Wesley So set to defend his Fischer Random title
Wesley So already knows the complete list of players who will challenge him for the Fischer Random world title, which will be held in Reykjavik from 25–30 October. With a prize fund of USD 400,000, this is the second edition of the FIDE World Fischer Random Championship, a discipline officially recognized by the International Chess Federation in 2019. “I am so excited to be competing in Fischer Random again! And in Iceland! It couldn’t be more special than to compete in that particular place, defending my title against the best players in the world. To play in Reykjavik, fifty years after the match between Fischer and Spassky, gives it a historical perspective that cannot be matched,” commented Wesley So. Along with the reigning Champion in this variety of chess, 29-year-old Wesley So from the USA, the current World Champion and World’s number one in Classical Chess, Magnus Carlsen, will also compete. The Norwegian was automatically qualified as the runner-up in the previous edition, held in Oslo. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Fedoseev, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Matthias Blübaum and Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson complete the field for this interesting event, which will be broadcast live by NRK, the largest media organization in Norway, and RUV, Iceland’s major national broadcast company. These were their respective qualification paths: Wesley So (2774)2019 World Fischer Random Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen (2856)2019 World Fischer Random Chess Championship runner-up Vladimir Fedoseev (2688)Winner of the Online Knock-out Qualifier 1 at Chess.com Matthias Blübaum (2647)Winner of the Online Knock-out Qualifier 2 at Chess.com Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2713)Winner of the Online Knock-out Qualifier 1 at Lichess, organized by Offerspill Sjakklubb Hikaru Nakamura (2768)Winner of the Online Knock-out Qualifier 2 at Lichess, organized by Charlotte Chess Center, and the North American Corporate Chess League Ian Nepomniachtchi (2793)FIDE’s wildcard, as the third top finisher in the 2019 World Fischer Random Chess Championship and the world’s third highest-rated player Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson (2533)Wildcard from the local organizing committee as the strongest Icelandic Grandmaster. What is Fischer Random Chess? Fischer Random is a chess variant invented by legendary Bobby Fischer, 1972-75 World Chess Champion. The game’s rules are the same as standard chess, but the starting position of pieces is randomly shuffled. It reduces the impact of opening theory and makes players contemplate game development from the first moves. Regulations for the 2022 FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship (pdf)
“Chess in the Process of a Preschooler’s Development” online conference announced
On the initiative of FIDE Chess in Education Commission (EDU) and Chess Scientific Research Institute of Armenian State Pedagogical University, an International Online Conference, “Chess in the Process of a Preschooler’s Development”, will be held on December 10, 2022. The conference aims to discuss different approaches to teaching chess to preschoolers, focusing on chess as an educational tool for a child’s development. All interested people can participate in the conference evaluating chess in the field of preschool education. The main topics of the conference are: The methodology of teaching chess to a preschooler. Chess and kindergarten teachers’ training. The working languages of the conference are English and Spanish. All interested people can participate in the conference evaluating chess in the field of preschool education by registering online via the following link. The theses of the reports must be sent by November 20, 2022. The authors will be informed about the decision by the organizational committee by November 27, 2022. We would be glad to see you at our upcoming conference.
3rd FIDE Educational Seminar “Chess for children with ASD. Learn & teach” announced
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The resistration is extended until October 6, 2022 The International Chess Federation, with the support of the International Olympic Committee, FIDE Planning and Development Commission, and FIDE Social Commission, is pleased to announce the 3rd FIDE Educational Seminar “Chess for children with an autism spectrum disorder. Learn & teach”. The seminar will take place on October 9, 2022, from 12:00 to 15:00 CEST. The event follows the success of the previous two workshops held in 2021, which you can find on our YouTube channel (part 1 and part 2). Teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder positively impacts their communication abilities, speech, thinking, self-esteem and confidence. Speakers will present a unique training program they developed in 2021 and provide practical advice. The seminar aims to deliver core knowledge to potential chess teachers and coaches starting to work with children within our Infinite Chess project. In January 2021, a pilot project was launched in six countries: Spain, Turkey, France, Gibraltar, South Africa and Norway. In 2022 we’re planning on adding nine new partner countries: Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Albania, Latvia, and Morocco. The seminar is aimed first and foremost at the teachers from these new partner federations. However, we decided to make it open for everyone to benefit individual teachers or parents working with children with ASD. Speakers of the seminar will talk about the ways of teaching chess to children with autism spectrum disorder and explain their methodology covering the following topics: • What is autism spectrum disorder? • How to teach chess to children with autism? • How to prepare the classroom? What else to pay attention to? The list of speakers includes: Natalia Popova – WIM, FIDE Trainer, Trainer of the FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus, leader of the two-year-long project teaching chess to children with autistic spectrum disorder (FIDE); Ala Mishchanka – Special needs educational assistant, more than 15 years of experience (Canada); Evguenia Charomova – Bachelor of Science, Masters in speech therapy, Former New Zealand women’s chess champion, Speech-Language Therapist (New Zealand); Kanthi Devi Sarjoo – Speech and language therapist of the Brown’s School (South Africa); Sharon Whatley – Chess Coach & President of the Gibraltar Chess Association Ghost Writer and Author (Gibraltar); Karel van Delft – chess teacher, coach, chess organizer, writer, lecturer, Science Project Manager in Chessable science (The Netherlands). How to register: For registration, please, please fill out the form before September 30, 2022. On October 08, all the registered participants will receive the access link to the online seminar. All participants who successfully pass a test will get a certificate of attendance. For further inquiries, please contact: Infinitechess@yahoo.com Nadezhda Kravchuk, Project Coordinator Anastasia Sorokina, Project Leader