Costa Rican Championship: Jiménez and Díaz clinch titles
Emmanuel Jiménez and Kristel Díaz are the new champions of Costa Rica. Both absolute and women’s sections of the national chess championship, 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control, took place in Costa Rica Tennis Club (first round) and then at the National Stadium from January 7-15, 2023. The open event that brought together 27 players turned into an exciting race between top-rated IMs Emmanuel Jimenez and the defending champion Leonardo Valdes. Coming to the final round a half-point ahead of his main rival, Jiménez drew his game with Felipe Fernández. In his turn, Valdes could not break David Cabezas‘s resistance and had to settle for a draw as well. As a result, Jiménez retained a half-point margin and won the title with an excellent score of 8/9. Both the champion and the runner-up completed the event unbeaten. IM Sergio Duran and WFM Mauricio Valverde tied for third place, with the former taking bronze thanks to superior Buchholz. “It is a very important step, I had already won this title in 2021, but it was online, and it was time to win it over the board. I am pleased to take the title since this year, I am going to make an effort to become a grandmaster. This type of results help a lot to seek sponsorship when it comes to going out and playing tournaments,” Jiménez said after receiving the champion’s trophy. Final standings: 1 IM Jimenez Garcia, Emmanuel 2411 8 2 IM Valdes Romero, Leonardo 2399 7½ 3 IM Duran Vega, Sergio 2374 6 4 Valverde Mora, Mauricio 1800 6 5 CM Fernandez Sibaja, Felipe 2024 5½ 6 FM Cabezas Solano, David 2057 5½ 7 Pastor Carvajal, Jeigoth 1967 5 8 Cartin Aguilar, Luis 1880 5 9 NM Ugalde Garcia, Ronald 2084 5 10 NM Chaves Sanchez, Gabriel 2104 5 Kristel Díaz from Guapilena dominated the women’s section conceding just a half-point to her opponents. After three runner-up attempts in previous years, she finally clinched her maiden national title. WFM María José Ramírez finished a full point behind on 7.5/9 while WCM Sofía Mayorga came third with 7. “I am quite happy to win this championship. I think I played well, and I am very excited and satisfied. It is an achievement that I sought for a long time, and I am happy that my effort paid off,” the champion said. Final standings: 1 WFM Diaz Charpentier, Kristel 1948 8½ 2 WFM Ramirez Gonzalez, Maria 1765 7½ 3 WCM Mayorga Araya, Sofia 1774 7 4 Canales Chinchilla, Victoria 1429 5 5 Lobo Meneses, Natalia 1371 5 6 Bogantes Robleto, Karina 1680 4½ 7 Diaz Charpentier, Ashly 1174 4½ 8 Campos Astorga, Priscila 1449 4½ 9 Campos Munoz, Valentina 1081 4½ 10 WFM Acevedo Mendez, Jennifer 1745 4½ Photo: Costa Rican Chess Federation webpage and Emmanuel Jiménez García Facebook page
Chess for Freedom Conference scheduled for May 2023
Background Information FIDE and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chicago, USA) are pleased to announce the 2023 Chess for Freedom Conference, scheduled to take place May 17th – May 20th, 2023, in Chicago, USA. This will be the first in-person Chess for Freedom Conference. We are very grateful for our sponsors and all the participating correctional facilities around the world. Invitations will be extended to all previous online intercontinental event participants. Chess For Freedom – Conference Goals To debrief on the outcomes from past online intercontinental chess events, hosted by FIDE and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, including highlighting notable event accomplishments, and identifying improvement areas. To introduce the latest available research on the impact of programming in a correctional setting and its impact on the population post-release. To discuss engagement strategies for potential partners associated with the Chess for Freedom program. The conference event schedule is as follows: May 17th: Guests arrive. May 18th: Cook County Jail tour (includes meeting with CCDOC administration and Programs staff. May 19th: Conference plenary session featuring various breakout topics. May 20th: Sightseeing throughout downtown Chicago. May 21st: Guests departure. “The prison officials see that in the places where the chess program is implemented, the behavior of the individuals in-custody changes, depression and stress levels decrease, they are better with socialization skills when they leave the facility It’s not only about the skills and another way of spending free time, but also the sense of belonging to a community, to the chess family. We’ve been working a lot to advocate for a program itself, but the examples of the other countries work even better,” says Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola about the rapid growth of the program. Chess for Freedom Conference – Lodging Details The official hotel for the Chess for Freedom Conference is the Hyatt Place Chicago/Schaumburg, located at 1851 McConnor Parkway in Schaumburg, Illinois (60173). Please click this link above for special conference rate details. All attendees are required to register for the conference via this link. Chess for Freedom Conference – Contact Information Mikhail Korenman Chess Program Coordinator at CCDOC,FIDE International Chess Organizer and Member of FIDE Social CommissionE-mail Mikhail.Korenman@ccsheriff.orgWhatsApp.: +1-785-906-0402 More information about the Conference and Chess for Freedom program at chessforfreedom.fide.com.
Tata Steel Masters 2023: Caruana joins the leaders
In the only game in Round 3 that saw a decisive outcome, Fabiano Caruana defeated Jorden Van Foreest to join the leaders. As many as five players share the top position on 2/3 after Fabiano Caruana beat Jorden Van Foreest with the white pieces. It has been the most peaceful round so far, as all other games were drawn. Magnus Carlsen – Ding Liren ½–½ The World Champion essayed the London System with early Bb5xc6, the line to which his opponent seemed to be fully prepared. Still, after trading the queens, White had some pressure over Black’s a7 pawn, but Ding skillfully regrouped his pieces and got rid of his only weakness. As soon as the rooks and the queenside pawn left the board, the draw was just a question of time. Fabiano Caruana – Jorden Van Foreest 1-0 Jorden opted for quite an unusual line in the Petrov Defence with early 6…Be6 and 7…f5 weakening the e5-square. Fabiano came up with a sensible concept of dislodging Black’s e4-night and planting his bishop on e5. Still, the Dutchman would have had a playable position had he traded the bishops on e5 at some point, but instead, he simply blundered a pawn a few moves later. Caruana then sacrificed an exchange and got an overwhelming position. As soon as White’s central paws set in motion, the Dutchman threw in the towel. Richard Rapport – Wesley So ½–½ The opponent tested a well-known line of the Caro Kann in which Black sacrifices a pawn. White managed to hold it, but it was his only achievement as Black found the right setup to force a draw by repetition on move 25. Gukesh D – Nodirbek Abdusattorov ½–½ Gukesh D employed an interesting idea against Abdusattorov’s Bogo-Indian, creating an outpost on e5. The Indian could have posed some problems for Black on move 20 by defending his pawn with seemingly passive 20.Bf1, but after he missed this chance, the opponents promptly traded all the pieces and signed peace in a drawn pawn ending. Gukesh D scored his first half-point in the event and got some respite. Praggnanandhaa R – Vincent Keymer ½–½ The opponents quickly found themselves in the uncharted territory of Nimzo-Indian, where White got a clear edge in the form of two bishops and space advantage after Black’s dubious 9…c5. Trying to relieve pressure in the middlegame, Vincent sacrificed a pawn and liquidated into an endgame. It turned out to be a good idea as this ending, albeit unpleasant for Black, was holdable after all. Praggnanandhaa did his best grinding the opponent down but had to settle for a draw on the move 79. Parham Maghsoodloo – Anish Giri ½–½ In the Giuoco Piano, Anish advanced his kingside pawns h6-g5 and pushed Parham’s bishop to g3. It could have caused some problems for Black in the middlegame, but on move 16, the queens were exchanged, and the opponents ended up in an equal ending. Arjun Erigaisi – Levon Aronian ½–½ Levon comfortably equalized in the Nimzo-Indian and started pressuring slowly in the middlegame. Black was awarded for his efforts with a promising bishop vs. knight endgame in which he had the remote a-passer. After long manoeuvring Aronian reached a won position but let the victory slip away when it was near at hand. Black could have sealed the deal with 56…Kg5! The main line is 57. Nc5 Kg6 58. Na4 Kf6 59. Nb2 Be7 60. Na4 Kf5 61. Nb2 Kf4. The key idea for Black is to either advance his a-pawn or play Kf4 when White’s knight is far away. Instead, Levon played 56…Ke7 and the opponents split a point after 57. Nb6 Be1 58. Ke5 Bg3+ 59. Kd5 Bh4 60. Ke5 Kd8 61. Nd5 a4 Standings after Round 3: 1-5. Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ding Liren, Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana – 2; 6-10. Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Arjun Erigaisi, Praham Maghsoodloo, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa – 1.5; 11-13. Richard Rapport, Vincent Keymer and Jorden Van Foreest – 1; 14. Gukesh D – 0.5. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit