Leon Livaić wins 2023 Croatian Championship
Leon Livaić is the new champion of Croatia. The 23-year-old GM from Zagreb took the first national title in his career and picked 16 rating points. The Croatian Championship, a 12-player round-robin with classical time control, took place in the premises of the Zagreb Chess Federation from December 5-13. The winner of the 2022 championship, Ivan Saric, opted not to defend his title due to a busy schedule. The event was a close race of four 2500+ grandmasters up to Round 8, in which Leon Livaić grabbed the sole lead and never looked back. Coming to the final round a full point ahead of Sasha Martinovic and Marin Bosiocic, he drew with Zdenko Kozul from the position of strength and secured the title with an excellent score of 8.5/11. The champion became the only unbeaten participant in the event. Marin Bosiocic gradually outplayed Lovro Novosel in an equal minor-piece endgame and gained silver as Sasha Martinovic made a quick draw with Nenad Fercec and settled for bronze. Final standings: 1 GM Livaić, Leon 2543 8½ 2 GM Bosiočić, Marin 2545 8 3 GM Martinović, Saša 2556 7½ 4 GM Kožul, Zdenko 2532 7 5 GM Ferčec, Nenad 2401 5½ 6 IM Bukal, Vladimir 2337 5½ 7 GM Palac, Mladen 2478 5 8 IM Tica, Sven 2448 4½ 9 FM Novosel, Lovro 2370 4½ 10 GM Rogić, Davor 2431 4 11 GM Kovačević, Blažimir 2400 3 12 IM Režan, Saša 2406 3 Official website: hrvatski-sahovski-savez.hr/ Photos: Official website
Cape Verde Championship 2023: Mariano Ortega wins fourth title
From December 3-10, the city of Ponta do Sol, on the island of Santo Antão, hosted the Final of the VII Cape Verde National Championship, organized by FCX, in partnership with the Ribeira Grande City Council. The tournament, a 10-player round-robin featuring 7 participants with FIDE rating, took place at the TIDUCA Hotel and was the strongest Cape Verde National Championship ever. It was a very tight tournament, so much so that only the final round determined the winner. In Round 4, Cape Verde’s Sports Minister visited the competition and praised the work carried out by the Federation. IM Mariano Ortega and FM Diogo Alho jointly led with a perfect score up to Round 7, in which, surprisingly, Alho lost to David Mirulla. In the final round, the two FIDE title holders locked horns, fighting for the 2023 crown in this competition. In a very long game, Diogo Alho ended up running out of time, handing the victory to Mariano Ortega, who won all nine games and claimed his fourth consecutive title. Ortega, who is currently the sixth-rated player in Africa, had an exemplary tournament, demonstrating why he is still the king of chess in Cape Verde. The closing ceremony of the 2023 national championship was attended by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who made a short visit to Cape Verde at the invitation of Francisco Carapinha, President of the Cape Verde Chess Federation. In addition to the competition itself, there was still time for players and staff to visit some of the natural beauty attractions of Santo Antão. Final standings: 1 IM Ortega Amarelle Mariano 2478 9 2 FM Alho Diogo 2233 7 3 Mirulla David 1929 6 4 WCM Rodriguez Guevara Celia 1746 5½ 5 Vaz Jose Carlos 1833 5 6 Barros Luis 1656 4½ 7 Teixeira Gil 1820 3 8 Monteiro Antonio David 1801 2½ 9 Silva Bryan Jorge 1586 2½ 10 Santos Kelim Morais 1436 0 Text and photos: Francisco Carapinha, President of the Cape Verde Chess Federation
FIDE joins Global Esports Federation
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has achieved recognition as a member of the Global Esports Federation (GEF), with Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, being elected to the GEF Board FIDE officially submitted its membership application to the Global Esports Federation on September 29. The GEF’s mission revolves around uniting esports entities and events on a global scale. Recognizing the importance of embracing new forms of chess, online training, competitions and community building, FIDE sought to deepen its ties with the esports world. It follows a successful cooperation earlier this year, where chess featured prominently in the 2023 Olympic Esports Series, attracting 42,000 participants from 219 countries during the qualifying stages for the chess competition. At the General Assembly of the GEF, which took place in Riyad on December 12, FIDE’s Dana-Reizniece-Ozola was elected to the Board of the organization. “I feel honored to become a member of this very dynamic family and also represent chess and FIDE. We will promote the credibility, legitimacy and prestige of esports along with suggesting ideas on how to best integrate chess in the global esports movement and its events,” Reizniece-Ozola said. By affiliating with the Global Esports Federation, FIDE aims to forge stronger connections with the esports community. This involves developing innovative competition formats, sharing expertise with esports stakeholders in organizing events and fostering and advancing chess in the esports landscape.
FIDE officials take part in the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva
The Global Refugee Forum 2023 is taking place at Palexpo in Geneva (Switzerland) from December 13-15. Anastasia Sorokina, Chairperson of the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess, and André Vögtlin, Chairman of FIDE Social Commission, participate in this event. It is the first time FIDE has taken part in the Global Refugee Forum. On December 12, Anastasia Sorokina spoke on the topic “Protection, Gender, Sport” at the preliminary event, the Education Campus. As the founder of the Girls Chess Club in the Kakuma refugee camp, she has implemented the protection and safety in the special Saturday online course program and gave an impressive account of it. Held every four years, the Forum is the world’s largest international gathering on refugees. It is designed to support the practical implementation of the objectives set out in the Global Compact on Refugees: Ease pressures on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, increase access to third-country solutions and improve conditions in countries of origin. It enables states and stakeholders to announce concrete pledges and contributions, highlight progress made, share good practices and take stock of the challenges and opportunities ahead. For FIDE and the two FIDE Commissions in particular, the Forum provides an opportunity to engage with many countries and sports partner organizations to work together for the common good. FIDE can present a functioning chess project in the Kakuma/Kalobeyei refugee camp, which can be multiplied and scaled up in other camps if the financial resources from the UNHCR are made available. Chess has a great future worldwide. The crises in spots are increasing and expanding, and society is struggling with many psychological challenges such as dementia, drug and internet addiction, autism, as well as the various issues of prisons and refugee camps. Here, chess offers very cost-effective and viable solutions.
2023 Hungarian Championship: A few unexpected results at the start
The host of next year’s Chess Olympiad, Hungary, decided to hold its national individual championship in a format never seen in the country before. Instead of having a men’s and women’s tournament separately, the Hungarian Chess Federation has put together a prize fund of EUR 35,000 and set up a common pool of men, women, and some invited youngsters aspiring for a place in the Hungarian U25 national team in the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest. All in all, 30 players battle it out in a 9-round Swiss tournament from December 12-20, 2023. “For top seeds, there is an appealing prize money, for the ladies – a good field and a separate prize fund, while the youngsters have a new opportunity, as they could not participate in the national championship in any of the classical formats used before,” said Dr Zoltan Polyanszky, President of the Hungarian Chess Federation. The President added that the special format was inspired partly by the FIDE Grand Prix 2017, when FIDE held Swiss tournaments with 18 players, and partly by the Battle of the Sexes tournament in Gibraltar in 2022, where also one of the present participants of the Hungarian Championship, IM Balazs Csonka took part, and had great fun. The new format immediately led to upsets in Round 1, where out of the 15 boards, the higher-rated players could win only on 7, despite the rating spread between 2588 and 2120, setting up expectations of a higher winning ratio. “This is why we are doing this”, says Polyanszky. “Our male grandmasters, female players, and youngsters under 2400 rarely play in the same field; they can cause surprises to each other, and everybody has more motivation to show their strengths, as this format also touches the identity of the players.” The ten ladies, with a rating average of 2213, taking the last ten places in the starting list, collected 4 points in Round 1 against opponents with a rating average of 2397. The Terbe sisters scored two impressive victories, while Barbara Mihok-Juhasz also had a promising position in a very complex, tactical game, fitting her style. WIMs Julianna and Zsuzsanna Terbe Still, the top seed grandmasters, the defending champion Peter Prohaszka, Adam Kozak, and Gergely Antal, all scored victories. Gleb Dudin, who had gotten under the Hungarian flag in August 2023, debuted in the national championship. We follow up with the results and some interesting facts upon tournament completion. Official website: chess.hu/
Verica Nedeljković, 1929–2023: Serbian Grandmaster who rattled Soviet Women’s chess dominance
Verica Nedeljković (94), the world’s oldest woman Grandmaster and a respected academic, passed away on December 13, 2023, in Belgrade Born Verica Jovanović-Tošović on September 16, 1929, in Pridvorica near Chachak (Čačak) in central Serbia, she will be remembered for her achievements both on and off the chess board. An exceptional student, Nedeljković pursued mechanical engineering at the University of Belgrade, graduating in 1955 as Yugoslavia’s first female shipbuilding engineer. Her remarkable career in academia paralleled her achievements in chess, where she excelled as a player and later as a lecturer at the University of Belgrade. Her passion for chess developed during her schooling days in Čačak, where she first learned the game. Moving to Belgrade in 1948 for further studies, she joined “Red Star” (“Crvena Zvezda”), a club that became an integral part of her life’s chess journey. Nedeljković’s ascent in the chess world was marked by numerous historic milestones. She won the title of National Master in 1950 (after winning the Yugoslav championship for women in Skopje) and later the title of International Master (after winning the Zonal tournament in Herceg Novi in 1954). She became a Grandmaster in 1977 after taking second place at the Women’s Candidates in Plovdiv (Bulgaria). Her result in Plovdiv was the biggest success of Yugoslav women’s chess until Milunka Lazarevic and Alisa Maric. Throughout her illustrious career, Nedeljković amassed an impressive array of championships and honors, including – being a six-time women’s champion of Yugoslavia, winner of four Western-European Zonal tournaments and had five consecutive appearances at the Women’s Candidates(!) – from 1955 to 1967. In her active years spanning from the 1950s to the early 1970s, Nedeljković became the first to put into question the almost unchallenged dominance of Soviet women in chess. Notably, she maintained even scores against World Champions Elisaveta Bykova (1.5:1.5) and Nona Gaprindashvili (3.5:3.5) and a lead against Olga Rubtsova (1.5:0.5). Her contributions extended beyond individual achievements. Nedeljković played an integral role in Yugoslavia’s Olympic success in women’s chess, securing a silver medal at the Split Olympiad in 1963. Her remarkable performance, winning all 12 games played, remains an unparalleled feat in the annals of women’s chess. She also played second board at the 1963 Olympiad in Oberhausen (Germany). Outside the chess arena, Nedeljković pursued a distinguished academic career at the University of Belgrade, contributing significantly to the Department of Material Resistance at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Her published works and co-authored scientific research papers stand as enduring testaments to her scholarly contributions. Nedeljković’s accomplishments were duly recognized with an array of honors and awards, underscoring her immense impact on Yugoslav and Serbian sports. Notably, she received the “National Sports Award” from the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2007, cementing her enduring legacy. She was married to the renowned Yugoslav International chess master Srećko Nedeljković (who passed away in 2011). Their joint dedication to chess was evident in their support for the sport, sponsoring tournaments and nurturing young talents. Verica Nedeljković’s legacy remains engraved in the history of chess, academia, and sports in the former Yugoslavia. Her impact on the world of chess, coupled with her groundbreaking contributions to academia, ensures that her memory will endure as an inspiration for generations to come.