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

More live (Open): Chess Olympiad 2024 live / Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live / TCEC live / TCEC live 2

More live (Women): Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live

More about Chess Olympaid 2024 : Participants open / Participants women / All news about Chess Olympiad 2024

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.

Domínguez says, “I am very excited about this new stage in my career and I am really looking forward to joining US Chess. It is great to see the tremendous level that the game has acquired in the U.S. and I definitely want to be a part of it.”

Leinier Dominguez

The 35-year-old was born in Havana, Cuba and became a grandmaster in 2001, going on to win the Cuban national championship five times between 2002 and 2016. He currently carries a rating of 2739, ranking him 20th in a world that includes well over 1,000 grandmasters. He instantly becomes one of the top players for the United States, joining recent world-championship competitor GM Fabiano Caruana (2832) and the rest of the “super” grandmasters from the U.S.: Wesley So (2765), Hikaru Nakamura (2746), and Sam Shankland (2724).

US Chess Executive Board Vice President Randy Bauer enthuses, “Grandmaster Domínguez is a strong addition to the US Chess roster of world-class players. Leinier has achieved notable successes as a chess player, trainer, and author. But perhaps most importantly for our organization’s goals, he is an outstanding ambassador for chess worldwide, and we look forward to his adding to the already rich and diverse US chess culture.”

The event consisted of six sections: Premier, U2100, U1900, U1700, U1500 and U1250. The playing format was 5-round Swiss with the time control 40/100, SD/30, d10.

The main Premier section 43 participants. GM Fidel Corrales took a clear first place with 4,5/5 points and the top prize of 2100 USD.

GM Fidel Jimenez Corrales

Premier section standings:
1. GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez 2608 MA – 4,5 1st $2100.00
2-5. GM Alexander Shabalov 2634 PA, GM John M Burke 2626 NJ, IM Alexander R Katz 2534 NJ and IM David Brodsky 2529 NY – 4,0 2nd-4th $450.00
6-7. GM Sergey Erenburg 2666 PA and GM Alexander Fishbein 2589 NJ – 3,5 etc

The total prize fund was 20,000 USD.

The total prize fund is 16,550 USD and the event is sponsored by Webster University and the Susan Polgar Foundation.

The tournament format is 9-round Swiss with the time control G/90 + 30 second increment from move 1 and it is possible to win GM/IM/WGM/WIM norms.

Chess Prizes: $16,550 guaranteed
$5,000-$3,000-$2,000-$1,500-$1,000-$500-$300
U/2400 FIDE $600-$400-$250
U/2250 FIDE $400-$250-$150
Top Woman $250-$150 (Can win both open + women prize)
Top Senior 50 and older $250-$150 (Born prior to January 1, 1968 – Can win both open + senior prize)
Top Junior 14 and under $250-$150 (Born after January 1, 2004 – Can win open, junior and women)

Official website

​List of participants:

​2664 Cori Jorge Peru GM 3802272
2653 Bruzon Batista Lazaro Cuba GM 3503739
2639 Bok Benjamin Netherlands GM 1017063
2629 Durarbayli Vasif AZE GM 13402935
2626 Lenderman Aleksandr USA GM 2021285
2626 Nyzhnyk Illia UKR GM 14118084
2626 Prohaszka Peter Hungary GM 726265
2626 Shimanov Aleksandr RUS GM 4198603
2622 Quesada Yunieski Cuba GM 3504409
2621 Gledura Benjamin Hungary GM 712779
2609 Cordova Emilio Peru GM 3801497
2572 Liang Awonder USA GM 2056437
2471 Chandra Akshat USA GM 25006711
2469 Tang Andrew USA GM 2059630
2461 Patel Advait USA IM 2075105
2447 Wang Kevin USA IM 2008424
2442 Escalante Brian Peru IM 3819566
2424 Kavutskiy Kostya USA IM 2026384
2423 Ostrovskiy Aleksandr USA IM 2034239
2387 Duran Vega Sergio CRC IM 6501311
2377 Wang Justin USA FM 30911370
2375 Grabinsky Aaron USA 2087090
2375 Kiewra Keaton USA IM 2019280
2346 Wang Tianqi USA 2063824
2344 Williams Justus USA FM 2049929
2341 Peng David USA FM 2059355
2334 Colas Joshua USA FM 2044447
2318 Santarius Erik USA FM 2025817
2304 Moon Benjamin USA 2064847
2272 Betaneli Alexander USA FM 2012359
2222 Ghazarian Kirk USA 30908604
2203 Watson John USA IM 2000768
2202 Daggupati Balaji USA FM 2090759
2145 Narayanan Samrug USA 30914051
2130 Polgar-Shutzman Tom USA 2064880
2124 Eckert Doug USA FM 2001993
2069 Polavaram Rithik USA 2081997
2029 Gosdin Kaleb USA 30920442

Past SPICE Cup Chess Champions:

2007 GM Eugene Perelshteyn
2008 GMs Harikrishna Pentala, Alex Onischuk, Var Akobian
2009 GMs Yuriy Kuzubov, Dmitry Andreikin, Rauf Mamedov
2010 GM Alex Onischuk
2011 GM Le Quang Liem
2012 GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – GM Ray Robson (Open Champ)
2013 GMs Alexander Ipatov, Kayden Troff
2014 GM Illia Nyzhnyk
2015 GM Le Quang Liem
2016 GMs Sam Sevian, Ray Robson
2017 GMs Lazaro Bruzon, Yuniesky Quesada, Dariusz Swiercz

The 49-years old Russian GM Aleksey Dreev dominated the Fall Chess Classic A, finishing the event with 6,5/9 points, a full point ahead of the nearest follower. The former World Championship candidate performed at 2821 elo and earned 20 rating points. The top prize was 6000 USD.

Armenian GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan won the Fall Chess Classic B by an even bigger margin. He scored 7,0/9 points, leaving the chasing pack full two point behind. Gabuzyan, who was the top seed in this section, performed at 2711 elo and earned 4000 USD for the effort.

GM Aleksey Dreev

2018 Fall Chess Classic A standings:

1. GM Dreev Aleksey RUS 2649 – 6,5
2. GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2653 – 5,5
3-4. GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2652 and GM Lenderman Aleksandr USA 2630 – 5,0
5-6. GM Robson Ray USA 2682 and GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2641 – 4,5
7-8. GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2662 and GM Hansen Eric CAN 2629 – 4,0
9. GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2673 – 3,5
10. GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2669 – 2,5

2018 Fall Chess Classic B standings:

1. GM Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 2592 – 7,0
2-4. GM Moradiabadi Elshan USA 2534, GM Zierk Steven USA 2506 and GM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2495 – 5,0
5. GM Azarov Sergei BLR 2565 – 4,5
6-8. GM Holt Conrad USA 2561, GM Chandra Akshat USA 2471 and GM Boros Denes HUN 2439 – 4,0
9. FM Jacobson Brandon USA 2443 – 3,5
10. FM Yoo Christopher Woojin USA 2402 – 3,0

Tournament website

The two 10-player fields are filled with young prodigies who are ready to test their mettle in 9 rounds of classical chess. For many of these players, the tournament will serve as a stepping stone to achieving such lofty goals as the Grandmaster titles, elite player status, and potentially World Championship competitions.

This year’s tournament includes an exciting opponent in the 2018 Junior field, as 16-year-old WIM Annie Wang will be competing against all male opponents. She secured the wildcard position in the tournament due to her spectacular second place finish against IM Nazi Paikidze during the playoff of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship in April.

Wang will be competing for the prize fund of more than $20,000 and a coveted spot in the 2019 U.S. Chess Championship, where she would compete against America’s big three: GM Wesley So, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and world championship contender, GM Fabiano Caruana. Alongside her in the field will be other talented juniors, including previous champions GM Akshat Chandra and defending champion GM Awonder Liang.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL)

“The U.S. Junior Championships are always a great opportunity for us to see what the future of chess looks like,” says Executive Director Tony Rich. “With Annie Wang as the wildcard and all the other young, yet seasoned players, the future of American chess is brighter than ever.”

The U.S. Girls’ Junior section also promises to offer exciting battles with previous U.S. Women’s Championship players FM Maggie Feng, WIM Emily Nguyen, and WIM Jennifer Yu.

For many of these players, the tournament is an opportunity to improve their rating and prepare for future major tournaments. Although this tournament is fairly new, it has produced many players who have gone on to shine at major national and international tournaments, while others have taken the skills learned from chess to study at elite universities like Agata Bykovtsev at MIT. Along with winning the title, players will be up for the chance to win a piece of the more than $10,000 prize fund.

Covering all the action will be the expert commentary team of WGM Tatev Abrahamyan and GM Robert Hess. The team will be providing game analysis daily starting at 1 p.m.

Boys

GM Ruifeng Li 2686 Rating Plano, TX
GM Awonder Liang 2653 2017 U.S. Junior Champion Madison, WI
GM Andrew Tang 2620 Rating Plymouth, MN
GM John Michael Burke 2608 Rating Brick, NJ
GM Akshat Chandra 2593 Rating Saint Louis, MO
IM Advait Patel 2592 Rating Midwest City, OK
NM Mika Brattain 2519 Rating Lexington, MA
IM Praveen Balakrishnan 2502 2017 Denker Champion Centreville, VA
FM Alex Bian 2411 2017 U.S. Junior Open Champion Lincolnshire, IL
WIM Annie Wang 2372 Wildcard La Cañada, CA

Girls

WIM Jennifer Yu 2423 Rating Ashburn, VA
FM Maggie Feng 2355 Rating Dublin, OH
WIM-Elect Carissa Yip 2344 Rating Andover, MA
WIM Emily Nguyen 2285 Rating Austin, TX
WFM Thalia Cervantes 2259 Rating Webster Groves, MO
WCM Rochelle Wu 2217 2017 National Girls Tournament of Champions Davis, CA
WFM Martha Samadashvili 2196 Rating Albany, NY
WFM Nastassja Matus 2183 Wildcard Plymouth, MN
WFM Sanjana Vittal 2161 Rating East Windsor, NJ
Sophie Morris-Suzuki 2155 Rating New York, NY

The Lecturer of the seminar was IA Carol Jarecki (IVB), FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer was IA Boyd Reed (USA).

The venue of the Seminar was the Westgate Hotel in Ls Vegas.
The lectures were in English language.

Eight (8) Arbiters from USA participated in the Seminar and in the examination test, held after the end of the lectures.

The following succeeded in the test and he will be awarded a norm for the title of the FIDE Arbiter, after the approval of the next FIDE Congress:

Mark Ishee 2012448 USA
Samuel M. Shoykhet 30950945 USA
Martha Underwood 2084473 USA
Jeff Wiewel 2032953 USA

IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters’ Commission