World Cadets & Youth Blitz Championship 2023 starts in Batumi
The World Cadets & Youth & Blitz Chess Championship 2023, organized by FIDE and the Georgian Chess Federation, kicked off at the Euphoria Hotel in Batumi with a short opening ceremony. The blitz competitions in all categories are 11-round Swiss tournaments with 3-min + 2-second increment time control. The event brought together 426 participants from 35 countries. The event will be broadcast live with professional commentary by IM Valeri Gaprindashvili daily. The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara – Badri Nakashidze, Head of the Sports Department- Irma Nizharadze, FIDE Special Tasks Director, the President of the Georgian Chess Federation, who welcomed the participants and wished them success. The government members made the first ceremonial move on several boards. On the first day, six rounds were played, with as many as five participants having the perfect score of 6 out of 6. Tomorrow, June 11, the final five rounds of the World Blitz Championship will be played at Legend hotel, followed by the closing ceremony scheduled for 8 PM local time. Photos: Mindia Malakmadze Official website: batumi2023.fide.com/ Live games Pairings and Results Champions Match Day 5 On the same day, the fifth round of the Champions Match was played in the conference hall of the Legend Hotel in Batumi. In the fifth round, Ukrainian players, Mariya and Anna Muzychuk had the white pieces. Mariya Muzychuk – Nino Batsiashvili (0.5-0.5) In the Rossolimo Sicilian Black gradually expanded on the kingside and grabbed the initiative. In subsequent play, Nino came up with a very strong queen sacrifice for a rook, a minor piece and a pawn and got a clear edge. However, Nino missed a powerful 38…Nc2! building up pressure and letting Mariya escape after 38…Nd1+ 39.Kg1 A draw by perpetual was agreed on move 61. Anna Muzychuk – Meri Arabidze (1-0) In the Carlsbad variation of Queen’s Gambit Declined, both opponents castled long, but Anna played much more purposefully and gradually got Meri on the ropes. Eventually, Muzychuk converted her huge positional advantage into extra material with some nice tactics. After 26.Rxc6! Rxc6 27. Nxc6 Bxc6 28.Qxa6 White emerged with an extra pawn and forced Black’s capitulation just a few moves down the road. The last round (the sixth round) will be held In Batumi at Legend Hotel at 11 AM local time. Live games Pairings and Results
Hikaru Nakamura wins Norway Chess 2023
Hikaru Nakamura clinched his maiden Norway Chess title after winning on demand over the tournament leader Fabiano Caruana in the final-round game. The 11th edition of this prestigious tournament, a 10-player round-robin, featuring elite GMs, took place at Finansparken in Stavanger, Norway, from May 30 to June 9. Each round consisted of a classical game with a win worth 3 points and a loss – 0. In case of a draw, the players played an Armageddon game, where the winner scored 1½ points, and the loser got just 1 point with a draw favouring Black. Fabiano Caruana beat Magnus Carlsen in the first-round classical game, grabbed the lead and preserved his top position up to Round 9. As the tournament fate would have it, the leader faced second-placed Hikaru Nakamura in the final round. Trailing Caruana by 2.5 points, Hikaru had a chance to wrestle the title from Fabiano by winning the classical game with the white pieces. The opponents played a well-known line of the Two Knight Defence which has been tested in many games lately. Black got sufficient compensation for a sacrificed pawn, but the first original move by Caruana (17…f5? instead of tried-and-trusted 17…Nb4) was the decisive mistake as Hikaru simply won another pawn. As the winner said in his post-game interview, Caruana must have confused the move order, as in some variations, f7-f5 is very good for Black. Nakamura quickly neutralized the opponent’s initiative and converted his extra material in an endgame. Hikaru took home NOK 750,000 and earned 27.19 FIDE Circuit points. Fabiano Caruana came in second (16.5/27), while 17-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju, who turned in a very solid performance, took third place (14.5/27). The defending and five-time Norway Chess champion Magnus Carlsen finished only sixth, not winning a single classical game. Final standings Photo: Norway Chess Official website: norwaychess.no/
FIDE World U8-10 Rapid & Blitz and Champions Match: Day 5 recap
On June 9, the World U8-10 Rapid & Blitz participants had a rest day. The organizers prepared a busy program for them. The young players visited Batumi Botanical Garden, a member of the International Plant Protection Council (BGCI) of the world’s botanical gardens since 1998. The Second World Championship in solving chess compositions was also held in three age categories under 10, 14 and 18 (boys and girls). Each participant had 90 minutes to solve eight positions (3 two-moves; 3 three-moves and 2 studies). The Nesis Cup 2023, a 9-round Swiss blitz tournament (3+2), which brought together 32 players, also took place on a free day. Final standings Open: Murzin, Volodar Maghalashvili, Davit Kobalia, Mikhail Amonatov, Farrukh Jojua, Davit Final standings Women Nikoladze, Sopio Ziaziulkina, Nastassia Bodnaruk, Kseniya Beridze, Tinatin Vlasova, Nataliya The World Blitz Championship will start at 3 PM local time at Euphoria Hotel in Batumi on June 10. Official website: batumi2023.fide.com/ Live games Pairings and Results Champions Match Day 4 On the same day, Round 4 of the Champions Match was played in the conference hall of the Legend Hotel in Batumi. Nino Batsiashvili – Mariya Muzychuk (0.5-0.5) The opponents quickly got off the beaten track in a symmetrical line of Gruenfeld Defense after Mariya sacrificed a pawn on move ten. Nino accepted the sacrifice, but Black comfortably maintained equality throughout the battle that ended in a draw in a knight vs bishop endgame. Meri Arabidze – Anna Muzychuk (0.5-0.5) Black introduced an interesting novelty in a sharp line of the Queen’s Gambit as early as on move eight and obtained a very promising position. Sensing that things were not going her way, Meri sacrificed a pawn but did not get sufficient compensation. However, a natural plan with fianchettoing the dark-square bishop and castling short that Anna opted for was not optimal as Meri engineered some activity along the light squares. After a series of mutual errors in the middlegame, Muzychuk emerged clearly better again, but with just under a minute on the clock had to settle for a draw on move 29. The Round 5 of the Champions Match will start on June 10 at 3 PM local time, with the Ukrainian players having the white pieces. Photos: Mindia Malakmadze Live games Pairings and Results