Women’s Grand Prix 2022-2023 officially opened
The opening ceremony of the 2022-2023 Kazakhstan leg of the Women’s Grand Prix was held this evening at the Astana International Financial Centre. Pending the President’s discretion, the capital Nur-Sultan will very soon be renamed back to Astana after yesterday’s Parliament session endorsed the draft law on the constitutional amendment. Side by side in the front row with the authorities, arbiters and other officials, eleven of the twelve players – India’s Vaishali hadn’t arrived at the time – enjoyed a series of traditional dances and musical performances that enlivened the 30-minute evening ceremony. The Minister of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, Dauren Abayev, welcomed all the participants to the Nur-Sultan Gran Prix and thanked FIDE for the opportunity to organize the tournament with the two best Kazakh players. Berik Balgabayev, an adviser to the FIDE president, read a welcoming letter from Arkady Dvorkovich himself. “It’s not the first time that Kazakhstan has become the host of top chess tournaments, and I am fully confident that the Grand Prix will be held at the highest level and will be the force of continuation of chess traditions in the region”. The President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Galim Khusainov, expressed his gratitude to all the members of the event, with special thanks to the Ministry of Culture and Sports for their ongoing support. He also manifested that one of the aims was to showcase their national traditions and customs. Finally, the chief arbiter of the event, IA Hamid Bin Abd Majid, took the stage with one of the most applauded sentences of the night. “It’s a great honour for me to be here. It seems quite appropriate for Nur-Sultan to be the host – Minister, you have a really beautiful city!” After the inauguration, the organizing team met up with the players to go over the rules and regulations and answer any relevant questions in preparation for the first round, which will start on September 18th at 3 pm. As per rules, players of the same federation will face each. There is no doubt that the clash between the two Kazakh players, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Zhansaya Abdumalik, will be one of the highlights of the day. Another very interesting game will be the encounter between the two Chinese players: Zhu Jiner defeated the world’s number one women player Hou Yifan a few days ago in the Chinese League. Round 1 pairings: 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) Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Astana Photo: Anna Shtourman
Fabiano Caruana wins 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX
Fabiano Caruana was crowned the winner of the 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX after defeating Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon during their rapid playoff match. The victory capped off an incredible day for Caruana, who won his final three games in regulation to finish with 6.5/9 and catch Firouzja to force a playoff tiebreaker. For Firouzja, it was a mildly disappointing conclusion but, nevertheless, a stellar result to end his campaign in Saint Louis, where he won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and overall Grand Chess Tour. Sharing third place were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who both ended on 6.0/8, while 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov could not turn his luck around–despite several promising positions throughout the event, he eventually finished with 0.5/9. Kasparov: “I think there were very high expectations after my performance last year here, but last year I did some chess. This year when I arrived here, I just realized that I didn’t play chess, over the board, for a year. And obviously the latest events in Europe, and all the war in Ukraine consumed my energy and attention. Some games here made me feel really good but, of course, I wanted to do better.” ROUND 7 Round 7 – Starting Position Going into the round, all eyes were on Firouzja and Mamedyarov, who entered the day as co-leaders. Firouzja built up a decisive advantage against Svidler by grabbing material early on and getting away with it, but could not sort through the complications after a desperate rook sacrifice by Svidler, and in massive time trouble settled for a draw by repetition. In Mamedyarov’s case, after squandering a huge advantage to end up in a drawn knight vs. bishop endgame against Dominguez, he managed to pose just enough problems to induce a game-losing blunder and take the sole lead. 81…Be6? was the losing mistake, as after 82.c7! Black could no longer prevent Ne7, followed by promoting the c-pawn. Mamedyarov led after seven rounds but just ran out of steam at the end. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ROUND 9 Round 8 – Starting Position The penultimate round saw the standings flip as Mamedyarov’s four-game winning streak was snapped by Svidler, who took advantage of a blunder to win an exchange, while Firouzja beat Aronian with Black to overtake the sole lead. This meant that going into the last round, Firouzja would have a half-point lead ahead of Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi, and Caruana, who had just won his second game of the day, defeating Nakamura. After 27…f3, Firouzja’s kingside pawns were simply too strong. | 0-1, 43 moves Firouzja won literally everything in Saint Louis, taking home well over $300,000 in prize money. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes ROUND 9 Round 9 – Starting Position The final round saw lots of drama as three players (Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi, Caruana) were all chasing Firouzja, who had White against Nakamura. At first, Firouzja was in a bit of trouble out of the opening but managed to stabilize and eventually push a bit in the endgame, which was ultimately drawn. Neither Mamedyarov nor Nepomniactchi were able to win their games, but Caruana continued his excellent form with a win over So, catching up to Firouzja and forcing a rapid playoff. After 35.Be5, Caruana’s powerful dark-squared bishop and passed pawn on g7 secured a decisive advantage. | 1-0, 46 moves An insane comeback day for Caruana, who entered the day thinking he had no chances. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes PLAYOFF The playoff featured Caruana and Firouzja battling it out in a 2 game, 10+2 match, playing the same randomized starting position with both colours. The first game saw Firouzja much worse as White out of the opening, but a later knight sacrifice blew the game wide open. A wild time scramble then ensued, with Caruana emerging as the winner after Firouzja blundered into a direct mate: 37…Ba3+ forced resignation, as 38.Kb3 would walk into either …Qb5# or …a4# In the second game, Firouzja stroke back, forcing an Armageddon, after Caruana accidentally got his queen stuck behind enemy lines: After 13…c4, White’s queen was simply stuck on the queenside, with no way to get back. | 0-1, 31 moves Winning the Armageddon toss was Caruana, who chose to play White in the final game, receiving 5 minutes against 4 minutes along with draw odds for Firouzja. At first, it seemed like Firouzja would hold without any issues after forcing an equal endgame, but a mistake allowed Caruana to snag an extra pawn thanks to a knight fork. With two knights each, Firouzja still had serious drawing chances if he managed to exchange off all the pawns, but one last pawn was all Caruana needed to convert the advantage, as he finished the game with a nice zugzwang: After 62.Nf6!, Black was in zugzwang and had to resign. “Even though it was a total mess of a playoff, and it was super difficult, and honestly I was very lucky in the Armageddon, and also in the first game, still I feel very happy,” said Caruana in the post-game interview. The final handshake. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes 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)
Winners crowned at World Youth U14, U16, and U18 Championships
The curtain fell on the World Youth Chess Championship 2022 in Mamaia, Romania. After 11 days of chess battles among 620 participants, we got new world champions, young heroes for whom this step may be a turning point in future professional chess careers. WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan (ARM, Girls-U18), who achieved an unprecedented score of 11/11, was deservedly in the spotlight. Mariam convincingly won gold in her category with two rounds to spare. At the closing ceremony, in addition to speeches by officials and sponsor representatives, the organizers also prepared an interesting cultural and artistic program. After that, trophies, medals, certificates and gift packages were awarded to the three top finishers in all categories by representatives of FIDE, organizers, sponsors and arbiters. National chess federations also competed for the titles in the team standings. The first place trophy went to India with two golds, Kazakhstan came second with one gold, one silver, and one bronze, Armenia with one gold medal is third, thanks to the best performance by Mariam Mkrtchyan in the Girls-U18 category. Here are all the winners: OPEN-U14 (138 participants) 1. Ilamparthi A R (IND) 9.5 points 2. FM Seemann Jakub (POL) 9 points 3. IM Ansat Aldiyar (KAZ) 8.5 points Girls-U14 (96 participants) 1. WCM Nurgaliyeva Zarina (KAZ) 9 points 2. Peglau Charis (GER) 8.5 points 3. WFM Shvedova Alexandra (FID) 8.5 points OPEN-U16 (111 participants) 1. IM Pranav Anand (IND) 9 points 2. Lutsko Artem (UKR) 8.5 points 3. FM Droin Augustin (FRA) 8.5 points Girls-U16 (87 participants) 1. WFM Munkhzul Davaakhuu (MGL) 8.5 points 2. WCM Nguyen Hong Nhung (VIE) 8.5 points 3. FM Van Foreest Machteld (NED) 8.5 points OPEN-U18 (109 participants) 1. IM Rodrigue-Lemieux Shawn (CAN) 9 points 2. FM Nogerbek Kazybek (KAZ) 8 points 3. FM Fromm Marius (GER) 8 points Girls-U18 (79 participants) 1. WIM Mkrtchyan Mariam (ARM) 11 points 2. WFM Allahverdiyeva Ayan (AZE) 8.5 points 3. WFM Wikar Martyna (POL) 8 points Photo: Mark Livshitz Official website: worldyouth2022.com/