FIDE World Cadet Chess Championships kick off in Batumi, Georgia
The FIDE World Cadet Chess Championships U8, U10 and U12 open and girls (six tournaments in total) kicked off in Georgia, in a popular black sea resort city of Batumi. The Championships, 11-round Swiss tournaments, stretch from September 15th to September 28th. 752 participants from 70 federations are ready to battle for the titles in this prestigious competition. The beautiful playing venues are ready to host the participants. The Open section is held in Hotel Euphoria while the girls are competing in hotel Legend. The highest rated players in the event are Artem Uskov (U12 open section), rated 2377, and Diana Preobrazhenskaya (U12 Girls section), with the rating of 1994. The U12 Open section boasts the highest number of participants – 157 players registered in this tournament. Before the start of the tournaments, the arbiter’s meeting was held in hotel Euphoria, with the technical meeting scheduled right before the first round. The solving compositions championships are set for a free day, September 22nd. All the rounds start at 15:00 except for the final one which will begin at 11:00. Regulations for the FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships 2022 You can find all the information related to the FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships 2022 on the official website of the tournament wccc2022.fide.com.
Second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners: Registration deadline approaches
58 teams representing 32 countries have already registered for the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners, scheduled for October 13-14, 2022, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Correctional facilities for male, female and youth inmates from Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and the USA field their teams made of amateur chess players for whom the game became not just a hobby but strong motivation to change for the better. In some prisons teaching inmates to play chess has been done for many years, in others, the first Intercontinental tournament for prisoners held by FIDE, jointly with Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff’s office in October 2021, gave an impetus to bring chess classes to correctional facilities. The Argentina chess federation (FADA) started its cooperation with SENAF (National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family) in 2021, bringing chess classes to prisons and correctional institutions for children under 18 years of age. Currently, the initiative is implemented in 20 schools for troubled youth throughout the country. “We have noticed that the behaviour of prisoners changed. Sometimes instead of solving their problems and conflicts through violence, they decide to have a game of chess to resolve a dispute,” says Hector Flori, General Coordinator of the project, FADA Secretary. “With a view to this tournament, a national qualifying event was held on September 14, and the winners will receive, in addition to the weekly formal classes of the project, a special training by the teachers of the school of high performance of FADA. It is a great challenge for us to play in this event again.” In addition to the tournament itself, the live broadcast of the championship will include many guests – ambassadors of Chess in Prisons initiatives from different countries, chess teachers for inmates and at-risk communities, ex-convicts whose lives changed after being introduced to chess. One of them is Simosakhe Ngwane from South Africa, an ex-prisoner who learned to play chess while in jail. He came back to normal life and became a role model for many at-risk children in his country. “I hope the program expands into schools as well because that’s where our kids start making mistakes. Even myself. If I’ve learned how to play chess in school, I wouldn’t have made some mistakes in my life,” he says. To make his dream to help youngsters come true, Ngwane organized chess classes for kids in his hometown Molweni. Even though sometimes there are not enough chess boards, clocks and tables for students, the number of kind who want to start playing chess keeps growing. “Crime is easy when you are young. That’s the reality. You don’t think of consequences until it’s too late. Playing chess develops a positive attitude. The simple rule of chess “Touch is a move” brings discipline and calmness. It teaches you to wait, to think, and to prepare before you make a decision,” Ngwane adds. The registration for the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is open until September 21, 2022. Participation is free of charge. Tournament regulations (pdf) Registration form
FIDE World Junior Championship: Deadline extended
The deadline to register players for the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship 2022 (Sardinia, October 11-23) has been extended until September 25. The Championship is organized by UniChess in collaboration with Emmedi Sport ASD, under the auspices of the Italian Chess Federation and FIDE. Each National Federation can enter one (1) player born on or after 1 st January 2002 in each of the open and girl categories, totalling a maximum of two (2) invited players. Players with a personal right, according to FIDE rules, will also be accepted as invited players. The registration should be sent to: fideworldjunior2022@gmail.com Below you can find the complete schedule and regulations: Schedule: Regulations for FIDE World Junior Championship 2022 (pdf) Official website: fideworldjunior2022.com/
Champions Showdown Chess 9LX: Day 1 Recap
The 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX kicked off today with an elite 10-player rapid round-robin featuring Chess960 (Fischer Random), a rich variant where the starting arrangement of the pieces is shuffled on the back rank. After the first day of action, 2022 FIDE Candidates winner Ian Nepomniachtchi leads the field with a perfect 3/3 score, while 2018 World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana is currently in clear second with 2.5/3. Also taking part in the event is legendary 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov, who along with 8-time Russian Champion Peter Svidler had a difficult start, failing to score any points on the first day. ROUND 1 Round 1 – Starting Position The first round saw three decisive outcomes as Nepomniachtchi took advantage of a blunder by Svidler to win an exchange, while Aronian found a small trick in the endgame to defeat Kasparov. The best game of the round was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov’s win over Hikaru Nakamura, where ‘Shakh’ sacrificed an exchange for long term control over the light squares, eventually culminating with a direct mating attack. After 22.Nd4, Mamedyarov found the powerful 22…Rxd4! 23.cxd4 a4-+ and soon tore apart White’s queenside. | 0-1, 28 moves Mamedyarov scored an even 1.5/3 on the first day. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ROUND 2 Round 2 – Starting Position The second round was even bloodier than the first, with all five games ending decisively. Nepomniachtchi continued his run when Aronian grabbed a risky pawn and ended up blundering into a queen trap shortly thereafter. After 18.Qf6!, threatening both Ng4-h6 and Reb1, with no defense for Black. | 1-0, 35 moves Kasparov was ‘playing for two results’ against Nakamura, with an extra pawn in a queen and opposite-coloured bishop endgame, but in severe time trouble hung his bishop to a fork, losing the game. Meanwhile, Firouzja, Caruana, and last year’s Chess 9LX champion Leinier Dominguez all scored their first wins of the event. The 13th World Champion had chances in every game but ultimately struggled under time pressure. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ROUND 3 Round 3 – Starting Position The final round of the day started out with a bang, as Nepomniachtchi won his third straight game in style, beating Nakamura in 19 moves thanks to his huge lead in development. After 13…Ra6!, Black’s initiative became overwhelming. | 0-1, 19 moves Ian was simply on fire today. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes In the meantime, Caruana managed to break into second place with a time scramble win over Kasparov, and Aronian earned his second point of the day as he successfully prevented Dominguez from getting his pieces out. Lastly, Wesley So collected his first win, after correctly simplifying into a winning king and pawn endgame against Svidler. Using 46 seconds out of his remaining 1:06, So found a clean path with 35…Bxb6! 36.Qxb6 Bxd3 37.cxd3 Qc6+ 38.Qxc6 bxc6-+, with a completely winning king & pawn endgame. | 0-1, 44 moves Despite beating Kasparov, Nakamura had a tough first day, finishing on 1.0/3. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ULTIMATE MOVES Taking place in between the Sinquefield Cup and the Champions Showdown was the yearly Ultimate Moves exhibition, a fun rapid event filled with banter that featured Saint Louis Chess Club founder Rex Sinquefield taking on John Beckstead of Edward Jones, as they teamed up with five world-class players each. Svidler makes a move against Nepomniachtchi. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Team Rex consisted of Aronian, Caruana, Mamedyarov, Dominguez, and Svidler, while Team John included Kasparov, Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja, So, and Nakamura, as the players took turns playing five moves each in a four-game rapid match. Team John won Rounds 1 and 3 playing Black, while Team Rex won Round 2. But in the final game, Team John managed to draw by repetition to clinch the match 2.5-1.5 in their favour. Rex vs. John had a particularly exciting finish. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX continues Thursday, September 15, starting at 1:50 PM CT. Tune in to watch WGM Anastasiya Karlovich, GM Yasser Seirawan, & GM Cristian Chirila provide live commentary on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Dates & Location: September 14 – September 16, 2022Saint Louis Chess Club Livestream:USChessChamps.ComYouTube: @STLChessClub | Twitch.tv: @STLChessClub Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClubInstagram: @STLChessClub | Facebook: @STLChessClub#ChampionsShowdown #Chess9LX #STLChessClub Press Contact:Rebecca Buffingtonrbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org Photo Credits:Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr Saint Louis Chess Club | Building Champions4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | (314) 361.CHESS (2437)
Second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners: Registration deadline approaches
58 teams representing 32 countries have already registered for the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners, scheduled for October 13-14, 2022, on the International Day of Education in Prison. Correctional facilities for male, female and youth inmates from Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and the USA field their teams made of amateur chess players for whom the game became not just a hobby but strong motivation to change for the better. In some prisons teaching inmates to play chess has been done for many years, in others, the first Intercontinental tournament for prisoners held by FIDE, jointly with Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff’s office in October 2021, gave an impetus to bring chess classes to correctional facilities. The Argentina chess federation (FADA) started its cooperation with SENAF (National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family) in 2021, bringing chess classes to prisons and correctional institutions for children under 18 years of age. Currently, the initiative is implemented in 20 schools for troubled youth throughout the country. “We have noticed that the behaviour of prisoners changed. Sometimes instead of solving their problems and conflicts through violence, they decide to have a game of chess to resolve a dispute,” says Hector Flori, General Coordinator of the project, FADA Secretary. “With a view to this tournament, a national qualifying event was held on September 14, and the winners will receive, in addition to the weekly formal classes of the project, a special training by the teachers of the school of high performance of FADA. It is a great challenge for us to play in this event again.” In addition to the tournament itself, the live broadcast of the championship will include many guests – ambassadors of Chess in Prisons initiatives from different countries, chess teachers for inmates and at-risk communities, ex-convicts whose lives changed after being introduced to chess. One of them is Simosakhe Ngwane from South Africa, an ex-prisoner who learned to play chess while in jail. He came back to normal life and became a role model for many at-risk children in his country. “I hope the program expands into schools as well because that’s where our kids start making mistakes. Even myself. If I’ve learned how to play chess in school, I wouldn’t have made some mistakes in my life,” he says. To make his dream to help youngsters come true, Ngwane organized chess classes for kids in his hometown Molweni. Even though sometimes there are not enough chess boards, clocks and tables for students, the number of kind who want to start playing chess keeps growing. “Crime is easy when you are young. That’s the reality. You don’t think of consequences until it’s too late. Playing chess develops a positive attitude. The simple rule of chess “Touch is a move” brings discipline and calmness. It teaches you to wait, to think, and to prepare before you make a decision,” Ngwane adds. The registration for the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners is open until September 21, 2022. Participation is free of charge. Tournament regulations (pdf) Registration form