Σκακιστικά νέα

FIDE is pleased to announce that, under the aegis of the General Sports Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the 2017 King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between the 26th and 30th December 2017.

The first two Rapid Championships (Open and Women) will be on the 26th to 28th December and the Blitz Championships (Open and Women) will follow on the 29th and 30th December.

Season 10 of the premier computer chess championship TCEC is on track to break all records for viewership of an engine vs engine event.

Komodo, the chess engine by Mark Lefler, Larry Kaufman, and the late Don Dailey, won the first stage of the Top Chess Engine Championship. It collected 20,0/23 with 17 wins, 6 draws, and 0 losses.

Teams of Azerbaijan and Russia became the European Team Chess Champions for 2017 in Open and Women’s section respectively.

The rush for gold in Open section was very intense until the end of the last game of the Championship. Azeris needed a victory in the last round to secure the title, but no decisive result happened in their match against Ukraine, and the clash ended in a tie 2-2.

At the same time, Russian team defeated Germany with 3-1 to reach shared first place.

The GAMMA Reykjavík Open 2018, set for 6-14th March, will be a very special event as this edition will be dedicated to the chess king Bobby Fischer.

An Icelandic citizen in his last years, Robert James Fischer was born on March 9th 1943. That means he would have turned 75 years old during GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018.

Russia crushed Turkey to claim another team gold medal in the Women’s section of the European Team Chess Championship, and all this with a round to spare.

At the same time the nearest follower Georgia stumbled in the match against Poland. Wins by Jolanta Zawadzka and Karina Szczepkowska secured overall 3-1 for Polish ladies.

Italy and Romania exchanged a pair of victories to finally draw the match. The same scenario was seen in the match Serbia – Netherlands.

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.