Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: New Chess Grand Prix Series Starting Next Year

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

During the opening ceremony of Thessaloniki Grand Prix, Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov gave an interview to Chessdom. Here are the excerpts. 

Q: Mr. Ilyumzhinov, you literally had only few weeks to prepare for Grand Prix in Thessaloniki. How did everything happen so sudden?

A: Initially the tournament was supposed to take place in Madrid, where last year we signed protocol of agreement. But due to crisis in Spain, the sponsors asked me to postpone the tournament for year 2014. This was not acceptable for us because we wanted to strictly maintain the planned schedule.

When my friend Ivan Savvidis learned about this, he offered to hold the Grand Prix tournament in Makedonia Palace Hotel, his recent acquisition.

Savvidis already supported Greek Chess Federation and he wants to open children chess academy in PAOK. That is why he thought the Grand Prix would be a good opportunity to further popularise chess in Greece.

Q: After this tournament finishes, you will have only one month before the next 5th stage is starting. Will this event take place in Berlin, as planned, or you will again have to move it to a different venue?
A: We are now in the process of negotiating and I think next week we will announce the venue. But the dates will not be changed, and this is important.

Q: After Berlin you have Paris as the last Grand Prix in the calendar. Will you continue with this Grand Prix format in the coming years?
A: Yes, we will continue.

Q: You insist on this format?
A: Yes, I think this is a good format and chess players like it too.

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Fide Chess Grand Prix (Fourth Stage) Begins in Thessaliniki; Watch Live

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

The opening ceremony of the 4th stage of FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 took place in the Amphitryon hall of Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki (Greece) on the 21st of May.

The players and guests were greeted by the Tournament Director Theodoros Tsorbatsoglou, President of the Greek Chess Federation Georgios Makropoulos, General Secretary of Sports Kiriaki Gianakidou, Minister of Macedonia & Thrace Theodoros G. Karaoglou, Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Chief Arbiter Takis Nikolopoulos then proceeded with drawing of lots. He called up the players to come to the table and pick of the rooks in the shape of White Tower, the famous landmark of Thessaloniki.

Veselin Topalov approached first and picked number 1. Next was Alexander Grischuk who chose number 12 and immediately the first match-up was known.

Also attending the opening ceremony were MP of the Greek Parliament and former Minister of Health Andreas Loverdos, FIDE Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici, Head of the Appeals Committee Zurab Azmaiparashvili, AGON Chief Andrew Paulson, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, consuls of USA and Bulgaria, and other distinguished guests.

The technical meeting for players, arbiters and organizers took place at 20:30. The players were briefed about the playing room and facilities and about the most important regulations - time control with increment only after move 60, no draw offers, zero tolerance rule, dress code.

Participants include three former World Champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan). GM Teimour Radjabov has withdrawn from the Thessaloniki Grand Prix for personal reasons and has been replaced by GM Etienne Bacrot from France.

Official commentators are GM Ioannis Papaioannou and GM Stelios Halkias.

Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

The Chess Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). The 18 top players participate in 4 of these 6 tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014. Watch live at official website of the Chess Grand Prix.

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Third Chess Grand Prix Begins in Zug, Switzerland

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The opening ceremony of the 3rd stage of FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 the Renova Group Grand Prix took place at the SwissEver Hotel Zug 6 p.m. on 17th of April. The ceremony was attended by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer from Renova Group Rolf Schatzmann, Director of the Sport Office of the Canton of Zug Cordula Ventura, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Arkam Zeynalli, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramin Mirzayev, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation Konstantin Ushakov.

At the start of the ceremony Director of the Sport Office of the Canton of Zug Cordula Ventura welcomed all the players and guests on behalf of the government of the Canton of Zug.
On behalf of Renova Group and its chairman of the Board Directors Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, Rolf Schatzmann welcomed all officials, participants and wished the players to use the opportunity to learn more about the history of Switzerland, visit Zug and its suburbs. Rolf Schatzmann also explained why Zug was chosen to host the 3rd stage of Grand Prix: “Mr. “Viktor Vekselberg lives here and he thought it would be nice idea to organize such an interesting chess event in the canton of Zug”.

Before officially opening the event, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov greeted all the participants, guests and expressed his gratitude to Renova Group and its chairman of the Board Directors Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, sponsors, mass media representatives for their support and dedication to chess. “I’m confident that we will all savor the hospitality of the people of Switzerland and will fully appreciate the high organizational level of this sport celebration!” said FIDE President.

The Chief-arbiter of the tournament IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each participant was proposed to choose one of 12 boxes with famous Swiss chocolates and the numbers inside.

The first round will be played on Thursday, April 18th at 14:00 local time with the games Morozevich-Kasimdzhanov, Mamedyarov-Ponomariov, Caruana-Radjabov, Karjakin-Nakamura, Giri-Topalov, Leko-Kamsky.

Over eleven rounds, twelve of the strongest players in the world will take part in uncompromising chess battles. Among 12 participants there are three former world champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Rustam Kasimdzhanov, World Rapid Chess Champion Sergey Karjakin, the top players of the USA, Italy, Azerbajan, Russia. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), the rating favorite of the 3rd stage, will take part in GP tournaments for the first time. 2007 World Cup Winner Gata Kamsky (USA) replaced Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan) for the rest of the cycle.

Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). 18 top players participate in 4 of these 6 tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014. - Report and pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich

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Third Chess Grand Prix in Zug, Switzerland from April 17

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

FIDE and Renova Group of Companies have announced the third leg of the Chess Grand Prix series will take place from April 17 to May 1 in Zug, Switzerland. Fide has announced that they are finalising negotiations with the hotel and would inform all participants of the hotel arrangements and any extra charges for accompanying persons in the next two days. Zug is located around 25 kilometers from Zurich Airport and the best connection is via train.

1.0 SCHEDULE
The schedule has been maintained as originally announced:
17th April 2013 Arrivals & Opening Ceremony
18th April 2013 Round 1
19th April 2013 Round 2
20th April 2013 Round 3
21st April 2013 Round 4
22nd April 2013 Free Day
23rd April 2013 Round 5
24th April 2013 Round 6
25th April 2013 Round 7
26th April 2013 Round 8
27th April 2013 Free Day
28th April 2013 Round 9
29th April 2013 Round 10
30th April 2013 Round 11 & Closing Ceremony
1st May 2013 Departure

FIDE is currently also working on a replacement organiser for the fourth leg and more information will be available shortly. The dates of the fourth leg will also remain the same as scheduled in the calendar.

PLAYERS
Players participating in the third leg:
Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2793
Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2786
Topalov, Veselin BUL 2771
Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2771
Mamedyarov, Shakriyar AZE 2767
Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2766
Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2758
Leko, Peter HUN 2744
Wang, Hao CHN 2743
Gashimov, Vugar AZE 2737
Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2733
Giri, Anish NLD 2729

First reserve for any replacements is GM Gata Kamsky (USA)

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Watch ChessOK Online Grand Prix Super Final Live Today

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The final qualification for the Online Chess Blitz Grand Prix Open 2012 took place on August 14. Four groups of 12 players each participated. Best two players from each of the groups would play the Super Final Tournament on August 15 at the ChessOk.com platform for online chess. 

Finalists and their respective score (max 11, winners passing to the Super Final are in bold)):

Group 1: 1. Volkov – 7.5; 2. Amonatov – 7. 3-4. Pridorozhnyi, Zhigalko – 6.5 each; 5-6. Papin, Smirnov – 6 each; 7-8. Ponkratov, Kharitonov – 5.5 each. 9. Rahmanov – 5; 10. Kiselev V.– 4.5; 11-12. Mischyk and Kovalev V. – 3 each.

Group 2: 1. Andreikin – 10.5; 2. Kovalenko – 8; 3. Khismatullin – 7; 4. Fedoseev – 6.5; 5. Yudin – 6; 6. Turov – 5.5; 7-8. Korobov, Badmacirenov – 5 each; 9. Zinchenko – 4.5; 10. Kharchenko – 4; 11-12. Grischenko, Khasangatin - 2 each.

Group 3: 1. Grishuk – 9; 2-3. Safarli, Deviatkin – 8.5; 4. Bocharov – 7.5; 5. Panarin – 6.5; 6-7. Azarov, Schaposhnikov – 5 each; 8-9. Galkin, Onischuk.V – 4.5 each; 10. Linchevsky – 4; 11. Kononenko - 2; 12. – Liascovich Lucas – (could not participate).

Group 4: 1. Zubov - 9; 2. Andriasian – 8.5; 3. Grigoryan – 7.5; 4-5, Bukavshin, Sjugirov – 6.5 each; 6-7. Terry, Vovk – 5.5 each; 8-9. Timofeev, Guseinovr – 5 each; 10-11. Kokarev, Ovetchkin – 3.5 each; 12. Dlugy – (could not participate). 

The Super Final Tournament will employ the Knockout system (4 games, Armageddon game if the score is 2:2). The players will start in the quarterfinals in the following pairs: Volkov - Safarli, Zubov - Kovalenko, Andreikin - Andriasian, Grishuk - Amonatov.

Watch the Super Final Tournament broadcast in the Tournaments & Broadcasts section of chessok.com, August 15, at 15-00 UTC.

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London's Simpson's-in-the-Strand to Host Chess Grand Prix

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

Agon, the company that had bagged the commercial rights to the World Chess Championships by FIDE has announced that Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London would be the venue for the first Grand Prix chess event between September 20 and October 3 with a prize fund of 240,000 euros.

Andrew Paulson, the Chief Executive and Founder of Agon, said: “I am delighted to confirm that Simpson’s-in-the-Strand will be the venue for the September Grand Prix. As possibly the best-known chess venue in the world, it is the perfect place to kick off the new Championship cycle. However, the requirement to transfer the event to London from Chelyabinsk at this relatively late stage means that it will be a smaller, invite-only event.

“Agon’s stewardship of the World Chess Championships really only starts with the London Candidates tournament in March 2013, but I felt compelled to support FIDE when it became apparent that Chelyabinsk wasn’t going to work. ”

CJ de Mooi, the President of the English Chess Federation (ECF), said: “I am delighted to welcome the Agon Chess Grand Prix to London in our Olympic year. The ECF looks forward to a long partnership with Agon, an innovative company that has proven itself on both the world stage and the chess board.”

Simpson’s originally opened in 1828 as a chess club and coffee house and soon became known as the “home of chess” after attracting the patronage of such chess luminaries as Howard Staunton – the first English world chess champion.

Raymond Keene OBE, chess columnist for The Times newspaper and The Spectator magazine and one of the world’s most respected commentators on the sport, said: “I am relishing the return of the World Chess Championships to Simpson’s. It is the home of the immortal game and the Grand Prix in September represents the start of a long journey to restore chess to its rightful place in the public imagination after decades in the media wilderness.”

The announcement of Simpson’s as a venue is indicative of Agon’s ambitions for the World Chess Championships.

Agon will be bringing the World Chess Championships to European capital cities, as part of its commitment to bring a sustainable business model to the sport.

Mr Paulson added: “We will shortly be announcing a number of illustrious and historic venues for the World Chess Championship cycle. We are also in discussions with a number of global companies that want to be associated with the pinnacle of this wonderful game.”

In 2013, the Championship cycle will be hosted by London, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Tromsø.


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Chess Grand Prix 2012/13: Fide, Agon Announce New List

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

FIDE and AGON have announced a new list of participants for the Chess Grand Prix cycle with Vugar Gashimov replacing Gata Kamsky. The Chess Blog post of yesterday's announcement is here.

Announcement on FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012/13
The list of players who will participate in the cycle over the next two years is as follows :

1. From World Championship Match 2012
GM Boris Gelfand (ISR)

2. From World Cup 2011
GM Peter Svidler (RUS)
GM Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
GM Vasily Ivanchuk (UKR)
GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR)

3. By Average Rating (July 2011 + January 2012)
GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE)
GM Sergey Karjakin (RUS)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
GM Veselin Topalov (BUL)
GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)
GM Vugar Gashimov (AZE)

4. FIDE President Nominee
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA)

5. AGON Nominees
GM Alexander Morozevich (RUS)
GM Wang Hao (CHN)
GM Peter Leko (HUN)
GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (CUB)
GM Anish Giri (NLD)
GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB)

Full details of the dates are available at the official world chess federation website.

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