Σκακιστικά νέα

By IM Michael Rahal (Munich, Germany) 

The president of the International Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich, visited the women’s Gran Prix this afternoon and performed the ceremonial first move on the Zhu Jiner-Nana Dzagnidze board. 

The Vienna February WIM is taking place from 7–12 February 2023 in Vienna, Austria. Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 15 minutes to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. It is an 10-player round-robin tournament with participation of Dorina Demeter, Zala Urh, Elisabeth Hapala, Nikola Mayrhuber, Annika Froewis, Barbara Teuschler, Tihana Ivekovic, Luisa Bashylina, Daiva Batyte and Ivana Hrescak.

The Vienna February GM is taking place from 7–12 February 2023 in Vienna, Austria. Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 15 minutes to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. It is an 10-player round-robin tournament with participation of Dominik Horvath, Felix Blohberger, Valentin Baidetskyi, Yevgeniy Roshka, Tomas Polak, Jakob Leon Pajeken, Andreas Diermair, Vaclav Finek, Lukas Leisch and Marc Morgunov.

The Guba Open is taking place from 7–13 February 2023 in Guba, Azerbaijan. Players receive 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. It is a 9-round Swiss tournament with participation of Farid Mustafayev, Elvin Bayramov, Nail Bashirli, Kanan Garayev, Tabriz Idrisov, Murad Ibrahimli, Fariz Ahmadov, Hasan Orujov, Eljan Abdulkarimli, Kamal Isfandiyarli, etc.

The 1st event on the $2 Million 2023 Champions Chess Tour – Aithings Masters, takes place from 6-10 February. The event is played in 3 Divisions of 8, 16 and 32 players with each division featuring a double-elimination knockout. Losers drop down to a losers bracket and can still win the tournament. The Grand Final will see the clash between the Winners of the Winners and Losers brackets. The total prize fund of the event is $235.000.

UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, the International Chess Federation, and the Asian Chess Federation jointly held the Tolerance Games – Asian Chess Women’s Contest that took place from February 06-07, 2023, in Abu-Dhabi, UAE. The event was a part of the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit in Etihad Towers. 

Girls and ladies from Asia and all around the world participated in various activities, from playing chess to learning about the empowerment chess gives to women and society.

FIDE officials met the inmates of the Penitentiary Home in Belgrade (Padinska Skela) during their visit to Serbia this week. Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola and FIDE Legal Director Aleksandr Martynov played a simul against the prisoners and talked to prison administration about the positive impact of the Chess for Freedom programme on the re-socialization and behaviour of the inmates.

The Georgian Women’s Championship is taking place from 6–15 February 2023 in Tbilisi. Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. It is a 10-player round-robin tournament with participation of Nino Batsiashvili, Bela Khotenashvili, Nia Donghvani, Anastasia Kirtadze, Lela Javakhishvili, Meri Arabidze, Tamari Esadze, Tamari Esadze, Elene Tsotsonava, Mariam Tsetskhladze and Lulu Diasamidze.

The Begum Laila Alam is taking place from 6–13 February 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Players receive 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. It is a 7-round Swiss tournament with participation of Tanima Parveen, Walijah Ahmed, Anjum Noshin, Nazrana Khan, Rani Hamid, Khusbu Warsia, Alo Nusrat Jahan, Ferdous Jannatul, Ahmed Wadifa, Haque Jahanara, etc.

The Azerbaijan Women’s Championship will be held in Baku from 03 to 14 February 2023 with 12 participants compete in a round-robin. Players receive 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 30 minutes until the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. The total prize fund of the championship is 15,000 AZN.