FIDE Candidates Tournament opens today in Yekaterinburg

One of the most important chess events of the year, the FIDE Candidates tournament, brings together eight top world players competing to become the challenger to Magnus Carlsen at the FIDE World Chess Championship Match at the end of this year. The participants of the tournament are Fabiano Caruana (USA), Ding Liren (China), Wang Hao (China), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia), Kirill Alekseenko (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France). Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has replaced Teymur Radjabov (Azerbaijan) after he decided to drop out of the event.

A pre-start press conference takes place today at the Sverdlovsk Creative Union of Journalists centre (address: Ulitsa Klary Tsetkin, 1, Yekaterinburg) at 1 PM local time, with the attendance of officials, organizers and some of the players. The official opening of the Tournament will take place at the Yekaterinburg-Ekspo Centre (address: Ekspo Bul'var, 2, Yekaterinburg) at 7 PM.

The organizers of the 2020 Candidates Tournament are the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) as well as the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region. The event is sponsored by Sima Land (title sponsor of the  Candidates Tournament), Algorand (official blockchain partner), Kaspersky Lab (official cybersecurity partner), PJSC PhosAgro (General partner of the Chess Federation of Russia), FR Mercedes-Benz (the official car partner), Pine Creek Golf Resort, and SILA International Lawyers.


Official website for the Candidates Tournament 2020

Dzagnidze clinches victory in Lausanne 

The best female chess players in the world gathered in Lausanne, a city that has already hosted a World Championship final: the 1998 match between Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand. In fact, the opening ceremony for the Women's Grand Prix took place in the Olympic Museum, the very same venue that saw Anatoly Karpov winning the last World Championship title in his career. The ceremony was attended, among other personalities, by the Mayor of Lausanne Grégoire Junod and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.

The tournament turned out to be more even and solid than both previous legs. Nana Dzagnidze, with 7 points out of 11, achieved one of the finest victories in her career, and definitely her best result in recent years. The 33-year-old Georgian edged out Aleksandra Goryachkina on tie-break, thanks to a higher number of wins.

The bronze medal was for the youngest participant, the 20-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik. The good result of the Kazakh star is even more remarkable if we take into account that she joined the tournament as a last-minute replacement for Zhao Xue: the increasing travel restrictions from Asia made the participation of the Chinese GM impossible.

The event was closely followed by the national media, being featured in the French-speaking national TV, while the RTS Couleur 3 devoted a whole program to it on primetime in the morning of the last round. Daily bulletins on radio, as well as several exclusive articles in the printed press, rounded up a very good coverage.
 

Read more on the FIDE website...

New FIDE charter approved 

One of the main decisions at the recent 90th Extraordinary General Assembly was the approval of the new FIDE Charter, that came into force on March 1, 2020, replacing the former FIDE Statutes. This reform was needed because the previous FIDE Statutes were severely outdated. There was a pressing need to renew them in order to turn FIDE into a more modern, transparent, democratic and efficient institution, in full compliance with International Olympic Committee standards.

One of the main changes is that the "Presidential Board" is now replaced by the "FIDE Council", a strategic and oversight body with law-making and executive functions. Its number of members was reduced to 15 members, to facilitate an efficient work process. In the former statutes, less than half of the Presidential Board members were elected independently of the President, while in the new Charter more than half of them are elected independently of the President. Votes on elections for the members of the FIDE Council must be made by secret ballot.

The role of the FIDE President is now defined as "representing the institution in all external relations, managing day-to-day activities, signing contracts, maintaining good relations between FIDE and the Federations, and fostering a positive image of FIDE". The new Charter also introduces term limits: a person cannot serve as President for more than two terms (including the current term). The President is assisted by the management board, an operational body with executive and administrative functions, but without any legislative competencies. This body manages ordinary activities and resources, coordinates current activities of officials, commissions, FIDE offices and employees. It implements decisions and attains objectives set by the President and the Council.

In the new Charter, the General Assembly is reinforced as the organ with the highest authority in FIDE, getting more powers: it becomes the main body dealing with all major issues, including FIDE elections, budget approval, and votes of no confidence. It acts as an internal appellate organ for all decisions taken by the Council and the President. To improve transparency, the new FIDE charter also introduces "a vote of no confidence": The General Assembly may dismiss elected officials (including the President or the entire Council), with a majority of two-thirds of valid votes. Motions of no confidence can be debated following a proposal supported by a minimum of 65 member federations, or by 7 members of the Council.

After months of intensive work and dialogue with all the FIDE stakeholders and members of the chess community, the FIDE Charter was approved with wide support: 112 votes in favor, 1 abstention, and 1 vote against.

Read more on the FIDE website...

USA (+50) and Russia (+65) win gold at the World Senior Team Championship

The World Senior Team Chess Championship, organized in Prague under the auspices of Mayor MUDr. Zdeněk Hřib, has come to a sudden end after the 7th round on March 12. The state of emergency declared in the Czech Republic to combat the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak included the prohibition of all public events with more than 30 attendees, and this forced the organizers to call an early end to the event.

This year’s championship saw 106 teams, including 9 women teams, from 27 countries competing in two categories, 50+ and 65+. Many legendary figures whose names are known to all chess fans around the world fought hard on the board over the course of a week.

In the 50+ category USA finished one point ahead of the three teams sharing 2-4. places, Lasker Schachstiftung GK, Czech Republic 1 and Iceland. They were declared as champions with the termination of the championship after the 7th round. The Czech team 1960-1961 and Yamal from Russia have got the 5th and 6th places.

In the 65+ category Russia and France shared the top two places in the final standings with the former having the better tiebreak points to get the title. The third and fourth places were shared by Schachfreunde Leipzig and Germany 1 and they were followed by Israel and Sweden 1 on the 5th and 6th places respectively.

FIDE would like to thank all the players for their great enthusiasm and sportsmanship as well as all the organization team who put immense effort into keeping the championship going despite the difficulties.

Read more on the FIDE website...

Mercedes-Benz is the official auto partner of the Candidates Tournament 

Mercedes-Benz Russia has become the official auto partner of the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which will be held in Yekaterinburg from March 16 to April 4. 

“We are glad that Mercedes-Benz Russia has decided to include chess in its sponsorship portfolio and become a partner of the Candidates Tournament 2020", said Tournament Director Albert Stepanyan. "The history of the brand is quite similar to the game of chess: strategic vision, innovative approach, and beauty. We hope that the partnership with the Candidates Tournament is only the beginning of the long-term cooperation of Mercedes-Benz with the world of chess”.