Baskent University Open Tournament 2017

Baskent University Open Tournament 2017 is held in Ankara, Turkey from 26th of June till 3rd of July 2017

Official site

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play:
90 minutes all moves +
30 seconds increment

Schedule : * CEST (UTC/GMT +2)
30.06 2017 - 17:00 -  Round 1
01.06 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 2
01.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 3
02.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 4
03.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 5
03.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 6
04.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 7
05.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 8
06.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 9

Follow the tournament live on ChessBomb.

Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour Rapid Day 2 Recap

by Tatev Abrahamyan After day two of the rapid, Wesley So increased his lead by a point. He is being closely chased by Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who are one move away from catching the leader. It is interesting to note that all three players recently completed the Paris leg of the Grand Chess Tour so it will be interesting to see if fatigue will play a role in their performance. Tomorrow is the final day of the rapid part of the tournament which will determine who will be in the lead going into the blitz portion. Round 4 Wesley So started the day off right by delivering yet another loss to Baadur Jobava. The Georgian, who lost all his games yesterday, must be getting impatient wanting to score any points. He had the perfect opportunity to do so in this game, as he could have made a draw but instead lost the thread of the position and lost. Just as in his game against Jobava yesterday, Levon Aronian met his opponent’s fork with a bishop sacrifice. This time his victim was Viswanathan Anand, who found himself in a mating net in the endgame.  Anish Giri’s birthday celebration continued as he received a nice gift from Ivanchuk who went astray with his queen and resigned a move later. As Giri himself described, sometimes ambitious players start inventing things that the position simply doesn’t offer. Vladimir Kramnik won a pawn against his country man, but Ian Nepomniachtchi played actively and found enough counter play to draw the game. Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave met once against since their playoff in Paris, but the game ended in a draw after the Frenchman failed to utilize his opening advantage. Round 5 Magnus Carlsen played a very instructive strategic game against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik by first outplaying him in the middle game, then trading into a winning endgame. Carlsen was quite pleased about the quality of his game and was feeling optimistic about the rest of the event. Viswanathan Anand bounced back from his loss in his true fashion by finishing off Vassily Ivanchuk in a mating attack. Ian Nepomniachtchi continued his impressive performance by defeating Levon Aronian who failed to find defensive resources with little time on his clock. Baadur Jobava wasn’t able to improve his score as his slightly worse position kept getting worse and worse until it became indefensible. His opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, isn’t satisfied with his form in this event but he is compensating for it with improved concentration. Anish Giri and Wesley So drew after the Dutchman decided not to test the waters and allowed a perpetual. Round 6 Wesley So maintained his position in the standings by converting his extra pawn in a rook endgame against Viswanathan Anand. The World Champion won an easy game against Baadur Jobava who keeps suffering in this event whereas Vachier-Lagrave drew Anish Giri. Both Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave are inching closer to Wesley So’s first place position. Fan favorite Levon Aronian found a brilliant tactic with seconds left on his clock, leading to a beautiful position where he was down a pawn but one of his pawns would queen. Ian Nepomniachtchi stumbled and fell behind the leaders after he played a little too ambitiously against Rapid World Champion Vassily Ivanchuk and ended up losing the match. All information is available on GrandChessTour.org. Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirila, and IM Jovanka Houska will give online spectators even more opportunity to experience the tournaments. As last year, GM Maurice Ashley will be on-site in Paris to interview players and will be joined by GM Nigel Short. Watch live. Photo credits: Chess Club and Scholastic Center/Kevin Duggin/Spectrum Studios/Lennart Ootes Further Information: Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTour #GrandChessTour Follow the games on ChessBomb.com

Norwegian Championship 2017

Norwegian Championship 2017 is held in Stavanger, Norway from 30th of June till 8th of July 2017.

Official site

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play:  90 minutes in 40 moves + ; 30 minutes all moves + ; 30 seconds for each move ; starting from move 1

Schedule : * CEST (UTC/GMT +2)
30.06 2017 - 18:00 -  Round 1
01.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 2
02.07 2017 - 11:00 -  Round 3
03.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 4
04.07 2017 - 11:00 -  Round 5
05.07 2017 - 11:00 -  Round 6
06.07 2017 - 11:00 -  Round 7
07.07 2017 - 11:00 -  Round 8
08.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 9

Follow the championship live on ChessBomb.

Asian Zonals 2017

Asian Zonals 2017 are held in Tehran, Iran from 30th of  June till 7th of July 2017.

Official site

Asian Zonal 3.1 2017

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play:  90 minutes in 40 moves +; 30 minutes all moves + ; 30 seconds for each move; starting from move 1

Schedule : UTC/GMT +4:30 hours
30.06 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 1
01.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 2
02.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 3
03.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 4
04.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 5
04.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 6
05.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 7
06.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 8
07.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 9


Asian Women's Zonal 3.1 2017

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play:  90 minutes in 40 moves +; 30 minutes all moves + ; 30 seconds for each move; starting from move 1

Schedule : UTC/GMT +4:30 hours
30.06 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 1
01.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 2
02.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 3
03.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 4
04.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 5
04.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 6
05.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 7
06.07 2017 - 16:00 -  Round 8
07.07 2017 - 10:00 -  Round 9

Follow the games live on ChessBomb.

U8 Spanish Championship 2017

U8 Spanish Championship 2017 is held in Salobreña (Granada), Spain from 26th of  June till 3rd of  July 2017.

Official site

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play: 45 minutes all moves +
15 seconds increment

Schedule : * CEST (UTC/GMT +2)
29.06 2017 - 11:30 -  Round 1
29.06 2017 - 17:00 -  Round 2
30.06 2017 - 09:15 -  Round 3
30.06 2017 - 11:30 -  Round 4
01.06 2017 - 09:15 -  Round 5
01.07 2017 - 11:30 -  Round 6
01.07 2017 - 17:00 -  Round 7
02.07 2017 - 09:15 -  Round 8
02.07 2017 - 11:30 -  Round 9

Follow the championship live on ChessBomb.

Third International Children Chess Tournament “Vitosha Cup”

When: July 1-2, 2017, Bistritsa, Sofia Municipality, Bulgaria

Where: National Community Center “St. Tsar Boris I – 1920”, Bistritsa, Sofia Municipality, 1 Shopsko horo Street

Organizer: Sport Club “Ritzar”, Sofia (www.ritzar.com)

Participation is open to all children who: were born after January 1, 2003 and have duly applied and paid their entry fee in amount of 30 leva (15 €). Registration expected until June 30, 2017. For registration please submit: full name, date of birth, chess club, FIDE ID and international Elo rating (if any) to ritzarbg@gmail.com

Time control: 60 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move. The event will be held under the Swiss System, in 6 rounds, pairings and standings with the „Swiss Manager”. For information on standings and more – http://chess-results.com/tnr276351.aspx?lan=24

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb!

Arbiter: Dimitar Iliev FA, mitkoiliev@gmail.com

Schedule:

July 1

09:00 – Registration; 09:30 – Opening Ceremony and Technical meeting; 10:00 – Round 1; 13:00 – Lunch Break; 13:45 - Round 2; 16:50 – Round 3

July 2

09:00 – Round 4; 12:00 – Lunch Break; 12:30 – Round 5; 15:40 – Round 6; 19:00 – Closing Ceremony

Prizes:

Tournament Champion – 200 leva
1 place – 170 leva
2 place - 160 leva
3 place - 150 leva
4 place - 140 leva
5 place – 130 leva
6 place – 120 leva
7 place – 110 leva
8 place - 100 leva
9 place - 90 leva
10 place - 80 leva
11 place - 70 leva
12 place - 60 leva
13 place - 50 leva

14 place - 40 leva

15 place - 30 leva

- Cup for the Tournament Champion

- Cups and medals for the winners in each age group (for girls- 8,10,12,14, and boys 8,10,12,14);

- Special prizes are provided for participants in the competition:

• 4 "Harry Potter" chess sets
• 4 chocolate chess sets
• books that are a literal reincarnation of the chess game;
• Premium account at https://www.chessbomb.com/ for 1 year
• One girl and one boy will receive shoe vouchers ordered by Adis LM Amzini (manufacturer of boots for the National Guard of the Republic of Bulgaria)
• T-shirts for all participants in the tournament

Accommodation: Villa Spago, с. Бистрица - http://spaggo.com/bg/villa/

The Organiser reserves the right to make changes.

Tournament Director: Georgi Nikolov, krasis@mail.bg, GSM 0899160211

Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour Rapid Day 1 Recap

by Tatev Abrahamyan After the grueling first leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Paris, which concluded just two days ago, Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So continued on to Leuven, Belgium to play in the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour. They are joined by Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi who skipped Paris and are just starting the tour. The event wildcards are Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Vassily Ivanchuk and Baadur Jobava, who are just fighting for prizes but not tour points. Wesley So, who had an atrocious showing in Paris, seems to have recovered finely as he is leading the event after defeating the World Champion. He is being trailed by Nepomniachtchi and Vachier-Lagrave, who are only a point behind. Round 1 Carlsen had a complicated game against Aronian where he sacrificed a pawn to open up his pair of bishops that were aiming at his opponent’s king. The Armenian didn’t find the forcing draw and blundered instead, an opportunity that his opponent did not waste. Vachier-Lagrave was unsure about his opening but once he got the advantage, he converted without any trouble against Vassily Ivanchuk. Wesley So started the event off strongly by defeating former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. True to his style, Jobava played an unorthodox opening, but self-destructed after giving up a pawn for no compensation against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Giri vs Anand was a quiet affair, with neither side having any real chances. Round 2 Carlsen played the aggressive Marshall Gambit against the World Rapid Champion but the game ended in a draw after Ivanchuk sacrificed his queen and forced a perpetual. Levon Aronian bounced back from his first round loss by defeating Jobava who couldn’t fend off his opponent’s attack on his king. Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Anish Giri in a messy game where he was even down two pawns at some point. Giri did not play the most natural moves and Nepomniachtchi joked that he at least thought he could threaten checkmate here and there. His approach paid off when Giri found his king exposed and under an unstoppable attack. In the clash of the titans, former World Champions Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand essayed the classical Giuoco Piano opening. With his signature central pawn break, Kramnik got the advantage and converted easily. Vachier-Lagrave was down a pawn in a rook endgame against Wesley So, but defended without much trouble. Round 3 There were quite a few unexpected results in this round. Vladimir Kramnik found several impressive tactics to obtain a winning position but for some inexplicable reason gave away one of the pawns shielding his king and walked into a perpetual. For a long time, Carlsen vs So was equal and was headed towards a peaceful result, but the World Champion decided to complicate the position. Unfortunately for him, he pressed too hard and was outplayed by his opponent. Historically, Carlsen has been a problematic opponent for So, hence this was a great confidence boost for the U.S. Champion. Anish Giri gave himself a birthday present when he finally got the opportunity to play the line that he had prepared since last year’s candidate’s tournament. Aronian played a principled line, but Giri’s analysis were concise, never giving his opponent a chance. Ian Nepomniachtchi stumbled for the first time today after playing too quickly at the critical points. His confidence made Anand question his decisions, but the objective evaluation of the position didn’t change the former World Champion won decisively. Jobava and Ivanchuk are both known for their unique and creative style, so it was no surprise that they would create chaos on the chessboard when they squared off. Jobava played very unnaturally to create an attack, even sacrificing a rook and a bishop to justify his moves but his play simply wasn’t justified. Ivanchuk defended easily and won with the extra material. All information is available on GrandChessTour.org. Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirila, and IM Jovanka Houska will give online spectators even more opportunity to experience the tournaments. As last year, GM Maurice Ashley will be on-site in Paris to interview players and will be joined by GM Romain Edouard. Watch live. Photo credits: Chess Club and Scholastic Center/Kevin Duggin/Spectrum Studios/Lennart Ootes Further Information: Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTour #GrandChessTour Venue: Leuven City Hall, Belgium

Vidovdan Open SK Banovci Dunav 2017

Vidovdan Open SK Banovci Dunav 2017 is held from 28th of June till 5th of July, 2017 in Stari Banovci, Serbia.

Official site

System of play: 9 Round Swiss

Rate of play:
90 minutes all moves +
30 seconds increment

Schedule : * CEST (UTC/GMT +2)

Round 1 - 28.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 2 - 29.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 3 - 30.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 4 - 01.06.2017 - 10:30
Round 5 - 01.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 6 - 02.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 7 - 03.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 8 - 04.06.2017 - 17:30
Round 9 - 05.06.2017 - 16:30

Follow the tournament live on ChessBomb.

Paris Grand Chess Tour Blitz Day 5 Final Recap

by Tatev Abrahamyan The final day of the Paris Grand Chess Tour brought all the drama and excitement that one could have hoped for. World Champion Magnus Carlsen started and finished the day ahead of the field, but the final standings can’t do justice to the roller coaster ride that was today. French chess fans were in for a treat as they watched the local hero, Parisian Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, rip through the field to join Carlsen in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Frenchman came up short but he is still in a good position in the tour and has proved himself to be a remarkable blitz player. The next stop will be Your Next Move in Leuven, Belgium starting June 28 where Carlsen, Vachier-Lagrave, and So will be joined by Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Vassily Ivanchuk and Baadur Jobava.   Right off the bat, Magnus Carlsen stumbled by losing his first round game to Fabiano Caruana, who had a very poor showing in the rapid but started to find his form in the blitz portion. Carlsen went on to win several games in a row, but the most shocking part of his performance was losing three games in a row. This was unprecedented for the World Champion who is known for doing quite the opposite. He ended the tournament with a win over Wesley So, which in his own words, allowed him to “find some life again.” Maxime Vachier-Lagrave saw Carlsen’s poor performance as an opportunity to pounce and surpassed him after round seventeen. Had he won his final round game against Grischuk, he would have won the event outright. Vachier-Lagrave scored an impressive result of 7/9 without any losses, which was only enough to tie for first with Carlsen. Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen met in the playoffs to determine who will get the 12 Grand Chess Tour points. The format of the playoffs was two games of 10 minutes each with a 5 second delay. If that also ended in a tie, the next stage was a 5 minute game with a 3 second delay followed by Armageddon in case that also ended in a tie. The playoff was a quick one as Carlsen showed off his endgame skills by taking advantage of his opponent’s weaknesses and converting his extra pawn. In the second, he had the black pieces but all the pressure was on his opponent to win the game. Carlsen had the better position but decided to repeat the position and take the draw, winning the event.   The third place finisher was Hikaru Nakamura, who kept pace with Magnus and Vachier-Lagrave for most of the event. His decision in round 16 to under promote to a knight instead of promoting to a queen and forcing a draw cost him the tournament. He came back in the very next round to beat Carlsen, but he was already out of the contention for first place. Alexander Grischuk and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov started the day in third and fifth place respectively and finished in fourth and fifth. Grischuk started the day strong but was unable to keep up with Vachier-Lagrave’s phenomenal performance. Since both players are wildcards, they are unable to compete for overall Grand Chess Tour standings. The other notable performance of the tournament was Fabiano Caruana’s strong showing in the blitz. After having the worst performance of his life with 1.5/9 in the rapid, he scored an impressive 11/18, which would have put in contention had he found his form in the first half of the tournament. All information is available on GrandChessTour.org. Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirila, and IM Jovanka Houska will give online spectators even more opportunity to experience the tournaments. As last year, GM Maurice Ashley will be on-site in Paris to interview players and will be joined by GM Romain Edouard. Watch live. Photo credits: Chess Club and Scholastic Center/Kevin Duggin/Spectrum Studios/Lennart Ootes Further Information: Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTour #GrandChessTour Venue: CANAL FACTORY — Les Studios de Boulogne Dates: 21-25 June 2017