New Regulations for World Senior Championships approved by FIDE Council
The FIDE Council has recently approved new regulations for the World Senior Championships. The main changes involve women’s representation, prize pool size and general conditions such as the playing hall, accommodation, competition website, photo reports, and the live broadcast. You can see the updated Rules for the World Senior Championships below: General Rules 1. FIDE World Senior Championships shall be governed by these Rules, starting from 2023. Participation & Prize Distribution 2. There shall be the following categories: 2.1 Open 50+, open to all players who are 50 or older in the year of the tournament 2.2 Open 65+, open to all players who are 65 or older in the year of the tournament 2.3 Women 50+, open to all women who are 50 or older in the year of the tournament. 2.4 Women 65+, open to all women who are 65 or older in the year of the tournament. 3. With FIDE support, the organiser of the competition should ensure representation of all continents and at least 20 players in each of the categories (2.1-2.4). 4. FIDE Events Commission (EVE) is responsible for the exceptional decisions regarding the final configuration of the categories mentioned in Rules 2.3 & 2.4. above in cases when the requirements of Rule 3 above are not met. All decisions in this regard must be made at least two weeks before the start of the competition. 5. The Championships are open tournaments for players registered by their federation. FIDE member federations shall have the right to send as many players as they wish. 6. The top 3 players in each category of the previous year’s World Senior Championships shall have a personal right to participate. If World Senior Championships had not been organised in the previous year, then EVE shall decide about personal rights. 7. In addition, the top 3 players from each category of the previous year’s Continental Senior Championships are qualified with personal rights, and their places cannot be substituted. If the Continental Senior Championships had not been organised in the previous year, then the relevant Continental Organisation shall decide which players shall be granted personal rights, subject to the confirmation of EVE. Accommodation 8.1 The accommodation with full board in a single room in a 3-4 star hotel shall be offered by the Organiser for players mentioned in Rules 6. & 7. above. 8.2 The accommodation choices for seniors’ competitions shall include hotels of different categories (minimum – at a 3-star hotel) and different meal plans (BB, HB and FB). Participants can choose a hotel beside the ones offered by the Organiser with at least a 3-week notice. Number of rounds & Time Control 9. There shall be a minimum of 9 rounds. 10. The time control for each game shall be: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. Prizes 11. There shall be medals and cups for the first three places in each category. The Organiser is expected to give additional prizes. 12. The Organiser shall provide a prize fund of minimum 25 000 Euros. Playing Conditions and Promotion 13. The Championships shall be held under the supervision of EVE according to standards starting from chess equipment, playing conditions to the promotion of the event, including a website with daily photos, live games broadcast, live comments and parallel activities. 14. The Organiser must follow all FIDE Rules and Regulations relevant to the competition. 15. All other organisational and tournament details shall be written in the Tournament Invitation. The Tournament Invitation shall be approved by FIDE Council. Regulations for FIDE World Senior Champinships
Henríquez Villagra and Campos win Zonal 2.5 in Paraguay
GM Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra (Chile) and WFM Maria Jose Campos (Argentina) emerged as the winners of the FIDE Zonal 2.5 open and women’s tournaments, respectively. The event, jointly organized by the Paraguayan Chess Federation and Dr Andrés Riquelme in agreement with the presidency of Zone 2.5 and the Chess Confederation for America, took place at the facilities of the Hotel Internacional in the city of Asunción, Paraguay. Two spots in the FIDE World Cup 2023 were at stake in the open tournament, and one ticket was in the women’s competition. GM Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra (pictured above, right) entered the open tournament as the rating favourite and did not disappoint. The Chilean GM turned in an excellent performance and punched his ticket to the FIDE World Cup with a round to spare. Despite losing in the final round and tying for first place with four other participants on 7/9, Cristobal came out on top thanks to a superior tiebreak (the highest rating average of his opponents). The second place in the FIDE World Cup goes to the sixth seed IM Pablo Ismael Acosta (pictured below, left) of Argentina, who has the second-best tiebreak. Final standings open: 1 GM Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal CHI 2624 7 2 IM Acosta, Pablo Ismael ARG 2482 7 3 GM Delgado Ramirez, Neuris PAR 2560 7 4 GM Krysa, Leandro ARG 2538 7 5 GM Salinas Herrera, Pablo CHI 2506 6 6 GM Rodriguez Vila, Andres URU 2430 5½ 7 FM Vazquez, Facundo URU 2357 5½ 8 FM Almiron, Antonio PAR 2323 5½ 9 GM Flores, Diego ARG 2532 5½ 10 IM Perdomo, Leandro ARG 2416 5½ The women’s competition was very close, with four players sharing first place after seven rounds. At this point, WFMs Maria Jose Campos (pictured below, right) and Candela Francisco Guecamburu from Argentina scored crucial victories and came to the final round as joint leaders with 6/8. As they won again in Round 9, only a slightly better tiebreak tipped the balance in favour of Maria Jose, who qualified for the FIDE World Cup. Final standings women: 1 WFM Campos, Maria Jose ARG 2216 7 2 WFM Francisco Guecamburu, Candela ARG 2209 7 3 WIM Borda Rodas, Anapaola S. ARG 2179 6 4 WGM Perez Rodriguez, Jennifer PAR 2254 5½ 5 WIM Brizzi, Milagros Tatiana ARG 2110 5½ 6 WIM Fernandez, Maria Florencia ARG 2128 5 7 IM Lujan, Carolina ARG 2309 5 8 WFM Toro Pradenas, Maria Jose CHI 1971 5 9 Oviedo Acosta, Paula PAR 1763 5 10 WFM Nejanky, Maisa ARG 1930 4½ Photo: es.chessbase.com and official website
EICC 2023: Shevchenko joins Sarana on the top with one round to go
Heading into the last round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2023, GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) and GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668) share the lead sitting on 8 points each. GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668) outplayed GM Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637) in the penultimate round to catch up with the leader. Shevchenko had a slightly better position from the opening that transformed into the pawn-up edge in the endgame. Gledura still had chances for escape but after a questionable 30…Rb2?! the Romanian GM gradually converted his advantage into a full point. Playing on the first board, GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) held a draw with black pieces against GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680). Esipenko was searching for a victory and had a clear advantage most of the time, but Sarana found a very nice sequence making the opponent force a draw by perpetual check and secured the joined lead coming into the final round. Twelve players are trailing the leading duo by a half-point: GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658), GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2659), IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE, 2520), GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2651), GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2655), GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680), GM Valentin Dragnev (AUT, 2561) (pictured below), GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2616), GM David Paravyan (FIDE, 2584), GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2610), GM David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2685), and GM Igor Janik (POL, 2527). The final round starts tomorrow at 15:00 CEST, featuring the direct encounter for the gold medal on the first board between GM Alexey Sarana and GM Kirill Shevchenko. Round 11 top 10 pairings: 1. Sarana, Alexey (8) – Shevchenko, Kirill (8)2. Kuzubov, Yuriy (7½) – Anton, Guijarro David (7½)3. Paravyan, David (7½) – Esipenko, Andrey (7½)4. Janik, Igor (7½) – Bacrot, Etienne (7½)5. Korobov, Anton (7½) – Dardha, Daniel (7½)6. Santos Latasa Jaime (7½) – Dragnev Valentin (7½)7. Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis (7½) – Nguyen, Thai Dai Van (7½)8. Predke, Alexandr (7) – Pechac, Jergus (7)9. Yuffa, Daniil (7) – Gelfand, Boris (7)10. Brkic, Ante (7) – Grandelius, Nils (7) The closing ceremony of the event will be held on March 13 at 22:00 CEST. Live broadcast with commentaries by IM Miodrag Perunovic can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/