Brazilian Championship: Fier and Terao win titles
GM Alexandr Fier and FM Juliana Sayumi Terao are the new Brazilian chess champions. It is Alexandr’s fourth national title and sixth victory in a national championship for Juliana Saymi. The 88th Absolute Brazilian Championship and the 61st Brazilian Women’s Championship took place at the Hotel Jangadeiro in the city of Recife, capital of Pernambuco, from December 15-23. Both events were Swiss tournaments with classical time control. Just like last year, the rating favourites Alexandr Fier and the defending champion Luis Paolo Supi started strong, winning four straight games, but the latter fell to Diego Rafael Di Berardino, who grabbed the lead after Round 5. Fier, however, beat Di Berardino in Round 7 and pulled ahead. Coming into the final round a half-point ahead of three players tied for second place, Alexandr defeated Guimaraes Diogo Duarte with black pieces and clinched the title with an excellent score of 9.5/11. GM Yago De Moura Santiago and IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina finished a half-point behind the champion and shared second place. The silver medal goes to Santiago, thanks to a slightly better Buchholz. Final standings: 1 GM Fier Alexandr 2600 9½ 2 GM Santiago Yago De Moura 2458 9 3 IM Molina Roberto Junio Brito 2385 9 4 GM Lima Darcy 2424 8½ 5 IM Di Berardino Diego Rafael 2453 8 6 GM Matsuura Everaldo 2433 8 7 NM Do Nascimento Christian Almeida 2087 8 8 FM Gauche Charles 2221 8 9 NM Da Silva Erick Feitosa 1892 8 10 FM Alboredo Julia 2213 7½ The women’s championship saw the dominance of the rating favourite FM Juliana Sayumi Terao, who steamrolled her opponents, winning all nine games and securing the title with a round to spare. NM Ellen Larissa Bail netted 7/9 and won silver; the second-rated Kathie Goulart Librelato earned bronze. Final standings: 1 FM Terao Juliana Sayumi 2240 9 2 NM Bail Ellen Larissa 1875 7 3 WIM Librelato Kathie Goulart 2194 6½ 4 WFM Cincinato Thalita Ariane C. 1845 6 5 NM Tamarozi Isabelle 2005 5½ 6 Eger Laura Luisa 1791 5½ 7 Correa Lorenna Martins 1654 5½ 8 Miranda Marina Lima 1647 5 9 WCM Da Cunha Gabriela Goes 1687 5 10 WNM Brambilla Renee Blandy T. 1661 5 Official website: cbx.org.br/
FIDE Executive Director visits the Maldives
In mid-December, FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan visited the Republic of Maldives and had several productive meetings with the local authorities. First, the FIDE Executive Director met with the Minister of Youth Sports and Empowerment, Mr Ahmed Mahloof and the President of the Maldives Chess Association, Mr Hussain Shiyan. Victor Bologan thanked Minister Ahmed Maloof for his support for chess in the country and commended the dedication of the local chess executive team. During the meeting, various ways of developing chess in the Maldives were broadly discussed, including the implementation of a proper system for chess training, multiple approaches to taking players to the next level and strengthening chess relations with partners. Minister Ahmed Mahloof highlighted the importance of holding international chess events in the Maldives, which will attract new tourists to the popular archipelagic state. Victor Bologan spoke in detail about the FIDE structure and various social activities and projects FIDE has been carrying out over the recent years, such as Chess in Prison, Chess in School and Chess for Children with Special Needs. Minister Ahmed Mahloof stressed the importance of introducing Chess in Prison and Chess Schools (the projects are expected to be launched in the Maldives in 2023) and detailed the Sports Award in the Maldives, one of the most important local events. He also inquired about a possible visit by the FIDE President to the Maldives. The next stop was the Maldives Olympic Committee, where Victor Bologan met with the Senior Executive Team. Hussain Shiyan President of Maldives Chess Association, Board Member of the Maldives Olympic Committee, President of the Non-Olympic Sports at Maldives Olympic Committee; GM Victor Bologan, FIDE Executive Director; Mr Mohamed Abdul Sattar, President of the Maldives Olympic Committee; Mr Ahmed Ismail, Vice President of Maldives Olympic Committee; Mr. Mohamed Tholal, Vice President of the Maldives Olympic Committee; Thamooh Ahmed Saeed; Secretary General President of the Maldives Olympic Committee Mohamed Abdul Sattar welcomed GM Victor Bologan to the Maldives and underlined the importance of FIDE executives’ visiting small countries. FIDE Executive Director praised the Maldivian sports system and noted that some huge nations like the United Kingdom, the United States, and France had not included chess in Olympic Committee yet, whereas the Maldives already took chess under the Olympics umbrella. The parties also discussed the chess development in the Maldives and the important role the Maldives Olympic Committee has been playing in this process. Lastly, Victor Bologan gave a master class to the young players of the Maldives Chess Association and thanked Maldivians for their warm hospitality.
Rilton Cup announces cooperation with FIDE’s Fair Play Commission
FIDE’s Fair Play Commission (FPL) is helping the Stockholm Chess Federation with implementing fair play measures before and during the 50th edition of the Rilton Cup, Sweden’s biggest open chess tournament. The Secretary of the Fair Play Commission, Bojana Bejatovic, and Ana Srebrnič were appointed as the Fair Play Officers of the tournament. FIDE’s newly elected Fair Play Commission will hold its first commission meeting in Stockholm during the Rilton Cup on January 4 and 5. Also, the first live seminar to obtain Fair Play Expert norms will be held in Stockholm on the day after the Rilton Cup on January 6. “We sought out help from FIDE to assist us with the Fair Play”, said Birger Wenzel, Chairman of the Rilton Committee. “We are grateful that Fair Play Officers from FIDE are helping us to prepare for the tournament and that they will also be present during the event. We are learning so much from our ongoing conversations with Yuri Garrett and his team. We went from the stage of ‘unconsciously incompetent’ to ‘consciously incompetent’, but with the help of FIDE, we can hopefully soon become ‘consciously competent’ and ensure fair play not only at the Rilton Cup but also in all tournaments in Stockholm.” Yuri Garrett, Chairman of the FPL, added: “It was and is a joy to work with the Organizing Committee of the Rilton Cup. This is a team of very dedicated and experienced people who understand that prevention and best practices are vital in the fight for guaranteeing Fair Play at major events. I can’t wait to be in Stockholm with my team to lend a helping hand and contribute to the success of the event. And, if I can take this liberty, I would love to abuse of this space to ask all top organizers from all over the world to follow in the graceful steps of their Swedish colleagues.” The Rilton Cup is the first tournament to be part of FIDE’s new qualification path to the Candidate Tournament. The Deputy Chair of FIDE’s Management Board, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, commented: “The Rilton Cup is actually a unique tournament among the commercial/open events paying so serious attention to fair play measures and cooperating with FIDE FPL. Such an attitude is very important in those tournaments that will want to comply with qualification criteria.” The fair play measures will be in accordance with Swedish law and are going to be both visible and less visible during the Rilton Cup. The 50th edition of the Rilton Cup, Sweden’s biggest open chess tournament will take place from December 27 to January 5 in Stockholm.