World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022 Press Conference: All set in Almaty
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship is due to start on December 25th in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Eleven days before the opening ceremony, a press conference has been held in the host city. Speakers at the press conference were FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich (via video link), Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zharasbayev, Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) Darmen Sadvakasov, KCF Executive Director Gulmira Dauletova and Yerden Khairullin, head of the Almaty Sports Department. Arkady Dvorkovich, who joined the press conference via Zoom, thanked the city authorities and FIDE’s partners from Kazakhstan for holding the tournament: “We are glad that the competition has not disappeared from the calendar this year, and that almost 300 people, the world’s leading grandmasters – both men and women – have already registered to participate in the Championships.” The icing on the cake Dvorkovich described the event as the “icing on the cake in the 2022 FIDE calendar” adding that 95% of the world’s top chess players will take part in the tournament, including world champion Magnus Carlsen and almost all the players from the world’s Top 10. This applies to both men and women. “We are looking forward to the event and we hope that everyone will follow the Championships on TV, over the Internet and, of course, in the hospitable city of Almaty,” Dvorkovich said. The President of FIDE also shared his views on the chess scene in Kazakhstan. “We believe that Kazakhstan is becoming one of the world’s leading chess centres. Success in women’s chess is higher than in men’s… We consider it important that a large number of Kazakhstan players will be able to take part in the championship as representatives of the host country. And, once again, I want to thank our partners. I am glad that organizations in Kazakhstan are striving to support chess,” Dvorkovich concluded. A historic event for Kazakhstan Serik Zharasbayev, Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, emphasised the importance of the highest-level competition for the country and invited chess fans to follow the tournament and support the players. “This is a huge event. For the first time in the history of independent Kazakhstan, the World Rapid and Blitz Championship is taking place here. The national women’s and men’s teams will take part in the World Championship and try their luck. I invite everyone to support our players,” said Zharasbayev. Kazakhstan’s chess boom Gulmira Dauletova, Executive Director of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, noted that the host country of the World Rapid and Blitz Championship can nominate 15 men and 10 women as participants. She highlighted that the country’s national women’s team currently shows better results than the men’s. Right now, Zhansaya Abdumalik, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Dinara Saduakasova are preparing with their coaches. In addition, there are talented young players under 14 years of age in our team, for example, world champion Meruert Kamalidenova, Amina Kairbekova, Assel Serikbay and Nazerke Nurgali, said Dauletova. Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Darmen Sadvakasov stated that in the last 12 years a chess boom has continued in Kazakhstan. “There are many good results in women’s chess and the youth category. The work is going on. Our main task now is to hold the World Rapid & Blitz Championship in Almaty. We are very grateful to FIDE and Arkady Dvorkovich personally for giving us the right to hold this prestigious tournament.” Thousands of girls and boys across the country will closely follow the competition, Sadvakasov said. “Some will come to see all the world’s chess stars in person. When I was a boy, it was an impossible dream for me to personally see the world’s leading chess players, and maybe even get an autograph. For our younger generation, these conditions are created, and we believe that the championship will be a great impetus for the further development of chess in our country,” added the Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. Almaty ready for the big event Yerden Khairullin, head of the Almaty Sports Department, said the city is ready for the competition. “In the city of Almaty, we are ready to host such a large-scale event. If there are 300 players from 70 countries, we will accept them all. The infrastructure is 100 percent ready,” assured Mr Khairullin. The press conference was held on December 14 at the Central Communications Service under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. About the event: The World Championship is held by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation together with the International Chess Federation and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, as well as the Akimat of the city of Almaty. Over 300 elite chess players from 50 countries are expected to attend the event. The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from December 25-31 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace. Tournament schedule: December 25 — Opening CeremonyDecember 26-28 — Rapid competitionsDecember 29-30 — Blitz competitions and Closing Ceremony The total prize fund is one million USD dollars, with 700,000 USD going to the open championships and 300,000 USD to the women’s championships. More information about the championships, including schedule and tickets, can be found on the official website of the event: https://worldrapidandblitz2022.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) Official website: worldrapidandblitz2022.fide.com/
Hungarian Championship: Péter Prohászka and Zsuzsanna Terbe win titles
GM Péter Prohászka and WFM Zsuzsanna Terbe are the new Hungarian chess champions. Péter became the national champion for the first time, while Zsuzsanna successfully defended the title she had won back in 2021. The 66th women’s and 71st open chess championships took place in Budapest from December 05-13. Both events were 10-player round-robin tournaments with classical time control. A win was worth 3 points, while a draw – just 1 point. Péter Prohászka started slowly with two draws (including one in the game vs Adam Kozak, in which he was completely lost at some point) but then scored two victories in a row and grabbed the lead. Sergey Grigoriants, who made his debut in the Hungarian championship, caught up with the leader after Round 8, and it all came down to the final 9th round. Sergey made a quick draw with Adam Kozak, while Peter rose to the occasion and beat Bence Korpa to clinch his maiden national title. Grigoriants finished second, Adam Kozak took bronze. Final standings: 1 Prohaszka Peter 2563 17 2 Grigoriants Sergey 2553 15 3 Kozak Adam 2549 13 4 Berkes Ferenc 2645 11 5 Nagy Gabor 2488 11 6 Horvath Csaba 2501 10 7 Korpa Bence 2516 9 8 Fodor Tamas Jr. 2506 9 9 Papp Gabor 2557 8 10 Horvath Adam 2485 5 The women’s event was quite a different scenario as the defending champion Zsuzsanna Terbe began with four draws but then reeled off four straight victories and clinched her second national title with a round to spare. The highest-rated player in the event Julianna Terbe finished two points behind the champion and took silver. Bolgarka Erdos had an abysmal start suffering two straight defeats but finished strong, beating the champion in the final round to tie for third place with Kata Karacsonyi and Hanna Krisztina Ivan-Gal. The bronze medal goes to Erdos, thanks to a greater number of victories. Final standings: 1 WFM Terbe Zsuzsanna 2151 16 2 WIM Terbe Julianna 2283 14 3 WFM Erdos Boglarka 2157 13 4 WFM Karacsonyi Kata 2161 13 5 WFM Ivan-Gal Hanna Krisztina 2161 13 6 WFM Demeter Dorina 2174 12 7 WIM Mihok-Juhasz Barbara 2224 9 8 WIM Havanecz Bianka 2202 9 9 WFM Szente-Varga Fruzsina 2071 8 10 WIM Dudas Eszter 2112 8 Photo: sakkblog.reblog.hu/ Official website: chess.hu/
Gorshtein and Shvayger win 2022 Israeli Championship
IM Ido Gorshtein and IM Yuliya Shvayger emerged as the winners of the 2022 Israeli Chess Championship. Held by the Israel Chess Association in collaboration with the Lottery and the Municipality of Arad, the 2022 Israeli Championship (open and women sections) took place in Arad from December 2-13. Arad (not to confuse with the Romanian city Arad) is located on the border of the Negev and the Judean Deserts, 25 kilometers west of the Dead Sea and 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of the city of Beer Sheba. Both events were Swiss tournaments with classical time control. 32 players, including 7 GMs, 9 IMs and 11 FMs competed in a 9 Swiss rounds open category, which saw an impressive success of the “young guns”. Ido Gorshtein took a blistering start in the open event, winning four straight games, including an important victory over the defending champion GM Tamir Nabaty in Round 2. After making draws in Rounds 5 and 6 with his main rivals FM Ori Kochavi and GM Avital Boruchovsky he pulled off another two wins and came to the final round a full point ahead of his closest competitor. The last game vs GM Victor Mikhalevsky was not a walk in the park for the future champion, but eventually, Gorshtein (pictured below) made a hard-fought draw and clinched his maiden national title with an excellent result of 7.5/9. Boruchovsky also split a point with Or Bronstein and allowed Ori Kochavi, who defeated Semen Dvoirys to catch up and tie for second place. The silver medal goes to Kochavi, thanks to better tiebreaks. All three medal-winners completed the event undefeated. Final standings: 1 IM Gorshtein, Ido 2469 7½ 2 FM Kochavi, Ori 2334 6½ 3 GM Boruchovsky, Avital 2547 6½ 4 IM Sokolovsky, Yahli 2415 6 5 IM Bronstein, Or 2442 5½ 6 GM Kobo, Ori 2553 5½ 7 GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2521 5½ 8 GM Zanan, Evgeny 2485 5½ 9 IM Gorodetzky, David 2495 5½ 10 FM Levin, Guy 2382 5 The women’s championship turned into an exciting race of two top-rated Israeli female players, the defending champion IM Yuliya Shvayger (pictured below) and IM Marsel Efroimski, dominating the field. It all came to an abrupt end in the penultimate round when Marsel, trailing Yulia by a half-point, suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of lower-rated Julia Kluchik. Heading into the final a full point ahead of her main rival, Shvayger made a quick draw and secured the title with an impressive score of 7.5/9. Efroimski finished a half-point behind and took silver. WFM Ronit Levitan netted 6.5/9 and earned bronze. Final standings: 1 IM Shvayger, Yuliya 2350 7½ 2 IM Efroimski, Marsel 2470 7 3 WFM Levitan, Ronit 1973 6½ 4 Kluchik, Julia 1887 5 5 Tashkinova, Sofiia 1919 4 6 Ovechkin, Lilia 1680 4 7 WFM Reprun, Nadejda 1979 3½ 8 Kochavi, Dana 2011 3 9 Orian, Noga 1949 3 10 Brusilovski, Lena 1800 1½ Photo: Dr. ML-Photo (Mark Livshitz) Official webpage: chess.org.il/