You Must Enjoy What You Do: WC

Magnus Carlsen (right) of Norway and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia at the press conference in Dubai on Wednesday. (International Chess Federation Twitter)

DUBAI, 24 November 2021 – Reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen and his Russian rival Ian Nepomniachtchi revealed some of their motivations during a press conference at Expo 2020 Dubai today, before they go head to head for the crown at the FIDE World Chess Championship (24-16 December).

The Norwegian has held the title since 2013 and is considered one of the greatest chess talents of all time. Carlsen became a grandmaster at the age of 13, and has been the world's number one player continuously since 2011.

Two-time Russian champion Nepomniachtchi is the winner of the 2020/21 Candidates Tournament and finished second in the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix, which qualified him for the Candidates Tournament.

Who is going to win this championship?

Ian Nepomniachtchi: “Normally, I think the best player wins.”

Magnus Carlsen: “I predict that the person who scores the most points over the next three weeks is going to be the winner and hopefully that’s going to be me and if I do win, it will probably be because I made some good moves and good decisions.”

Magnus, as you have held the World Champion title since 2013, does the pressure get easier?

Magnus Carlsen: “I think some parts of it may get easier as you get more experienced but it come comes down to how you perform over the board. It’s so intense and you also have lots of people in the team who have World Championship experience. But you’re probably a little bit less nervous than you are the first time.”

Women are a minority in the world of chess. Why do you think that is?

Ian Nepomniachtchi: “I think the general issues are that girls are less amazed [than boys] in chess skills classes, and they also have other hobbies. But I think there will be a time when we see some really strong female players.”

Magnus Carlsen: “I think this question is way too complicated to answer in a few sentences. There are a number of factors, especially cultural that have led to the situation we have today. I encourage everybody to play chess. And what I’ve found around the world is that young girls find as much joy as boys in the game of chess. And if that could be communicated more, I think that would be very helpful.”

As you know, Expo 2020 Dubai is focusing on inspiring our youth – the leaders of tomorrow. What’s your advice for young generation, who want to become champions like you?

Ian Nepomniachtchi: “You have got to enjoy what you’re doing, whether it’s chess or science or sports.”

Magnus Carlsen: “That what I would say – you have to enjoy what you do to excel in your field.”

Moderated by Maurice Ashley, the FIDE World Chess Championship Press Conference also featured Andrey Gureyev, CEO, Phosagro; Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President; and Dara Maher, Regional Head of Marketing, Kaspersky.

Magnus Carlsen also visited the Spain Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, host of the World School Chess Tournament from the 25-29 November. Carlsen joined the world’s best female player in history, Judith Polgar, to take a group picture with the young participants. In total, 108 teenagers and children from 10 different countries have been grouped in 12 teams to play the finals at the event. -- Expo2020

Read more »

Seven Indians in Top 100 of World Chess

New Delhi, Nov. 1: For the first time in the history of Indian chess, as many as seven players have made it into the Top 100 of world chess.
 K Sasikiran made this feat possible by beating Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) in the fifth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss Chess 2021 on Sunday. It lifted his rating to 2649 and helped him re-enter the elite list.

V Anand (2751), Vidit Gujrathi (2727), P. Harikrishna (2718), Nihal Sarin (2659), SL Narayanan (2658) and B Adhiban (2653) are the other six players in the Top 100.

“This is a very proud moment for India,” AICF president Dr. Sanjay Kapoor said. “We have steadily been cementing our position as one of the top nations in the world of chess,” he added.

“A big thank you to 2700chess and @fide_chess for maintaining the statistics,” AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said.

Russia has 23 players in the Top 100, USA 10, China 9, Ukraine and India have 7 each. 

The average rating of Top 10 players of Russia is 2731, USA 2712, China 2699 and India 2671.

Ten Indian players are currently in action in the Open category of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 while five women are in fray in their class. -- AICF

Read more »

Harikrishna scores second straight win in FIDE Grand Swiss chess

Riga (Latvia), October 31: India’s P Harikrishna defeated Armenia’s Sergey Movsesian for his second straight victory in the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament late on Saturday evening here. (Photo: video grab)

Playing white, Harikrishna needed 56 moves in a Ruy Lopez game to take his tally to 2.5 points after four rounds. It put him in the company of dozens of players, including D Gukesh and K Sasikiran returned with half a point each.

France’s Alireza Firouzja (3.5) is the sole leader at this stage. Young Nihal Sarin is just half a point behind along with 10 other players after settling for a draw. S P Sethuraman (1.5) also split the point with veteran Boris Gelfand.

Young R Praggnanandhaa (2) lost his first game in the tournament, going down to Samuel Sevian. E Arjun (1.5), Surya Sekhar Ganguly (1.0) and B Adhiban (0.5) too suffered defeats.

In the women’s category, R Vaishali was the only Indian to register a victory on Day 4. She beat Meruert Kamalidenova (Kazakhstan) to move to two points.

D Harika held China’s Jiner Zhu to have three points in her kitty along with eight others behind the leader.

Tingjie Lei (3.5) wrested that honour after her win over Russia’s Valentina Gunina.

Padmini Rout lost to Russia’s Alina Kahslinskaya while Vantika Agrwal and Divya Deshmukh drew their games.

The Grand Swiss Tournament and Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 are part of the qualifications for the 2021-23 World Championship cycle. The top two finishers will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022.

Ten Indian men and five women are in the fray. -- AICF

Read more »

2021 Russian Chess Champions Crowned: Vitiugov and Gunina

The Russian Championships Superfinals finished in Ufa on the 20th of October. In the last 11th round of the open tournament, Vladimir Fedoseev lost to Pavel Ponkratov in a dramatic fight. The games Chigaev – Alekseenko, Goryachkina - Andreikin, Predke - Motylev, Rakhmanov - Vitiugov, and Esipenko - Matlakov were drawn.

Grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov scored 7 points out of 11 to become the Russian champion for the first time in his career.

- When the game was about to finish, I was confident that this was going to be a tie-break. It was a difficult moment: on the one hand, the tournament is over, and on the other hand, the fight for the first place is not yet out of the question. I already have experience finding myself in a similar situation and going down to Peter Svidler in a tie-break. I went for a walk because I simply wanted to be as fresh for the game as possible. I relaxed only when the situation clarified after the last move in the Esipenko – Matlakov game, said the tournament winner. - As for my participation, this is my 15th Russian championship, that is, I have played in as many superfinals as all other participants put together, and maybe even more. I was lucky in some games, but the opposite happened to me as well. The evaluation bar's sudden spikes towards one or the other player happened in nearly every game. I would not give up and keep on fighting, but it was not without lucky strikes for me either. You will never win such a tournament without them.

Maxim Matlakov won silver with 6.5 points. Vladimir Fedoseev is in third place: he got 6 points and edged out Dmitry Andreikin. All three prize-winners are from Saint Petersburg.

Final standings:

1. Nikita Vitiugov - 7 points
2. Maxim Matlakov - 6.5
3-4. Vladimir Fedoseev, Dmitry Andreikin - 6
5-9. Alexandr Predke, Andrey Esipenko, Alexander Motylev, Pavel Ponkratov, Kirill Alekseenko - 5.5
10-11. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Aleksandr Rakhmanov - 4.5
12. Maksim Chigaev - 4.

In the women’s tournament, the key game of the round between Valentina Gunina and Polina Shuvalova ended in a draw. Having scored 8 points out of 11 without any single loss, Valentina Gunina (Moscow) became the four-time Russian women's champion.

“Of course, I am very happy, but the final game was quite nervous. I'd been preparing for one thing, but Polina chose the line, which she had never played before. Of course, it is hard to play against an unexpected variation. I thought that I acted right, but it's rather difficult to access it without due analysis. In general, I've been very tired for the previous three days, so in such a case, one's brain can generate interesting reactions, that's why I'm glad that it all happened this way,” said Gunina after the game.

Evgenija Ovod (Saint Petersburg) drew against Alina Bivol and took second place with 7.5 points, having edged out Polina Shuvalova (Moscow), who won bronze.

The games Galliamova - Guseva, Pogonina - Garifullina, Voit - Kashlinskaya, and Bodnaruk - Girya were drawn.

Final standings:

1. Valentina Gunina - 8 points
2-3. Evgenija Ovod, Polina Shuvalova - 7.5
4. Alina Kashlinskaya - 6.5
5-6. Natalija Pogonina, Leya Garifullina - 6
7. Alisa Galliamova - 5.5
8. Olga Girya - 4.5
9. Marina Guseva - 4
10-12. Daria Voit, Anastasia Bodnaruk, Alina Bivol - 3.5.



The Superfinals are a part of the Chess in Museums international programme realised by the Chess Federation of Russia and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

The total guaranteed prize fund is 11 million rubles: 7 million rubles in the open section and 4 million rubles in the women's tournament.

The Superfinals were organised by the Chess Federation of Russia with support of the Russian Ministry of Sport, Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation. The CFR general partner is PhosAgro. Partners: Aeroflot, Art Russe, Chess Federation of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and the Bashkortostan State M.V. Nesterov Art Museum.

Read more »

Indian Chess League: Nine Companies Show Interest

Jaipur, Sept 23: The Central Council and Special General Body meeting of All India Chess Federation held at Jaipur on Thursday took some major decisions for the development of the game in the country.

Nine companies showed interest for the much anticipated Indian Chess League and AICF formed a five member screening committee for the same.

In another major development, All India Chess Federation provisionally affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association while a National Chess Academy will be established at Odisha to provide exposure and training facilities for the players from across the country.

It is also decided to create a welfare fund for the benefit of players and arbiters. Currently AICF is providing assistance for Covid-19 through the Checkmate Covid program and the surplus fund in this project will be merged to this welfare fund.

Further, AICF decided to train two arbiters, two organizers and four players in each district of the country and Rs. 50 lakh has been allocated for this grass root level project.

The term ‘Open’ has been removed from the national championship and now the events will be called the National Championship.

The house extended its gratitude to the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich for providing wild cards to Indian players in the World Cup and FIDE Grand Prix.

Read more »

FIDE Online Olympiad Final Russia - USA 10 pm IST Today

The final match of the FIDE Online Olympiad between Russia and the USA will be held today, on the 15th of September. The match will begin at 7:30 PM Moscow time (16:30 UTC).

The second FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 is held on Chess.com, one of the biggest playing platforms. One hundred fifty-three countries have been taking part in the event from the start. Each team consists of six players and six reserves, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. The qualifying events were played till the 10th of September. Team Russia entered the field in the Top Division on the 8th of September.

Representing the Russian team are:

Men: GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Daniil Dubov, GM Vladislav Artemiev, GM Vladimir Fedoseev

Women: GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, GM Kateryna Lagno, GM Valentina Gunina

Juniors: GM Andrey Esipenko and IM Volodar Murzin

Girls: IM Polina Shuvalova and WGM Leya Garifullina.

The team captain is GM Alexander Motylev.

Team Russia took first place in Pool C, having won all the matches. On the way towards the final, the Russian team defeated Ukraine (4.5-1.5), Germany (6-0), Czech Republic (5-1), Paraguay (4.5-1.5), Israel (5-1), Argentina (6-0), Italy (5-1), Spain (4-2), and Latvia (6-0).

Two best teams of each pool advanced to the knock-out stage (Play-off). In the quarterfinals Team Russia defeated Hungary, having won both matches 3.5-2.5. In the semi-final, the Russians won against the Chinese team, one of the rating favourites. Our players won the first match 3.5-2.5 and the second 4-2 to advance to the final.

The second finalist was determined in the India vs USA match. The Americans won on tie-break (1-5, 4-2, 4.5-1.5) to qualify for the final.

Read more »

Anish Giri Wins Tolstoy Cup in Yasnaya Polyana

The 12th of September marked the end of the first-ever international tournament held in honor of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy.

The tournament rating favorite, Anish Giri of Netherlands, has become its winner with a remarkable result of 8 out of 9 points.

Anish Giri, “I enjoyed my performance in Yasnaya Polyana. The result proved somewhat too high because on the second day I definitely did not play at the corresponding level. However, luck sided with me to the extent that nothing could stop. It goes without saying that I am a big fan of Leo Tolstoy’s creative works and I am very happy that this tournament has been organised. I have not been aware that Tolstoy was a chess fan, but my taking part in the sightseeing tour filled this gap. I hope this event will become traditional”.

Final standings:

1. Anish Giri (Netherlands) – 8 out of 9 points
2. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) – 5.5
3. Boris Gelfand (Israel) – 5
4-5. David Paravyan, Dmitry Andreikin (both from Russia) – 4.5
6-8. Anton Korobov (Ukraine), Maxim Matlakov, Evgeny Tomashevsky (all from Russia) – 4
9. Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) – 3.5
10. Nikita Vitiugov (Russia) – 2.

The winner received a cup manufactured at the Imperial Porcelain Factory specifically for this event.

An extensive additional program accompanied the Leo Tolstoy Cup: a 100-board simul with the GMs participating in the tournament, a mass blitz tournament for children, a lecture and a quiz by the curator of the CFR Chess Museum and candidate of historical sciences Dmitry Oleikniov. The Cultural Centre Yasnaya Polyana that hosted the tournament displayed the themed posters and unique chess sets Staunton and Regence.

The games were commented in Russian by GM Sergey Shipov (you could hear him comment in the tent set up in front of the Palace of Culture), and in English by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko.

The tournament was hosted by the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate Yasnaya Polyana and the Chess Federation of Russia with the support of the Elena and Gennady  Timchenko Foundation.

Read more »

World-renowned GMs to Play in Leo Tolstoy’s Museum-Estate from Sept 11

Moscow: The first international tournament Tolstoy Cup featuring a stellar line-up will start in the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana”, the Tula region, on the great Russian writer’s birthday, the 9th of September. The event will last for four days and will finish on the 12th of September. Photo credit: Press service of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana

The world and Russian chess stars will take part in the round-robin rapid tournament: Anish Giri (Netherlands), Dmitry Andreikin, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Kirill Alekseenko, Maxim Matlakov, David Paravyan (all from Russia), Anton Korobov (Ukraine), Boris Gelfand (Israel), and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan).

The event is organised by the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana” and the Chess Federation of Russia and is supported by the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

Andrey Filatov, President of the Chess Federation of Russia:
- This tournament is held for the first time, and I hope it will set up a good tradition. Since 2012, the Chess Federation of Russian and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation have organised the tournaments as part of the Chess in Museums international programme. We are glad to introduce the chess world to Yasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s most famous and beloved museums

Leo Tolstoy is a brilliant and timeless writer whose books are being read, studied, filmed, and staged. And now the first international event dedicated to him will be held. It is not an accident: Tolstoy loved chess, played a lot, and wrote about it. Obviously, chess was an integral part of his life.

We will be glad to see the guests and journalists at our festival dedicated to Leo Tolstoy’s birthday and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana”.

Ekaterina Tolstaya, Director of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana”:
- We are glad that the International chess tournament will start in Yasnaya Polayan on Leo Tolstoy’s birthday. Chess has always been in Yasnaya Polayna, and Leo Tolstoy’s devotion to the game is well-known: he played chess with his relatives and friend and often offered to play a game to his guests.

One of the most welcomed guests was Prince Sergey Urusov, one of the best chess players of those times. Today, we are proud that the world-class grandmasters will participate in the tournament in Yasnaya Polyana.

It is also very important that children will take part in the festival. Playing chess is very effective for children’s formation: it changes a thinking process, and develops memory and imagination. We are grateful to the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation for their support in holding this tournament and welcoming young talented players.

Maria Morozova, Managing Director of the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation:
- The Tula region and the Timchenko Foundation have been united by long-term ties of friendship and cooperation in various sports projects: we are developing sledge hockey together, the local educational institutions are running the Chess in Schools projects, whilst the region is taking part in complex research of a cognitive as well as an emotional and personal spheres of the lives of younger schoolchildren of the city and village schools. That’s why our supporting of a chess tournament held in the Tula region is a logical continuation of our sports cooperation and a tribute to the great Russian writer, for whom both Yasnaya Polyana and chess were very important.

We hope that our young chess players, participants of the Chess in Schools project, will be highly motivated by playing in the same venue with the renowned grandmasters and be inspired to increase their level and develop their chess skills.

The opening ceremony will take place on the 9th of September. Leo Tolstoy's descendants, FIDE President Akrady Dvorkovich, and other guests of honour are expected to be present at the event.

A 100-board simultaneous exhibition will be held on the same day. The best participants will get presents from the organisers. Moreover, the Chess Museum’s curator, Cand. Sc. History Dmitry Oleinikov will give a lecture and a quiz.

The additional programme will continue on the 10th of September with a mass tournament for children. At the same time, the participants of the main event will be offered a tour around the estate museum; after it, the drawing of lots will take place. Children will have a chance to take a photo with renowned grandmasters and ask them for an autograph.

The international tournament will be held on the 11th and 12th of September. The participants will compete in 9 rapid rounds in an all-play-all event. The closing ceremony is scheduled for the 12th of September at 7 PM Moscow time.

Considering Leo Tolstoy’s devotion to chess, an exhibition featuring various thematic posters will be organised during the event.

Read more »