Alexey Sarana wins European Chess Championship 2023
GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) is the new European Individual Chess Champion 2023. The thrilling last round of the European Championship determined the medalists. GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) and GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668) clashed in the direct last-round encounter for the title. The game ended in a draw after just one hour of play, and the two youngsters who finished on 8.5/11 had to wait for the results on other boards and tiebreak criteria to see the final standings. GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2610) defeated GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658) to score 8.5 points and joined Sarana and Shevchenko on the top. Dardha held equality with the black pieces for most of the game, but Korobov pushed too hard for a win and eventually fell under a mating attack. With the best Buchholz GM Alexey Sarana clinched the title of the European Individual Chess Champion 2023, GM Kirill Shevchenko came second, while GM Daniel Dardha (pictured below) won the bronze medal. The champion and the runner-up scored enough points in FIDE Cicruit Race to break into the top 10 of the leaderboard. Final standings: 1 GM Sarana, Alexey FID 2668 8½ 2 GM Shevchenko, Kirill ROU 2668 8½ 3 GM Dardha, Daniel BEL 2610 8½ 4 IM Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis GRE 2520 8 5 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2659 8 6 GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van CZE 2651 8 7 GM Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2655 8 8 GM Esipenko, Andrey FID 2680 8 9 GM Kuzubov, Yuriy UKR 2616 8 10 GM Dragnev, Valentin AUT 2561 8 The closing ceremony took place in the playing venue right after the final round. The programme started with presenting two special awards. The Vice President of the European Chess Union, Alojzije Jankovic, and the legendary grandmaster GM Adrian Mikhalchishin joined the awarding ceremony presenting the trophies to the best Junior and Senior (50+) players. The best junior players are: GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2610) – 8½/11IM Ediz Gurel (TUR, 2454) – 8/11GM Volodar Murzin (FIDE, 2554) – 7/11 The best senior players are: GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2674) – 7½/11GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR, 2664) – 7½/11GM Michele Godena (ITA, 2446) – 6½/11 This year, the special prize fund for the best-ranked female players was doubled, and six players received the prizes. The best female players in the EICC2023 are: WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (POL, 2391) – 6½/11IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2438) – 6½/11GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2576) – 6/11IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2388) – 6/11WIM Adela Velikic (SRB, 2329) – 6/11IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2362) – 6/11 Before the chief arbiter of the event, Tomasz Delega, announced the final standings and the winners of the regular prizes, the President of the Serbian Chess Federation, Dragan Lazic and the President of the European Chess Union addressed the players and distinguished guests. Dragan Lazic thanked everyone for coming and congratulated the Winners. He also wished the participants a nice trip home and invited them to the European Club Cup 2024, to be held in the same venue. Zurab Azmaiparashvili thanked the Serbian Chess Federation for the great organisation of the Championship, giving special thanks to the arbiters team that ensured everything went well in the playing venue. Mr Azmaiparshvili noted that the participation of 482 players from 40 federations is a record-breaking number that shows great potential for chess in Europe. Inviting the players to take participation in European Individual Chess Championship 2024 in the same number, the ECU President revealed that the event would be held in Israel. The President of the Serbian Chess Federation, Dragan Lazic, and the President of the European Chess Union, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, then presented the trophies and medals to the winners. After the awarding ceremony of the medalists, the ECU President officially declared the event closed, and the intonation of the ECU Anthem marked the end of the ceremony. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
The Atabayev brothers sweep podium of Turkmenistan Championship
Three brothers – Maksat, Saparmyrat and Yusup Atabayev – dominated the 2023 Turkmenistan Championship, which concluded last Saturday. As expected before the start of the national tournament of the year, the 14-player round-robin, the most intriguing question was how the prizes would be distributed among the three brothers. In the end, the 29-year-old GM Maksat Atabayev (2472) became the national champion. Despite losing in the first round to Shahrukh Turaev, Maksat eventually scored 10.5/13 and clinched the title. The 24-year-old IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (2448) and 29-year-old Yusup Atabayev (2516) tied for second place finishing a half point behind the champion. The first tiebreak (Sonneborn-Berger) favoured Saparmyrat, who claimed silver, while Yusup had to settle for bronze. Based on tournament results, FM Azat Nurmammedov (2408) and untitled Amanmuhammet Hommadov (1956), who finished 4th and 5th, respectively, on 8.5/14, qualified for the national team. If such a solid result was expected from Azat, Amanmuhammet caused a minor sensation, leapfrogging such experienced players as CMs Shahrukh Turaev (6th place), Soltan Muradov (7th place), FIDE master Mergen Kakabayev (8th place) and IM Karen Grigoryan (9th place). The only female participant of the tournament, the women’s national champion Lala Shohradova (1891), turned in a solid performance and made her way into the top ten of the country’s strongest chess players with 4.5 points. Text and photos: orient.tm/en
London Chess and Education Conference set for March 17-19
Millions of chess games are played daily at tournaments, clubs, online, and in people’s homes. Apart from being a great pastime and a developed sport, chess is also a powerful educational tool. It is a “low floor, high ceiling” game that can be practised and enjoyed on many levels. This is one of the main reasons why chess is a welcome guest in today’s gamified classrooms. Chess can be implemented as a stand-alone subject or integrated into other subjects through exercises, investigations, and chess-related activities to help develop intellectual and 21st-century skills. FIDE Chess in Education Commission has been a supporter of numerous education conferences. The Commission focuses on expanding the global outreach for chess in education. The London Chess and Education Conference is an established, well-known, and prestigious event that brings together people dedicated to using chess as an educational tool. The Conference has been running annually since 2013 and celebrates its 10th edition from March 17-19, 2023. One of the EDU Commission’s top priorities is to expand its resources by developing preschool programs and materials. The first day of the London Chess Conference will be a special preschool session organized by FIDE. It is a hybrid event with several online and in-person presentations. Famous chess journalist and educator Leontxo Garcia will act as a host, and the audience (even on YouTube) can send questions to the presenters. The second and third days of the Conference will focus on Chess and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects. Chess is thought to improve problem-solving skills necessary for STEM subjects, and we are looking to meet the impressive line-up of STEM experts and pedagogues at the Conference. There will be a session on the latest chess research. One could hear about the innovative ways to measure the impact of educational chess instruction and connect with partners interested in conducting such research. You can check the line-up of speakers, themes, and schedule at the Conference website: London Chess Conference FIDE is bringing you live the London Chess Conference 2023, organised by ChessPlus. Follow all sessions live on FIDE YouTube Channel and don`t forget to check your time zone.