Σκακιστικά νέα

Western Asia Youth Chess Championship 2022 will take place from 15-23 June in the Maldives. The event features: Rapid, Blitz, and Classical championships, played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, open and girls sections separately. Around 150 players registered for the event, representing federations belonging to FIDE zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.4 and 3.7. (scroll down for starting rank list of participants)

The major international website Chess24.com published an extensive preview of the Candidates Tournament 2022. “We’ve got Judit Polgar and Jan Gustafsson commentating live on all 14 rounds, with the likes of David Howell and Magnus himself set to join from time to time,” comment from Chess24, who will cover the Candidates live.

Although we have a dream line-up, the qualification for the Candidates was not without controversy.

New South Wales Chess Association organized the 2022 NSW Open from 11-13 June in Strathfield – a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. The event attracted more than 100 entries who competed in 7 swiss rounds for a total prize fund of $8.500.

Tremendous heat is expecting the participants in the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Madrid temperatures are expected to stay around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Farenheit) at least through the first week of the event. Chess fans speculate it is exactly the Candidates Tournament tension that rises the temperatures in the city, but Accuweather specifies that the reason is movement of air masses from North Africa.

The most anticipated event of 2022 – the FIDE Candidates Chess 2022 starts in three days, taking place in Madrid from June 16 – July 7. It is an 8 player double round robin qualification event for the World Championship Match later this year. The field with an average rating of 2771.9 is headed by world number 2 – Ding Liren.

ChessFest returns to Trafalgar Square this July, bigger and better than before. The UK’s largest one-day chess event is aimed at anyone who loves or wants to learn chess, and is completely free of charge. Taking place at London’s iconic Trafalgar Square this year’s event marks the 50th anniversary of the 1972 World Chess Championship match between the American, Bobby Fischer and the Soviet, Boris Spassky.

The famous artist Juga di Prima is going to perform live at the opening ceremony of the Candidates Tournament 2022 in Madrid. FIDE commented, “We’re happy to announce that Juga di Prima will perform live at the Opening Ceremony of the FIDE Candidates Tournament and premiere her new song, “Open Files”” The opening ceremony of the FIDE Candidates will be invitational only, so just a handful of chess fans will be able to see the performance live. Later the same day, Juga di Prima will give a concert at Sala Clamores on June 25, 18:00, open to all chess fans in Madrid.

Chess streamer and Alexandra Botez has all the right moves… on and off the board! The famous Twitch streamer, Youtuber and influencer QTCinderella published a video of Botez dancing on a boat to some funky house music. @Akanemsko (Nemo Zhou) commented, “you’re a mood @alexandravbotez!”

The meteoric rise of Hans Moke Niemann continues.

Kenyan candidate master Ben Magana won the 2022 Kisumu Chess Open which took place last weekend, from 4-5 June in Kisumu – Kenya’s third-largest city. The event was played in 6 swiss rounds and attracted more than 60 entries who fought for a total prize fund of 60.000 KES.