5th FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities: Tazbir and Egeman win titles
The 5th FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities is in the books. GM Marcin Tazbir from Poland became the champion, and second place went to IM Daniel Pulvett from Spain. 20-year-old Pawel Piekielny of Poland sprang a surprise by winning bronze. All three players scored 7/9 games, but Tazbir claimed gold thanks to 1.5/2 points scored in the direct encounters, while Pulvett, who netted 1/2 in those games, took silver. FM Marcin Molenda (Poland), IM Duilio Collutiis (Italy) and FM Nikolay Mukha (Ukraine) finished just a half-point behind the top trio and tied for fourth place. 17-year-old Emilia Egeman from Poland undisputedly won the women’s ranking, scoring 5/9. The second-best woman was WFM Aleksandra Aleksandrova from Izrael (4.5/9). 19-year-old Malwina Szewczyk, also from Poland, earned bronze with 4/9. The women’s champion Emilia Egeman and vice-champion WFM Aleksandra Aleksandrova Organized by the Polish Chess Federation, the championship was financially supported by the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Poland. The event took place in the Hotel Arche Lublin and brought together 46 players from various parts of the world. The Tournament Director Pawel Zaskalski, the Chief Arbiter IA Sabrina de San Vincente (pictured below), and their teams made enormous efforts to provide excellent conditions to all players during the event. Additionally, a group of volunteers was hired to assist players with different disabilities. The event was wide open until the very end. Everything depended on the top board game between Pawel Piekielny and Daniel Pulvett, who came to the final round as join leaders, a half-point ahead of Marcin Tazbir and Krzysztof Madrawski. The leaders’ clash ended in a draw after a long and mostly equal battle in an endgame. This result allowed Tazbir to catch up with the duo, as he beat Vladimir Kovalenko from Ukraine with the white pieces after reaching a winning position in just 13 moves. Tazbir, Marcin – Kovalenko, Vladimir Black had many problems in the opening, but he could have solved most of them with 13…Bxe4 entering an inferior endgame after 14.dxe4 (14.exf7+?! Kxf7 15.dxe4 Qxd1 16.Rxd1 Nxe4 and Black is only slightly worse) Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Nxe4 16.Nf4! Bd6 17.Nd5 fxe6 18.Nb6 Rd8 19.Re1± The activity of White pieces is visible, but Black keeps the chances for a draw. 13…Nxe4?? played in the game was a serious mistake. 14.exf7 Ke7 15.dxe4 Qxd1 16.Bg5+! Ke6 17.Nf4+ Kf7 18.Raxd1 Bxe4 After the series of exchanges, Black maintained the material equilibrium, but White was totally winning due to an enormous activity of his pieces, attacking the vulnerable Black’s king. 19.Rd7+ Ke8 20.Rd2 h6 21.Re1?! (21.Ne6 was winning immediately, as there is no way to prevent Nc7) hxg5 22.Rxe4+ Kf7 23.Ne6 Kg6? (the line 23…Kg8 24.Nxg5 Rh6 does not look encouraging, but it was Black’s best option.) 24.Rd5 Rh5 25.g4 Rh4 26.Rxg5+ Kh7 27.Kg2 Be7? 28.Rxg7+ 1-0 This game was crucial for the final standings, but certainly, it was not the only one worth seeing. Many interesting and exciting encounters can be found on the official championship webpage, together with full results, photo gallery and other helpful information about the event. Final standings (top 10): 1 GM Tazbir, Marcin POL 2500 7 2 IM Pulvett Marin, Daniel ESP 2496 7 3 Piekielny, Pawel POL 2225 7 4 FM Molenda, Marcin POL 2392 6½ 5 IM Collutiis, Duilio ITA 2338 6½ 6 FM Mukha, Nikolay UKR 2109 6½ 7 Madrawski, Krzysztof POL 2010 6 8 IM Nowak, Lukasz POL 2408 5½ 9 IM Dukaczewski, Piotr POL 2095 5½ 10 Filippskikh, Oleksii UKR 2009 5½ Photos: official website Official website wccpd2023.pl/
FIDE World Senior Championship 2023: Registration deadline extended
The organizing committee of the FIDE World Senior Chess Championship has extended the registration deadline for the event to September 15, 2023. The event will be held in Terrasini, Sicily, from October 24 to November 6, 2023. As a result, certain related deadlines have also been adjusted. The deadline for requesting an invitation letter for visa purposes has been synchronized with the registration deadline and set for September 15, 2023. This adjustment aims to ensure that all the potential participants have ample time to complete all the necessary administrative procedures. Furthermore, the payment deadlines have also been extended to align with the new registration deadline. Participants are kindly requested to complete their payment formalities by September 15, 2023. For further information and registration details, interested participants are encouraged to visit the official website of the FIDE World Senior Chess Championship. Regulations for the FIDE World Senior Championships 2023 (pdf) Official website: worldsenior.fide.com Email: worldsenior@fide.com Photo: Wikipeida, Bjs
French Championship: Yannick Gozzoli and Mitra Hejazipour clinch titles
Yannick Gozzoli and Mitra Hejazipour are the new champions of France. Both won their maiden national titles. The French Championship 2023, a 16-player knockout tournament held in open and women’s sections, took place from August 18-27 in Alpe d’Huez, France. In case of a tie after two classical games, a 2-game Rapid (15+10) was played, followed by a 2-game Blitz (5+3) and an Armageddon (5 vs 4) if needed. On his way to the final, Yannick Gozzoli played two gruelling matches in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals against Anthony Wirig and Joseph Girel prevailing only on a tiebreaker (the last one came down to Armageddon) and then beat Tigran Gharamian in the semis by 1.5-0.5. Romain Edouard’s path to the final was even more challenging. After dethroning the 2022 French Champion Jules Moussard in the Round of 16 (1.5-0.5), he had to win two Armageddons over Sebastien Maze and Maxime Lagarde in the quarterfinals in the semis to reach the final. After a quick draw in the first game of the final, in the second one, Lagarde completely misplayed an even rook ending, and Gozzoli did not miss his chance to win the title. In the hard-fought third-place match, Lagarde only got the best of Gharamian in the Armageddon game to claim bronze. Iran-born Mitra Hejazipour, who acquired French citizenship this year, smoothly advanced to the final, defeating the rating-favorite Pauline Guichard in the semis (2-0). Her opponent, Deimante Daulyte-Cornette, also needed no tiebreakers and cruised to the final. The match for gold was the toughest one for both opponents. After two draws in classical games (in both, White had a decisive advantage at some point), two rapid games were played. The first one was drawn, but in the second one, Hejazipour outplayed her opponent with the black pieces and won the match. In the match for third place, Anastasia Savina defeated Pauline Guichard and took bronze. Photos: Fédération Française des Echecs Flickr