Candidates 2013: Live from 7.30 pm

The long-awaited FIDE World Candidates Tournament 2013 was officially opened on Thursday night by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov at IET London, Savoy Palace. The tournament’s opening ceremony was attended by chess officials, sponsors, and international chess media. Over fourteen rounds, eight of the very best chess players in the world will fight for the right to challenge World Champion Viswanathan Anand in a world title match later this year.

Technical meeting

At the start of the ceremony, head of AGON Andrew Paulson presented the specially designed Championship chess set of World Chess, and gave the very first set to Mr. Ilyumzhinov. Designed by Pentagram, the chess set will be available for sale in a number of different editions.

Paulson also pointed out the new design of the playing hall and the ChessCasting software that will be used to transmit the games live to the world. "It's a new design to make more esthetic the experience of watching or being a spectator at a tournament," said Paulson. One novelty is that small interactive tablets will be handed out to spectators in the playing hall which will allow the audience to have a personal experience in the hall while watching the players – something that's unique for any sport. Andrew Paulson also mentioned the special security measures with unique technology prepared by the organizers that will be used for the first time on this event. 

Before officially opening the event, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov reminded the guests of the long chess tradition in London, where 19th-century players like Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker achieved successes. "Over the next three weeks London will be the main chess centre in the world. Attention of millions of chess lovers will turn to London. It's here the challenger for the title of World Champion will be determined. The Candidates Tournament is the main and most expected tournament of the year in the chess world," said Ilyumzhinov.

The FIDE World Candidates Tournament takes place March 14th-April 2nd, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The eight participants are Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Peter Svidler of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel. The first round will start Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 14:00 GMT.

You can watch live from India time 7.30 pm onwards at the official website of the London Candidates Chess Matches 2013. 

(Report by Peter Doggers/Pictures Anastasiya Karlovich)

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World Team: Soumya, Gomes win Bronze

The Champions Ukraine: (From left) Mariya Muzychuk, Inna Gaponenko, Anna Ushenina, Kateryna Lahno, Natalia Zhukova.

India finished fifth in the world women’s team chess championship at Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. Seeded sixth in the 10-team event, India scored nine match points from nine rounds. Ukraine, comprising Anna Ushenina, Kateryno Lahno, Mariya Muzychuk, Inna Gaponenko and Natalia Zhukova, won the title with 16 points. China finished runner-up, while Russia was third with 13. Reigning women's world chess champion Anna Ushenina now also holds the title of the World Team Champion along with her compatriots.

(Top right) Mary Ann Gomes and (below left) Soumya Swaminathan with their Bronze medals for Boards 4 and 5 at the Astana Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013. Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich.

India, represented by Mary Ann Gomes, Eesha Karvade, Nisha Mohota, Padmini Rout and Soumya Swaminathan, lost to China 1.5-2.5 in the final round. In the other matches, Russia and Ukraine drew 2-2, France blanked Turkey 3.5-0.5, Georgia beat Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 and United States and Romania drew 2-2.

For the individual boards, Mary Ann Gomes and Soumya Swaminathan won the Bronze medals on Board 4 and Board 5 respectively.

Final Standings
1. Ukraine 16 2. China 15 3. Russia 13 4. Georgia 12 5. India 9 6. USA 8 7. Kazakhstan 6 8. Romania 6 9. France 4 10. Turkey 1

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Playing Chess to Save 4-Month-Old Daughter

Here is an interview with IM Salome Melia of Georgia via the official website of the Astana World Women's Team Chess Championship 2013. Text and photos by Anastasiya Karlovich. We appeal to everyone to help IM Salome Melia.

Anastasiya Karlovich: Salome you’ve been playing for the National Georgian team for so many years. Can you share your impressions? Is it really important and crucial for you to represent your country in such tournaments as World Women Team Championship?

Salome Melia: It’s a great responsibility for me to represent my country in such an important event. I think it’s important to any country to be here. This tournament is especially important for me as I have some kind of particular situation in my life. Today it’s a second round and I played my first game in the tournament. I made a draw against Qi Guo from China.

Today Georgia plays one of the key matches against China. How do you estimate the chance of your team? How difficult was your game today?

Of course we should not underestimate the Chinese team but we should say that they came here without strongest players. Of course we want to win. As for my game I would say that my opponent didn’t fight for initiative. As a result, it was easy to equalize, the position was simple, so it was easy draw.

You’ve mentioned some special circumstances in your life which makes this tournament very special for you. Can you please share with us what happened?

I don’t want people to exaggerate and make a tragedy but the situation is quite difficult for me. I have a daughter (4 months old) who has got health problem – heart disease. I’m not playing only for the team here, I also play for money because I want her alive. The operation cost big money.

Salome, can you please tell us how expensive is the operation and where the surgery must take place?

The operation is very complex and, unfortunately, it’s impossible do make it in Georgia. We need to go to Germany, where the operation costs 60,000 euros. We received a response from the USA, but there it costs about a million. Operation should be done before the end of March, but it is difficult to find such amount of money. I really hope that the operation will help, as no one guarantees the result, because it is very difficult to do heart surgery on a child.

Journalists appeal to the chess community, philanthropists and ask to help Salome Melia in her difficult situation.

You can send money to this account:
Beneficiary: Salome Melia
Number of account: GE57PC0193600100007067
Bank code (SWIFT): MIBGGE22
Name of bank: ProCredit Bank, Tbilisi, Georgia
address of bank: 21 Al. Kazbegi Ave., 0160 Tbilisi, Georgia.

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Indian Girls Begin Campaign at Women's World Team Chess in Astana Today

The Indian team (from left) Soumya Swaminathan, Padmini Rout, Nisha Mohota, Eesha Karavade, Mary Ann Gomes. 

The opening ceremony of the Women's World Team Chess Championship took place at the Duman Hotel in Astana, Kazakhstan on Saturday after a press conference. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov welcomed all participants and guests and awarded diplomas to players from the team of Kazakhstan - Guliskhan Nakhbayeva and Dinara Saduakassova. Both had recently complete their WGM norms.

The Chief Arbiter of the tournament Takis Nikolopoulos conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each team was invited to the stage and the top player was proposed to choose a flower with the number. The top seed of Ukrainian team Katerina Lahno luckily chose the number one, although Ukrainian team doesn’t leave the first rank. Each of the players got flowers from the organizers. Opening Ceremony Photo Gallery

Indian chess fans can watch the games live from 2.30 pm at the official wesbite with comments by GM Sergey Shipov and WGM Anna Sharevich: http://worldchess.kz/en/online.

The pairings of the first round:Ukraine - India
Romania - Russia
Kazakhstan - USA
Turkey - Georgia
China - France

The board pairings of Round 1 for India are as follows:

Lahno, Kateryna - Karavade, Eesha
Ushenina, Anna - Mohota, Nisha
Muzychuk, Mariya - Padmini, Rout
Gaponenko, Inna - Gomes, Mary Ann

During the press-conference it was announced that Kazakhstan has another ambitious plan - to host the World Chess Olympiad in 2018. Anna Ushenina, reigning women's world champion, spoke about the expectations of the Ukrainian team: “Every team wants to win first place in Astana. Our team - is not an exception. I will try to show the best result. In such tournaments there are no weak opponents.” 

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Cellphone Chess Advert Video from Belarus

WGM Anna Sharevich in cellphone advertisement video from Belarus.

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'Reviving the Spirit of Innovation' Lecture at Oxford by Garry Kasparov Today

Speaker: Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, writer and political activist
Summary: The world we live in now is very different from the one that was imagined 50 years ago. Past decades foresaw a future of flying cars and supersonic jets, but commercial air travel is slower in 2013 than it was in 1976. For years we were assured that we would have abundant clean and cheap energy; instead we have record fossil fuel prices, oil spills, and nuclear meltdowns. From poverty rates to superbugs, one thing is certain: this is not the future we were promised.

How did we get so far off course from the era of radical tech innovation and ambitious exploration? Why did our culture retreat toward risk-aversion and security? And how can we revive the spirit of innovation, and help bring about its promise of positive transformational change and far-reaching societal benefits? 

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