Σκακιστικά νέα

TCEC Season 10 Stage 1 is nearing its end. The qualification for the Candidates final 8 is hotter than ever. Up to five engines are still contesting the qualification positions after 21 of 23 rounds complete. One of Gull, Fire, Ginkgo, Booot, and Chiron will have to say goodbye to this season’s competition.

Russia restored the top position in the Open section of the European Team Chess Championship after defeating the earlier leader Croatia. Nikita Vitiugov and Daniil Dubov were successful with white pieces.

Azerbaijan helped the Russia’s cause by beating Hungary 3-1, with full points from Arkadij Naiditsch and Rauf Mamedov. After the shaky start Azerbaijan surged ahead to reach a clear second place.

After the short leisure time, teams continued the struggles for the title of European Team Chess Champion. Hungary excelled in 6th round and by defeating Croatia, with a result 3.5-0.5, overtook the leadership.

Defending Champion and top seeded Russia came back to the top of the list with same match points but lower tie-breaks than Hungary, by beating Poland thanks to the victory of Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS, 2733), while the other games ended in a peaceful manner.

The ninth London Chess Classic kicks off at the DeepMind Google HQ on 1 December 2017 and will continue at the Olympia Conference Centre from 3 to 11 December 2017.

It is the concluding leg of the 2017 Grand Chess Tour and features a prize fund of $300,000.

The 1st FIDE World Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships for Boys and Girls U14, U16, U18 concluded in Creta Maris, Hersonissos, Greece.

The short but action-packed event saw tough battles across all age categories and many medals were decided by a tiebreak “photo finish”.

Croatia excelled once again, defeating Germany 2,5-1,5 to move into the sole lead in the Open section. The hero, for the second day in a row, was Marin Bosiocic winning against Matthias Bluebaum.

On the top board Hungary and Armenia played a peaceful tie 2-2 with four draws, thus falling one point behind the leader.

Russia bounced back after yesterday’s setback with a convincing 3,5-0,5 victory against Turkey. Poland and Azerbaijan signed the confident 3-1 against Belarus and Czech Republic, respectively.

In the 4th round of the European Team Chess Championship Hungary shocked the overnight leader and defending champion Russia thanks to the Viktor Erdos’ creation against Ian Nepomniachtchi. The other three games were drawn.

In the same pattern Croatia won against Israel, the decisive blow being delivered by Marin Bosiocic.

Germany and Poland exchanged a pair of victories to tie the match 2-2. In the tight contest Armenia came out on the top 2,5-1,5 versus Netherlands.

The Superfinals of 70th Russian men’s championship and 67th Russian women’s championship will take place on December 2-15 at the State Museum of Political History of Russia (2-4, Kuybysheva St., Saint Petersburg).

A swift victory by Ian Nepomniachtchi was sufficient for Russia to defeat Czech Republic and assume the leading position in the Open section of the European Team Chess Championship.

The other top matches, Hungary-Netherlands and Croatia-Armenia, were tied without a single decisive game.

Germany ended Italy’s run by beating them 3,5-0,5 and Israel cruised past France 3-1.

World Chess, the organizer of the 2018 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament, nominated GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russian Federation) as a wildcard choice for the Candidates Tournament that will take place in Berlin, Germany on March 10-28, 2018.