2023 Superbet Chess Classic: Day 3 Recap
Fabiano Caruana was the sole winner of the third day of the 2023 Superbet Chess Classic, defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to join Nepomniachtchi, So, and Rapport in the leaders group, all with 2.0/3 points. The other games of the round were drawn, including a rematch of the 2023 FIDE World Championship, in which Nepomniachtchi squandered a big advantage out of the opening against Ding Liren. FIROUZJA – RAPPORT | ½-½, 33 moves Despite opting for the sharp 5.Nc3 variation and castling queenside against Rapport’s Petroff Defense, Firouzja could not get any edge out of the opening and even had to be careful not to fall worse as White. As the pieces all got traded in the center, the players soon found themselves in a drawn bishop ending. A tough day for Firouzja, who couldn’t get anything with White. | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes CARUANA – VACHIER-LAGRAVE | 1-0, 23 moves Looking for a sharp battle Caruana tried the trendy 3.h4 anti-Grunfeld, to which Vachier-Lagrave responded with a Benko Gambit type of sacrifice. But MVL played way too riskily in the early middlegame, giving up a second pawn in search of piece activity. Caruana found a nice way to counter Black’s attack, forcing resignation in view of heavy material losses. After 23.Ne2, the final position of Caruana – MVL. Black resigned in view of White’s threat Rxd3 as well as an eventual Nf4, trapping Black’s queen. Caruana was ruthless in his execution today. | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes NEPOMNIACHTCHI – DING | ½-½, 54 moves In a rematch of the recent World Championship, Nepomniachtchi deviated from his usual 1.e4 and instead started with 1.d4, against which Ding chose the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Soon into the queenless middlegame, Ding blundered, allowing Nepomniachtchi to get a huge strategic advantage thanks to a subtle backward knight move. But a couple of moves later, Nepo returned the favour, letting Ding back into the game, who would go on to hold a somewhat worse rook ending. After 14…Bb3, Nepo found the strong move 15.Nb1!, heading to d2 to harass Black’s bishop. As it often occurred in the title match, Nepo was better, but Ding escaped! | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes SO – GIRI | ½-½, 57 moves After going for the Berlin endgame it seemed like So was slightly better in an ending with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops, but his winning chances were quite slim as Giri was able to calmly hold the position. Despite achieving a passed pawn, So could not make further progress as Black’s pieces simply got too active. So far, a quiet start – three draws – for Anish Giri. | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes DUDA – DEAC | ½-½, 57 moves The final game of the day to finish saw Duda achieve a considerable advantage out of the opening in a Rossolimo Sicilian, with extra space and a better structure. The Polish No. 1 then transformed his edge into an extra pawn in the endgame, but patient defence by Deac kept him in the game until Duda slipped in his conversion, allowing Black to force a draw. The wildcard and lowest-rated player, Deac, showed great resilience today. | Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The 2023 Superbet Chess Classic continues Tuesday, May 9, with tournament action live starting at 7:20 AM CT with Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Var Akobian, Cristian Chirila and International Master Nazi Paikidze on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios; Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#SuperbetChessClassic Venue: Grand Hotel Bucharest, Bucharest, RomaniaMay 6 – May 15, 2023 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org
Chess in Schools seminar held in Doha, Qatar
The Qatar Chess Association FIDE Chess in Education Commission teamed up to organize the “Chess in Schools” seminar. The event was held from May 3-4, 2023, in Doha as the first step in implementing an agreement between the Ministry of Sports and Youth and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Qatar. As many as ten Qatari primary public schools are participating in the project. The project will be launched in schools with the start of the academic year 2023-2024 next September. The lecture by the Chairman of FIDE Chess in Education Commission, Jerry Nash from the USA, and his assistant, IM Ismail Karim, a newly enrolled coach of the Qatar Chess Association, was presented both in Arabic and English. The seminar was attended by FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan. At the closing ceremony, Mohammed Al-Mudhahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association, stated that this course was considered one of the main pillars of developing and spreading the game of chess in schools. It creates a broad base of female referees to provide training, manage and officiate various chess activities, with the aim of expanding the number of school students participating in individual and team sports on national and Arab levels.