ChessFest takes over London
The UK’s largest chess event took place on Sunday 16th July in London’s Trafalgar Square. Now in its third year, the annual open-air chess festival saw over 15,000 people attend the free event organised by the charity, Chess in Schools and Communities, to promote and raise awareness for the game we all love. After two previous years of scorching 30+ degree temperatures, the 2023 event took place under cooler conditions and thankfully remained rain-free, not that we’re convinced any of the 350+ chess boards would have been vacated for anything less than a deluge. The highlight of the day was the living chess displays which have been the centrepiece of previous events. With actors taking the place of the pieces, they re-enacted some of the best games played by UK players, with GM David Howell on hand to commentate on the re-enactment of his game against Ivan Sokolov from the 2009 Staunton Memorial. ChessFest also offered a “Challenge the Chess Master” where the masters had two and a half minutes to the public’s five, with prizes to those who managed a win or a draw. The number of masters steadily increased throughout the day from the scheduled four to nine to cope with the long queues that formed. It was a veritable “Who’s Who” of the chess world with GM David Howell, GM Gawain Jones, GM Luke McShane, GM Ravi Haria, GM Stuart Conquest, IM Andrew Martin, IM Harriet Hunt, IM Richard Palliser, IM Tom Rendle, IM Callum Kilpatrick, IM Malcolm Pein, WGM Katarzyna Toma, FM Tim Wall, FM Jonathan Pein and FM Akshaya Kalaiyalahan all taking turns. Even titled players, like GM Jonathan Roswon and IM Gavin Wall, who had turned up to spectate, were co-opted into pitching in! At the other end of the spectrum, one of the UK’s brightest prospects and the World U-8 Rapid & Blitz champion, Bodhana Sivanandan, challenged the USA’s own prodigy, 9-year old, Megan Paragua, in a match played live on the internet from Trafalgar Square and broadcast on the giant screen with commentary for the public. Although ahead in both games, Bodhana lost the match 0.5-1.5 but captained a team of London Juniors to a win in a match played against ChessFest Liverpool – who were having their own outdoor festival at Liverpool ONE – Chevasse Park. New for 2023 was the interactive chess puzzle competition organised by ChessKid starring the star of the online platform FunMaster Mike (FM Mike Klein). All children attending ChessFest were given new accounts to ChessKid and given 10 minutes to solve as many puzzles as possible on their mobile phones or devices. Hundreds took part, with the giant screen showing a live leaderboard. If the results are anything to go by, the future of UK junior chess is looking bright, with some awesome scores being recorded. To cap it off, Chess in Schools tutors were offering children and adults a free chess lesson in the “Teaching Zone”. Lessons ranged from how the pieces moved to the ultra-advanced nuances of the Accelerated Dragon. A total of 35 tutors provided close to 500 lessons throughout the day. ChessFest also took part in Nottingham on Saturday 15th July and in Hull on Sunday 16th July, with the juniors from Hull emerging victorious in their online challenge game against London. ChessFest will be back in 2024 and will be looking to build on this year’s success by bringing chess to more people across the UK. Text and photos: ChessFest official website
Ju and Lei still levelled as WWC Match 2023 enters final phase
The classical part of the match for the women’s world champion in chess is nearing its end, with only two more games left. The current score is 5:5 As the classical part of the match for the title of the women’s world champion in chess nears its end, the appetite for risk among players is falling. Game ten was a largely calm battle. Defending world champion Ju Wenjun opened with 1.Nf3, the same move she played in game eight when she defeated Lei. The challenger chose a slightly different response than the one in game eight, and, from an English Opening the two transitioned into a Queen’s gambit position. Despite a small imprecision by Ju in the opening, neither side managed to grab the initiative. Following exchanges in the middlegame, the two entered a drawn rook and queen endgame. Ju emerged a pawn up, but Black’s active pieces offered sufficient compensation. Soon, Lei regained a pawn and, by move 32, restored material equality. Soon Ju traded the queens and forced an even rook endgame. Despite both players being comfortable with splitting a point, neither could offer a draw before move 40. Soon, the 40th move threshold was passed, and the two happily shook hands. The close score is evidence of the high level of play exhibited by both competitors. Thursday, 19th July, is the final rest day of the match. Both sides will need to approach the rest day with more thought than any other rest day before: with just two more games for the final victory push, both need to be at their best. If the score remains tied after these games, the match will proceed to tiebreaks. Game eleven will take place on Friday, 21st July, at 3 PM Local Time in Chongqing (GMT +8). Here follows a closer look at game 10 of the match: With the score levelled and three more games to go (including today’s), it seemed that the defending World Champion had a slight advantage – she equalised the score in a critical moment to halt Lei’s surge and will be playing as white in two of the last three remaining games in the classical part of the match. By playing 1.Nf3 the defending champion opened with the same move as in game eight, when she defeated Lei. After some thought, Lei responded with 1…Nf6 and not 1…d5 as in game eight. In the press conference after game nine, the players we asked if they believed in superstition. While Ju’s reply was a firm “no”, Lei confirmed that she did. Whether this had any play in Lei’s opening move choice in today’s game is anyone’s guess. Ju wanted to avoid allowing Lei to enter the Tarrasch line, where the challenger had shown great skills in the previous games. Still, from the English Opening, the two gradually transitioned into a structure of the Queen’s Gambit where Black had the isolated d5-pawn – very similar to the Tarrasch Defence. Here Ju made a slight imprecision with 14.N2f3. It allowed White to play 14…Ne4 as Black aims to seize the initiative. Overall, during the match, Lei came across as better prepared in the openings. In all but one of the previous games, it was Lei who was better prepared in the openings and offering more surprises, noted Grandmaster Alik Gershon. 15.Nd2 “The world champion shows great character by admitting and fixing her mistake on the very next move with 15. Nd2!”, said Grandmaster Alik Gershon. Still, Ju lost a tempo. Here Lei spent 20 minutes thinking about what to do next. She had three options: To take on d4 and follow a line of exchanges or, place her knight on g5 and keep the pressure on the e4-square. The third option was 15…Qf6, with the idea of placing the queen of h6 and making mating threats on the white king as well as pinning the e3-square for some potential tactics. After she finished calculating the lines, Lei went for the most straight-forward, 15…Nxd4, and then tried to transfer her rook to the kingside via Re6-g6 (h6). However, Ju was on her guard and thwarted this plan. Here a series of exchanges followed, pushing the game towards a draw. 18.Nxe4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Rxe4 20.Qxd5 Rxe3. An interesting moment occurred here when Ju started laughing. Despite trying to be discrete about it, it was noticeable to Lei and the audience. In the press conference, Ju explained that “something came to my mind, not about chess… Then I just couldn’t stop laughing”. This was not taken as a bad thing by Lei. 21.Bc4 Re7 22.Qxb7 Bb5 23.Qd5 Following the sequence of natural moves, the opponents reached a roughly equal position despite Black being a pawn down. Still, Lei was the one who needed to play more precisely here. Grandmaster Xu Yi – who knows both players well as he played with them in the Chinese leagues – noted that Lei “needs to be careful here, especially when playing against Ju”, hinting at the world champion’s preference to try and squeeze a victory out of a tiny advantage. A few moves down the road, the bishops were off the board, and the two entered queen and rook endgame. Ju’s extra pawn on c4 is exposed to attack, while Black’s pieces are very active. Soon the c4-pawn fell, and Ju forced an exchange of queens leading to a dead-even rook endgame. Although it was a draw, the two could not offer it to one another before move 40, as per regulations. The two played until move 47 and decided to call it a day. On routines and rankings The press conference after game 10 yielded some notable comments from the players about their routines and preparation. While both were unwilling to say anything more than the ordinary about their daily habits, they did reveal one interesting detail. When asked by the Chinese Woman Grandmaster Gu Xiaobing how many hours of sleep they get, Ju said she sleeps about eight hours a day, while Lei revealed that she sleeps as much
Implementation of the C.07 Tie-Break Regulations postponed
FIDE TEC received numerous inquiries and upon careful evaluation of the previously announced C.07 Tie-Break Regulations, set to be effective from July 1, 2023, the SPP Department within the FIDE TEC Commission identified a need for certain clarifications. This primarily pertains to the definitions related to Play-Offs, Direct Encounters, and Unplayed Games. Under the stewardship of Mr. Roberto Ricca, the SPP Department has completed this necessary refinement. The revised definition is currently under review for approval by the FIDE Council. Our objective is to publish the updated version of the “C.07 Tie-Break Regulations” in early August 2023, with an effective date of September 1, 2023. Vendors of Pairing Software are thereby granted time to implement these revised tie-break rules until April 1, 2024. We urge everyone to stay vigilant for the imminent publication of these new regulations. Enquiries: Hendrik du Toit – secretary.tec@fide.com
FIDE Education Commission announces its 9th Preparation of Teachers course
FIDE Chess in Education Commission is delighted to share the exciting news about the upcoming 9th Preparation of Teachers course. We invite you to join us for this exceptional learning experience. Ideal for teachers, chess educators, and beginner and advanced players who have a basic knowledge of chess and experience working with children, the course will be run online in English from August 18-20, 2023. The participants will have an opportunity to take an exam to qualify for the esteemed FIDE title of School Instructor. Moreover, FIDE Chess in Education Commission offer participants who successfully complete the course a special benefit – exclusive lifetime access to the Opening Master Premium Chess Database, which currently contains more than 9.6 million official over-the-board chess games and is being updated on a monthly basis. For a comprehensive overview of the course, please refer to the detailed course description available at the following link:cloud.fide.com/s/zdjnrtTwXtfGoK4 To secure your spot, kindly complete and submit the registration form provided here:cloud.fide.com/s/N74JLEdq3qcKwc4 Please note that the deadline for applications is August 14. Given the limited number of places available (20 in total), we encourage you to register at your earliest convenience, as applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Should you have any inquiries or require further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at edu.courses@fide.com We look forward to embarking on this enriching educational journey together and expanding the horizons of chess education.