Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk Ambassador of SportAccord World Mind Games
Beijing,China 08.12.2011 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion is the Ambassador of 2011 SportAccord World Mind Games. Ms Kosteniuk is a committed promoter of Chess and intends to increase the interest in the game around the world. As the Ambassador of SportAccord World Mind Games, Ms Kosteniuk will internationally promote the event for its unique combination of five Mind Sports; Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi. She is dedicated to raise the awareness, enlarge the audience and attract ever more mind games players worldwide. Alexandra Kosteniuk’s official website www.kosteniuk.com
The first edition of SportAccord World Mind Games takes place from 9-16 December 2011 in Beijing. This unique multi-sport event highlights the great value of Mind Sports. The world's best players will deliver top-level performances and create new valuable experiences based on intelligence, strategy and exercise of mind. Rado and Samsung are the official partners of SportAccord World Mind Games.
About SportAccord:
SportAccord is the umbrella organisation for 105 international sports federations and organisations. Its mission is to support and to protect the common interests of the sports movement. Activities include the online video portal The Sports Hub, the organisation of multi-sports games, doping-free sport, as well as sports’ social responsibility and sports’ integrity.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Beijing,China 09.12.2011 – The opening ceremony of 2011 SportAccord World Mind Games took place on Friday and the Games are now officially open. The event took place in the Beijing International Convention Center.
SportAccord President Hein Verbruggen expressed his gratitude for the warm reception of SportAccord in China’s Capital. He continued by acknowledging the General Sport Administration of China and Beijing Municipal Government for their support for SportAccord World Mind Games, the Local Organising Committee and all the people involved in the preparations. He acknowledged the official partners of SportAccord World Mind Games; Rado and Samsung.
Deputy Major of Beijing Liu Jingmin, Deputy Director of General Administration of Sport of China Feng Jianzhong welcomed SportAccord, players, coaches, referees, and friends. They underlined the values and importance of SportAccord World Mind Games and wished the event a great success.
The addresses were followed by cultural performances of a children’s chorus, Beijing Opera Group and Beijing Women New Folk Music Band.
The first edition of SportAccord World Mind Games takes place from 9-16 December 2011 in Beijing. This unique multi-sport event highlights the great value of Mind Sports. The world's best players will deliver top-level performances and create new valuable experiences based on intelligence, strategy and exercise of mind. Rado and Samsung are the official partners of SportAccord World Mind Games.
World Mind Games Online Chess: Win TVs, Watches More!!!
Hello chess blog friends, are you playing chess online in the chess section of the SportAccord Countdown Online Tournaments yet?
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk Official Ambassador 2014
Big Prizes!!!
Formula 1 grand prix tickets sponsored by presenting partner Alliance Renault-Nissan
Watches from World Mind Games official partner Rado
Samsung TVs, tablets and gift cards
A total cash prize purse of $12,000 will be shared between the winners of the different tournaments
SportAccord has begun the countdown to the launch of the 4th edition of the World Mind Games Online Tournament on the 15th of September. The tournament, featuring Bridge, Chess and Go, is being organized by SportAccord in partnership with RSportz, the community-based global sports network and online platforms BridgeBase Online, Chess.com and Pandanet. The online tournament marks the countdown to the 4th SportAccord World Mind Games to be held in Beijing from December 11-17 this year. Last year’s online tournament attracted over 700,000 players from all across the globe and SportAccord expects to comfortably attract a higher number of participants through the tournament online portal www.onlinewmg.com. The portal will be the gateway for participants and enthusiasts for game rules, registration and all further information surrounding the SportAccord 2014 World Mind Games Online Tournament.
Like in 2013, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk - the 12th Women's World Chess Champion and several-time champion at the World Mind Games - is the official ambassador at the event in Beijing for 2014 as well! Click on graphic (on left) to see some of last year's victory videos of GM Alexandra Kosteniuk.
And, another nice video, from 2012
SportAccord 2014 World Mind Games Online Tournament partners, Bridgebase Online, Chess.com and Pandanet will operate the online hosting of the disciplines of Bridge, Chess and Go, respectively.
SportAccord, the Union of International Sports Federations, operates and is in the process of organising 4 multi-sports games- the World Combat Games, the World Beach Games, the World Urban Games and the World Mind Games. The 4th edition of the SportAccord World Mind Games will be organized in Beijing from December 11-17, 2014, featuring Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi in cooperation with the respective international sports federations. The SportAccord World Mind Games unite the world’s best players in a quest for glory and prize money. SportAccord is constantly looking to engage more people in mind sports in a fun and exciting way through cultural programs and online games.
Online tournament dates: September 15 – November 15 Website: www.onlinewmg.comOfficial hashtag: #mindgames2014
SportAccord World Mind Games 2013 in Beijing from Dec 10
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013 Hi everyone,
Fide has announced the players selected for the SportAccord World Mind Games 2013 to be played in Beijing, China from December 10. Players are invited to send in their contract. The selection of the players for this annual event has been based on the average of the player’s three ratings for classical, blitz and rapid. SportAccord World Mind Games are a multi-sport event centered on the gymnasium of the mind and highlighting the great value of the mind sports. The first and second editions in 2011 and 2012 included five mind sports of great popularity and influence worldwide - Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi (Chinese Chess).
Before we give you the list of participants for this year, here's a special chess video from the SportAccord World Mind Games 2012! (Click on the screen grab below) for a special commented video. This video features 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk explaining her win over 13th Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan in Beijing last year at the SportAccord Mind Games.
The special Houdini-powered chess training programme used in this commented video is Chess King™. Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk trains with Chess King ™ regularly. This chess training programme includes the super-strong analysis engine Houdini, but also GigaKing - a database of all chess games played from "the beginning of time". Know all about Chess King at the official website.
For all of GM Kosteniuk's posts and victories at the SportAccord Mind Games, click this link of a list of write-ups on www.chessqueen.com. For all posts about the SportAccord World Mind Games on Chess Blog, click here. There are lots of photos and videos in there including an interview with GM Kosteniuk as the official ambassador of the SportAccord World Mind Games 2011 and GM Kosteniuk's gold medal wins. Back to the list of participants announced by Fide for the Mind Games Chess Section 2013.
1. The list for men is as follows :
No more than two players from each country with exceptions made only for World Champions 2012 and 2013 for Blitz and Rapid. 2. The women’s list is as follows :
3. The events will be the following : · Rapid Events · 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) · two days with seven rounds Swiss events; · time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment · Blitz Events · 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) · Three days with double round robin events (10 games per day); · time control 3 mins each side plus 2 secs increment · Basque Events · 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) · two days with five rounds Swiss events; · each player plays two games simultaneously per round with white and black pieces · time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment per game 4. Schedule: 10th December 2013 Arrival of players and officials 12th December 2013 Rapid event (rounds 1-4) 13th December 2013 Rapid event (rounds 5-7) 14th December 2013 Blitz event (rounds 1-10) 15th December 2013 Blitz event (rounds 11-20) 16th December 2013 Blitz event (rounds 21-30) 17th December 2013 Basque event (rounds 1-3 Women), (rounds 1-3 Men) 18th December 2013 Basque event (rounds 4-5 Women), (rounds 4-5 Men) 19th December 2013 Departure 5. Prizes For each event the following prizes will be awarded. Place Men Place Women 1 $18.000 1 $10.000 2 $15.000 2 $9.000 3 $12.000 3 $8.000 4 $9.000 4 $7.000 5 $7.000 5 $6.000 6 $6.000 6 $5.000 7 $5.000 7 $4.000 8 $4.000 8 $3.000 9 $3.000 9 $2.000 10 $2.000 10 $1.000 11 $1.000 11 $500 12 $1.000 12 $500 13 $1.000 13 $500 14 $1.000 14 $500 15 $1.000 15 $500 16 $1.000 16 $500 Total $87.000 Total $58.000 Tie break will be used only for final medal positions but money prizes will be split equally. Air fares will be organised by BODA (Beijing Olympic Development Agency) and accommodation will also be covered on a full board basis by the organisers. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal chess blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Glittering Start to 4th SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 (including Chess)
Hello chess blog friends, the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 - including chess - opened with a glittering ceremony in Beijing Wednesday evening.
The 4th edition of the annual event features 150 players from 37 countries, who will be competing in 5 sports, namely Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi. This year’s edition witnesses the introduction of American Checkers, which takes the total number of sub-disciplines to 14, with 24 medal rounds on offer. A total prize purse of $1.4 million is on offer for the winners at this year’s event, which is being hosted by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, and is being organised by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Board and Card Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.
Announcing his delight at the opening of the latest edition of the World Mind Games, SportAccord President Marius L. Vizer said, “The spirit of excellence, competition and friendship guides the 4th edition of the World Mind Games. Excellent organisation, superior competition and friendship between the players are the aims of this unique event. Our intention is to provide inspiration to millions of mind sports practitioners around the world to aspire to the highest standards. This intention has focused our efforts towards providing to millions of sportspersons across the world with the opportunities to compete in high-quality competitions through the multi-sports games under SportAccord's umbrella. The World Beach Games, World Combat games, World Mind Games and World Urban Games are the results of close cooperation with the international federations and give voice to the primary individuals- the players. At the World Mind Games 2014, I wish the players a lot of success and all participants at the event all the best for 2015."
The organisation of such an event on the desired scale of organisation and participation would not have been possible without the dedication and untiring efforts of the local organising committee. Speaking on behalf of the LOC, Mr. Chen Jie, secretary general of the LOC said, “As one of the highest level international sports events being held in Beijing this year, a successful World Mind Games will make a great contribution to the popularity and development of mind games, enhancing multi-cultural communication, pushing forward the healthy and harmonious development for the city of Beijing”.
Addressing the assembled media and the athletes, Mr. Vlad Marinescu, director general of SportAccord highlighted the value of working together to produce results by saying, “"The World Mind Games represent SportAccord's commitment to bringing the finest practitioners of mind sports under one roof to present an unparalleled spectacle to mind sports fans. We are thankful to the 5 international federations for providing us with the best athletes, services and officials to ensure that the quality of competition only improves each year. We are honoured to be hosted by the city of Beijing year after year and are thankful to the local organising committee for presenting the best face of World Mind Games 2014 in front of the world. Our production partners are essential for this purpose and their efforts will ensure that over 50 territories will be touched by the World Mind Games 2014. Our network of commercial partners for the event grows stronger due to the undying efforts of all those mentioned and the sponsors this year make the 4th edition of the World Mind Games the best supported edition yet."
The World Mind Games 2014 is the first multi-sports event to be organised in China with a fully certified integrity programme that has been distributed to the athletes before the competition for completion.
Competition at the World Mind Games will begin on the 11th of December and the last round of action will be organised on the 17th of December, with the final medals being awarded in the evening. The entire event will be broadcast live or deferred by 23 TV channels, apart from being streamed live on 2 digital media channels.
The complete World Mind Games are being held from December 9-16. The chess section includes the following three events:
9th – 11th December, Rapid Events (Open and Women – 16 players each)
12th – 13th December, Blitz Events (Open and Women – 16 players each)
14th – 16th December, Blindfold Event (Open and Women – 8 players each) and Pairs Event (8 teams of two players)
Congratulations also to Kateryna Lahno for the silver and Nana Dzagnidze for the bronze. Congratulations to all the beautiful women who told the world that chess can be so beautiful, imaginative and such a feminine statement of mental prowess.
Sportaccord World Mind Games Rapid – Women Final standings: 1. GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2439 – 6 2. GM Lahno Kateryna UKR 2549 – 4.5 3. GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2516 – 4.5 4. WGM Ju Wenjun CHN 2543 – 4.5 5. GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2512 – 4 6. GM Hou Yifan CHN 2578 – 4 7. IM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2562 – 4 8. IM Dembo Yelena GRE 2468 – 3.5 9. GM Cramling Pia SWE 2495 – 3.5 10. GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2531 – 3.5 11. IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2457 – 3 12. GM Socko Monika POL 2479 – 3 13. GM Cmilyte Viktorija LTU 2503 – 2.5 14. IM Skripchenko Almira FRA 2468 – 2 15. IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2506 – 2 16. GM Danielian Elina ARM 2497 – 1.5
SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 (with Chess) Announced: Dec 9-18
Hello chess blog friends, some of the world's best chess players are expected to attend the 2014 SportAccord World Mind Games from Dec 9-18. Players have already been asked to submit their contract, to FIDE by not later than Friday 1st August 2014 for this year’s fourth edition of the Sport Accord World Mind Games. The selection has been based on the average of the player’s three ratings for classical, blitz and rapid.
The list for men invitees includes World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, US #1 Hikaru Nakamura, World No. 2 Levon Aronian, former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, Russian #1 Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and other top players. The invitees' list for women chess players includes talented stars Judit Polgar (who is unlikely to attend as she does not play women's chess events), Hou Yifan, Anna Muzychuk, Koneru Humpy, Nana Dzagnidze, Kateryna Lagno, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and others.
The 12th Women's World Chess Champion, GM Kosteniuk has not only been an ambassador for the SportAccord World Mind Games, but has a rich medal haul from the event as well. Read all about GM Kosteniuk's success at various editions of the SportAccord World Mind Games on her blog www.chessqueen.com.
A nice video from the event:
The events will include: • Rapid Events • 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) • two days with seven rounds Swiss events; • time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment
• Blitz Events • 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) • Three days with double round robin events (10 games per day); • time control 3 mins each side plus 2 secs increment
• Basque Events • 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female) • two days with five rounds Swiss events; • each player plays two games simultaneously per round with white and black pieces • time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment per game
Schedule: 9th December 2014 Arrival of players and officials 11th December 2014 Rapid event (rounds 1-4) 12th December 2014 Rapid event (rounds 5-7) 13th December 2014 Blitz event (rounds 1-10) 14th December 2014 Blitz event (rounds 11-20) 15th December 2014 Blitz event (rounds 21-30) 16th December 2014 Basque event (rounds 1-3 Women), (rounds 1-3 Men) 17th December 2014 Basque event (rounds 4-5 Women), (rounds 4-5 Men) 18th December 2014 Departure
Prizes Place Men Place Women1 $18,000 1 $10,000 2 $15,000 2 $9,000 3 $12,000 3 $8,000 4 $9,000 4 $7,000 5 $7,000 5 $6,000 6 $6,000 6 $5,000 7 $5,000 7 $4,000 8 $4,000 8 $3,000 9 $3,000 9 $2,000 10 $2,000 10 $1,000 11-16 $1,000 11-16 $500 Total $87,000 Total $58,000 Tie break will be used only for final medal positions but money prizes will be split equally. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal chess blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
First SportAccord Chess Mind Games in Beijing from Dec 8-17
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
An interesting event - the first SportAccord Mind Games - with open and women's chess sections with 16 players each will be held in Beijing from December 8-17. This event will be an elite event and will be based on an invitation basis for 16 players (open) and 16 women players.
For the open events, the minimum rating, based on the July 2011 rating list must not be less than 2700. For the Women’s events, the minimum rating is not less than 2450. There will be four events in total although each player selected by FIDE and SportAccord will participate in three of the events.
The schedule includes:
8th December 2011 Arrival
9th – 11th December Rapid Events (Open and Women – 16 players each)
12th – 13th December Blitz Events (Open and Women – 16 players each)
14th – 16th December Blindfold Event (Open and Women – 8 players each) and Pairs Event (8 teams of two players)
17th December 2011 Departure
FIDE will also select which players will participate in the blindfold or pairs event. As per the player’s commitment, SportAccord will cover the travel expenses for the players including flight, accommodation and full board for the duration of the event. The prize fund for the various events is 320,000 USD but all players will be guaranteed a minimum prize / fee of 4,000 USD for open event participants and 2,000 USD for the womens’ event participants. This minimum guarantee is only valid for those players who will not have won any prize money from any of the events or whose total prize money may be less than the amount guaranteed.
Players who wish to register for the event, and currently qualify through rating, or may qualify in July 2011, should send an email to office@fide.com expressing their interest in participating.
Chess Queen Kosteniuk Official Ambassador SportAccord World Mind Games
Hello chess blog friends, Two ambassadors per World Mind Games discipline to take centrestage in Beijing
Every sport needs a hero- one who the youngsters can look up to. And SportAccord is proud to present the 10 ambassadors for the 2014 edition of the World Mind Games to be held in Beijing in China from the 11th to the 17th of December. Representing the best practices in their respective sports discipline, the following ambassadors would be the faces of their respective sports at the World Mind Games this year.
BRIDGE International ambassador - Fulvio Fantoni Chinese ambassador - Wang Wenfei
DRAUGHTS International ambassador - Viktoriya Motrichiko Chinese ambassador - Ala Tenghua
GO International ambassador - Hajin Lee Chinese ambassador - Jiaxi Tuo
XIANGQI International ambassador - Hok Him Wong Chinese ambassador - Sinan Tang
The SportAccord World Mind Games ambassador programme is a step taken towards increasing the profiles of the constituent member sports at the annual event. Chosen carefully by the international federations, the ambassadors are the representatives of their respective sports, tasked with helping reach out to a wider audience of mind sports. Also part of their responsibility is community outreach at the World Mind Games, where they are supposed to conduct sports clinics with young children, inspiring them to consider the pursuit of mind sports through informal and formal means.
Each sport has 2 ambassadors, one international and the other Chinese. The purpose of this classification is to ensure that the appeal of each sports does not remain restricted to either the international or the domestic audience.
Some like Fantoni have fulfilled this role in the past, and speaking of his nomination as the international bridge ambassador again, Fantoni said,"After a very positive and interesting experience in the 2013 World Mind Games, I am ready to promote the sport and the event anew."
Full details of the SportAccord World Mind Games ambassadors can be found here.
FIDE has announced that SportAccord Mind Games 2012 will be held in Beijing, China between December 12-20.
PARTICIPANTS: Hou Yifan, Anna Muzychuk, Koneru Humpy, Zhao Xue, Kateryna Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Zatonskih, Antoaneta Stefanova, Bela Khotenashvili, Harika Dronavalli, Elizabeth Paehtz, Zhu Chen, Pia Cramling, Monika Socko, Elina Danielian and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Among the men, the participants are: Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Grischuk, Vesselin Topalov, Gata Kamsky, Peter Leko, Viktor Bologan, Baadur Jobava, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Wang Hao, Anish Giri and Ding Liren.
An exciting chess video with comments by 12th World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. The game: against Antoaneta Stefanova that fetched the gold for Chess Queen™ in 2010.
Congratulations to Hou Yifan for winning the SportAccord World Mind Games Blitz
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Congratulations to the talented Hou Yifan for winning the SportAccord World Mind Games Blitz Event of the Women's Section. She had a fine show picking up the gold with 11.5 points out of 15. Congrats to former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova for the silver with 9.5 points and Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia picking up the bronze on tiebreak. Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk from Russia shared the 4th and 5th places with 9 points each.
Congratulations to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave for winning SportAccord World Mind Games Men's Blitz 2011
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Time for a little chess news update from Beijing. The SportAccord World Mind Games - for which Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk is the official ambassador - saw French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave pick up the gold in the men's blitz event. He scored 12 points in 16 games. Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk picked up the silver with 10.5 points and Azerbaijan Grandmaster Shahriyar Mamedyarov got the bronze. The 4th place went to Russian Sergey Karjakin with 9.5 points. Azerbaijan Vugar Gashimov, Spanish Pons Vallejo and Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk share 5-7 places with 9 points.
Photo: Winners of the men and women's section of Blitz at SportAccord World Mind Games 2011. See our report on women's event here.
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Here is an interesting report via Fide on the increasing popularity of chess. It is based on the statistics with SportAccord which is the international body that includes all sport federations.
SportAccord has 93 member organizations including chess. According to research carried out by visiting the official websites of all those international sport organizations, FIDE is in 14th place by the number of member federations. Most international sport federations cover 5 continents: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. FIDE, as do a few other federations, puts Oceania under the Asian continent.
Thirteen Federations have more members than FIDE. Those Federations are: Volleyball (220), Table Tennis (218), Athletics and Basketball (212), Football and Tennis (209), Taekwondo (205), Aquatics (Swimming-203), Judo (200), Boxing (196), Wight Lifting (189), Karate (188) and Body Building (182). Of those with more than FIDE, only Body Building and Karate are non-Olympic sports. It means that chess has surpassed 21 of the 33 Olympic sports (26 summer and 7 winter sports are accepted as Olympic).FIDE aims to pass 200 members in the next 4 years and to achieve the top ten rank among all sports federations. If you are wondering about the countries which are not yet members of FIDE, here they are.
In Asia: Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, North Korea, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Tonga, Oman, Tuvalu, Samoa, American Samoa and Vanuatu. That's 15 more countries that are not members of FIDE yet. The Asian Continent currently has 50 members and very soon will be the number one continent, with the largest number of members in the FIDE Family.
In Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo-Brazzavile, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Niger and South Sudan, a total of 12 countries are not at the moment members of FIDE. FIDE has been working intensively in Asia and Africa to access all countries. In Africa, FIDE has 41 member federations now.
In the Americas, 35 national chess federations are members of FIDE. 13 countries or territories are members of other International sport organizations, but not yet members of FIDE. Those are, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Since FIDE statutes require a territory to be recognized by the United Nations, French overseas regions (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and, in the Indian Ocean, Mayotte and Réunion) are not able to join FIDE.
The same applies to those few European federations, affiliated to some international sports organizations, that cannot be accepted as FIDE members. Otherwise, Europe has a full complement of 54 national federations. Also Read:
Congratulations to GM Wang Hao for winning SportAccord World Mind Games Rapid 2011
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Congratulations to GM Hao Wang for winning the WorldAccord Mind Games Rapid 2011 in Beijing today. He notched up the win with a steady performance ahead of GM Vugar Gashimov (second) and GM Gata Kamsky (third).
Here is the list of final standings and you can access some links for more details.
Sportaccord World Mind Games Rapid – Men Final standings: 1. GM Wang Hao CHN 2736 – 5.5 2. GM Gashimov Vugar AZE 2757 – 5 3. GM Kamsky Gata USA 2732 – 4.5 4. GM Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB 2712 – 4 5. GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2723 – 4 6. GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2752 – 4 7. GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2733 – 3.5 8. GM Wang Yue CHN 2697 – 3.5 9. GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2710 – 3.5 10. GM Karjakin Sergey RUS 2763 – 3.5 11. GM Nielsen Peter Heine DEN 2693 – 3 12. GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2705 – 2.5 13. GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2707 – 2.5 14. GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2714 – 2.5 15. GM Giri Anish NED 2714 – 2.5 16. GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2775 – 2
Hello chess blog friends, Russia emerge as the big winners in 4th edition of the SportAccord World Mind Games; China come a close second. The celebrations of the Russians marked the close of the 4th edition of the World Mind Games 2014, organised in Beijing, China from December 11-17, 2014. The final competition of this year’s event ended with Ian Nepomnianchtchi (Russia) and Hou Yifan (China) being crowned the winners in the men’s and women’s chess basque competitions. With the final medals being awarded, the Russians emerged as the big winners in the whole competition as their players took home a total of 6 gold and 5 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal.
Apart from Hou Yifan, Alexander Grishchuk from Russia (chess), Ilan and Ophir Herbst from Israel, Nicola Smith from England, Geir Helgemo from Monaco (all bridge), Mi Yuting and Yu Zhiying from China (both Go) emerged as the big winners in the 4th edition, taking home 2 gold medals each.
Announcing the closing of the World Mind Games 2014, SportAccord Director General Vlad Marinescu said, “In terms of scale, competition, organisation and broadcasting, this edition of the World Mind Games has set the benchmark for all future editions of the same, and even other SportAccord multi-sports games. We congratulate the athletes for their success, the international federations for their contributions and the local organising committee for their untiring efforts in ensuring the event’s conduct. We also thank the sponsors for providing their valuable support for the World Mind Games 2014. The venue became a big melting pot for all elements that contribute towards a successful event. The cultural programme touched over 2000 children, through the activities of our sporting ambassadors. Finally, we give a big vote of thanks to the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, the Board and Card Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the people of Beijing people for welcoming us with open arms and making this the home of the World Mind Games for the last 4 years.”
In total, there were 150 players from 37 countries, who took part in the World Mind Games 2014. There were 14 disciplines across 5 sports on offer, with 24 medal rounds being contested.
SportAccord World Mind Games Chess 2014: Russia #1 Alexander Grischuk wins Double Gold
Hello chess blog friends, as you know the chess section of the SportAccord World Mind Games is on in Beijing. Two sections have been completed and the Russians have ruled particularly Alexander Grischuk who has won gold in both the blitz and rapid section of the men's events.
GM Alexander Grischuk
Playing some fantastic and focused chess this past week, Russia's top-rated Alexander Grischuk picked up the double gold with east. In the blitz list, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France picked up the silver and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan earned the bronze. In the women's section, reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan of China earned the gold, silver going to Valentina Gunina of Russia and Anna Muzychuk of Ukrained got the bronze. The Russian flag was flying high in the rapid section as well. Grischuk Alexander (RUS) became the winner of the tournament, Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA) finished in the second place and Bronze medal went to Wang Hao (CHN). In the women's section of the rapid, the gold went to Gunina Valentina (RUS), silver to Hou Yifan (CHN) and bronze to Ushenina Anna (UKR).
The Basque chess event is now being played in Beijing that has the opponents play two games in each round - one with white and one with black against the same opponent. You can follow all the action live at the official website.
ABOUT WORLD MIND GAMES
SportAccord World Mind Games is a multi-sport event centred on the gymnasium of the mind and highlighting the great value of the mind sports. The 2014 edition will take place from 11-17 December. As well as the first, second and third editions in 2011, 2012, and 2013 the event includes five mind sports of great popularity and influence worldwide - Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). The event is a showcase of some top-level mind games performances with the world's best players. The Cultural and Social Programme is an integral part of the event and through a series of activities, it aims at increasing and improving mind sports' influence and practice in schools.
In addition, an online tournament extends the event's reach to the worldwide audience. Mind Games are spread and known throughout the world since ancient times and their educational values are widely recognised. They combine the fun of playing games and the enhancement of concentration, logic, memory, mathematics, literacy, learning skills, decision making and socialising skills, etc. Ever more countries and regions integrate the mind sports as an important part of their education programmes. Mind sports suit well a wide range of people not only in terms of age; these sports can be equally played by people with certain physical disability.
Sport Accord World Mind Games Chess 2013: Wang Yue, Valentina Gunina win Chess Rapid (men and women's) Event
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Congratulations to Wang Yue of China and Valentina Gunina of Russia for winning the Rapid Chess events (in the men and women's categories) at the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing. The champions were crowned after two days of exciting rapid chess. In the women's section, reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan was second and Ju Wenjun was third. In the men's section, Peter Leko was second and Alexander Grischuk was third.
Meanwhile, special school visits have also been arranged at the event to encourage students and give children an educative cultural experience. The SportAccord school visits included a group of young students visiting the World Mind Games venue, while SportAccord President, Mr. Marius L. Vizer and World Bridge Federation President, Mr. Giovanni Arrigo Rona attended the Number 5 Beijing High School.
SportAccord World Mind Games (Chess): World's Top GMs play Rapid, Blitz in Bejing Dec 12-18
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The opening ceremony of the Mind Sports Games Chess 2013 is going to take place today in Beijing. The games begin on Wednesday. In the chess section, the event is going to be the one of the strongest rapid and blitz events of the year with the participation of some of the world’s top Grandmasters.
The men's section includes Sergey Karjakin, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Vassily Ivanchuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Le Quang Liem, Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov, Hao Wang, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wang Yue, Gata Kamsky, Peter Leko, and Anish Giri. The women's section includes Yifan Hou, Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze, Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, Valentina Gunina, Ju Wenjun, Marie Sebag, Zhao Xue, Tatiana Kosintseva, Pia Cramling, Anna Ushenina, Elizabeth Paehtz, and Viktorija Cmilyte.
SportAccord which is the umbrella organization for both Olympic and non-Olympic sports as well as a major organizers of conferences and sporting events. The World Mind Games was held for the first time in 2008 and consisted of 5 disciplines: chess, bridge, draughts (checkers), go, and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Here is the World Mind Games video trailer.
Also, don't forget Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is the official chess ambassador of the SportAccord World Mind Games. Did you read about it on the www.chessqueen.com page?
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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