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Last Thursday, a chess festival was played at the large PlusCity shopping centre in Pasching, near Linz, under the motto:

Experience the whole world of chess, come to PlusCity to attack, marvel & participate. For four days, the mall will be the Mecca of the game of kings!

The organizers offered a vast program for young and old, for beginners, amateurs and professionals during these four days.

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For 15 years now, first-class chess events have been taking place in the PlusCity. Top names like Garry Kasparov, one of the best chess players of all time, or Judit Polgar, the best female player of all time, have already pondered their next moves at PlusCity. Even the two boxing champions, amateur chess players and role models of courage and fighting spirit Vitaly (Mayor of Kyiv) and Wladimir Klitschko have already been guests at the large shopping centre.

The event is organized by Gnter Mitterhuemer (President of the Upper Austrian Chess Federation), who also organizes the Danube Open in Aschach every year. PlusCity provided a huge prize fund which amounted to 25,000 euros.

From left to right: Michael Stttinger (Chairman ASV Linz ), GM Igor Glek, Gnter Mitterhuemer and IM Harald Casagrande

The Rapid Open held on Friday offered a prize fund of 15,000 euros and 2,000 euros for the first prize. This attracted 258 participants and numerous titleholders from no less than 20 countries a huge number for a one-day Rapid tournament. The ambience is unique and you can buy all kinds of things in the shops, get dressed or eat as much as you like.

The chess boards stretched for several hundred metres through the shopping centre and the many PlusCity customers were amazed at the royal hustle and bustle. Often they stopped for minutes to watch the concentrated players. The tournament is also very popular because there were five attractive cash prizes in the respective Elo categories. The best player in each category received 300 euros.

Top seed was 2021 European Champion Anton Demchenko from Russia, who, incidentally, was involved in an open letter from several chess masters to Vladimir Putin, expressing his solidarity with the Ukrainian people. A remarkable show of courage.

The strongest German participants were GMs Daniel Fridman and Andreas Heimann, and they confirmed their rating strength in the final ranking.

The great Swedish chess legend Ulf Andersson also played, together with his partner WGM Gisela Fischdick.

Gisela Fischdick and Ulf Andersson

Some fans took the opportunity to take a picture with the first chess player to beat Anatoly Karpov after winning his world title in Milan in 1975.

Master Class Vol.14 - Vasily Smyslov

Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.

However, it was someone else who triumphed with a start-to-finish victory, namely Czech grandmaster Vojtech Plat, who seems to enjoy Gnter Mitterhuemers tournaments very much, as he already won the Danube Open in Aschach. Plat proved to be a brilliant rapid player. The eventual champion started with 6 wins and then drew Demchenko, Jirovsky and Heimann, which gave him a Rapid Elo performance of 2645, the best of all participants. He won ahead of four other grandmasters who collected the same number of points.

Vojtech Plat

Second place went to tournament favourite GM Anton Demchenko ahead of GM Milos Jirovsky, GM Daniel Fridman and GM Andreas Heimann.

Anton Demchenko

Milos Jirovsky

Daniel Fridman

Andreas Heimann

WGM Regina Theissl-Pokorna (Austria) earned the first womens prize, worth 1,000 euros, with 6 points and 37th place, just ahead of Ukrainian WIM Anatsasiya Rakhmangulova. WIM Annika Frwis (Austria) came third with 6 points and 55th place. The best Austrian was IM Florian Schwabeneder with 7 points and 9th place.

Regina Theissl-Pokorna at the award ceremony

We recommend every chess fan to play a tournament in Austria, where the focus is not only on the sport, but above all on having a good time, which I personally appreciate very much

How to exchange pieces

Learn to master the right exchange! Let the German WGM Elisabeth Phtz show you how to gain a strategic winning position by exchanging pieces of equal value or to safely convert material advantage into a win.

Here is the original post:
Vojtech Plat wins the PlusCity Rapid Open in Upper Austria - ChessBase

When he was 19, Isaac Wiebe of Winnipeg decided to embark on a radical experiment to boost his chess rating.

An average Class C player, he studied as many as 200 tactical chess combinations and puzzles every day to sharpen his game. The results were dramatic. In a span of 19 months, he gained 700 official rating points and vaulted into master status with the Chess Federation of Canada.

I put huge effort and time into improving my tactical vision, Wiebe says. Combined with his aggressive playing style, his study plan turned him into one of Manitobas strongest players.

The highlight of Wiebes chess career came a few years ago when he won a contest to compete against world champion Magnus Carlsen in a simultaneous exhibition. Though he lost, he said it was a unique learning experience.

Now 27, Wiebe is in his last year of a Masters of Engineering program at Carlton University in Ottawa where he studies robotics and machine vision. As for others emulating his path to chess success, he says its doable.

You have to be rather disciplined to do it. If you believe in yourself, you have to commit the time and see it through all the way.

11. Rxg5 and after 12. hxg5 Bg4 13. Qd2 Nh5 14. g6 Nf4 15. gxf7+ Kxf7 16. g3 Nd4 Black won.

Read more:
From amateur to master in 19 months: All it takes is discipline to excel at chess - The Globe and Mail

A PORTARLINGTON chess club facilitator is accrediting a spike of interest in the game to Netflix series The Queens Gambit.

Released in 2020, the television miniseries is based on Walter Teviss 1983 novel of the same name and follows the life of a fictional chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world.

Facilitator of Portarlingtons chess club Stan Rusiniak said hes seen an increase in people wanting to join local clubs, including women.

They have enjoyed playing their first game online or have recently bought a new chess board and are keen to learn more about the game,he said.

Actively involved with three of the Bellarines prominent chess groups, Mr Rusiniak said friends have contacted him or his fellows chess players with a newfound enthusiasm and questions about chess and the chess groups activities.

We have all been delighted by the shows success, Ralph Wright of the Ocean Grove Chess group said.

The Queens Gambit which refers to a centuries-old opening move of the game has been internationally credited with elevating chess board sales and drawing people online to play, particularly during the pandemic.

Google Trends data reveals people searching for chess doubled after the series was released in 2020 and leading online playing platform chess.com reported daily active players jumped from 1.3 million in March 2020 to more than 3.1 million in under a year.

All the Bellarine chess clubs are open and welcoming new members, giving them the opportunity to learn more about the game that has been played in various forms for more than1,000 years.

Even expressing an interest in the game can be beneficial to people young and old, Hugh Peters of the St Leonards Chess group said.

Chess is a wonderful way to improve your concentration, patience, memory, and creativity.

Read more here:
Queen's Gambit credited with renewed interest in chess - Bellarine Times - Bellarine Times

A proposal has been made to withdraw honorary membership of Northern Irelands leading chess organisation from a world-renowned Russian player over the war in Ukraine.

he Sunday Independent has learned a motion requesting the removal of Dina Belenkaya from the honorary position with the Ulster Chess Union (UCU) will be discussed at the organisations Annual General Meeting (AGM) tomorrow evening.

No reason for the proposal has been outlined in the agenda for the organisations AGM, but sources have said those behind the motion believe it will send a message of support to the people of Ukraine as the Russian invasion of their country continues.

However, Ms Belenkaya told the Sunday Independent she stopped representing Russia earlier this year and now plays chess for Israel.

Chess is a hugely important sport in Russia and its leading players are major stars.

Following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February, many Russian players were prevented from taking part in international tournaments in a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

However, many Russian chess players have also spoken out against the invasion.In April, 44 of the countrys top players published an open letter to Vladimir Putin, highlighting their opposition to the war and expressing solidarity with those suffering in Ukraine.

Ms Belenkaya is a Woman Grandmaster, the highest title awarded to female chess players. The 28-year-old was born in St Petersburg and has won a number of leading international tournaments.

She is also a popular online figure in the world of chess and has her own channels on the YouTube and Twitch platforms.

Her links with UCU, which has 12 affiliated clubs in Northern Ireland, began several years ago when she travelled to Belfast to play against some local chess players. Ms Belenkaya was made an honorary member of the organisation after this event.

Although some UCU members now want to end that relationship as a result of the conflict, it is understoodthere is little support within the organisation for the proposal.

UCU chair Mark Newman said members were allowed to propose motions of their choice.

These motions can lead to quite heated but friendly discussion. We are looking at ways we can support Ukraine, for instance, by welcoming Ukrainian chess players. We do welcome all chess players, said Mr Newman.

When contacted by the Sunday Independent, Ms Belenkaya said she was unaware of the motion to remove her honorary membership of UCU. However, she said she no longer represented Russia.

I suppose people willing to remove me are not aware that Ive changed federation to Israel in March 2022. Either way, its their call to decide, she said.

When asked if her decision to change affiliation from Russia to Israel was linked to the war in Ukraine, Ms Belenkaya said she did not wish to comment further because the situation is very delicate unfortunately.

Hopefully peace will come soon, she added.

The rest is here:
Ulster Chess Union has motion to cut ties with Russian Grandmaster over Ukraine conflict - Belfast Telegraph

When Cassa offers a gift, one must accept it. For the goddess is often vengeful towards those who fail to take advantage of her largesse.

The fifth round of the 2022 FIDE Candidatessaw two players GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Ding Liren failing to capitalize on significant advantages. With missed chances beginning to pile up, and with 16 of 20 games drawn thus far, one wonders who has causedCassa to turn her face from them, and who may yet claim her favor.

Image Caption

courtesy FIDE / Stev Bonhage

After grabbing an edge in a non-theoretical Petroff, Nakamura was unable to find key moves against current leader GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, and had to accede to a draw by repetition.

Nakamura was remarkably sanguine in his post-game recap, but the video title Dear Youtube, I Am Disgusted may be more indicative of his true feels. (Or it might be clickbait. Hard to say.)

Meanwhile, GM Ding Liren missed an opportunity to take the full point against tailender GM Teimour Radjabov. Our annotator GM Jacob Aagaard pulls no punches in his assessment of Dings performance thus far.

Ding Liren has disappointed. He lost with White against Nepomniachtchi and failed to convert a winning position against Rapport. But the idea that he would come out of isolation after two and a half years confinement in China and do amazingly well... it was perhaps too optimistic. I was slightly pessimistic about his chances, but I was also reluctant to say that he would fail. Which is funny, as my confidence in saying that Nepomniachtchi will not qualify has not been dented. I still predict a poorer performance in the second half of the tournament.

The game against Radjabov with black had to be won for Ding to remain within a reasonable chance of qualifying. A score of +3 has most often been enough to win the tournament, while +2 could possibly suffice. Getting back to 50% would be a desirable start.

This is the reasoning behind a lot of the unforcing moves by Black in the opening. Rather than seeking equality, Ding looks for a position to play. It is an old strategy: to win with Black, often you don't need to play sharper, but you need the game to be longer, so the opponent has additional chances of making mistakes.

Image Caption

courtesy FIDE / Stev Bonhage

GM Fabiano Caruana got the worse of things in his game against GM Richard Rapport, and almost as soon as the opening phase was over he had to pull the ripcord and head for a draw.

Despite wasting another turn with White, Caruana remains in clear second place after five rounds, trailing Nepomniachtchi by just a half-point. Theres still plenty of time for the American to make his move and overtake the Russian.

Finally, GM Alireza Firouzja failed to get anything out of the opening against GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, with a fairly bloodless draw as the result.

Aagaard is blunt in his assessment of Firouzjas play thus far: You have to produce magic at some point to win the Candidates. The 19-year old super talent is not deliveringthe goods this time, but the tournament remains is a fabulous learning experience.

Thursday sees the sixth round of play, the third in three days, and the last before the second rest day on Friday. Play begins at 9 a.m. Eastern. Pairings for round six are:

Radjabov - RapportFirouzja - CaruanaNakamura - DingNepomniachtchi - Duda

FIDE Candidates homepageUS Chess Candidates homepageCandidates Overview (including streaming links)Lichess analysis study (Aagaard)Round 1Round 2Round 3Round 4

Originally posted here:
Missed Opportunities in Madrid | US Chess.org - uschess.org