China lost 2,5-1,5 against the team of Armenia, with IM Lilit Mkrtchian winning with black on board 1. USA managed to draw on three boards, but again the key game was on board 1, where WGM Turmunkh Munkhzul defeated IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova.

Replay all top games from the Women Chess Olympiad here

That makes India absolute favorites for the title. Despite GM Harika Dronavalli losing to IM Assaubayeva, GM Vaishali and IM Vantika finished the job to keep India undefeated.

This is a flash report from the Olympiad, stay tuned for updates

Currently live: FIDE Women Candidates Chess 2023 / Report round 1 / Report round 2 / Report round 3 / Report round 4

2023 Chinese Finals standings

Teams will be made up of four main players and up to two reserves. The twelve teams will be divided into two pools of approximately the same strength. For this purpose, the participating teams will be sorted by average ratings of their four highest-rated players in the current FIDE Rapid Rating List on the day of the Opening
Ceremony. The pools’ composition will be as follows:

Pool A: teams ranked 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12.
Pool B: teams ranked 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11.

Each pool will play a round robin tournament, five rounds. Eight teams qualified from Stage 1 will play a knock-out tournament. The winner of the knockout stage is World Team Champion 2022.

In the 21st century, chess is more than just a sport but an opportunity, at least according to Olympic chess champion Judit Polgár who believes that by learning the game we can also learn to handle the excessive amounts of data that, in the digital age, we are constantly facing on a daily basis.

Considered to be the best female chess player ever and having won multiple olympic gold medals in the sport, Polgár has gone on to pioneer two playful education programs called Chess Palace for schools and Chess Playground for kindergartens.

These teaching methods are now being adopted in China after their previous success in her home country of Hungary, where they have helped children to improve their competencies by 40% when tested in key school subjects within the National Core Curriculum.

From September the Chess Palace and Chess Playground educational programs will begin in Chinese schools, with Polgár on-hand to help implement the method for learning by introducing it to headmasters as well as giving a lecture on chess as an educational tool. As a part of this cooperation, Polgár attended a special festival in Beijing between 18-22 July called Chess Skill = The Ability to Survive in the Future.

This unique five-day event was built around the tenets of the grandmaster’s educational programs, intended to give its young participants an understanding of skills and experience that they might need in their future lives. Teams of kids took part, teaching them not only the logical thinking needed on the chessboard but also aspects of teamplay, a sense of community and a greater understanding of wider social issues. To make this extra special, Polgár also gave a simultaneous exhibition by playing against a number of talented young chess players from across the country – an event that was also streamed online

The concept of the Chess Skill event is based on and precedes the Global Chess Festival, which is an annual event in Budapest organised by Polgár’s Foundation and is due to once again take place this October.

“Talks to make our programs accessible to Chinese children between 4-10 years-old began in 2016,” said Polgár of the exciting move to bring Chess Palace and Chess Playground to Asia. “Our cooperating partner, Chess Ivy, also believes that the use of chess is of great help for the younger generation of the 21st century by helping them to master the skills that are essential for success as adults. We believe that chess will allow children to adapt to changing situations later on in their lives.” Polgár emphasised how playing chess can teach children values like decision-making and help them to learn responsibility for their actions.

The success of these educational programs has already been proven in Hungarian schools where they were first introduced, becoming a part of Hungarian National Core Curriculum in 2013. Since then they have been introduced into 350 schools and have been utilised by over 15,000 young students.

As a part of this, almost 1,000 teachers have completed a 30-hour accreditation training program since Chess Palace and Chess Playground were first introduced. These teachers do not teach chess, but teach by the rules of chess. As part of the training program they are taught how to use the game as a toolkit for education, the rules of chess – and the values that can be earned by those who play it – being applied to the study of other compulsory subjects.

As a result, a rather impressive 40% of the children participating in these programs have managed to achieve better results in subject competency tests when compared to control groups that did not take part, highlighting the value of the teaching method.

Polgár lives by her motto of “Chess connects us”, and it is with this in mind that the Chess Palace and Chess Playground programs were developed. As part of this message, she is opening the Global Chess Festival for the fourth year in 2018. This year it will be hosted by the Hungarian National Gallery and will take place at the Buda Castle in Budapest on 13 October 2018.

The competition includes:

• A match between junior teams of Russia and China. Each team consists of 8 chess players (including at least 2 girls) born in 2004 or later.

• A grandmasters’ match between former Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Russian Vice-Champion Nikita Vitiugov.

Team compositions:

Russia: Stefan Pogosyan, Dmitry Tsoi, Volodar Murzin, Grigori Ponomarev, Aleksey Grebnev, Alexey Grachev, Kamilla Baiburina, and Viktoriya Loskutova.

China: Chi Haoyuan, Liu Yunsong, Lu Jiahan, Shao Qiyu, Song Zihou, Yang Yuxuan, Zhang Di, and Zhang Fuhan.

The match between junior teams of Russian and China is held under the current FIDE Laws of Rapidplay (Article A.4). The competition will be held under the Swiss System in 8 rounds with fixed pairings. Time control: 15 minutes for the entire game, plus a 10-second increment per move starting from move one for each player.

The Grandmasters’ match between Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Russian Vice-Champion Nikita Vityugov is held under the current FIDE Laws of Rapidplay (Article A.3) and Blitz (Article B.3). Rapid chess: 8 games with the time control of 15 minutes for the entire game plus a 10-second increment per move starting from move one for each player.

On July 17th, simultaneous exhibitions with Hou Yifan, Nikita Vitiugov, and Mikhail Kobalia will be held.

Tours to to the Sibirskoye Podvorye Tourist Centre, the Special Economic Zone for Tourism and Recreation Biryuzovaya Katun, and Tavdin caves will be offered for the participants.

The tournament is organized by the Russian Chess Federation and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation with support from the Altai Region Administration and the Altai Region Chess Federation.

The match consists of one round of classical chess and two rounds of blitz.

Team compositions:

Men

Russia: Maxim Matlakov (2704), Sanan Sjugirov (2663), Kirill Alekseenko (2625), Andrey Esipenko (2587), Alexey Sarana (2587), coach – Alexander Motylev.

China: Li Chao (2724), Lu Shanglei (2643), Zhou Jianchao (2624), Wen Yang (2581), Bai Jinshi (2579).

Women

Russia: Valentina Gunina (2526), Aleksandra Goryachkina (2496), Olga Girya (2465), Natalija Pogonina (2457), Polina Shuvalova (2416), coach – Sergei Rublevsky.

China: Shen Yang (2468), Ni Shiqun (2444), Huang Qian (2439), Xiao Yiyi (2345), Zhai Mo (2304).

Qinhuangdao is the eastern-most point of the Great Chinese Wall

A plethora of sacrifices and tactical motifs left us watching in awe.

Grandmaster Daniel King analyses this beautiful game in detail.

As commented by Raghuveer Mukkamalla: “This game should be called Ding Liren’s Symphony No. 1 – he used all his instruments so harmoniously.”

This year the tournament will be played in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province. The Match of Friendship will be a part of the annual Xin Rui Festival.

The chess event is supported by the Chinese Chess Association and the regional Ministry of Sport.

The tournament will be organized for the 4th time. The Match of Friendship has become a bright and memorable event in the chess calendar both of Russia and China.

The teams are composed of 8 young chess players under 14 years old – 6 boys and 2 girls in each team.

The Opening Ceremony will take place on August 3 and will be attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Sport of Heilongjiang province, the representatives of Administration of Harbin, President of the Chinese Chess Association Yang Junan and Deputy Director General of the Timchenko Foundation Igor Baradachev.

The European Champion 2017 Maxim Matlakov is invited as well. He will give a 16-board simultaneous exhibition for both the Russian and Chinese team members.

The first Match of Friendship was held in 2014 in Beijing and obtained an extensive publicity in the Chinese media. In 2015, the Match was organized in Shanghai. In 2016, Russia hosted the match for the first time. The venue was Kamchatka, one of the most beautiful places of the Russian Federation.

The Match of Friendship includes a cultural programme as well. In 2015, the Match was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Second World War, therefore the children visited the War Museum of Shanghai. In 2016, participants and guests got acquainted with the unique nature of Kamchatka.

In 2014-2016, Russia was represented by the team which had showed the best result at Belaya Ladya (White Rook).

Apart from the children’s competition, matches of the Russian and Chinese leading grandmasters were played as well. China was represented by a former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan, while three European Champions – Alexander Motylev (2014), Evgeniy Najer (2015), and Ernesto Inarkiev (2016) – played under the Russian flag.

Having defeated Poland 2.5 to 1.5, team China became men’s World Champions. Chinese chessplayers have won the title for the second time in a row. Poland won bronze medals.

Team Russia walloped USA four to nothing and took clear second.

India beat Norway 3:1. Ukraine bested Egypt 2.5 to 1.5. Belarus defeated Turkey by a close score.

Final standings:

1. China – 16 (24.5), 2. Russia – 15 (25), 3. Poland – 12 (20.5), 4. India – 11 (20.5), 5. Turkey – 10 (18.5), 6-7. Ukraine, Belarus – 8 (17.5) both, 8. USA – 8 (16), 9. Norway – 2 (11), 10. Egypt – 0 (9).

In the women’s tournament, Russia beat Ukraine 3:1 in the pivotal match of the concluding round. For the first time in the history of chess Russian women team became Champions of the World.

China beat Egypt 3 to 1 and took clear second.

Team Georgia defeated team USA with the same score and took bronze medals of the Championship.

India vanquished Azerbaijan 3 to 1. Polish team defeated Vietnam 2.5 to 1.5.

Final standings:

1 Russia – 16 (25.5), 2. China – 13 (22), 3. Georgia – 12 (21.5), 4. India – 12 (20), 5. Ukraine – 12 (19.5), 6. Poland – 9 (18.5), 7. USA – 6 (16.5), 8. Vietnam – 5 (16), 9. Azerbaijan – 5 (15.5), 10. Egypt – 0 (5).

Photos

Videos

In each section four players singled out on the top leaving the rest of respective fields far behind.

In the men’s championship the top seed Wei Yi emerged champion with 8,5 points. Trailing by half a point are Wen Yang and former world junior champion Lu Shanglei. After Zhou Jianchao on 7,5 points, there is a huge gap of 2 points before the next group of followers.

In the women’s championship Lei Tingjie edged the reigning world champion Tan Zhongyi to claim the national title with 9/11 points. Wang Jue and Tan Zhongyi are half a point behind, while former world junior champion Guo Qi landed on 8 points. The chasing pack is on 5,5 points.

Final standings (men):

1. GM Wei Yi CHN 2727 – 8.5
2-3. GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2615 and GM Wen Yang CHN 2613 – 8
4. GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2613 – 7.5
5-6. IM Wang Chen CHN 2505 and GM Gao Rui CHN 2543 – 5.5
7. GM Bai Jinshi CHN 2585 – 5
8. GM Zeng Chongsheng CHN 2536 – 4.5
9-10. Xu Yinglun CHN 2557 and IM Xu Yi CHN 2454 – 4
11. Xu Minghui CHN 2283 – 3
12. Fang Yan CHN 2447 – 2.5

Final standings (women):

1. GM Lei Tingjie CHN 2471 – 9
2-3. WGM Wang Jue CHN 2335 and GM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2508 – 8.5
4. IM Guo Qi CHN 2413 – 8
5-6. Yuan Ye CHN 2306 and Ren Xiaoyi CHN 2262 – 5.5
7-8. WFM Xiao Yiyi CHN 2290 and WGM Zhai Mo CHN 2303 – 5
9. Zhang Lanlin CHN 2080 – 4
10. WIM Gu Tianlu CHN 2212 – 3
11. Zhu Jiner CHN 2154 – 2.5
12. Zhu Ying CHN 2107 – 1.5

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