Σκακιστικά νέα

The FIDE Women Grand Prix Batumi will take place April 19 – May 3 in Georgia. The participants list is headed by the ex-World Champions Mariya Muzhychuk and Alexandra Kosteniuk. The other competitors are Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze, Zhao Xue, Valentina Gunina, Bela Khotenashvili, Lela Javakhishvili, Nino Batsiashvili, Almira Skripchenko, Elina Danielian, and Olga Girya.

Sokolov scores back-to-back wins on Saturday; Akopian ends five-game streak with a draw

UAE national coach Grandmaster (GM) Ivan Sokolov rocketed to the lead after back-to-back wins in Saturday’s double round, joining erstwhile solo leader GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, who settled for a draw in the sixth round after stringing together five wins in a row in the Dubai Open Chess Tournament – Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Grandmaster (GM) Gawain Jones of the UK defeated GM Boris Savchenko of Russia in the final round to rule the Dubai Open Blitz Cup on Friday at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Jones overcome an early third-round loss of Egypt’s International Master (IM) Hesham Abdelrahman by scoring 7.5 points from the next eight games to claim the championship with 9.5 points.

The 3rd Vugar Gashimov Memorial – Shamkir Chess 2016 will be held from 26th May to 4th June in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, e3e5.com reported.

International Chess Tournament dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the legendary World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili will take place from 21-30th April, 2016, at the Chess Palace, Kostava ave.37a in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The 7th International Luc Open was held from 9-15th April at the Palais Rameau, 39 boulevard Vauban, in Lille, France.

124 players competed in the 9-round Swiss tournament. The prize fund was 10,500 EUR with 1500 EUR reserved for the winner.

The 7th Thessaloniki Rapid Chess Festival was organized by the Pefka Chess Club and Thessaloniki & Halkidiki Chess Union on 9-10th April at the Philippion Hotel in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The tournament format was 10-round Swiss with the time control 15′+3”. 207 players took participation in the event.

Three-time British champion Grandmaster (GM) David Howell and two-time Armenian champion GM Vladimir Akopian remained the only players with perfect scores after registering emphatic wins in the fourth round of the  Dubai Open Chess Championship – Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Solid opening theory and understanding the initial phases of the game is essential in 21st century chess.

The US Chess Championship 2016 will start on Thursday, April 14 in St Louis. It is the strongest US Championships ever, with top-10 players Caruana, Nakamura and So and top-100s Kamsky, Onischuk, Robson and Shankland.

The top three players will compete in a special blitz round robin format against Garry Kasparov.