ECU NEWSLETTER January 2015
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NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION EUROPEAN MOSCOW OPEN LIECHTENSTEIN ECU CALENDAR INDIVIDUAL RUSSIAN CHESS OPEN FOR 2015 CHAMPIONSHIP CUP TRIESEN 2015 JERUSALEM 2015 MOSCOW 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION NEWSLETTER MAGNUS CARLSEN WINS TATA STEEL CHESS 2015 WEI YI WINNER OF TATA STEEL CHALLENGERS 1 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION The 77th edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2015 ended with a very exciting final round. After a strange draw with GM Ivan Saric, Carlsen won the tournament alone with 9 points out of 13. GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Anish Giri (NED), Wesley So (USA) and Ding Liren (CHN) tied for the second place with 8.5 points. Final standings of Tata Steel Masters A 15-year old Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi became the winner of the Tata Steel Challengers group and will play the Tata Steel Masters 2016. He drew with GM Salem Saleh in the last round and triumphed with 10.5 out of 13, with rating performance 2801! Second place went to Czech No. 1 GM David Navara with only half a point behind Wei, and Sam Shankland became clear third with 9 points. Tata Steel Challengers Final Ranking Final Conference Both events were played as Round Robin tournaments in 13 rounds. The time control was 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves + 30 seconds increment per move starting from move one. The 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament took place from 9 - 25 January, 2015 in its traditional location of Wijk aan Zee/Netherlands. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is one of the most important events in the chess calendar. The tournament brings together the world's leading chess players and the most passionate amateurs with its grandmaster groups and amateur events. Official Website Photos by Alina l’Ami Below we present a nice victory of the World Champion against Fabiano Caruana. 2 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Caruana, Fabiano (2820) vs. Carlsen, Magnus (2862) Tata Steel Masters | Round 6 | 16 Jan 2015 | 0-1 Diagram 1 Diagram 2 Caruana is a pawn up in this position, but Carlsen has initiative on the King’s side. White’s last move was the imprecise 21. Nh2, which the World Champion used to push the f-pawn and make chances for win. 21… f3! 22. Nxg4 Qg6 23. Qe7 (the only move) fxg2! 24. Rfb1 Qxg4 25. Qg5! So far Caruana is defending very well and finding the only moves to hold the position. 25… Qe2 26. Qe3 Qg4 27. Qg5 Qxg5! Carlsen decides to change the Queens but this doesn’t mean Black’s attacking potential is gone! 28. Bxg5 Nf4 29. Bxf4 exf4 30. Kxg2 f3+ 31. Kf1 (Diagram 2) 31... Rf4!! Brilliant move by Carlsen. He decides not to take the exchange, but to save the strong Bishop and continue with the attack and the pressure on the White’s King. 32. c3 Rd8 33. d4 Bh6 34. Ke1 Rxe4+ 35. Kd1 c5 36. Kc2 cxd4 37. Kd3 Re2 38. c4 Rxf2 39. Rd1 Re2 0-1 3 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Traditional European Chess Tournaments Moscow Open 2015 The 2015 Moscow Open – 11th International RSSU Chess Cup, one of the biggest chess tournaments started. The festival takes place in Moscow, Russia from 29th January to 9th February, 2015. The tournament consists of 8 events, including Amateur, Veteran, Students, School and Chess Composition tournaments. The main events are Men's and Women's Cup of Russia Stage, gathering some of the top chess players. The 11th edition is marked by a new record in number of participants - 1735 players from 25 countries in total! The top seeds in the Open tournament are GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2714, GM Lysyj, Igor 2700, GM Alekseev, Evgeny 2679, GM Sjugirov, Sanan 2678, GM Inarkiev, Ernesto 2675, GM Grachev, Boris 2670, GM Fedoseev, Vladimir 2668, GM Artemiev, Vladislav 2659, etc, and in Women WGM Goryachkina, Aleksandra 2451, IM Batsiashvili, Nino 2450, WGM Kovanova, Baira 2405, IM Bodnaruk, Anastasia 2402, WGM Guseva, Marina 2375, WGM Charochkina, Daria 2370, etc. The Children’s Tournament was officially opened on 30th January, on the same day of the 78th birthday of the legendary Grandmaster Boris Spassky, the 10th World Chess Champion. 4 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION RSSU Rector, Doctor of Economics, Mrs. Natalia Pochinok, Prefect of the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow, Mr. Valeri Vinogradov, ECU Secretary General Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou and the Tournament Director Mr. Alexander Kostyev were present at the opening ceremony and welcomed the participants. The children’s tournament started one day earlier, while the Grand opening of the main tournament of the International Chess Cup RSSU Moscow Open 2015 was held on January 31st at 3.00 pm. After a very rich cultural and music program, the organizers and the honoured guests – the first deputy head of the Department of Physical Education and Sport in Moscow, Mr. Nikolai Gulyaev, the 12th World Chess Champion, Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, Secretary General of the European Chess Union, Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, the first vice-president of the Moscow Chess Federation Mr. Nikita Kim and RSSU Rector, Mrs. Natalia Pochinok, greeted the players. The ECU Secretary General Mr. Tsorbatzoglou addressed to the participants and expressed his pleasure to be a part of this great event. “I am honored to be here today in this wonderful university, in a great city, a country known for its chess and cultural traditions. Already, this tournament is one of the largest in the world. I know that RSSU Rector Mrs. Natalia Pochinok has plans to expand its scale, and therefore we are discussing the possibility of holding and European Championships next years during the festival", said Mr. Tsorbadzloglou. After the opening ceremony the press conference took place, and then the friendly blitz match between the organizers and the guests of honor was held. The multiple European and Russian Champion and three-time Olympic Champion with the national team, RSSU graduate GM Valentina Gunina played an interesting game against the former World Champion Karpov which she eventually won, while the game between Mrs. Pochinok and the ECU Secretary General Mr. Tsorbadzloglou ended with the peaceful outcome. 5 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION More information at the Official Website Photo source: official website Liechtenstein Open 2015 – 33rd edition! The 33rd International Chess Tournament Liechtenstein Open 2015 will take place from 8th to 16th May 2015 in Triesen/Liechtenstein, with the official venue Gemeindesaal Triesen. The tournament is held under the Honory Patronage of H.S.H. Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein. It consists of two tournaments: the main one and one for seniors. Both events will be played according to the Swiss System in 9 rounds, with time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. The Chief Arbiter will be FA Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Wanzek. The organizers have prepared a rich prize fund – 11 000 CHF, along with the special prizes for the best woman, junior and senior, as well as for the best result by a player rated below ELO 2000, 1900, 1800 and 1700. In Senior Open, the prize fund is 2800 CHF, with special prizes for the best lady and for the best 75-year-old player, as well as under ELO 2000, 1800 and 1600. Regulations in English Official Website 6 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION ECU Calendar 2015 The European Chess Union completed the calendar for 2015, with 16 ECU competitions. Jerusalem, European Individual Chess Championship 2015 23-Feb-15 9-Mar-15 Israel European Small Nations Team Chess Guerseney 18-Apr-15 26-Apr-15 Championship 2015 Eretria, 8-May- European Senior Chess Championship 2015 28-Apr-15 Greece 2015 European Individual Women's Chess Chakvi, 31-May- 18-May-15 Championship 2015 Georgia 15 European Individual Women's Rapid Chess Kutaisi, 31-May-15 3-Jun-15 Championship 2015 Georgia Konya, European Schools Championship 2015 24-Jun-15 3-Jul-15 Turkey Vienna, European Senior Team Championship 2015 12-Jul-15 20-Jul-15 Austria Karpacz, European Youth Team Chess Championship 2015 13-Jul-15 19-Jul-15 Poland Novi Sad, European Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships 31-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 Serbia Kaunas, European Amateur Championship 2015 8-Aug-15 16-Aug-15 Lithuania European Youth U8 – U18 Championship 2015 Porec, Croatia 20-Sep-15 1-Oct-15 Yerevan, European Universities Chess Championship 2015 06-Oct-15 10-Oct-15 Armenia Skopje, European Club Cup 2015 17-Oct-15 25-Oct-15 FYROM 7 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Skopje, European Club Cup for Women 2015 17-Oct-15 25-Oct-15 FYROM Reykjavik, 22-Nov- European Team Chess Championship 2015 12-Nov-15 Iceland 15 Minsk, European Rapid and Blitz Championships 2015 17-Dec-15 20-Dec-15 Belarus 8 NL JANUARY 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION FUN ZONE During January, various national Championships took place, and for this edition of the Fun Zone, we present you 3 games from Azerbaijan, Armenian and Belarus Championships for Men, and one game from Georgian Women’s Chess Championship 2015. The first position shows a nice victory of the new Azerbaijan Champion GM Rauf Mamedov against Nijat Abasov. White has the upper hand in this position, but after Black’s mistake 22... Rad8 can you find the right move for White? Very interesting game from the 5th round of the 75th Armenian Championship for Men between Karen Grigoryan and Tigran Kotanijan is shown on the second diagram. It was played Smith- Morra Gambit Accepted, a very sharp line with tactical opportunities for both sides.