryna Lagno, seeded number two, she has only played 8 official games this year. Nonetheless, in online events Kateryna Lagno (pictured below) did achieve success very recently. She took down the 2022 FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship, defeating Hou Yifan in the final round; many of the Nursultan participants also participated in this event. Photo: Niki Riga With regard to the other two participants playing under the FIDE flag, Polina Shuvalova has kept herself very busy – 45 official FIDE rated games this year, including Tata Steel in January and two top-level local events in August. Finally, former Women’s classical World Champion and current World Cup Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has only tallied 11 classical rated games but has successfully played recently in the French Chess League and other online events. Possibly in an even worse situation are the two Chinese players. Former 2018 Women’s World Chess Champion Tan Zhongyi and 2016 U-14 World Youth Chess Champion Zhu Jiner have hardly played this year. For several reasons, including the fact that China did not participate in the Olympiad this year, they have practically not played official classical games, although both of them have been active online and in rapid and blitz modalities. Notwithstanding, while writing this report, I happened to notice that Zhu Jiner is currently participating in the highest category of the Chinese League in Fuling, Chongqing. Meanwhile, some of their main opponents have been much more active. Elite players Alina Kashlinskaya, Elisabeth Paehtz, Vaishali R and Dinara Wagner all played at the Chennai Olympiad recently, notching up important top-level games. In particular, Vaishali shared the third-board individual bronze medal with her brother, elite Indian Grand Master Praggnanandhaa, R. THE LOCALS For the home crowd, it will be a joy to see the progress of Kazakhstan’s two strongest young players, Zhansaya Abdumalik (pictured below) and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Born in 2000, Abdumalik is a two-time girls’ World Youth Champion as well as a girls’ World Junior Champion and has represented Kazakhstan at the Chess Olympiad and World Team Chess Championship. Photo: Lennart Ootes A few years younger, Bibisara Assaubayeva (pictured below), winner of several youth world and continental titles, is also the current Women’s World Blitz champion. Both were part of the Olympic team that finished fifth in Chennai, where Abdumalik also won the individual bronze medal on the first board. Photo: Lennart Ootes The first round, scheduled for next Sunday, September 18th, already features some very cool match-ups. Goryachkina Aleksandra 2579 (FID) – Shuvalova Polina 2510 (FID)Lagno Kateryna 2547 (FID) – Vaishali R 2449 (IND)Kashlinskaya Alina 2491 (POL) – Kosteniuk Alexandra 2521 (FID)Assaubayeva Bibisara 2443 (KAZ) – Abdumalik Zhansaya 2503 (KAZ)Tan Zhongyi 2525 (CHN) – Zhu Jiner 2464 (CHN)Wagner Dinara 2358 (GER) – Paehtz Elisabeth 2477 (GER) PRIZE FUND AND GP PLAYER ALLOCATION The total prize fund for each leg will be €80,000, with another €80,000 being distributed among the top 8 finishers in the global Women’s Grand Prix Series standings, according to the cumulative points they score across the four events. Players tournament allocation (IM Vaishali R replaces GM Humpy Koneru): Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Nur-Sultan Official website: womengrandprix.fide.com/
World Youth Chess Championships cross halfway
The World Youth Chess Championships U14, U16, and U18 in Mamaia, Romania, crossed a midpoint mark. With five more rounds to go, it is still wide open in all six categories. As many predicted, the favourites are facing a serious challenge from their lower-rated opponents. After six rounds in the U14 Open category, Ilamparthi A R and Savva Vetochkin (rated 9th and 5th, respectively) are leading the field with 5.5/6, a half point ahead of a large group of four players. The leaders’ clash in Round 7 promises an exciting battle. Photo: David Llada The 8th-rated Maia Arzur (pictured above) from France tops the standings in the U14 Girls sitting on 5.5/6. A group of four players are hard on her heels, trailing just a half-point. Meanwhile, the rating favourites Alexandra Shvedova and Zarina Nurgaliyeva are a full point behind. Photo: Mark Livshitz It has been a very close affair in the U16 Open category, with Timothe Razafindratsima and Ohanyan Emin sharing the top spot on 5.5/6. The leaders are pitted against each other in Round 7, and this encounter will be of paramount importance for both. The highest-rated players have been flying under the radar in the U16 Girls, with Munkhzul Davaakhuu and Francisco Guecamburu Candela pulling ahead with 5.5/6 each. The top-rated Eline Roeberts is a full point behind. Photo: David Llada Unlike all other categories, the joint leaders in U18 Open, Kazybek Nogerbek and Mamikon Gharibyan (pictured above), already conceded a full point to their opponents, sitting on 5/6. As many as 13(!) players are sharing third place, which makes this group probably the most exciting to watch. Photo: David Llada Mariam Mkrtchyan (pictured above) is the only player in the entire competition to win all six games. Still, the leader in the U18 Girls can’t feel safe as her main competitors, Maria Eizaguerri Floris and Ayan Allahverdiyeva, are not far behind. Photo: Mark Livshitz and David Llada Official website of the World Youth Championships: worldyouth2022.com/
Sami Khader, new Chairman of the FIDE Trainer’s Commission
The FIDE President has appointed IM Sami Khader as the new Chairman of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission. Khader has been a Councilor for the Commission since 2016, and during this time he has been a valuable contributor, demonstrating valuable managing and organisation skills. His predecessor, Mikhail Kobalia, will remain involved with the Commission as Councilor, engaged with FIDE Chessable Academy and several seminars. Born in Jordan in 1972, Khader got a Master of Science Degree in Biomedical Engineering Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics (Ukraine) and has worked as Service Manager at Abbott Diagnostics Agent in Jordan, and Business Development Manager at Siemens Healthineers Agent in Jordan. He achieved his International Master title in 2007, and he has represented Jordan at multiple events, including five chess Olympiads. He started his career as a trainer in 1996 within the Royal Jordanian Chess Federation, where he is also General Secretary and Technical Director. Besides the Jordanian federation, Khader also holds positions in the Arab Chess Federation as Vice-President and Chairman of the Technical Commission, and the Asian Chess Federation, as Chairman of the Technical Affairs and Development Commission. “Our immediate plans include boosting the value of titles and developing the structure of FIDE Academies. We also plan to create a special online library, which will contain videos and PGN files of valuable lectures to be used by licensed TRG trainers. We believe that providing these resources could help them in their day-by-day work as trainers”, explains Sami. The roadmap for the TRG Commission in the coming months includes the following main points: September TRG Plan 2022-2023 submitted to Management, includes: 1. Defining KPIs; 2. Better/streamlined internal FIDE administration/support; 3. Increasing the value of titles, having tangible benefits and making a better promotion of trainers titles. Informative Report to FC Q3 Closure of Olympiad Training Support Program Invitations to Pre-Qualified, Participation of African Countries, and New Young Top Talent to FIDE Chessable Academy in October and December Seminars: Mamaia World Youth; ACF Seminars & some other applications e.g. Puerto Rico, Uppsala TBC. Preparation of Lecturers for Indonesian Language Seminar FC Q3 Title Submissions from Seminars: 1. Middle East Online, 2. Chennai Olympiad, 3. Zagreb, 4. North & Central America, 5. Mamaia World Youth October and November Seminars: German Language, Bali, Spanish Americas, Singapore Recertification (TBC). Workshop: How to Teach Rook Endings Winners of FIDE Book Awards 2022 FIDE Chessable Academy Classes Invitations to World Champions to be FST December Organising of FIDE Chessable Academy Camp in Barcelona Trainer Licence 2023-2026 Renewal Notices and FIDE Academy 2023 Membership & recertification program form 2023 Informative Report to FC Q3 FC Q4 Title Submissions from Seminars: 1. German Language, 2. Bali, 3. Spanish Americas, 4, Singapore. Workshop: How to Teach Positional Play