Σκακιστικά νέα

American youngster Jeffery Xiong had a dream debut on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour today as he grabbed the sole lead of the FTX Road to Miami online super-tournament. The 21-year-old Texan kicked off the $150,000 esports event with three back-to-back wins in the prelim stage. One point behind and still unbeaten is another rookie American Sam Sevian, also 21. Both are now on course to cruise into the knockouts.  

The 56th edition of the Ilmar Raud Memorial Chess Tournament took place 3-10 July at the Viljandi Sports Center in Viljandi, a town in southern Estonia. This year, the event included qualifications for Estonian Men’s and Women’s Individual Chess Championships, Estonian Junior Chess Championships, and Estonian Seniors Chess Championships. Based on the final results, Estonian best female and male players will qualify for the National finals.

In the last 6 months won: Washington chess congress, Northern Virginia open, Charm city open, Virginia open and took second at Cherry blossom. Adding 110 rating points and cashing in $4915, his achievement made his coach Miodrag Perunovic “the Butcher” proud.

The first time a woman participated in a Chess Olympiad was in 1950? Chantal Chaudé de Silans played in the 9th Chess Olympiad, becoming the first woman ever to take part in this competition. She was a French chess player born in 1919 and learned to play the game at the age of nine. Chantal Chaudé de Silans won the Women’s French Chess Championship at the age of seventeen and achieved the WIM title.

The 2022 African National Youth Chess Championships took place from 3-9 July at the Mika Convention Centre – Lusaka, Zambia. The event was played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18, open and girls sections separately.

The Winners after 9 played rounds (swiss system) are:

U8 – Abdallah Omar Mahmoud (EGY)
GU8 – Winnie Kaburo (KEN)
U10 – Eyad Elhusseiny (EGY)
GU10 – Raghad Alaa Eldin (EGY)
U12 – Adham Hossam Mohamed (EGY)

White may have the first move, but it’ll be you who starts off the fun with this attacking opening repertoire for Black. Pro chess coach and FIDE Master Midas Ratsma is back to finish his complete opening repertoire for club players. After delivering a punchy, practical, and popular repertoire for White (find it in the courses here), he’s struck gold once again, this time with the Black pieces.

The 20th edition of the Sautron International Chess Open 2022 took place from 3-10 July at the Espace Phelippes Beaulieux. The event attracted nearly 100 entries who fought for the throne of the two sections: A and B. The tournaments were played in 9 swiss rounds, with time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes till the end of the game, with 30 seconds increment per move, starting from the move one.

The 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 starts in less than three weeks in Chennai, India and Chennai finalizes preparations to host 349 teams from 187 countries. Mr. Prasad Ramasubramanian, Assistant Editor with the Times of India (TOI) published a photo of Chennai’s iconic bridge decked up in chess colours (see below).

The 5th edition of the International Chess Tournament “Solta Chess Open 2022” took place from 2-10 July in Grohote, Šolta. The event was played in 9 rounds, swiss system, with time control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds of increment.

The 15th annual Chicago Class 2022 kicks off on Friday and will be played from 15-17 July at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, Wheeling, Illinois. The event features 7 sections: Master (for players rated 2100+), Expert (for players rated 1900-2199), Class A (for players rated 1700-1999), Class B (for players rated 1500-1799), Class C (for players rated 1300-1599), Class D (for players rated 1100-1399) and Class E (for players rated U1200). The total prize fund of the events will be at least 30.000$.