Queens’ Chess Festival returns in July
The Queens’ Online Chess Festival, a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments, is returning this summer. The third edition of the popular event, organized by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in cooperation with FIDE, will take place from July 02-16, 2023, on Tornelo online platform. The festival welcomes all women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess enthusiasts. Participation is free of charge. The festival gives everybody a chance to participate in two competitions: Queens’ Women Open Tournament. Open to all female participants with FIDE ID, with continental qualifying events running from July 01-09 and Semi-Final and Final scheduled on July 15-16; Unrated Princesses’ tournaments. For U16 (born on 1.1.2007 or later) female players with no FIDE rating. National rating is acceptable but will not influence the pairing of the event. Like in the previous editions, a lot is at stake in the Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2023. The winners of the World Queens’ Open 2023 and Princess’ Tournament (both U9 and U16 ) will be invited to the 45th World Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. The ticket, full-board accommodation for 3 days and invitations to the Opening Ceremony of the Chess Olympiad 2024 for the winner and one accompanying person will be covered. The official Award ceremony for the Queens’ Festival 2023 will take place during the Olympiad. Queens’ Women Open Tournament Registration form Registration deadlines: Africa – June 24, 2023 Europe – June 25, 2023 Asia – July 1, 2023 Americas – July 2, 2023 The qualification tournaments and semi-finals will be 7 or 9-round Swiss tournaments with 3+2 time control, depending on the number of participants, while the final will be a round-robin with 5+5 time control (7 rounds). Unrated Princesses’ Tournament Registration form Registration deadline: July 8, 2023 Unrated players U16 years old (born on 1.1.2007 or later) can play in both the Queens’ Women’s Open tournament and the Unrated Princesses’ tournament. Regulations for Queens’ Chess Festival (pdf)
Munkhdalai Amiral and Erdenebayar Khuslen win Mongolian Championship
The 2023 Mongolian Championship saw the triumph of young players as 16-year-old Munkhdalai Amiral and 14-year-old Erdenebayar Khuslen sensationally won their maiden national titles. Both competitions, the open and women’s tournaments, were 12-player round robins taking place simultaneously in Khovd, Mongolia, from May 20-30, 2023. The 10th-rated FM Munkhdalai Amiral (pictured below left) made a splash in the open tournament scoring an impressive 8.5/11 and convincingly winning gold. Aged 16 years and five months, Munkhdalai became the youngest-ever Mongolian champion in the open section. Amiral is the only player in the competition to suffer no defeats. Gombosuren Munkhgal (the only GM in the tournament) and IM Sugar Gan-Erdene finished a full point behind the champion, with the former taking silver as the winner of their direct encounter. Final standings open: 1 FM Amilal, Munkhdalai 2141 8½ 2 GM Munkhgal, Gombosuren 2463 7½ 3 IM Gan-Erdene, Sugar 2420 7½ 4 IM Amartuvshin, Ganzorig 2407 7 5 FM Chinguun, Sumiya 2298 6½ 6 FM Bulgankhan, Ganzorig 2017 6 7 GM Bilguun, Sumiya 2474 6 8 IM Munguntuul, Batkhuyag 2408 4½ 9 WGM Munkhzul, Turmunkh 2318 4 10 Ulziikhishig, Khishigbat 1601 3½ 11 FM Enkhnar, Enkhbaatar 2360 3 12 FM Erdene, Ganzorig 2278 2 Somewhat surprisingly, the women’s competition turned into a very close race between untitled Erdenebayar Khuslen (pictured below left), WCM Khishigbaatar Bayasgalan and WCM Batsaikhan Enkhsaran (rated 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively). All three players netted 7.5/11 and shared first place, but the title goes to 14-year-old Erdenebayar, who scored victories in both direct encounters. Final standings women: 1 Khuslen, Erdenebayar 1835 7½ 2 WCM Bayasgalan, Khishigbaatar 1811 7½ 3 WCM Enkhsaran, Batsaikhan 1756 7½ 4 WCM Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene 2299 7 5 Enkhrii, Enkh-Amgalan 1448 6½ 6 WFM Altantuya, Boldbaatar 2191 6 7 WCM Enkhbolor, Nyamdavaa 1699 5½ 8 WIM Bayarmaa, Bayarjargal 2167 5 9 WCM Amin-Erdene, Bayanmunkh 1620 4 10 Oyumaa, Myagmardorj 0 3½ 11 Margadgua, Erdenebayar 1934 3½ 12 WCM Udval, Enkhsaikhan 1682 2½ Photos: Mongolian Chess Federation Facebook