European Youth Champions 2022 crowned in Antalya, Turkey
The 2022 European Youth Chess Championship concluded yesterday in Antalya, Turkey, with an impressive closing ceremony. ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, ECU Deputy President Dana Reizniece-Ozola, President of Turkish Chess Federation Gulkiz Tukay and the ECU Board members attended the closing ceremony and joined the awarding. The ceremony started with impressive dance performances and was broadcasted live through the Turkish Chess Federation Youtube Channel. The competition brought together over 1000 players from 46 European federations, but only 12 participants claimed the titles of European Champion in their respective categories. Roman Shogdzhiev (FIDE, 1747) clinched the U8 championship thanks to better Buchholz over Marc Llari (FRA, 1769) – silver, and Ali Poyraz Uzdemir (TUR, 1566) – bronze, who had the same score of 7.5 points. The President of the French Chess Federation, Mr Eloi Relange, awarded the winners. Sofya Kokareva (FIDE, 1288) dominated the Girls U8 tournament and won gold with a perfect score of 9/9. She became the only player in the event to win all nine games. Sofya finished two points ahead of Zoe Veselow (ENG, 1435), who took silver and Lila Rzadkowska (POL, 1243), who clinched the bronze with 6.5 points and better tiebreaks over Darya Shynkar (UKR, 1020) and Beren Cetin (TUR). ECU Chief Executive Officer Erald Dervishi awarded the top finishers. Baver Yilmaz (TUR, 1722) came out on top in the Open U10 category after netting 7.5/9, a half a point ahead of a group of three players who tied for the second place. The tiebreak criteria determined the silver and bronze medalists. Gabriel Gabadadze (GEO, 1569) came second, Erik Golubovic (CRO, 1868) was third, and Murat Kutay Yardak (TUR, 1574) finished fourth. ECU Vice President Alojzije Jankovic and President of Turkish Chess Federation Ms Gulkiz Tulay awarded the winners. Marianta Lampou (GRE, 1415) triumphed in the Girls U10 section scoring an impressive 8.5 points. Kristina Zavivaeva (FIDE, 1313) won silver with 7.5 points, and Mirzaliyeva Leyla (AZE, 1226) came third with 7 points. ECU Secretary General Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou awarded trophies and medals to the winners. Patryk Cieslak (POL, 2088) clinched victory in the Open U12 category scoring 7.5 points, with four players tying for the second place with 7 points each. The tiebreaks (Buchholz) favoured Khagan Ahmad (AZE, 2135), who got silver, and Marat Gilfanov (FIDE, 1786), taking bronze. ECU Honorary Vice-President Mr Vanja Draskovic joined the ceremony and awarded the winners. Diana Preobrazhenskaya (FIDE, 1930) won the Girls U12 championship with 7.5 points. Veronika Iudina (FIDE, 1686) and Oksana Goriachkina (FIDE, 1694) shared second place, with the former claiming silver thanks to better Buchholz. Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (UKR, 2153) clinched gold in the Open U14 section netting 8/9. IM Ediz Gurel (TUR, 2449) finished a half-point behind and took silver, while Benik Agasarov (ARM, 2219) won the bronze medal with 7 points. ECU Vice-President Mr Gunnar Bjornsson awarded the medalists. Valeria Kleymenova (FIDE, 2141) scored 7.5 points and emerged as the sole winner in the Girls U14 section, while three players tied for second place on 7 points each. Yana Zhapova (FIDE, 2220) had the best tiebreaks and won silver, Sofiia Moskalets (UKR, 1430) came third. ECU Vice President Ms Eva Repkova awarded the Winners. IM Timothe Razafindratsima (FRA, 2453) won the Open U16 tournament after chalking up 7.5 points. He finished half a point ahead of three players who tied for second place, scoring 7 points each. The tiebreaks favoured Erdem Khubukshanov (FIDE, 2371), who got silver, over IM Emin Ohanyan (ARM, 2377) – bronze, and IM Aleksey Grebnev (FIDE, 2477), who came fourth. ECU Vice President Mr Malcolm Pein awarded the medalists. Three players tied for the top position in the Girls U16 section scoring 7 points each. Mariya Manko (UKR, 2085) had the best tiebreaks and claimed gold, Kata Karacsonyi (HUN, 2109) won silver, and Weronika Zabrzanska (POL, 1992) earned bronze. ECU Deputy President Dana Reizniece-Ozola joined the awarding ceremony and awarded the winners. IM Rudik Makarian (FIDE, 2505) scored 7.5 points to win the title in the Open U18 category in a close race with IM Murzin Volodar (FIDE, 2556) taking silver with 7 points. As many as six players tied for third place scoring 6.5 points. IM Mamikon Gharibyan (ARM, 2470) made the podium by dint of better tiebreaks. ECU President Mr Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE President Mr Arkady Dvorkovich and President of Turkish Chess Federation Gulkiz Tulay awarded the winners. Fresh from her Girls 18 World Youth Chess Championship triumph, where she had scored the astonishing 11/11 WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan (ARM, 2334) dominated the Girls U18 section, netting impressive 8.5 points. Mariam finished 1.5 points ahead of Yelyzaveta Hrebenshchykova (UKR, 2296), who won silver with 7 points. Four players tied for the bronze medal scoring 6.5 points each, but WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (UKR, 2092) had best Buchholz and came third. ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and President of Turkish Chess Federation Gulkiz Tulay awarded the top finishers. At the end of the awarding ceremony, the ECU President officially declared the event closed. Final rankings and all results can be found here. Text: europechess.org Photo: official website Official website: eycc2022.tsf.org.tr
64th World Congress of Chess Composition gets underway in Fujairah, UAE
The 64th World Congress of Chess Composition takes place in Fujairah, UAE, from the 12th to the 19th of November. There are many events scheduled, including the 45th World Chess Solving Championship. UAE is the first Arab country in the Middle East to organize the World Chess Solving Championship and to host a general assembly, as it has never been held in the region before. The 45th World Chess Solving Championship and 64th World Congress of Chess Composition will run under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah. At the opening ceremony on the 12th of November, the President of the Fujairah Chess Club, Dr Adbulla AAL Barket, welcomed all participants and expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Sheikh Hamad and Sheikh Saleh Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Chairman of the Fujairah Department of Industry and Economy, for their unwavering support, which enabled Fujairah chess to experience amazing growth on a global scale and helped Emirate host this prestigious tournament. The Opening session of the 64th World Congress of Chess Composition took place on the 13th of November, with many important issues being discussed. The Congress continues with the Commissions meetings and ends on the 17th of November with the WFCC Presidium election session. On the 14th of November, the OPEN composition tournament was held. GM Danila Pavlov (pictured below) convincingly won the event, Eddy Van Beers took second place, and Ofer Comay came third. Eighty-one participants representing 23 countries are competing in the World Chess Solving Championship, which started today on the 15th of November. The competition will stretch over two days with thee rounds held daily. The participants are to solve different compositions (3 two-movers, 2 three-movers, 3 endgames, 3 helpmates, 3 more-movers and 3 selfmates) during a limited period of time. The most exciting moment comes at the end of the round. After the solvers give their solutions, they can leave the venue and compare their answers with the correct solutions distributed by the organizers. The participants compete in both individual and team categories. The teams consist of three (four at ECSC) solvers and the team leader, who may be one of the solvers. Teams consisting of only two (two or three at ECSC) solvers are also permitted. The members of the teams simultaneously compete in the individual championship. Many participants have more than one chess set on their table or don’t have any of them and try to solve from the diagrams on the paper they receive at the start of the round. In the rules for those competitions, a solver may use the chess board(s) and men made available by the organizer or his own set(s). The international blitz tournament will take place on the 19th of November. More than 270 players have already registered. The total prize fund for all events is €40,000. Official tournament website: wccc2022.wfcc.ch/ Facebook page: facebook.com/fujairahchess
Chess for Social benefits and Women inclusion Conference set for December 1
FIDE Social Commission, FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess and French Chess Federation are pleased to announce the “Chess for Social benefits and Women inclusion & INFINITE CHESS Evolution” conference that will take place on December 01, 2022, in Paris, France. The conference will be held in a hybrid format and is open for both offline and online participation. The 4.5-hour event will be devoted to two topics: FIDE, ECU & FFC – Chess for Social benefits and Women & Social in the world: ambitions, projects, trends. Current and new social projects of the International Chess Federation, European Chess Union and French Chess Federation will be presented during the event. Besides, the preliminary results and the evolution of the pilot FIDE INFINITE CHESS Project will be announced. The panel of speakers includes Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, Eloi Relange, President of the French Chess Federation, Franck Droin, ECU Social Comission Chairman, President of the Health Social Disability Commission of the FFE, Anastasia Sorokina, Infinite Chess Project Leader, Abhijit Kunte, 4th grandmaster of India, Coordinator of the Chess Social Projects in the Indian Oil Corporation and coach of the Indian National women team. The speakers will exchange experiences and showcase how chess helps people worldwide and make changes for the better. Topics and speakers: WHO Project – Eric Desailly FIDE INFINITE CHESS Project (chess for kids with autism spectrum disorder) – Anastasia Sorokina, Infinite Chess Project Leader, Natalija Popova, member of the ECU Social Commission, author of the FIDE Chess Program for kids with ASD, Ala Mishchanka, author of the FIDE Chess Program for kids with ASD, Special needs educational assistant, more than 15 years of experience (Canada), Researchers from the Chess Research Institute at ASPU named after Kh.Abovyan ICAR Project (International Chess Benefits Assessment Resources) – Franck Droin, ECU Social Commission Chairman, President of the Health Social Disability Commission of the FFE and ICAR Team Leader ECU Social Commission – ECU Social Commission Social trends – Alexandra Weldon, Head of Philanthropy, MOHARI group Prison to Pride: countrywide realisation of the Chess for Prisoners program – Abhijit Kunte, 4th grandmaster of India, Coordinator of the Chess Social Projects in the Indian Oil Corporation, coach of the Indian National women’s team Chess for women in FIDE – Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, Anastasia Sorokina, Infinite Chess Project Leader, Anastasiya Karlovych, member of the ECU Social Commission. Chess like a tool for social responsibility – For Coloured Girls, Geraldine Engelman. CUTE: Ukrainian Women Program 2022-2025 – Franck Droin, ECU Social Comission Chairman, President of the Health Social Disability Commission of the FFE, Anastasiya Karlovych, member of the ECU Social Commission Second Brain Project – Virginie Dubois All attendees are required to register for the conference online using this link. You can find the detailed programme of the conference here. If you have any questions, please email them to socialchess@fide.com
FIDE World Team Championship: Lineups and group composition
The 12 teams for the FIDE World Team Championship in Jerusalem (November 19-26) have been confirmed. In the line-ups of the participating teams we find stars like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Teymur Radjabov, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, along with up-and-coming prodigies like Javokhir Sindarov and Nihal Sarin, and illustrious veterans like Vasyl Ivanchuk and Alexei Shirov.This is the complete entry list: FIDE DELEGATES Alex Holowczak Chief Arbiter Alexey Root Press Officer Viswanathan Anand Commentator Almira Skripchenko Commentator ISRAEL Ilana David Captain Maxim Rodshtein player Tamir Nabaty player Avital Boruchovsky player Ilia Smirin player Evgeny Postny player Ori Kobo player POLAND Michal Bartel Captain Radoslaw Wojtaszek player Mateusz Bartel player Kacper Piorun player Bartosz Socko player Szymon Gumularz player Igor Janik player UKRAINE Yurii Gnyp Chief of delegation Oleksander Sulypa Captain Igor Kovalenko player Vasyl Ivanchuk player Andriy Volokytin player Kirill Shevchenko player Vitali Bernadskyi player Mykhaylo Oleksyenko player CHINA Wen Yang Captain & player Xu Xiangyu player Bai Jinshi player Lu Shanglei player Li Di player NETHERLANDS Jan Smeets Captain & player Anish Giri player Jorden Van Foreest player Lucas Van Foreest player Max Warmerdam player Robby Kevlishvili player FRANCE Jean-baptiste Mullon Captain & Chief of delegation Maxime Vachier-lagrave player Jules Moussard player Laurent Fressinet player Maxime Lagarde player Tigran Gharamian player INDIA Suri Vaibhab Captain Gujarathi Vidit Santosh player Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan player Sarin Nihal player Krishnan Sasikiran player Sethuraman Panayappan Sethuraman player Gupta Abhijit player SOUTH AFRICA Hendrink Petrus Du Toit Captain & Chief of delegation Kenneth Terence Solomon player Daniel John Cawdery player Daniel Barrish player Banele Fortune Mhango player UZBEKISTAN Husan Turdialiev Chief of delegation Ivan Sokolov Captain Nodirbek Yakubboev player Javokhir Sindarov player Jakhongir Vakhidov player Shamsiddin Vokhidov player Abdimalik Abdisalimov player Ortik Nigmatov player USA John Donaldson Captain Hans Niemann player Lazaro Bruzon player Alexander Onischuk player Varuzhan Akobian player Yuniesky Quesada Perez player SPAIN Javier Ochoa de Echagüen Chief of delegation David Martinez Captain Jaime Santos player David Anton player Alexei Shirov player Daniil Yuffa player Miguel Santos player AZERBAIJAN Nijat Abasov Captain Shakhriyar Mamedyarov player Teimour Radjabov player Rauf Mamedov player Aydin Suleymanli player Gadir Guseinov player Vugar Asadli player Under the exciting new format devised for this competition, the participant countries are split into two pools of similar strength, taking as a reference the rapid rating list for November 1st. The four best teams from each pool will advance to the knock-out stage, where they will play Quarter-finals, Semi-Finals, and Final, with each duel consisting of two matches between the teams. Group A Group B China Azerbaijan France India Netherlands Israel South Africa Poland Spain United States Ukraine Uzbekistan The time control will be 45 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from move 1. The event, organized by FIDE and the Israel Chess Federation with the support of the Israel Ministry of Sport and Culture, will be held at the Mount Scopus Hall in the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the seven-time French Women’s Chess Champion Almira Skripchenko will be the commentators. The Chief Arbiter for the event will be Alex Holowczak (ENG), with Alon Shulman (ISR) as his Deputy, and M S Gopakumar (IND) as Fair Play officer. You can read the complete regulations in the FIDE Handbook. Official website: worldteams.fide.com
Chinese Championship 2022: Dai Changren and Tan Zhongyi win titles
Dai Changren and Tan Zhongyi are the new champions of China. The 2022 Chinese Championship took place in Xinghua, Jiangsu province, from November 2-11 and was held in open and women’s sections. Both tournaments were 12-player round robins with classical time control. In the absence of top Chinese players, the open event caused a minor sensation as the #10 in the starting list Dai Changren (pictured below), scored 7/11 and finished clear first, a half point ahead of Zhao Jun (6½/11), who took silver. Two players tied for third place, with Xu Xiangyu claiming bronze thanks to better Sonneborn-Berger over Li Di. The event was a very close competition, with neither player completing the tournament unbeaten. Final standings: 1 IM Dai Changren 2515 7 2 GM Zhao Jun 2600 6½ 3 GM Xu Xiangyu 2577 6 4 GM Li Di 2539 6 5 IM Lou Yiping 2490 5½ 6 GM Liu Yan 2532 5½ 7 GM Xu Yi 2502 5½ 8 GM Lu Shanglei 2605 5½ 9 GM Bai Jinshi 2569 5½ 10 GM Xu Yinglun 2553 5 11 GM Zeng, Chongsheng 2604 4 12 IM Xu Zhixing 2504 4 The women’s event was quite a different scenario as the rating-favourite Tan Zhongyi (pictured below) dominated the field. Despite losing to Xiao Yiyi, she netted an impressive 9/11 and came out on top 1½ ahead of her main competitor who claimed silver. It is the second national title in her career. There was a tie for third place in the women’s competition as well, with Guo Qi edging out Zhai Mo by dint of slightly better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 GM Tan Zhongyi 2514 9 2 WGM Xiao Yiyi 2326 7½ 3 IM Guo Qi 2391 7 4 WGM Zhai Mo 2371 7 5 WIM Song Yuxin 2311 6½ 6 WGM Ni Shiqun 2370 5 7 Zhang Lanlin 2200 5 4 WGM Li Xueyi 2297 4½ 9 IM Wang Yu 2276 4½ 10 WIM Chu Ruotong 2224 4 11 WIM Ren Xiaoyi 2207 3½ 12 Yuan Ye 2086 2½ Photo: official website Official website: cca.imsa.cn/
Resolution on transfer regulations approved by FIDE Council
The FIDE Council at its meeting on October 17th, 2022, has resolved to approve the following Resolution regarding transfer regulations’ review: To study transfer regulations and potential for their improvement. To appoint the following working group: Chair of the Working Group, FIDE Vice-President Mr. Michael Khodarkovsky with Representative of the FIDE General Strategy Commission (to be appointed by GSC) and a Representative of the Qualification Commission (to be appointed by QC). To instruct the working group to publish information on the start of their work and invitation for FIDE Federations, officials and all other interested individuals to provide suggestions on transfer regulations amendment. To specify that suggestions as per point 3 above should be provided within one month from the date of this Resolution. To instruct the working group to: – analyze received suggestions; – analyze various circumstances related to players migration; – provide drafts of recommended changes to the transfer regulations based on the aforementioned analysis. In this connection, we are hereby inviting all Federations-members of FIDE, officials and all other interested individuals to provide suggestions on transfer regulations amendment, to be sent to the FIDE Office (office@fide.com) for the attention of the Working Group, by December 5th 2022.
Almaty to host FIDE Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022
FIDE is happy to confirm the dates and the venue for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022. The prestigious event will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan‘s largest metropolis, set in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains. The championship will be played on its traditional dates, between December 25 (arrival and opening) and December 30 (last playing day and closing). The event is made possible thanks to the agreement with Freedom Finance, which becomes a General Sponsor of the event. Freedom Finance Investment Company is an investment company that is a part of Freedom Holdings (Nevada, USA), trading symbol FRHC. The company is engaged in investment banking, asset management, and capital markets services. Freedom Holdings owns the Kazakh bank Freedom Finance, the online store Freedom24 and the Kazakhstani broker Freedom Finance JSC, among other assets. More details, including information about hotels, visas etc. will be published by November 15. There is a large number of countries (over 100) that can benefit either from visa exemption to Kazakhstan, or a simplified procedure to obtain a single-entry electronic visa issued through the Visa and Migration Portal. Photo: advantour.com
Lei Tingjie wins her spot in the Women’s Candidates finals
The 4th and final classical game of the semi-finals between Anna Muzychuk and Lei Tingjie kicked off by Marie Noelle Gibelli, a member of the National Council of Monaco, making the ceremonial first move. Marco Biagioli, Mitropa President and External Manager of the Italian Chess Federation, also was in the playing hall watching the game. Lei’s first move hardly surprised anyone as she has always played 1.d4 for the whole event, and this last game was no exception. The exchange Grunfeld was tested again, but this time White played 7.Qa4+ to deviate from the previous game. At the post-mortem analysis, Lei said that she knew 11…Bg4 was an inaccuracy, and Black had to exchange Queens to hold in the endgame. Lei thought she was better after 19.Re4 since she had a space advantage and the bishop pair. Engines find the position still holdable for Black but very difficult to play. And indeed, Anna missed the idea of 19…Nc8 followed by 20…Qe5 and 21…Nd6 and after 19…Rfc8 20.Bg4 Rd8 21.c4 found herself in dire straits. Lei got a considerable advantage, won some material a few moves down the road and very convincingly converted it in the endgame afterwards. Final position. One of White’s passers inevitably promotes 1-0 Huge congratulations to Lei Tingjie, who showed a very high level of play, eliminating both Muzychuk sisters with two wins with the White pieces in the classical segments. There is still a lot of chess to be played as the Pool B of the FIDE Women’s Candidates is not far away. The event will take place in Uzbekistan from the 28th of November to the 11th of December. See you there to meet Lei’s opponent for the finals then! Official webstie: womenscandidates.fide.com Text: WGM Andreea Navrotescu Photo: Michał Walusza ORGANIZERS: PARTNERS:
Winners crowned at 2022 European Senior Team Championships
The 2022 European Senior Chess Championships (50+ & 65+ age categories) concluded yesterday in Dresden, Germany. A record number of 79 teams took part in the event, with more than 370 players representing their federations. Both The top rated England 50-1 won the 50+ section (a 9-round Swiss tournament) with a round to spare and scored very convincing 17 match points. Berlin 1 and Germany tied for the second place scoring 14 match points, each. According to tiebreaks criteria (Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger), Berlin 1 claimed silver and Germany had to settle for bronze. The best ranked women’s team was Germany 1 that netted 8 match points and tied for the first place with Germany 2, but came out on top thanks to better tiebreaks. Schachköniginnen Heidenau finished third. Final standings 50+: 1 England 50-1 17 2 Berlin 1 14 3 Germany 14 4 Slovakia 13 5 Berlin 2 11 6 Bielefeld 11 7 Österreich 11 8 England 50-2 11 9 TU Magdeburg 11 10 Graal-Müritz/Teterow 10 German Lasker Schachstiftung GK team won the 65+ category with 15 match points, after defeating Sweden 1 in a direct final round match for medals. Finland 65 and Germany 3 tied for the second place scoring 13 match points, but the Sonneborn-Berger favored Finland 65 (silver) over Germany 3 (bronze). The best ranked Women’s team was Germany with 7 match points. Final standings 65+: 1 Lasker Schachstiftung GK 15 2 Finland 65 13 3 Germany 3 13 4 Sweden 1 13 5 Schweiz 13 6 SC Kreuzberg Berlin 12 7 Cercle d’Echecs de Strasbourg 12 8 England 65 – 1 11 9 Germany 2 11 10 Germany 1 11 The winners of the event received trophies and medals, and the title of European Senior Team Chess Champions 2022 for the respective category. The total prize fund of the event was 6,000 EUR. Text: europechess.org Photo: official website Official website: schachfestival.de/
FIDE Women’s Candidates: No risks taken
After a well-deserved break day, the third game of the semi-finals between Anna Muzychuk and Lei Tingjie was launched by two VIPs again. This time, Pascal Camia, Operational Director at Casino Hotel Hermitage, and Ivan Ljubicic, former tennis player, Olympic medallist and coach of Roger Federer, made the first ceremonial move. The latter guest also kindly agreed to make an appearance on the official broadcast and joined GM Alojzije Jankovic. Queens were exchanged relatively quickly after Anna essayed a trendy idea of 7.Nxc6, 8.Qd3 and 9.Qg3 in the Paulsen Sicilian. Then on move 12, Muzychuk played a4, which visually looked like she was giving up control over the b4 square. At the post-game interview, Anna said that she did not think 12…Bb4 was a big deal since she could react with 13.Bd2. The next critical moment happened on the move 23 when Anna decided to go for an opposite-colour bishops endgame by taking on d6 (23.Rxd6). The engines do not quite agree with this decision and prefer to maintain the pressure on the board by playing 23.g4!? The point is to prove that the black structure and, particularly, the e4 pawn are weak. After Lei found the precise sequence 23…Rxf1+ followed by 25…Rxf2+ equalizing on the spot, there was nothing special to play for. Fourteen moves down the road, a draw was signed in a dead-equal opposite-colour bishops endgame. The last classical game of the match with Lei having White pieces will be played on November 5. Will there be a tiebreaker? Let’s wait and see! Official webstie: womenscandidates.fide.com Text: WGM Andreea Navrotescu Photo: Michał Walusza ORGANIZERS: PARTNERS: