Philippines and Mongolia win Intercontinental Championship for Prisoners
Teams of the Philippines and Mongolia became the champions of the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners after winning the final of the biggest-ever chess event among correctional facilities. The tournament was organized by FIDE and the Cook County (Chicago, IL, USA) Sheriff’s Office and coincided with the International Day of Education in Prison. The men’s section saw two matches: Colombia and the Philippines fought for gold, while El Salvador and India competed for the bronze medals. The Philippines won both their matches against Colombia (2.5-1.5 and 3-1) in the final and came out on top. The victory came as a result of the hard work of both players and prison officials. A year ago, the team finished 5th in the inaugural event. When preparing for the second championship, prisoners were trained by some Philippines’ strong chess masters, including Winston Silva, Shrihaan Poddar and Jail officer 1 Cedrix B Cabangal. Players worked on chess every day, watching videos and chess tutorials and analyzing their games. In the match for bronze, India prevailed over El Salvador. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich attended the online closing ceremony of the 2nd Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners and congratulated the finalists: “I would like to congratulate all participants, all teams, and everyone who was involved. I hope you enjoyed playing, representing your countries and, most importantly, that you improved your skills by learning and playing chess and communicating with other people. We all hope that at some moment of your life, you will be free to make your own choices, and chess will help you to make those choices rationally.” Final matches in men’s and women’s competitions ran concurrently. The Women’s final between Mongolia and Serbia ended with a victory for Mongolian team; Serbia claimed silver medals. The women’s match for third place between England and Trinidad and Tobago was not played due to technical reasons. Both teams shared third place. It is the second gold medal of the Intercontinental Championship for Prisoners under team Mongolia’s belt. A year ago, the country won gold in the open competition of the inaugural event. It was hardly a big surprise, as Mongolia has a long-standing tradition of teaching chess in prisons. Since 1956 chess tournaments have been organized in all correctional units of the country. The winners were greeted by the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola: “I think that the fact that this is already the second year when we see the gold medals being awarded to Mongolian teams is proof of their dedication to Chess in Prisons programme that has been already running in Mongolia for decades. There’s no easy way to success; you have to work a lot and invest a lot of time and resources. My congratulations also to the other teams that participated. My understanding is that even though there are only three medals in each competition, you’re all the winners. You have increased your stress resistance and experience, strengthened your team spirit, and you have represented your country in this great event.” In the youth section, the winners were determined on Friday, October 14. Team Serbia lifted the trophy after defeating England in the final. The bronze medal went to team Ecuador. The three-day tournament aimed to popularize chess as an efficient tool for reintegrating incarcerated people stretched over five days from October 13-17, 2022. The event attracted 85+ teams from 46 countries representing all continents, providing an opportunity for inmates to play with their peers across the globe.
FIDE World Junior Chess Championship passes midpoint
The 2022 edition of the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship in Palmasera Resort in Cala Gonone, Sardinia, crossed the halfway mark. After six rounds of play, the participants enjoy a much-needed day off. The organizers prepared various entertainment events for the players, such as Gulf Tour – a wonderful excursion along the coast of Cala Gonone, and the Jeep Excursion – a more extreme option of going to the mountains. In the open section, as many as thirteen participants were heading in Round 6 with 4/5, but after some clashes on the top boards, the leading group dwindled to just four players tied for first place. Frederik Svane, Nikolozi Kacharava (pictured above), Adam Kozak and Batsuren Dambasuren scored important victories and now share first place. A large group that includes the rating-favourite Andrey Esipenko is trailing by a half-point. Since most of the players at the top have not faced each other yet, we can expect some exciting battles at the final stretch. Top 10 after Round 6: 1 Svane, Frederik GER 2566 5 2 Kacharava, Nikolozi GEO 2512 5 3 Kozak, Adam HUN 2516 5 4 Batsuren, Dambasuren MGL 2522 5 5 Gadimbayli, Abdulla AZE 2499 4½ 6 Isik, Alparslan TUR 2377 4½ 7 Esipenko, Andrey FID 2668 4½ 8 Sonis, Francesco ITA 2531 4½ 9 Ivic, Velimir SRB 2553 4½ 10 Horvath, Dominik AUT 2505 4½ The girls section has also been a close affair, with Govhar Beydullayeva leading the field sitting on 5.5/6, just a half-point ahead of Meruert Kamalidenova, Nurgyul Salimova, and Assel Serikbay tied for second place. With five rounds to go, this tournament seems wide open as well. An unfortunate incident occurred towards the end of Round 6. During a routine check, one of the players, Priyanka Nutakki, was found to have a pair of earbuds in her jacket pocket. While there is no indication of foul play on her part, earbuds are strictly forbidden at the playing hall. Carrying these devices during a game is a violation of fair play policies, and it is penalized with the loss of the game and expulsion from the tournament. The point scored by Nutakki in Round 6 has been awarded to her rival, Govhar Beydullayeva. The Indian delegation filed an appeal, but the Appeals Committee reconfirmed the decision. Top 10 after Round 6: 1 Beydullayeva Govhar AZE 2356 5½ 2 Kamalidenova Meruert KAZ 2376 5 3 Salimova Nurgyul BUL 2415 5 4 Serikbay Assel KAZ 2181 5 5 Urh Zala SLO 2221 4½ 6 Schneider Jana GER 2331 4½ 7 Kurmangaliyeva Liya KAZ 2199 4½ 8 Hrebenshchykova Yelyzaveta UKR 2268 4 9 Ouellet Maili-Jade CAN 2177 4 10 Schulze Lara GER 2266 4 Photo: Przemek Nikiel Official website: fideworldjunior2022.com