E-MAGAZINE NOVEMBER2021

0101

E-MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2021

FIDE World Chess ChampionshipMatch 2021 between MagnusCarlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchiis underway in Dubai

The ECU Congress took place on12 and 13 November in TermeČatež, Slovenia, during theEuropean Team ChessChampionship 2021.

ECU Congress 2021

World Chess Championship

Ukraine (Open) and Russia (Women)won European Team Chess

Championships 2021

Briefly..

The FIDE World Championship Match between reigning World Chess

Champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi takes

place from 24th November - 16th December 2021 at Dubai Exhibition Centre

European Open and Women Team Chess Championships 2021successfully concluded in Terme Catez, Slovenia. Russian Women's Team

triumphed the Women's event. Ukraine claimed gold thanks to the Open

section thanks to the better tiebreaks than France.

The ECU Board meeting and the General Assembly took place on 12and 13 November respectively at the Terme Hotel in Terme Čatež, Slovenia,

during the 2021 European Team Chess Championship with the generous

hospitality of the Slovenian Chess Federation.

The Liechtestein Chess Federation celebrated its 50th anniversary since

its founding on Sunday, November 14.

The MITROPA countries Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany,

Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland founded the MitropaChess Association (MCA) in a meeting after the ECU General Assembly on

November 13, 2021 in Catez, Slovenia.

contents

03

05

12

European Chess Union has its seat in Switzerland,Address: Rainweidstrasse 2, CH-6333, HunenbergSee, Switzerland .European Chess Union is an independentassociation founded in 1985 in Graz, Austria;European Chess Union has 54 National FederationMembers;Every year ECU organizes more than 20 prestigiousevents and championships;

[email protected]

World Championship 2021

FIDE World ChessChampionship Match 2021Carlsen - Nepomniachtchi

#ETCC2021Final report of European TeamChess Championship 2021

ECU Congress 2021

Main information anddecisions of the ECUCongress 2021

15

16

17

Mitropa Association

Mitropa Chess Associationfounded

50years of Liechtenstein CF

Liechtenstein ChessFederation celebrates its 50thanniversary

ESNA Team Championship

Faroe Islands wins EuropeanSmall Nations Team ChessChampionship 2021

18

22

27

Upcoming events

>Upcoming ECU events>Preview of the LondonChess Classic 2021

Arbiters Corner

Legends Questions

Fun Zone

Newsletter November 2021

FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2021

MAGNUS CARLSEN - IAN NEPOMNIACHTCHI

The FIDE World Championship Match between reigningWorld Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and thechallenger Ian Nepomniachtchi takes place from 24thNovember - 16th December at Dubai Exhibition Centre.

After 8 played games, the result in the match is 5-3, infavour of Magnus Carlsen.

3Newsletter November 2021

After 5 consecutive draws, the firstdecisive result of the matchhappened in the game 6. After 8hours of the marathon Game 6Magnus Carlsen scored a victoryover Ian Nepomniachtchi. With 136moves played, Game 6 of the 2021World Chess Championship was thelongest game in the history of WorldChampionship matches.

Nepomniachtchi took White piecesin the next, 7th game, but withoutmany chances for a decisive resultthe game ended in a draw.

The 8th game followed with sharpOpening, where Nepomniachtchiplayed early 9...h5 in Petroffdefense. However, Carlsenneutralized an attack and tookadvantage from it. Later blunder bythe challenger resulted in thesecond victory for Magnus Carlsenafter perfect technique andprecisnest.

The player who scores 7.5 pointswill become the Winner of the WorldChampionship Match.

FIDE World Chess Championship 2021

After 8 played games at the FIDEWorld Chess Championship match2021 the result of 5-3 is in favour ofMagnus Carlsen.

FIDE World ChessChampionship 2021The 2021 FIDE World ChessChampionship Match consistsof 14 games, played with thetime control of 120 minutes forthe first 40 moves, followed by60 minutes for the next 20moves and then 15 minutes forthe rest of the game with anincrement of 30 seconds permove starting from move 61.

Photos from FIDE Gallery


With maximum of 6 games to beplayed in the classical part of thematch, Magnus Carlsen needs just2.5 points to retain the title of theWorld Chess Champion and to winthe FIDE World ChessChampionship for the fifthconsecutive time.

After the free day, games willcontinue on 7th of December 2021,with the Game 9 starting from 13:30CEST.

More details and photos can befound on the official website.

Ukraine (Open) and Russia (Women)win European Team Chess

Championships 2021European Open and Women Chess Championships 2021successfully concluded in Terme Catez, Slovenia.

Russian Women's Team convincingly triumphed the Women's event,winning the Championship with a round to spare.

After a dramatic finish in the Open event, where four teams: Armenia,Ukraine, France and Azerbaijan entered the last round fighting for thefirst place, Ukraine claimed gold thanks to the better tiebreaks thanFrance.


European Women’s Team ChessChampionship 2021 Winner and therunner-up were known before the lastround of the event as Russia securedthe first place, while Georgia securedsilver medals. The final round decidedonly the bronze medalists.

Russia defeated the team of Poland inthe last round to score absolute 18match points, while Georgia took avictory against France for the final scoreof 15 match points.

The team of Ukraine was victoriousagainst Hungary with the final 3-1 result,scoring 12 match points to fight for themedal. Azerbaijan team took a narrow2.5-1.5 victory over Netherlands for thefinal result of 12 match points.Since Ukraine and Azerbaijan tied forthe third place scoring 12 match pointseach, tiebreaks criteria decided that theteam of Azerbaijan takes bronze.

Final rankings can be found on the ECUWebsite.

Silver medal went to Georgia. ThePresident of Georgian Chess Federationand Ambassador of Georgia joined theAwarding ceremony of medals.

Team of Azerbaijan won bronze.

Russia won European Women'sTeam Chess Championship 2021

with a round to spare!


ETCC2021

European TeamChess Championship

European Team ChessChampionship 2021 took placefrom 11th-22nd November inTerme Catez, Slovenia.

The event was played in 9rounds, Swiss system, withparticipation of 70 teams (39 inopen section and 31 inWomen's section).


In the intense last round of the Openevent which determined the Winnersand the medalists of European TeamChess Championship 2021, Ukrainiansconvincingly won Armenia in the directencounter for the top. With a victory withthe 3-1 result, Ukrainians made the finalscore of 14 match points.Korobov Anton was the first one to bringa decisive point for Ukraine, defeatingSargissian Gabriel on the first board.Volokitin Andrei beat Martirosyan Haikwhile Schevchenko Kirill andHovhannisyan Robert, and OnyshchukVolodymyr and Ter-Sahakyan Samvelagreed for a draw.

Firouzja Alireza brought the victory tothe French team, as he overcameMamedyarov Shakhriyar in a pawn-uprooks endgame after the boards 2, 3 and4 ended their games in a peacefulmanner. With this victory, FirouzjaAlireza became the youngest chessplayer to cross 2800 rating aged 18years and 5 months, while MagnusCarlsen crossed 2800 rating when aged18 years and 11 months.

France scored 12 match points to joinUkrainians on the top, but tiebreaksdecided that the team of France takessilver and Ukraine takes gold.

The teams of Poland and Spain tied forbronze, having the same score of 13match points, each, but additionalcriteria was in favor of Polish players.

Poland crushed the Georgian team inthe last round with 3.5-0.5 result todeserve the spot on the podium ofMedalists.

Final rankings and detailed report canbe found on the ECU Website.

The best individual playersEuropean Team Chess Championship 2021

The best European TeamChess Championship2021 individual playersper each board wereawarded for theirperformance with medalsand gifts during theclosing ceremony of theevent.

The best Board 1 individual players ofthe Open event:1. Firouzja Alireza (FRA)2. Duda Jan-Krzysztof (POL)3. Shirov Alexei (ESP)

The best Board 2 individual players ofthe Open event:1. Volokitin Andrei (UKR)2. Dubov Daniil (RUS)3. Anton Guijarro David (ESP)

The best Board 3 individual players ofthe Open event:1. Bjerre Jonas Buhl (DEN)2. Jones Gawain C B (ENG)3. Van Foreest Jorden (NED)


The best Board 4 individual players ofthe Open event:1. Gledura Benjamin (HUN)2. Moranda Wojciech (POL)3. Sanal Vahap (TUR)

The best Board 5 individual players ofthe Open event:1. Abasov Nijat (AZE)2. Svane Rasmus (GER)3. Esipenko Andrey (RUS)

Final board lists can be found throughthe ECU Website.

The best individual playersEuropean Women's Team Chess Championship 2021

European Team ChessChampionship 2021Woman players with bestperfomance were alsoawarded with medalsduring the Awardingceremony of theChampionship.

The best Board 1 individual players ofthe Women’s event:1. Dzagnidze Nana (GEO)2. Goryachkina Aleksandra (RUS)3. Sebag Marie (FRA)

The best Board 2 individual players ofthe Women’s event:1. Javakhishvili Lela (GEO)2. Lagno Kateryna (RUS)3. Roebers Eline (NED)

The best Board 3 individual players ofthe Women’s event:1. Milliet Sophie (FRA)2. Gunina Valentina (RUS)3. Buksa Nataliya (UKR)


The best Board 4 individual players ofthe Women’s event:1. Shuvalova Polina (RUS)2. Gaponenko Inna (UKR)3. Sandu Mihaela (ROU)

The best Board 5 individual players ofthe Women’s event:1. Kashlinskaya Alina (RUS)2. Gajcin Marina (SRB)3. Zhukova Natalia (UKR)

Final boards lists of European Women'sTeam Chess Championship 2021 can befound through the ECU Website.

#ETCC2021 Openingceremony in the Museum ofBrezice

The first part of the Openingceremony organized forspecial guests, delegates,captains and officials tookplace on Thursday, 11th ofNovember. The Ceremonywas held in the magnificentvenue of Museum of Brezice,with attendance of ECUPresident Mr. ZurabAzmaiparashvili, ECU VicePresident and FIDE CEO Ms.Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDEPresident Mr. ArkadyDvorkovich, President ofSlovenian Chess FederationMr. Milan Brglez, SlovenianParliament Speaker Mr. IgorZorcic, and otherdistinguished guests.

The second part of theOpening ceremony tookplace in the playing venue,for all the players and guests,shortly before the start of thefirst round.

#ETCC Opening&Closing Ceremonies

The Opening ceremony ofthe European Team ChessChampionship 2021 was heldin two parts.

FIDE PresidentMr. ArkadyDvorkovich madea first ceremonialmove on the firstboards of bothOpen andWomen’ssections, in thematches betweenGreece andRussia (Open ),and Russia andCzech Republic(Women’s event).

FIDE PresidentMr. ArkadyDvorkovich,FIDE CEO andECU VicePresident Ms.Dana Reizniece-Ozola, and ECUPresident Mr.AzmaiparashviliZurab, made afirst ceremonialmove to openthe event.


President of Slovenian Parliament Mr. IgorZorcic, President of Slovenian ChessFederation Mr. Milan Brglez, anddistinguished guests representing sponsorsof the event also attended the Closingceremony and joined the Awardings of thebest teams and individual players.

#ETCC2021 Closing Ceremony

The Closing ceremony of theevent took place on Sunday, 21stof November with the attendanceof the ECU President Mr. ZurabAzmaiparashvili, ECU HonoraryPresident Mr. Boris Kutin.

ECU PresidentMr. ZurabAzmaiparashviliofficiallydeclared theevent closed.

The President ofthe SlovenianParliament, Mr.Igor Zorcic,congratulatedthe Winners andemphasized thathe is pleased tosee Slovenia asa host of thebiggestEuropean teamchess event.

Chief Arbiters of European TeamChess Championship 2021

Polish players Piorun Kacper and Duda Jan Krzysztof used timebefore the start of the Closing ceremony for some blitz games

Mr.Milan Brglez, the President of theSlovenian Chess Federation, expressedhis pleasure that the event was successful


After intonations of anthems of Republic ofSlovenia and European Chess Union, theECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvilitook a floor and addressed all the playerswith special congratulations to the Winnersand Medalists. He also officially declared theevent Closed.

The President of the Slovenian ChessFederation, Milan Brglez, welcomed alldelegates and informed about thespecial conditions and securitymeasures that apply to the events. Heconfirmed that Slovenia will host theEuropean Individual Championship in2022.

The President of FIDE, Mr. ArkadyDvorkovich, attended the Board meetingand the General Assembly and thankedthe ECU President, Board and allEuropean federations for the goodcooperation during the difficult years ofthe pandemic. Mr. Dvorkovich stressedthat the mutual trust built between FIDEand ECU will lead to many moresuccessful chess events and chessprojects in the future.

Main information and decisions of theECU Board are:>The ECU Board approved the ECUbudget for 2022, as presented by ECUTreasurer, Mr. Dobronauteanu.> The ECU Board discussed theproposed amendments on theTournament regulations and the ECUFair Play Rules referring to variousviolations of sports ethics. It wasdecided to be appointed a Fair playofficer for the implementation of theregulations.

ECU Congress 2021The ECU Board meeting and theGeneral Assembly took place on 12 and13 November respectively at the TermeHotel in Terme Čatež, Slovenia, duringthe 2021 European Team ChessChampionship with the generoushospitality of the Slovenian ChessFederation.

FIDE PresidentMr.ArkadyDvorkovichattended theECU Boardmeeting andGeneralAssembly

ECU Congress 2021

ECU Board Meeting and ECUGeneral Assembly 2021 wereheld in Terme Catez, Sloveniaon Firday 12th November andSaturday 13th November 2021,respectively.The official venue of the ECUCongress was Hotel TermeConference Hall.

Main decisions and informationfrom the Board meeting andGeneral Assembly can be foundon the ECU Website.


>Individual Chess Championship 2023and the European Club Cup 2024 areawarded to the Russian ChessFederation to be organized in Moscowand Sochi respectively.>The European Team ChessChampionship 2023 is awarded to theMontenegro Chess Federation, as solebidder.>Montenegro Chess Federationconfirmed also the organization of theEuropean Women’s ChessChampionship 2023.>Monaco Chess Federation will host aspecial event dedicated to Women’sChess in the end of February 2022.

>European Federations members wererepresented at the ECU GeneralAssembly 2021.>The ECU General Assemblyunanimously approved the report of theBoard and the accounts of the year2020>The ECU General Assemblyunanimously approved the budget forthe year 2022 with the note to reallocatehigher amounts in development projects,if the circumstances allow it.>The amendments on the Tournamentregulations and the ECU Fair PlayRules, as proposed by the ECU ArbitersCouncil were approved with the notethat ECU and FIDE shall discuss to havea final paper and common regulations ofFair Play issues for Online/Hybridcompetitions.>The reports from ECU EducationCommission and Arbiters Council werepresented.>The new ECU project was presented:“European Cities and Towns ChessChampionship 2022”.>The ECU Competitions Calendar 2022was informed and a few competitionsneed to be finalized by dates.>The next ECU General Assembly isscheduled for the end of July 2022 inMoscow, Russia, during the WorldChess Olympiad.

The events started with intonations ofSlovenian anthem and the anthem ofEuropean Chess Union

The ECU General Assemblyunanimously approved the report of theBoard and the accounts of the year 2020

Main information and decisions ofthe ECU General Assembly 2021:


The Video report of the ECU 2021activities was presented to the attendeesof the ECU General Assembly 2021

During the ECU General Assembly 2021, the videoreport of all 2021 ECU activities were presented tothe delegates and distinguished guests.

The report lists all the events and programmesrealized by ECU from January 2021 till November2021.

The ECU General Assembly unanimously approvedthe report of the Board.

ECU 2021 Activities

The 15 minutes videoreport of the ECU2021 activities can befound on the ECUYoutube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzxgLlHVF-s


Report on ECU

Activities 2021

42 moves by

European Chess

Union

The statutes were signed by therepresentatives of the federations.Marco Biagioli (ITA) was elected as thefirst President of the Association, NinaRob (SLO) as Vice President and LuigiMaggi (ITA) as Treasurer. WalterKastner (AUT) was appointed SecretaryGeneral. The headquarters of theassociation is in Vienna, Austria, wherethe Mitropacup was founded.

The Chess Mitropacup is an idea of theAustrian International Arbiter GertrudeWagner. She wanted to create atournament for teams in the center ofEurope, as it was common in soccer.Kurt Jungwirth, President of the AustrianChess Federation from 1971 to 2017,recognized the chances of this idea andsaid: “Ok, let’s organize a Mitropacup”.

The first Mitropacup was held inInnsbruck in 1976. Germany won thepremiere ahead of Switzerland andYugoslavia. This year, Switzerlandorganized the 39th Mitropacup in ahybrid online format for the first time dueto the pandemic. The 40th Mitropacupwill be held in France in 2022 and willhopefully be possible on the boardagain.

Mitropa Chess Association founded

The MITROPA countries Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France,Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland founded theMitropa Chess Association (MCA) in a meeting after the ECU GeneralAssembly on November 13, 2021 in Catez, Slovenia. TheodorosTsorbatzoglou, Secretary General of the European Chess Union, attendedthe meeting as a guest.

Mitropa Cup events

This year, Switzerlandorganized the 39th Mitropacupin a hybrid online format for thefirst time due to the pandemic.The 40th Mitropacup will beheld in France in 2022 and willhopefully be possible on theboard again.

Archiv Mitropacup can be foundon the following link:https://cloud.chess.at/index.php/s/GLz8EnzdN4P6MYK


A project that shows how the MCA cancooperate in the future is the Erasmusplus project “CUPS”, submitted in June2021. “Chess unites and promotes skills”will, if the application is positive, bringchess into schools as a compulsorysubject. The focus is on the German“Bremen Model”, in which teachers andchildren learn chess together in a weeklylesson. Regardless of the children’s age,chess can teach better concentrationskills, more patience and perseverance,a greater sense of creativity, betterintuition, better memory, and betteranalysis and decision-making skills. Inaddition, children and young people canlearn determination, motivation andfairness through the game. In addition,chess promotes social inclusion. Thisincludes, in particular, students fromimmigrant backgrounds, students withsocioeconomic difficulties, and alsostudents with physical disabilities.

The MCA has agreed in its statutes towork more closely together and to agreeon common values. Chess is sport, butalso a means to promote friendship,culture, common values such assportsmanship, gender equality,integration and social improvement.

An impressive gala dinner with manypresentations and performances and asimultaneous exhibition with world chesschampion Anatoly Karpov were the maincomponents of the festive program.

In addition to many guests anddignitaries, the celebrations wereattended by the Minister of ForeignAffairs, Sports and Education ofLiechtenstein, Ms. Foreword DominiqueHasler, the President of theLiechtenstein Olympic Committee, Mr.Stefan Marxer, the Executive Director ofFIDE and ECU Vice President, Mrs.Dana-Rezience Ozola, and the ECUSecretary General, Mr. TheodorosTsorbatzoglou.

The Liechtenstein Post Office, known forits special stamp issues, has issued aspecial chess edition for the occasion.

On behalf of the European Chess Union,ECU President Mr. ZurabAzmaiparashvili sent a congratulationsmessage:"I would like to congratulate theLiechtenstein Chess Federation on its50th anniversary.The Liechtenstein Chess Federationwas founded on July 5, 1971, andbecame a full member of the EuropeanChess Union in 1986.

Liechtenstein Chess Federation celebrates its 50th Anniversary

The Liechtestein ChessFederation celebrated its50th anniversary since itsfounding on Sunday,November 14.

Légende Nemo enim ipsam voluptatemquia voluptas sit aspernatur.

The ECUSecretaryGeneral, Mr.TheodorosTsorbatzoglouattended thecelebration.

Liechtenstein ChessFederationThe Liechtenstein ChessFederation was founded on July5, 1971, and became a fullmember of the European ChessUnion in 1986.

On Sunday, November 14, theLiechtestein Chess Federationcelebrated its 50th anniversarysince its founding.


Until then, we have witnessed the activeparticipation of the Federation in ChessOlympiads, World and EuropeanChampionships.It was our pleasure to contribute to theLiechtenstein Chess in Schoolsprogram, which was launched in 2015on the initiative of a good friend andchess lover, Renato Frick. We are surethat Chess in Liechtenstein will see a bigboost in the coming years, as thefederation is now focusing on thedevelopment of youth and women’schess.It gives me great satisfaction to be partof this year’s celebrations and we willalways be a reliable partner for thecommon chess goals. "

The team of Faroe Islandsconvincingly won the event. Withscore of 17 match points, 8 teamvictories and only one draw, FaroeIslands became the sole Winner ofthe event.

The last round decided themedalists of the event, as Andorrahad a direct encounter with Cyprus.With a 3-1 victory Andorra securedsilver medal scoring 14 matchpoints.

Teams of Monaco and Cyprus tiedfor third place with 13 match pointseach, but board points decided thatbronze goes to Monaco (24.5 boardpoints) while Cyprus finished theevent on the fourth position (23board points).

Final results can be found throughthe ECU Website.

The event was supported byEuropean Chess Union. ECUPresident Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashviliattended Opening ceremony andjoined the Closing awardingceremony of the event.

European Small Nations Team Chess Championship

The 7th European SmallNations Team ChessChampionship 2021 tookplace from 27th November –5th December in the AXVictoria Hotel, Sliema/Malta.

The ESNAmeeting (FIDEZone 1.10) tookplace on 3rd ofDecember inMalta.

European Small NationsTeam Chess Championship

European Small Nations TeamChess Championship 2021 tookplace from 27th November - 5thDecember in Sliema, Malta.

Nine federations (Andorra,Cyprus, Faroe Islands,Guernsey, Jersey,Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,Malta, and Monaco)participated in the event and the10th ESNA Women’s Teamcompleted the starting listinstead of San Marino.


During the event, the ESNA meeting(FIDE Zone 1.10) took place on 3rdof December in Malta, in the samevenue of the European SmallNations Team #ChessChampionship.The meeting was attended by: FIDEPresident Arkady Dvorkovich,ECU President ZurabAzmaiparashvili, FIDE ManagingDirector and ECU Vice PresidentDana Reizniece-Ozola and ECUSecretary General TheodorosTsorbatzoglou. Among the items inthe agenda was the development ofWomen's Chess in the Zone.

London Chess Classic 2021

Chess in Schools andCommunities is happy toannounce that theLondon Chess Classicwill be going ahead thisyear, with a variedprogramme of eventstaking place from 3-12December at theCavendish Centre incentral London.

Due to the ongoing Coronaviruspandemic, we will be welcoming asmaller number of participants thanusual, and entry will be on a ticketed-only basis.The centrepiece will be an England v.Rest of the World Scheveningen match,with Michael Adams, Luke McShane andGawain Jones against a Rest of theWorld team comprising current Russianchampion Nikita Vitiugov, MaximeLagarde and former WorldChampionship finalist and chess legendBoris Gelfand.At the other end of the chess-playingspectrum, there will be the traditionalLondon Chess Classic events for invitedgroups of CSC schoolchildren fromaround the country, with over 100children attending on any particular dayfor a fun-filled day of chess.


UPCOMING

Then there will be a 10-player EnglishRapidplay Championship (11-12December), featuring severalGrandmasters, a 10-player EnglishWomen’s Rapidplay Championship (4-5December), and an all-star commentaryteam (Nigel Short, Matthew Sadler &Natasha Regan, Stuart Conquest andChris Ward) providing free live coverageof all the events as well as on theMagnus v Nepo World Championshipmatch (on game days).There are also four evening blitztournaments, Grandmaster lectures fromBoris Gelfand, Matthew Sadler, NigelShort, and Nikita Vitiugov and a 48board simul to close out the events.

For more information and live coverage,visit the official website of the event.

European Online Rapid SchoolChess Championships 2021

The European OnlineRapid SchoolChampionships takesplace from 3rd-12thDecember and it isplayed in 5 different agegroups – under 10, 11,13, 15, 17 and 2 sections– open and girls,separately.

Around than 300 participants from18 European federationsparticipated in the first Qualificationstage of the event. The first stagewas played in 7 rounds, Swisssystem, with time control of 10minutes + 3 seconds incrementstarting from the first move.

The best ranked 8 players from eachcategory (open and girls separately)qualified for the Final stage whichwill be played from 10th-12thDecember.Results of the Qualification stagecan be found here.

The event is played Online, throughTornelo online platform.


The European Online Rapid SchoolChess Championship 2021 is thequalification tournament for the firstFIDE Youth Grand Prix cycle: - FIDEOnline Rapid Grand Prix Series2021.

The highest rated registered player(by FIDE October, 2021 standardrating) from each category will gainthe right to participate in FIDEOnline Rapid Grand Prix Series2021.The first three winners of the event(in each category) will be awardedwith E-Medal and diploma.

Details and regulations of the eventcan be found on the ECU Website.

UPCOMING

European Rapid&Blitz ChessChampionship 2021, Katowice, Poland

The Silesian Chess Federation, under the auspices of theEuropean Chess Union, organises the European Rapid&BlitzChess Championship 2021. The event will take place from17th-19th December in Katowice, Poland.

First on the schedule will be theEuropean Blitz Chess Championship2021 which will be held on 17th ofDecember. The event will be played in11 double rounds, Swiss system, withtime control 3 min + 2 sec.The European Rapid ChessChampionship 2021 will take place from18th-19th December and it will beplayed in 11 rounds, Swiss system, withtime control of 15 min + 10 sec.

The total prize fund of the events is30.000 EUR with 11.000 EUR reservedfor Blitz competition, and 19.000 EURfor Rapid event. Despite the regularprizes for the best ranked players, theorganizers provided special prizes forbest female player, senior player, juniorplayer and for best players of differentrating categories.


Both events will be played in the venueof “Spodek” Sport and EntertainmentCentre. The capacity of the event isranged to 700 participants perChampionship, with 300 places reservedfor international players and 400 placesare reserved for polish players.

Already more than 550 playersregistered for the Blitz event, and 560players for the Rapid Championship.Among the top seeds are: Duda JanKrzysztof (POL), Motylev Alexander(RUS), Kovalenko Igor (LAT),Bernadskiy Vitaliy (UKR), SumetsAndrey (UKR), Durarbayli Vasif (AZE).

Starting lists, details and regulations ofthe events can be found on the Officialwebsite.

European Youth Rapid&BlitzChess Championships 2021

The 20th edition of theEuropean YouthRapid&Blitz ChessChampionships 2021 willtake place from 26th-31stDecember in Novi Sad,Serbia.The events will be playedin 6 age categories: U8,U10, U12, U14, U16, U18,open and girls sectionsseparately.

The event features 4 Championships:Rapid, Blitz, Problems solving, andTeams event.

The first on the schedule will be theRapid Championship (U8, U10, U12,U14, U16 and U18, open and girlssections separately), taking place from27th-28th December. The event will beplayed in 9 rounds, Swiss system, withtime control: 15 minutes+ 10 seconds ofan increment.

European Problems solvingChampionship will take place on 28th ofDecember, within 3 age categories: U10,U14 and U18, open and girls categoriesseparately.


UPCOMING

20th European Youth Blitz IndividualChess Championship will be played on29th and 30th of December. The eventwill be played in 6 age categories: U8,U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open andgirls separately), in 9 rounds, Swisssystem, with time control of 3 minutes +2 seconds of an increment.

The final event, European Team ChessChampionship 2021 will be played on30th of December, within U10, U14 andU18 age sections.

More than 250 players till todayregistered for the events, coming frommore than 20 European federations.Details and starting lists of the eventscan be found on the Official Website.

FIDE ARBITERS SEMINAR INTERME CATEZ, SLOVENIA

With the cooperation of the Slovenian Chess Federationand FIDE Development Commission, the European ChessUnion organized a “Mixed” FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar in theEnglish language.

The venue was the city of TermeČatež, Slovenia, concurrently withthe European Team Championship.The event took place from Sunday,Nov. 14th, to Thursday, Nov. 18th,2021.

The lecturer of the Seminar wasMs. Jiřina Prokopová, InternationalArbiter and FIDE Lecturer.

The Seminar could have beenfollowed online or in person from thecity of Terme Catez. In total, 15participants took part in the event.


The Seminar has covered followingthemes:>Laws of Chess (IncludingRapid&Blitz)>Competition rules and standards ofchess equipment>Anti-cheating guidelines>Regulations for the rating and theover-the-board titles>Regulations for the titles of theArbiters>Use of Electronic clocks>System of games and tiebreaks>Swiss system and pairing rules

By the end of the lectures,participants had an examination test,and two participants have passed it.

ARBITERS CORNER

Noticeably, these new regulations comeafter the pandemic, which hit chesstournaments a lot in terms of the activitybeing stuck for a long time, withunpredictable effects on the ratingsystem itself. Therefore, albeit any newregulations are intended to last for along term, QC informs that “possibly,

some short-term adjustments will be

required”.

In this article, we will try to highlight themost significant changes.

A general change, which reflects thenew FIDE Charter, is that the regulationswill not be approved and amended bythe General Assembly anymore, since ithas been approved by the Council, andthey will come into force from the nextJanuary.

Consistently, has also been eliminatedthe clause that reserved the titlesapproval to the General Assembly andonly in “clear cases” to the Council(former Presidential Board). Still, manyyears praxis had factually cancelled thisexception and made it the rule. In thenew regulations, it is just a duty of theCouncil.

FLAG HAS FALLEN FOR THE RATING REGULATIONS

A few days ago, FIDE QC announced the release of a new set of regulations forratings and titles, which will come into force from January 1st, 2022(https://www.fide.com/news/1438).

The new regulations result from a very long revision work, carried out from 2020 andafter many consultations worldwide.

IA Marco Biagioli,Photo from FIDE GrandSwiss 2021, Riga

Text by:IA Marco BiagioliAttorney at Law – ITACalendar Commission,ECU Arbiters’ Council,MITROPA President


>Most important changes onStandard, Rapid and Blitz RatingRegulations (B.02)

The new Regulations better specifies therole of the National Rating Officer, beingthe one who, on behalf of a NationalChess Federation, operates in FIDEServer.Unfortunately, the opportunity has beenlost to let other entities, such asContinents or affiliated bodies, to havetheir own Rating Officer, that would havebeen useful especially now, since withHybrid Chess, Continents and affiliatedbodies are more involved in the directorganisation of similar competitions.

The requirement for the arbiters to belicensed for the tournament to be ratedhas been eliminated from theseRegulations, but the rule still stands,since it was moved to B.05 aboutArbiters Regulations and licensingprocess.

Speaking about the actualadministration, the deadline to pre-register a tournament passes fromseven days to only three days (but thisdoesn’t affect the need to pre-register 30days before the start tournament, whichare valid for norms since this is stillstated in B.01).


The most significant change stands inarticle 1, since the minimal move controlhas been shortened to 30 moves insteadof the previous 40, and the rating levelsincreased by 200 Elo points concerningtheir minimal time controls. In the QCintentions, this will help the organisers oftournaments with shorter time controls tosubmit their events for FIDE rating: withthe new regulations, in fact, the 120’minimum time control applies only over2400 Elo for at least one of the players,so that if the players are both up to 2399Elo, the game can be rated even with atime control of 60’ + 30’’ bonusincrement (being it 90’ considering thegame will last 60 moves).

The new minimum time controls are asfollowing:- Where at least one of the players in thegame has a rating of 2400 or higher,each player must have a minimum of120 minutes.- Where at least one of the players in thegame has a rating 1800 or higher, eachplayer must have a minimum of 90minutes.- Where both of the players in the gameare rated below 1800, each player musthave a minimum of 60 minutes.

In the following table there is acomparison among the new and the oldminimums with some examples ofallowed time controls.

The most remarkable novelty concernsplayers rated between 2200 and 2399,whose new minimal is not anymore 120’for the overall game, but 90’.

As we will see also in the next chapter,about titles, all the time controls allowedfor players rated more than 2400 arenow also potentially valid for norms(including the 120’ QPF!).

Big news also comes when abouttournaments that last more than 30days, which must now be submittedmonthly for the rating without anypreviously allowed exceptions.

Most important changes on Standard, Rapid and BlitzRating Regulations (B.02)

Aside from these points,articles have been reworded (ina few cases dramatically) toeliminate unnecessarysentences or make somepoints more straightforward.Still, the system hasn’t changedin its global functioning.

ARBITERS CORNER

New article 5 gives the possibility todisregard for rating purposes somegames if Fair Play regulations requirethis, thus giving the opportunity not tocount a game for rating if there wasproof that one of the players cheated init.Another significant change comes witharticle 6, formerly dedicated to thecomposition of the tournament and nowmeant to regulate how matches arerated, and specifically to state that amatch is not rated where a player is notrated and that games played after oneplayer has won shall not be rated,unless this requirement has beenwaived by prior request.

The last news is that new article 9 statesthat the regulations of a rated eventmust make clear that it will be rated.

ARBITERS CORNER

FLAG HAS FALLEN FOR THE RATING REGULATIONS

Most important changes on Titles Regulations (B.01)

The noticeable change in title regulations is an evident simplification of thebureaucracy around it: the sixty days’ time frame for the application to be publishedon the FIDE website has been shortened to 30, and now The Chief Arbiter has toproduce only one certificate, which will be shipped to the Chess Federation wherethe tournament took place, which will take care of further communications.

Furthermore, IT3 Tournament ReportForm doesn’t exist anymore since anyrequired information can be found on theFIDE website.On the other side, some technicalrequirements have been changed, likethe minimal time, which is now,generically, 2 hours and the number ofgames necessary to achieve a norm,which is 27 anyways, despite eightgames norms are still existing, thatmeans 26 games norm plus a forfeitshouldn’t be possible any longer.The minimal 2 hours-time is quite a bignews since FIDE is now withdrawingfrom the previous position that anincrement time control was compulsoryto get a valid norm.The new regulations,in fact, let back the possibility to have aQPF time control, which seemed almostforgotten in the past.


But actually, the new wording opens upthe possibility to see again the classical2h/40 moves + 30’ QPF time control in anorm tournament.One big novelty is contained in article1.5.6, which states that after June 30th,2022, any title application will have toinclude at least one norm from anindividual Swiss-system tournament,with every round containing at least fortyparticipants whose average rating is atleast 2000.

Finally, it is worth quoting that nowtournaments shall submit the pgns of thegames, eventually for fair play checks,and only in case of team competitions orSwiss-system tournaments only for thegames where the norm achiever played.

To conclude, the overall Rating andTitles system did not change, but somecrucial amendments were carried out.

Our suggestion to the arbiters is tocarefully read the new regulations andcompare to the old ones to be awareand well-informed about the changes.


1)What are You doing in life at thecurrent moment?I am senior coach in Al Ain chess &mind games club (Al Ain, United ArabEmirates).

2)Your recollections of meetings withthe World Champions? I met all WorldChampions from Botvinnik till Carlsen.Even I stayed in the same hotel andsame time with Great Bobby Fischer,November 1990 in Pulvermühle,Germany: Pulvermühle (Waischenfeld) –Wikipedia I guess, I even played twoblitz games against Fischer during ourfriendly match between SanktPetersburg and Waischenfeld teams. Ofcourse, I witnessed of many funnystories happened with WorldChampions, but it will take a lot ofpages.

3)Your best game?I think against young Firouzja in Morphystyle.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqt4J8HfWrM

4)Which Your achievement Youconsider to be most important?1000 Years of Austria Open, 1996 whichwas strongest open tournament thisyear. Played all elite players (except top10).

5)Best and most important chessbook?1. Capablanca Chess fundamentals,2. Nimzo My System,3. Bronstein Candidates 1953,4. Fischer My 60 Memorable games

6)How did you start your chesscareer?I was very trouble child and fatherbrought me in chess club at age 6 and 9months

MEET GM KOMAROV DIMITRIFamous Trainer and Commentator from Ukraine10 questions by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

10)Favourite city, food and drinkFavorite city not really, probablyLondon.I have many favorite citiesAmsterdam and Madrid, Tbilisi andRiga. But the best is Moscow ,onwhich I grumble a lotFood –roasted potatoes.Drink –in younger years vodka!Nowadays-cranberry mors.

LEGENDS QUESTIONS

7)Your favourite openings?French

8)Who was the most difficult andmost easiest opponent in yourcareer?Gata Kamsky I have score: 4,5-0,5 in myfavor. Difficult GM Vladimir Epishin

9)Non chess best book, movie andsong for You?Historical books. Stefan Zweig and BorisAkunin.Film: God father.Singer Charles Aznavour which I metonce on Champ Elysees.

FUN ZONE

For this edition of the ECU E-Magazine we prepared 4positions where White mates in 3moves!

Solutions fromOctober Magazine#Puzzle 1:1.Re8+ Rf8 2.Rxg7+ Kh83.Rf8##Puzzle 2:1.Nxf6+ Kf8 [1...Kh8 2.Rg8#]2.Rg8+ Ke7 3.Re8##Puzzle 3:1.Qg7+! Nxg7 2.Nh6+ Kh83.fxg7##Puzzle 4:1.Ne7+ Kh8 2.Rxh7+! Kxh73.Rh3#


PAUL KERES

SAID

ABOUT

CHESS:

>However hopeless the situationappears to be there yet always existsthe possibility of putting up a stubbornresistance.

>A player can sometimes afford theluxury of an inaccurate move, or evena definite error, in the opening ormiddlegame without necessarilyobtaining a lost position.In the endgame ... an error can bedecisive, and we are rarely presentedwith a second chance.

>Even the best grandmasters in theworld have had to work hard toacquire the technique of rookendings.

>An innovation need not beespecially ingenious, but it must bewell worked out.

>Chess is a test of wills.

E-MAGAZINE NOVEMBER2021

Documents

Transcript of E-MAGAZINE NOVEMBER2021