Alexey Sarana is the Winner of the Inaugural Olympic Esports Series Chess Event
For the first time in what we hope to become the tradition, FIDE and Chess.com brought chess to the Olympic Esports Series (OES). This global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the International Olympic Committee culminated in spectacular Finals in Singapore on June 23-24. 42,000 players from 219 countries participated in qualifying events, but only eight players went through it all to find themselves in beautiful Singapore for the Olympic Esports Series Finals: GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, GM Alexey Sarana, GM Bassem Amin, GM Maksim Chigaev, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov, GM Goh Wei Ming Kevin, GM Tin Jingyao (Singapore wildcard), IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar (female wildcard). The fight in the Pool Stage on Day 1 of the Finals was fierce. Maksim Chigaev and Alexey Sarana won their Pools, and Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen and Aleksandr Rakhmanov emerged as runners-up to enter a knockout stage. In the semis, the future winner Alexey Sarana defeated Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen. He started with two wins in the first two games and needed just a draw in the remaining two. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen bounced back in the third, keeping the intrigue alive. The fourth game was wild. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen playing with the white pieces had a winning position but let the chance slip as Black found a perpetual check and a much needed draw that let Sarana advance to the final. In the final, Alexey Sarana showed excellent chess against the eventual silver trophy winner Maksim Chigaev, winning all three games to confidently claim the overall victory. Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen prevailed over Aleksandr Rakhmanov in the match for the third place and brought home a bronze trophy. You can replay the games on Chess.com. Congratulations to the winners and huge thanks to the International Olympic Committee for such an amazing event! ©2023 International Olympic Committee/IOC – All rights reserved. The “Olympic Esports Series” is a property of the IOC and may not be copied, republished, stored in a retrieval system or otherwise reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means whatsoever, without the prior written consent of the IOC. Unauthorized copying, adaptation, rental, lending, distribution, extraction, re-sale, arcade use, charging for use, broadcast, public performance and internet, cable or any telecommunications transmission, access or use of this product or any trademark or copyright work that forms part of this product are prohibited.
PlusCity Grand Prix: All set for the strongest XXI century chess event in Austria
A popular chess festival in the PlusCity shopping center (Linz, Austria) organized by ÖSB President Michael Stöttinger is returning this year even bigger. The PlusCity Rapid and Blitz Grand Prix stretching from June 30 to July, 2023, includes Rapid (10+5) and Blitz (3+2) tournaments and the Open Austrian Team Championship. All three competitions are Swiss tournaments (15, 9 and 9-round respectively). The prize fund amounts to EUR 50,000, surpassing that of the European Rapid and Blitz Championship (EUR 44,000). In the individual competitions, EUR 5,000 is reserved for the winners (EUR 2,500 in both rapid and blitz), with money prizes for the top 10 finishers. In addition, prizes are awarded in eight rating categories as well as to women and young people U12, U14, U16 and U18. The event can boast a strong lineup that includes Etienne Bacrot (FRA), Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI), Eduardo Iturrizaga (SPA), Alan Pichot (ARG), Arkadij Naiditsch (AZE), Zdenko Kozul (CRO), Georg Meier (URU), Anna Muzychuk (UKR) and many other titled players. CONTACT: grandprix@grandmaster.eu Regulations PlusCity Rapid and Blitz Grand Prix (in German and English)
World Schools Team Championship 2023 in Aktau, Kazakhstan: Registration is open
FIDE and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation invite all FIDE member federations and eligible players to participate in the World Schools Team Championship 2023 (WSTC). The competition will be held in Aktau, Kazakhstan (Caspian seaside) from August 3 (arrivals) to August 8 (departures), 2023. The playing venue is Halyk Arena. The championship will be played in two categories: Under 12 (players who shall not have reached the age of 12 before January 1, 2023). Under 18 (players who shall not have reached the age of 18 before January 1, 2023). National Federations may allocate a maximum of three qualifying places to the two categories in total. Each team shall consist of four main players, one reserve, and one non-playing captain. All members of the team must have a FIDE ID. About 50 National Federations first to enter with preliminary confirmation of participation in WSTC have already received the right to nominate one of their teams to have “invited team” status (with free accommodation and a travel grant), and the Organizing Committee will contact them directly. The deadline for registration is July 3, 2023. The registration form is available for all the teams via the following link: https://wstcc2023.fide.com/registration/ FIDE member federations will be able to add data or modify the registration using an edit link before the registration deadline. The edit link will be delivered via an official email provided during the registration. Photos for accreditation and passport data for a visa should be prepared beforehand. Contact email: wstcc@fide.com Regulations and invitation letter (pdf) Photo: welcome.kz
Global Chess League Day 4: SG Alpine Warriors grab the lead
Dubai, 25th June 2023 – The fourth day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League started with a huge upset as the team of Ganges Grandmasters, who have been dominating the first three days of the event suffered a defeat at the hands of Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad Mumba Masters. The heroes of the day are the team of SG Alpine Warriors, who won both of their matches to emerge at the top of the scoreboard. After a tough start, the Chingari Gulf Titans scored their first victory, giving them a chance to reach the finals. It was a busy day in Dubai as a large number of spectators came to follow the matches in the Global Chess League. The crowd exploded with excitement when the famous Indian cricket player Yuzvendra Chahal appeared, to support the team of SG Alpine Warriors. Ganges Grandmasters vs upGrad Mumba Masters (6:11) This was an encounter between the leaders of the Global Chess League and the team in the middle. The Ganges Grandmasters have been dominating the league, having won all three matches played and securing nine match points. The story was somewhat different for upGrad Mumba Masters: they won one match, lost one and drew one, and started day four from the middle of the scoreboard with four match points. Having won the coin toss, the Ganges Grandmasters decided to play with white pieces. Despite the first-move advantage, things didn’t go their way. Harika Dronavalli got the first victory of the match, beating Bella Khotenashvili and gaining important four game points for the upGrad Mumba Masters. As other games ended in a draw, Viswanathan Anand managed to strike back on board one where he was playing the best French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who was leading black pieces. The Frenchman opted to give up a pawn in the opening for some initiative. In a sharp exchange, the Frenchman misplayed when he put his queen on the wrong square and ended in a losing position which he couldn’t save. Despite this victory, the team of Ganges Grandmasters were staring at defeat in the match as Richard Rapport was losing to none other than the great Alexander Grischuk, who became the hero of the match, having sealed the victory and three crucial match points for the upGrad Mumba Masters. The playing hall at the Le Meridien Hotel erupted with excitement and joy after the match, as team upGrad Mumba Masters supporters celebrated their victory. A big blow for Ganges Grandmasters and a huge confidence boost for upGrad Mumba Masters. Chingari Gulf Titans vs SG Alpine Warriors (6:11) In another surprise of the day, the team of SG Alpine Warriors won the coin toss but opted to play as Black. This is the second time it has happened in the Global Chess League that a team winning the coin flip decided to pin their hopes more on Black (due to an extra point in case Black wins) than on the initiative of the first move. On board one, it was Jan-Krzysztof Duda against the reigning world champion in rapid and blitz, Magnus Carlsen. It was Duda who ended Carlsen’s world record run of 125 games unbeaten and who knocked him out of the World Cup back in 2021. Despite Duda’s obtaining a slightly better position, Magnus managed to unsettle the white king and, in the end, and went for a threefold check repetition. It seems Carlsen wanted to avoid taking any risks against the man who broke his longest winning streak. The match was tough as halfway on, neither side managed to make a breakthrough. Mamedyarov was the first to score, defeating Gukesh and bringing Titans first three game points in the match. Then came a giant blow: in a completely winning position, Titans’ Nihal Sarin was under time pressure and made a fatal error giving away the victory to the Warriors and a one-point edge in the match. As three more games ended in a draw, all eyes turned to the game between Polina Shuvalova and Elisabeth Paehtz. In a rook endgame, Paehtz was better and defeated her opponent with black pieces, securing victory for the Warriors. This win launched the SG Alpine Warriors to the top, next to Ganges Grandmasters, with both teams now on nine match points (but team GG has a better game points score – 38 vs 34). The second two matches of the day saw the Chingari Gulf Titans win their first match convincingly, despite playing with black pieces. Balan Alaskan Knights vs Chingari Gulf Titans (3:15) This was the first time in the Global Chess League that a team was playing a round back-to-back. The Balan Alaskan Knights won the coin flip and decided to play as White. Both the Titans and the Knights suffered three defeats in four matches; while the Knights managed to win one team encounter, the Titans were yet to bag their first match victory. The Titans came out swinging from the start – both Mamedyarov and former women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk gained a decisive advantage in their matches, raising hopes for a first victory for the Chingari Gulf Titans. Also, Polina Shuvalova secured an edge against Nino Batsiashvili. The Knights were in trouble as the only board where they achieved some advantage was in the game where Teimour Radjabov was slightly better against Daniil Dubov. In the match of the women’s World Champions – Kosteniuk, playing as Black, forced Tan Zhongyi to surrender. Moments after, Mamedyarov, also as Black, defeated the 2021 World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov, giving more wind to the Titans’ sails. Duda and Nepomniachtchi agreed on a draw, but then also Teimour Radjabov (the only player with a more promising position in this match in the Knights team) drew with Dubov. Things were definitely going south for the Knights. The final blow came when Sadhwani misplayed and allowed Nihal Sarin to score – a third black victory for the Knights! Despite having a better position, Polina Shuvalova wasn’t confident in the