FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022: Registration deadline extended
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IMPORTANT UPDATE: The registration deadline is extended to December 12, 2022 12:00 CET. The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from December 25-31 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, the arena that has hosted many international sports competitions as well as live concerts and various shows. Eligible players, accompanying persons, FIDE Principals and arbiters are invited to register via the following link. Please select from the menu the event you are going to participate in. If you want to participate in both Rapid and Blitz, please tick both boxes. When applying for press accreditation, please fill out the following form. The accreditations will be issued in accordance with the FIDE Media accreditation policy. Tournament schedule: December 25 — Opening Ceremony December 26-28 — Rapid competitions December 29-30 — Blitz competitions and Closing Ceremony Upon completing the registration process, each player will receive an invoice to be paid by 12:00 PM Lausanne time on December 12, 2022. Baluan Sholak Sports Palace | Photo: Baluan Sholak Sports Palace Facebook page Registration will automatically be validated upon receiving the payment. Players are expected to read the tournament regulations before starting the registration process. Regulations for FIDE Open Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf) Regulations for FIDE Women’s Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf) Open tournaments eligibility: – Players rated at least 2550 in any of the twelve FIDE rating lists 2022 (Standard, Rapid or Blitz); – Reigning National Champions (in Standard, Rapid, Blitz) representing their National Federation regardless of their title or rating; – Ten players nominated by FIDE President; – The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 15 additional players of his/her own choice. Women’s tournaments eligibility: – Players rated at least 2250 in any of the twelve FIDE rating lists 2022 (Standard, Rapid or Blitz); – Reigning National Champions (in Standard, Rapid, Blitz) representing Member Federations regardless of their title or rating; – Ten players nominated by FIDE President; – The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 10 additional players of his/her own choice. The Reigning National Champions should send proof of their titles via their National Federations to worldrapidandblitz@fide.com in order to be accepted. Official hotels Participants can stay in the following official hotels: 1) Double Tree by Hilton 4*. Address: 115 Dosmukhamedov Street, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan (1,3 km from the playing venue) – for invited players only Photo: booking.com 2) Rixos 5*. Address: Seifullina Street 506/99, 050012 Almaty, Kazakhstan (3,6 km from the playing venue) – for invited players + other players Hotel rates: Single accommodation (One person per room) – KZT 55,000 Double accommodation (Two persons per room) – KZT 62,000 Photo: booking.com Lunch – KZT 14,000 Dinner – KZT 19,000 3) Holiday Inn Express 3*. Address: Seyfullin Avenue 050067 Almaty, Kazakhstan (1,5 km from the playing venue) – for all players Hotel rates: Single accommodation (One person per room) – KZT 22,400 Double accommodation (Two persons per room) – KZT 29,120 Photo: ihg.com/ Lunch – KZT 8,000 Dinner – KZT 8,000 If you have any questions regarding the registration process, feel free to contact the Organiser via email: worldrapidandblitz@fide.com About the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship The World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships and the Women’s World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships have been held annually since 2012. In rapid chess, each player begins the game with 15 minutes, and 10 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move. In blitz chess, each player begins the game with 3 minutes, and 2 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move. The reigning world champions of the event are: Rapid: Open – Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) Women – Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE) Blitz: Open – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) Women – Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) The total prize fund is 1 million USD dollars, with 700,000 USD going to the open championships and 300,000 USD to the women’s championships. The event is made possible thanks to the agreement with Freedom Finance, which becomes a General Sponsor of the event. Freedom Finance Investment Company is an investment company that is a part of Freedom Holdings (Nevada, USA), trading symbol FRHC. The company is engaged in investment banking, asset management, and capital markets services. Freedom Holdings owns the Kazakh bank Freedom Finance, the online store Freedom24 and the Kazakhstani broker Freedom Finance JSC, among other assets.
FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships: Preliminary lists of participants
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The preliminary lists of participants of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship and the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship have been published. The events will be held from December 25-31 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 149 players will compete in the open tournaments, and there will be 93 participants in the women’s event. The rating favourites of the open event are the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen (representing Norway, rated 2859 in the December list), Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2768), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2766), Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 2793), Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2764), Alexander Grischuk (FIDE, 2745), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2740), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland, 2729), Yu Yangyi (China, 2728), the defendings champions Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France, 2737 – Blitz) alongside many other well-known chess players from all over the world. The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship will feature Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2584), Kateryna Lagno (FIDE, 2563), Humpy Koneru (India, 2572), Tan Zhongyi (China, 2518), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2517), Harika Dronavalli (India, 2507), Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan, 2496), Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran, 2490), Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria, 2442), the reigning champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE, 2520 – Rapid) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan, 2440) as well as many other chess stars. The final lists of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship and the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship will be published after the end of the registration process (December 12, 12:00 CET). Preliminary players lists: Rapid Open: https://chess-results.com/tnr706381.aspx Rapid Women: https://chess-results.com/tnr706382.aspx Blitz Open: https://chess-results.com/tnr706383.aspx Blitz Women: https://chess-results.com/tnr706384.aspx Registration link: worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/registration/ The event is made possible thanks to the agreement with Freedom Finance, which becomes a General Sponsor of the event. Freedom Broker is an investment company and a stockbroker. Provides access to NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, HKEX and other largest stock exchanges on the planet. On global scale, it is a part of the Freedom Holding Corp. group of companies. The Holding’s shares are traded in New York at Nasdaq Capital Market under FRHC ticker. Freedom Holding Corp. operates in 15 countries: USA, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaidjan, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, the UK, Spain, France, Germany, UAE and Turkey. More information about the championships, including schedule and tickets, can be found on the official website of the event: worldrapidandblitz.fide.com
Women’s Candidates semifinal: Winless draught continues
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At least from the outside, it looks like each day that goes by brings the tiebreak forward. Both players seem to be in a “no risk” control mode: solid openings, symmetrical pawn structures, and, above all, the avoidance of mistakes. With only one classical game to go, it will be very difficult to recover from a loss. The third game of the 2022 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, Pool B, ended again in a draw after forty-five moves, although after the exchange of queen’s on move twenty-eight, it could already be seen coming. Playing with White, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina opened once again with 1.d4, but this time GM Tan Zhongyi shelved her beloved Queen’s Gambit Declined and resorted to the solid Bogo-Indian defence, intelligently sidestepping team Goyrachkina’s opening preparation. I couldn’t find that many top-level games with the Bogo-Indian in her broad repertoire, but I did happen to notice that she recently drew a game against non-other than former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, in the Crocus City Stars Blitz, in Krasnogorsk Moscow 2022. In that game, Goryachkina went for the main line 4.Bd2, whereas today, after a brief moment of thought, she preferred 4.Nbd2. After 4…d5, the main line is 5.Qa4+, which scores quite well for White, according to the database. Goryachkina thought for five minutes before playing the uneventful 5.e3, a solid move that unfortunately doesn’t pack the same punch. Tan Zhongyi finished her development quite easily and played 11…c5 equalizing pawn lever without any trouble at all. It’s quite challenging to find a moment where Goryachkina could have tried something more incisive: the position is just too symmetrical and equal. After a few well-timed piece exchanges, the position petered out into a completely drawn double-bishop ending. Visibly disappointed, Goryachkina was sparing with her words in the post-game interview with Press Officer Anna Kantane. “I don’t have much to say. Indeed, she played very quickly, but if I am unable to cause any problems, there is not much to think about”. When asked about her plans for the future, Tan Zhongyi mentioned that she might stay a few more days in Khiva after the event: “This is my first time in Uzbekistan. I think I will have a chance to enjoy the scenery here after I finish the tournament, because I may not return home actually. I will go to Kazakhstan for the World Blitz and Rapid Championship, so I’ll stay around until then!” The players will return to the venue for the fourth and final classical game tomorrow Saturday, December 10th at 3 pm. It can be followed live with expert grandmaster commentary on the FIDE YouTube channel. FIDE Women’s Cadidates format and prizes Under the new knock-out format, players in each of the two brackets or “pools” will play a four-game match (plus tie-breaks, if needed) in order to advance to the next stage, with the final match being played over the distance of six games. The prize fund for this pool is €70,000, while another €110,000 will be at stake in the Women’s Candidates Final, raising the total to a record-breaking amount of €250,000. Khiva Established around 1500 years ago and currently housing a population of more than 90,000 people, Khiva is the former capital of Khwarezmia, and one of the three Uzbekistan historical cities on the Silk Road. The inner town, Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th century. Mosques, madrassahs, and minarets are the present-day must-see highlights of the city. OFFICIAL WEBSITE: womenscandidates.fide.com/ There is also a Flickr official page from where you can download the photos in high resolution. Text: IM Michael Rahal Photo: Timur Sattarov