Steve Cuozzo

Business

realty check

By Steve Cuozzo

April 23, 2023 | 12:57pm

Sources say that UBS and Paul Weiss are considering moves that would involve three first-line office towers.Google Maps

Heres a story of a kind we havent written in a while: a large-scale chess game involving potential moves by two huge companies and three first-line office towers.

Its refreshing to learn of large deals that might or might not even happen at a time when the high-end commercial market is mostly at an eerie standstill, dominated by renewals and small new leases.

Market sources told us that Paul Weiss, a tenant at RXR Realty and China Lifes 1285 Sixth Avenue for nearly 30 years, is considering a move into slightly less spaceat Fisher Brothers 1345 Sixth Ave. when its lease at 1285 expires at the end of 2026.

The powerful law firm has more than 500,000 square feet at 1285 Sixth.

With an eye on landing Paul Weiss, Fisher has supposedly put a hold on several negotiations with prospective tenants at 1345 Sixth to take parts of the former Bernstein floors, which would be used by Paul Weiss. AllianceBernstein moved the bulk of its operations to Nashville, Tenn., last year.

Meanwhile, in a separate but related situation, the buzz is that UBS an even larger tenant at 1285 Sixth than Paul Weiss, with more than 800,000 square feet is toying with moving large units of Credit Suisse, which UBS recently acquired, from SL Greens 11 Madison Avenue to 1285 Sixth.

Well-placed sources said that UBSs intentions have thrown a monkey wrench into the situation at 1285 Sixth, where its lease runs beyond 2030.

Theyre looking to consolidate the Credit Suisse space. If theyre able to do it at 1285 Sixth, it could motivate Paul Weissto find a new home because they were looking to expand. But there arent many blocks [at other buildings] available of the size it needs, one insider said.

A different source said that Paul Weiss actually preferred to stay at 1285 Sixth if it could growthere, but, The Credit Suisse thing complicated things.

An SL Green source said that UBS/CS is a long wayfrom developing a real estate strategy relative to 1285 Sixth and 11 Madison. They may not yet have clarity as to which CS business lines are to be retained or sold and what the final head count will be. Only after that will they focus on where people will be located.

RXR chief executive Scott Rechler declined to comment, as did CBREs Peter Turchin, the agent for 1345 Sixth.

Representatives for Paul Weiss didnt respond to a request for comment. Neither did anyone from Newmark, where a brokerage team represents the law firm. Reps for UBS could not immediately be reached.

Whether or not any parts of the scenario come to pass,the dramaplays out against the backdrop of the Sixth Avenue/Rockefeller Center subdistrict, which is healthier by most metrics than all but one other corridor.

According to CBREs 1Q data, Sixth Avenue availability of 12.5% was bettered only by Park Avenue at 11.5% and miles better than 23.7% in East Midtown, 21.3% in the Times Square area, 23.2% in the Penn District and 18.5% in Midtown overall.

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Big office tenants and towers playing high-stakes chess game in Manhattan - New York Post

Born in Stockholm on 23 April 1963, the same year and month as Garry Kasparov, the Swedish legend started playing chess at the age of ten (before that she played football as a hobby) and hasn't stopped since, still playing chess at the highest level. Pia has become a role model and inspiration for thousands of girls taking up chess.

Cramling has been one of the strongest players in the world since the early 1980s, quickly becoming the clear no 1 on the women's ranking list. She overtook world champion Maia Chiburdanidze in the mid-1980s, and after the arrival of the Polgar sisters Susan (then Zsuzsa) and Judit, Pia remained in the top five/ten for decades.

Today, Pia Cramling turns 60. She has been Sweden's top female player for more than 40 years and is regarded as one of the strongest female chess players in history. Cramling is always looking for new ideas, and is especially good in unusual positions. She is also known for her ability to make practical decisions at the board, and all that makes her an immensely creative yet very consistent athlete. She is still competing at the highest female level, a tireless and tremendous fighter. What a legend!

Young Pia Cramling in 1977 at her first individual tournament abroad in Wijk aan Zee in an amateur group. | Photo: noord-hollandsarchief.nl

When she began to compete, she often signed her name simply as P. Cramling. She did not want to reveal anything until it was obvious that this young chess player was a girl. Pia joined a chess club in Stockholm when she was ten and played in her first tournament at the age of 12. Just three years later she was part of the Swedish team at the Women's Olympiad.

She played in her first Olympiad in 1978, and since then has represented Sweden successfully in both the Open and Women's Chess Olympiads. She won her first individual gold medal in 1984, again in 1988, and her last individual gold medal in 2022, 38 years after her first gold!

Four times between 1990 and 2000 Pia Cramling made it into the Swedish team in the open section of the Chess Olympiad, in 1996 she played on board two (with a respectable 5.5/9), sitting next to the legendary Ulf Andersson on board one. So far Cramling has played 13 Olympiads (nine women's and four men's Olympiads, called the open section) for her home country, plus two online Olympiads (with mixed teams) in 2020 and 2021 following the outbreak of the worldwide Covid pandemic.

Pia Cramling with Ulf Andersson, pictured in 2021. | Photo: Twitter Pia Cramling

Pia was indeed born into a chess family, and her father often played correspondence chess. Brother Dan, IM since 1982, born in 1959, that is four years before Pia, became her motivator and early training partner. In an interview with ChessBase in 2018 (link below) Pia said:

"My older brother Dan was my big hero. I did most of the things he did, like playing football. I even played for a team. So, of course, when I took up chess and became stronger, he influenced me and I tried to follow in his footsteps."

In 1981, at the age of 18, Pia Cramling made her debut in the Swedish National Championship, which her brother Dan won outright to become Swedish National Champion. During the 1980s, Dan and Pia participated several times in the same international tournaments, e.g. in the Rilton Cup, the Gausdal Troll Masters (where Pia beat Dan), the Lugano Open or an invitational tournament in Barcelona.

Dan in play against his sister at the Swedish Championship in 1981, organised in Ystad in a swiss system of 13 rounds with 32 participants, the Cramlings met each other in round 6, a draw. | Photo: Krister Berg via allas.se

Pia Cramling made the Swedish national team at the Olympiad in Buenos Aires 1978 at the age of 15.5. She played as a reserve and won an individual silver medal with an excellent score of +8=2-1. The USSR women won team gold, but not the men's team: Hungary triumphed.

In the women's event Maia Chiburdanidze won the individual gold medal on board one, and in the open it was Viktor Korchnoi who won gold for the best performance on board one. He came straight from the World Championship match against Karpov in Baguio City, which he narrowly lost. Karpov decided not to play in Buenos Aires, but Korchnoi did not seem to be exhausted at all after the long and grueling match.

Korchnoi, who played for Switzerland, came in after missing the first three rounds, but then played all the remaining eleven rounds and did not lose a single game. He scored 81.8%, exactly the same percentage as Maia Chiburdanidze, who played first board for the USSR in the women's section. Both, Korchnoi and Chiburdanidze finished with a score of +7=4-0.

Worth mentioning: Elena Akhmilovskaya (ten years later: Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya, after a whirlwind marriage during the 1988 Olympics to non-playing US team captain IM John Donaldson) won gold on the reserve board with a clean score of 10/10.

From Kingpin no.31, Autumn 1999, "A questionnaire with Mrs Cramling":

Question: "What is your most memorable game?"

Cramling: "I guess it is my first game against Korchnoi at Lloyds Bank Masters 1982 where I made my first IM norm. Korchnoi had been one of the players I had admired most because of both his enormous fighting spirit and the problems he had had in the Soviet Union. It was like a dream for me to play him. He surprised everybody by taking more than an hour over his 5th move! So it was not so strange that we both (this is my bad habit) got short of time. Korchnoi launched an attack with his queen, rook and knight - the only pieces on the board - but left his own king exposed, which gave me a dangerous counterattack. When Viktor Korchnoi offered me his knight I gladly took it, but then found that I could not escape perpetual check. A simple queen move, threatening mate in one, would have given me the full point! The fact that I, a 19-year-old-girl, had made a draw with World Championship challenger Korchnoi caused a sensation. After the game a huge crowd of players came over to analyse. To sit there opposite Korchnoi with all these famous grandmasters analysing my game was unbelievable."

Things went even better for her: In 1984 Cramling beat Korchnoi, still the reigning Vice-World Champion, in the Invitational Tournament in Biel/Bienne (won by Hbner and Hort together, ahead of Korchnoi, who finished clear third). Pia Cramling, the only woman in the field, finished in the middle of the pack with 5/11).

Cramling vs. Korchnoi 1984. | Photo cartoon: Youtube Anna Cramling

That same year, a few weeks after her victory over Korchnoi, Pia Cramling met her future husband, Spanish GM Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez in Zrich at the SGZ Jubilee Open, celebrating 175 years of the Schachgesellschaft Zrich (SGZ).

It was a cosy, familiar and charming 9 round Swiss, with 22 invited players, among them six players from the world's top 30, namely Korchnoi, Spassky, Hort, Nunn, Seirawan and Sosonko, other renowned GMs like Gheorghiu, Forintos or Bellon Lopez, and some prominent names from neighbouring countries, IM Tatai from Italy, IM Dckstein from Austria, Kindermann, at that time still an IM, from Germany; in the line-up were also some native Swiss players and local heroes like IM Dr. Dieter Keller (who had beaten Fischer, Larsen, Geller in his adult career), a working amateur on holiday, or unknown amateur Hans Karl from the city of Zurich, plus two women players, namely Tatjana Lematschko and Pia Cramling.

Dr John Nunn of England, now the reigning World Senior Chess Champion 65+, won the tournament outright, half a point ahead of a group of players that included former World Champion Spassky, and Korchnoi, as well as Juan Manuel Bellon.

It was during this tournament that Pia met Juan and Juan met Pia. Both were in a good mood, having just beaten the great Viktor (Cramling at Biel GMT 1984 in July/August, and now Bellon at Zurich SGZ Jubilee Open 1984 in September, both upsets coming in the first round).

Viktor Korchnoi sometimes jokingly referred to these two events in Switzerland within two months of each other, saying that "just after the two of them had beaten me, they fell in love!"

Cramling and Bellon had coincidentally taken part in the Wijk aan Zee festival in 1977 (not in the same group at that time), but they really met in Zurich in 1984.

As a professional and sentimental couple they travelled together to Havana, Cuba, where Bellon assisted Cramling at the 1985 FIDE Women's Interzonal (which was won by Alexandria, but Cramling also advanced to the Women's Candidates Tournament, which was won by Akhmilovskaya, who thus earned the right to challenge the reigning World Chess Champion Chiburdanidze in 1986. However, Chiburdanidze defended her title with a comfortable margin).

175 Years SG Zrich Jubilee Open 1984 with Cramling & Bellon. | Photo: europe-checs

Cramling: "In 1984 the Schachgesellschaft Zrich celebrated its 175 Anniversary by organizing a high-quality chess tournament. Alois Nagler invited me among the 22 players who participated.

The tournament became a turning-point in my life and that is way Zrich always will be close to my heart. I was not successful in the tournament but I was lucky in life. During the tournament I met the Spanish Grandmaster Juan Bellon my partner in life."

Quotation from CREDIT SUISSE MASTERS HORGEN 1995, official tournament book by Andr Behr, Edition Olms, 1996, introduction by GM Pia Cramling, page 9 (she played in the B-group there, won by Almasi ahead of Hodgson. Ivanchuk and Kramnik co-won the A-group, ahead of 3./4. Ehlvest, Short, eleven players, including Kasparov at only 50%, senior Korchnoi, Vaganian, Gulko, Jussupow, Lautier, and Timman who finished last)

WGM in 1982 at the age of 19, and already the following year she won the Chess Oscar for Women 1983 (the other three players who received this trophy, which was awarded to women only from 1982 to 1988, at least once are Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze and Judit Polgar; later the Chess Oscar voting procedure was reintroduced for a certain period, but then abolished again).

After becoming a WGM Cramling had to fight hard to become a Grandmaster. It was in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, that she achieved her final GM norm. There, after Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Susan (then known as Zsuzsa) and Judit Polgar, WGM & IM Pia Cramling became the fifth woman in the world to be awarded the GM title by FIDE.

The auspicious tournament was the "Swiss Volksbank SVB Open" in February 1992, among the 266 players in the main group were many strong grandmasters like former Candidate's super-finalist Andrei Sokolov, the eventual winner, and Tukmakov, Gavrikov, Sveshnikov, Rozentalis, also Gulko or Hort, Csom, Gheorghiu, a number of young Brits such as Glenn Flear with his wife Christine, Joe Gallagher, Daniel King, the globetrotter Mark Hebden, the Argentine Daniel Campora, Margeir Petursson from Iceland and Pia's husband Juan Manuel Bellon from Spain, among others.

The road to success wasn't easy, and her round 3 game against Joe Gallagher turned out to be especially nerve-wracking. In the notorious endgame king, knight and bishop against king, Pia had to mate her opponent in no more than 50 moves. After mistakes from both sides, she found the right way and mated Gallagher after making 47 moves in the pawnless ending - three more moves, and the game would have been declared a draw. The entire game lasted 124 moves.

In round 4 Cramling faced and beat another top woman, Georgian Ketevan Arakhamia (later Arakhamia-Grant), also a player with a charming and dignified manner, but a determined fighter on the board. At that time she was also a WGM and was trying to become a GM, which she later managed.

After four rounds, four players shared the lead with 4/4: Cramling, A. Sokolov, Flear and Rozentalis. In round 5 Cramling drew against Flear and in round 6 she had to play Istvan Csom, a long-standing icon of Hungarian chess, team gold medallist at the 1978 Olympiad and individual gold medallist at the 1980 Olympiad, his heyday in the 1970s and 1980s.

Cramling won with black against Csom and now faced Andrei Sokolov (who had beaten both Kasparov and Karpov in 1988) in round 7. Drawing this game and the two remaining rounds secured Cramling shared second place with 7.0/9, half a point behind tournament winner Andrei Sokolov. More importantly, her performance was sufficient for her third and final GM norm. At that time Cramling had an Elo rating of 2530, more than the required +2500 and thus she became a GM. Big party for Pia!

By the way: Already one year earlier, in 1991, Cramling had tried to make a GM norm in Bern, then in a cosy little invitational tournament with GM Viktor Gavrikov, the Elo favourite and runner-up, some talented youngsters like GM Klinger from Austria, who won, GM Gallagher from England, then IM Miralles from France, mixed with promising Swiss players like IM Beat Zger. Cramling, the only woman in the field, finished with 50%, which, of course, was not enough for a GM norm.

As of March 2023, there are 40 female chess players (all living) who have achieved the title of Grandmaster, the highest title awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which is not to be confused with the separate gendered title WGM for Woman Grandmaster, which is easier to obtain.

The Cramling family at the Olympiad in Dresden 2008 | Photo: Twitter Pia Cramling

Pia Cramling and Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez (GM since 1974 and five-time Spanish National Champion) are the first married couple ever, in which both partners are Grandmasters. Hats off!

It was in February 1988 when Pia (WGM, but not yet GM) packed a suitcase and went to Spain, married Juan, and since then they have been travelling a lot together, playing chess. In the ChessBase interview mentioned above, Pia Cramling said: "Without Juan (Bellon), I would have done something else and chess would have become a hobby."

They lived for a long time in Fuengirola, a town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Malaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain.

Daughter Anna, born on 30 April 2002, is a Spanish-Swedish chess player, Twitch live-streamer and YouTuber who holds the FIDE Master title. Anna represented Sweden at the Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad and recently again at the Chennai 2022 Chess Olympiad. Anna is best known as a successful Twitch streamer.

Anna started playing chess at the age of three while living in Spain, later moving with her family to Sweden at the age of eleven, thus switching federations early on from Spain to Sweden. Throughout her childhood both her parents were active in chess competitions, and Anna usually accompanied her parents to these chess tournaments even as a baby.

Anna started streaming in early 2020, focusing on chess content. Sometimes, her positionally playing mother and her tactically skilled father are guests on her channel, too.

Anna Cramling at Twitch: AnnaCramling - Twitch

In 2013 the Cramlings returned to Sweden after many great years in Spain. Juan, Pia and Anna now all play for the Swedish Chess Federation.

A beautiful and memorable moment: The Cramling family at Baku Olympiad 2016. Juan as captain, Pia and Anna in the womens team. | Photo: David Llada via Swedish Chess Federation

The "Veterans vs. Women" team match in Prague in 1995, sponsored by Joop van Oosterom and called the "Polka Tournament", was by far her greatest moment in this series of dance themes between legends and ladies. Pia Cramling, together with Judit Polgar, was the best scorer with 6.5/10.

Pia played 2-0 against Lajos Portisch, 1.5-0.5 against Vasily Smyslov, 1.5-0.5 against Viktor Korchnoi, 1-1 against Boris Spassky, and only lost her mini-match against Vlastimil Hort 0.5-1.5.

Within ten days, Pia had beaten Smyslov, Spassky, Korchnoi, and Portisch in classical time control!

In this lively dance of Bohemian origin, the ladies performed better; in order not to discriminate between the sexes, it should be pointed out that after ten annual dance theme tournaments between 1992 and 2001, it was the sprightly gentlemen who won by a narrow margin of 299 to 289 points.

Among the prominent Veterans were Smyslov (he participated in all ten tournaments, and despite his advanced age, he still finished three times as individual best or shared best of all contestants), Spassky, Korchnoi (five entries, three times clear individual best), Larsen, Geller, Polugaevsky, Taimanov, Portisch, Hort, Ivkov, Olafsson, Panno, Uhlmann, Dckstein.

Among the prominent ladies were Pia Cramling (six entries, 1992, 1995 individual shared best, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999), Maia Chiburdanidze, Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Nana Ioseliani, Alisa Galliamova, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, and the three Polgar sisters Zsusza (Susan), Zsofia (Sofia), and Judit.

Pia Cramling is double European Champion. She won the 2003 & 2010 Womens European Championship, that means: Gold at the 4th European Women's Chess Championship in Silivri (Turkey) 2003, and again Gold at the 11th European Women's Chess Championship in Rijeka (Croatia) 2010.

In 2006, Pia Cramling won the Accentus Ladies Tournament in Biel unbeaten with impressive 7/10, one and a half point ahead of Monika Socko at 5.5/10 as sole second, Yelena Dembo took bronze, Anna Muzychuk finished fourth, and Ekaterina Atalik and Almira Stripchenko shared fifth/sixth places at 4/10. This double round robin event had been held during the traditional Biel Festival where Alexander Morozevich won the GMT, in which a young Magnus Carlsen, Andrei Volokitin, and Teimour Radjabov, amongst others, also played. Bartosz Socko from Poland, husband of Monika, won then the Biel MTO (Open) on tie-break.

In 2007, Pia Cramling won the MonRoi invitation tournament (women) in Montreal, ahead of Lela Javakhishvili and Jovanka Houska, who shared second and third place. Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant and Iweta Rajlich shared fourth and fifth place. Irina Krush took also part but did not finish at the top.

Pia Cramling co-won the traditional Rilton Cup in Stockholm in 2007/08, the Open saw a 9-way tie on 6.5/9 points, Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland had the best tie-break, Pia the second best, in the leading group also Agrest, Kotronias, Nybck, Kulaots. At the Swedish Championships in 2000, Cramling was close to winning, but in the end finished second behind Tom Wedberg in the tie-break. In 1987 she was runner-up to seven-time national champion Axel Ornstein.

In classical chess Pia Cramling has victories over Smyslov, Spassky, Korchnoi, Geller, Taimanov, Portisch, Csom, Hort, Ftacnik, Uhlmann, Lobron, Miles, Gulko, Alburt, Browne, Benjamin, Rogers, Spraggett, Granda Zuniga, Ponomariov, I. Sokolov or Bologan (see the official Gibraltar stamp below) to name prominent men she has beaten, not including rapid, blitz or online games.

When she was younger, she always played with the boys and was not particularly interested in women's events. Throughout her career Cramling has 'simultaneously' played in closed invitation tournaments and open tournaments, in individual and team events, in men's and women's competitions, in national and international competitions, official FIDE championships and exhibition tournaments such as Ladies versus Veterans. Of course, Cramling also gives chess lectures and lessons, or works as a commentator, but playing on the board is what she loves most.

Sweden, Spain and Switzerland are important countries in Pia Cramling's chess life, but can you guess how many times Pia has played at the famous Gibraltar Festival?

Remember, daughter Anna was born in 2002, the famous Gibraltar series started in 2003: Pia has participated in every Gibraltar Masters since the series started, that is 18 years in a row between 2003 and 2020, in fact Pia has played in all 18 festivals (!) and she has won the prestigious women's first prize at the Gibraltar Open a record three times.

Due to the Covid pandemic there was no Gibraltar Open in 2021. In 2022, instead of the traditional January Masters in Gibraltar, there was a team event in the Scheveningen system called "Battles of the Sexes" (Ladies vs. Men). Of course, Cramling was invited as well, making a total of 19 appearances up to and including 2022, unfortunately there was no event at all in January 2023.

Note: In addition, a FIDE GP was held in Gibraltar in the summer of 2021 (without Pia Cramling, who participated in that cycle, but played in Skolkovo, Monaco and Lausanne).

Gibraltar also honoured GM Pia Cramling with a stamp in a collection of four stamps to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their chess festival.

Stamp collection from the Gibraltar Masters 10th Anniversary of the Festival, released in 2012. | Photo: Royal Gibraltar Post Office

Replay her win (featured on the stamp) against Viorel Bologan at Gibraltar Masters in 2006:

In January 1984 Cramling was ranked the clear number one woman in the FIDE Elo rating list, ahead of the three Georgian chess ladies Maia Chiburdanidze (then World Champion), Nana Alexandria and Nona Gaprindashvili (ex-World Champion); plus joint number one in July 1984 (together with Zsuzsa Polgar, Hungary). Pia Cramling remained in the women's top five throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and in the top ten for decades.

Highest rating: 2550 Elo in October 2008 as clear no. 5 in the world, behind Judit Polgar at the top, Humpy Koneru from India, Hou Yifan and Xie Jun, both from China, ahead of Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria and Marie Sebag from France. Remember, to date there are only three women born in Western Europe who hold the grandmaster title in chess: Cramling, the aforementioned Marie Sebag, and most recently Elisabeth Phtz from Germany.

As of April 2023, Cramling, who plays frequently, is ranked no. 26 in the FIDE list with an Elo rating of 2443, ahead of prominent players (in no particular order) such as Stefanova, Socko, Sebag, Krush, Danielian, Girya, Sachdev, Skripchenko or Pogonina, all of whom are much younger than her, not to mention those who are inactive (remember that Judit Polgar, born in 1976, certainly the most successful and strongest female chess player in the history of the game, retired from competitive chess in 2014 at the age of 38).

An incredible achievement: At the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, Pia Cramling won another, her third, individual women's board one gold medal, 38 years after her first individual board one gold medal at the 1984 Chess Olympiad. Cramling also won individual gold in 1988.

Swedish legend Pia Cramling, in great form at the age of 59, won gold on board 1 with a TPR of 2532, 11 games played, undefeated, ahead of Dutchwoman Eline Roebers, 16, with the same TPR but had played "only" 10 games, which turned out to be the crucial tie-break criteria. Roebers also lost the direct encounter against Cramling, but the Dutch prodigy won silver for her performance on board 1.

The first and the latest Gold medal

Pia Cramling at the Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki 1984 | Foto: Gerhard F. Hund...

...and at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai 2022 | Photo: Lennart Ootes, FIDE

An interview with Pia Cramling

Trivia (don't take it too seriously, but it is technically correct): Scandinavian compatriot Magnus Carlsen suffered six Olympic "double failures" (not winning individual or team medals), until he finally won a bronze medal in his seventh appearance at a chess Olympiad as the third-best individual on board one in Chennai 2022.

It's far too early, but perhaps in twenty years or so the ageless Pia Cramling will be playing in the annual FIDE World Senior Chess Championships.

Recall that Viktor Korchnoi made his first and only senior appearance shortly after celebrating his 75th birthday and won the title in style (in 2006), Vlastimil Jansa became the Senior World Chess Champion in the 65+ category at the age of 76 (in 2018), Nona Gaprindashvili won her last gold medal in the women's 65+ category at the age of 81 and a half (in 2022).

A wonderful spotlight: Pia Cramling and Anna Cramling | Photo: Twitter

Excerpt from:

Ten Highlights in the Life and Career of Chess Grandmaster Pia Cramling - ChessBase

Premium

There were reports that former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is helping Ian Nepomniachtchi in his fight against Ding Liren at the 2023 World Chess Championship. While we dont know if its actually true, we can see that Nepo has been playing a lot like Kramnik in the last two Games.

Game 11 on Monday was the second consecutive game in which Nepo didnt really seem to be interested in going for a win. Mind you, this time he was playing with White. (GrandmasterPravin Thipsay has been analysing games of the World Chess Championship forThe Indian Express since the start of the event. You can also read his analysis of Game 10,Game 9,Game 8,Game 7,Game 6,Game 5,Game 4,Game 3,Game 2, andGame 1.)

That begs the question: why should he push for a win? He has a comfortable lead of one point (6-5) and there are just three games to go in this title clash. He could really become a world champion this week.

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Not pushing hard for a victory is perhaps Kramniks influence on him. The Soviet school of thought is that its more difficult to win than to draw a game, so why push for a win if you dont need to?

Kramnik wouldve told him to play it safe. Even when Kramnik defeated Garry Kasparov to win the World Championship in 2000, he had more draws than wins. He won just two games in the 16-game match and that was enough for him to triumph 8.5-6.5. The key part here is that he didnt lose a single match. Interestingly, it was the first time since 1921 that a defending champion lost his crown without winning a single game in the Championships.

Thats definitely the leaf Nepo has taken out of Kramniks book, if he has learned anything from him during these couple of weeks. Hes going to continue keeping it simple.

Thats what he did on Monday. He knew that going on the attack often exposes the defense that Ding would surely pounce on. So why should he take a risk and lose with White?

He knows that he just needs to keep it tight and even if he loses one game, the match will go into tie-breakers and I do believe that he will be much better prepared for that scenario than Ding.

It was perhaps with this thought that he chose the tried and tested Ruy Lopez Spanish opening in Game 11. But Ding knows that he has to try something out of the box in order to draw level and give himself a chance at winning. The Chinese replied with the variation he had chosen in the fifth game, showing that he had prepared something better.

Sensing that Ding was ready to play a complex game, Nepo went for a quieter option on move 8, making it clear that he was going to play something similar to Game 5, but at a much slower pace.

Ding went for a less flexible option on move 8, thereby forcing the positional course of the game. Unlike game 5, Ding placed his Queen Bishop on the correct square this time. Nepo tried to make some headway with a novelty (new move) on move 15 but Ding replied with a sharp aggressive move, trying to create initiative on the Queen side at the cost of weakening his position.

Nepo did get a slight positional advantage but on move 19, he decided to simplify matters by opening up the position. The next twenty moves were almost forced but quite simple. The players claimed a draw after a three-fold repetition of the final position.

Nepo made it clear that he is not going to go for double-edged battles as long as he is leading. And were seeing a very matured Nepo here. Hes not going to crumble as he did against five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen in 2021. Hes prepared, and not making impulsive decisions.

Lets not forget theres a lot riding on Ding too. Being the first Grandmaster from China to compete for the World crown, theres certainly a lot of pressure on him. He has two games with White and thats what I think could be decisive. He has to go all-out in Game 12 on Wednesday if he wants a direct win or will he leave the best for last in the 14th game?

In the Candidates to qualify for this Championship, he won in the last game (finished second behind Nepo). But that was only the Candidates. Theres a lot more at stake here and he definitely cant afford to wait.

(Pravin Thipsay is an Indian Grandmaster and a recipient of the Arjuna Award)

Moves (Game 11)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.00 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 Na5

[Less flexible option.] 9.Ba2 c5 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Bg5 00 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 g6 14.Qd2 Bg7 15.Ng5! [New Move.] 15c4?! 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Ne3 Bh6 18.Rad1 Rb8 19.dxc4?! 19Nxc4 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Qxd6 Qxd6 22.Rxd6 Bxe3 23.fxe3 Rxf1+ 24.Kxf1 Rxb2 25.Rxe6

Rxc2 26.Rxa6 Ra2 27.Rc6 Rxa3 28.Rxc4 Rxe3 29.Kf2 Ra3 30.Rc5 Ra2+ 31.Kf3 Ra3+ 32.Kg4 Ra2 33.Kh3 Re2 34.Rxe5 Kf7 35.Kg3 Kf6 36.Re8 Kf7 37.Re5 Kf6 38.Re8 Kf7 39.Re5

Game drawn by the rule of threefold repetition.

First published on: 24-04-2023 at 20:57 IST

Originally posted here:

Pravin Thipsay writes: Not pushing hard for win is perhaps Vladimir Kramniks influence on Nepo - The Indian Express

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Chess: Nepo stays ahead of Ding as world title match nears its finish - Financial Times

Home Chess News Events World Chess Championship 2023 Quiet draw in game 11 of the World Chess Championship

World Chess Championship 2023 (11)

Mark Crowther - Monday 24th April 2023

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren drew the eleventh game of their WorldChampionships match by repetition in 39 moves and less than two hours of play.

Nepomniachtchi again played 1.e4 and the Ruy Lopez followed, no Berlin andwith 6.d3. The line of the Closed Ruy Lopez that was played is fairly topical.14.Qd2 was rare and 14...Bg7 was new. Commentators wondered if black mightat least be under pressure, 15...c4!? seemed like a bold way of going aboutthings, 18...Rb8 was the best computer continuation. 19.dxc4 *19.Qe2 the way to keep the pressure)quickly led to liquidation of most of the pieces and a drawn Rook and Pawn endgame, Nepomniachtchi thought he might get a symbolic advantage, as it was he didn't get eventhat.

Is the hardest part of the match behind Nepomniachtchi? "You've got to be kidding!" There is a rest day tomorrow, Ding will probably have to come out swinging.

Score Nepomniachtchi 6 Ding 5. Best of 14 games.

Rest day Tuesday 25th April.

Game 12 Ding vs Nepomniachtchi 10am BST Wednesday 26th April.

Download the PGN from this page

vs

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Quiet draw in game 11 of the World Chess Championship - The Week in Chess

Published 1:54 pm Monday, April 24, 2023

By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Chess enthusiasts in Chilton County now have a new place to meet with those who share a similar interest through the Chilton-Clanton Public Librarys chess club.

Luke Smitherman, who is 11 years old, started the club as a way to share his enjoyment of chess with others.

I just walked in one day with a chess board and asked, Luke said of how he approached library leadership with his idea.

He said the club gives an opportunity that the community did not have previously.

The number of people who like chess and wanted to come out has been surprising.

It is a real common interest that is often looked over, Luke said.

The club meets each week on Tuesday from 3-5 p.m.

I think it has gone pretty great, Luke said, commenting that attendance has been consistent.

Some bring their own chess sets. Others use the ones provided. The setup is casual with everyone staying for however long they want to within the scheduled time.

He said he has enjoyed seeing the community come together.

As the chess club continues, he would like to see more people participate and to see each attendee increase their skill.

Luke said he can also discuss tips and strategy pointers to attendees who are interested.

I am considered either a really strong intermediate player or a light advanced player, Luke said.

He said beginners often think just about the next move, rather than thinking about moving their pieces to where they will be most beneficial long-term in the game.

He became interested in chess after a family friend taught him how to play at age 4.

Ive just liked it ever since, Luke said.

He said he tends to analyze things and like logic, and chess provides a good outlet for that.

Originally posted here:

Student starts community chess club - The Clanton Advertiser - Clanton Advertiser

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A small chess team from Detroit scored a big win this past weekend, taking second place in a national chess tournament.

The University Prep Science and Math Middle School chess team came to play at the Middle School National Championships in Texas this past weekend with determination, heart, and a message that anyone can play chess.

"This was a big deal. This was the national championships. So you had teams coming from all across the country to compete, and it's the biggest stage in the whole United States," coach Joshua Posthuma said.

Posthuma said he's "incredibly proud" of his team.

The students are from Detroit, making up an all-Black, co-ed chess team; nine boys and three girls.

"Chess helps you think more. It helps you strategize about what you're going to do," Mason Davis said.

Mason started chess in 3rd grade. Now in 8th, he's holding his own in these major tournaments.

"It was very exciting to just try different things, play different people, and to just get better at the game," he said.

Hannah Hendrix is one of three girls on the team, all thanks to a friend.

"She started to play chess in 3rd grade. So I joined with her, and we both kind of stuck to it," Hannah said.

Hannah hopes, by playing, she's encouraging other women and girls to take up the game.

"I think it is a sport that anybody could really play," she said. "The majority of the people I played were guys. I played one female out of seven rounds, and that's actually kind of crazy."

It was also exhilarating as University Prep took home 2nd place out of 38 other teams in the nation for their category.

"I am proud of myself, but I am more so proud of my team," Mason said.

They're a team with a winning record, and an important message.

"We're saying girls and boys both can play chess. People from any background, of any gender, or any ethnicity can all be champions," Posthuma said.

Marie Saavedra joined the CBS2 Chicago news team in October 2020 as an anchor. She grew up in Evanston and is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism.

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Detroit middle school chess team takes 2nd in national tournament - CBS News

A blindfolded grandmaster rides an exercise bike as he plays 15 games of chess simultaneously for 15 hours straight, memorizing the positions of a total of 480 pieces. To the astonishment of everyone watching, he wins 14 matches and draws one. His name is Timur Gareyev, he is 35, and he has a mental capacity that pushes the limits of human possibility.

But the feat that he pulled off in Saturdays exhibition in Astana, the Kazakhstani capital, pales in comparison to the world record he set in Las Vegas in 2016. In Nevada, Gareyev contested 48 matches (1,536 pieces) over a period of 19 hours, registering 35 wins, seven draws and six defeats. And he believes it is a record he can beat.

To the layman, simultaneous chess exhibitions are mind-boggling enough when the player can see what is happening on the boards in front of them. On Saturday, for example, the Spanish town of Azkoitia, located in the countrys northern Basque region, witnessed the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the world record established by Spaniard Jos Luis Larraaga, who took on 605 opponents for almost 32 hours, managing 535 wins, 42 draws and 28 defeats. In 1985, the German-Czech player Vlastimil Hort bettered that mark by playing 636 matches simultaneously.

The common denominator in these exploits, whether the player is blindfolded or not, is their ability to recognize patterns. When the likes of Larraaga and Hort leave behind one board and arrive at the next, they need only a matter of seconds to assess who has the advantage; how their opponents most recent move seeks to hurt them; and what the two or three most logical responses are. That comes down not only to the hundreds of matches that remain in their conscious memory, but also the thousands of clashes that are stored up in their subconscious. In other words, the chess-playing intuition that they have built up.

However, it all becomes much more difficult when players cannot see what is happening. Indeed, it can be harmful to their health. In the Soviet Union, which enjoyed almost total domination of the chess world for over half of the 20th century, coaches tended to prohibit blindfolded multi-opponent exhibitions. And they had very good reasons for this: several players at the center of major feats have taken months before their brains have returned to normal working order. When Gareyev beat the world record seven years ago, he was unable to sleep for days.

This is why the Uzbeki-American player, who lives in the United States, places great importance on aspects of his exhibition routine that dont directly relate to the game itself. The main reason why I ride an exercise bike during the events is to highlight the fact that high-level chess requires you to be in good physical shape, Gareyev tells EL PAS. I also feel that the exercise gives me more energy to cope with the mental strain [probably because it causes his body to produce dopamine]. And I wont deny, either, that its eye-catching and makes the photos all the more striking. During the exhibition in Astana, he was frequently seen drinking water and green tea. When he broke the world record, he ate small quantities of watermelon marinated in lemon, avocado, coconut oil, green leaves and spicy chiles. During his career, he has been known to go parachuting and mountaineering, do daily yoga sessions and run marathons.

In addition to having powerful photographic and logical memories, Gareyev uses sophisticated mental-organization techniques during his exhibitions. He imagines every board is a room inside a palace, each decorated in a different style. He also varies his tactics from board to board, to reduce the risk of confusing his matches. If he is the white player on boards 1, 3, 5 and 7, his first move will be different on every one of them; he then repeats his first move from board 1 on board 9, his first move from board 3 on board 11, and so on. He can easily distinguish between the matches, as they are not being played on boards that are close together. As the black player, he takes different defensive approaches on boards 2, 4, 6 and 8, etc.

With nothing but good intentions, the organizers in Astana arranged for a referee to call out Gareyevs opponents moves. In even more demanding exhibitions, however, he asks for this to be done differently: Its important that each player Im facing announces their own move, because the voice of every opponent allows me to identify them with their board; that really helps.

A fascination with blindfolded chess was already in evidence in the ninth century, shortly after the Moors had brought the game to southern Spain, when the chess master Said Jubain would turn his back to the boards as he took on four opponents at once, with a slave calling out the moves. In the 16th century, the first unofficial world champion, Spains Ruy Lpez de Segura, would wow onlookers with similar feats in the court of Philip II. Two hundred years later, the Frenchman Franois-Andr Danican Philidor did likewise in the Caf de la Rgence in Paris.

The American Harry Pillsbury (1872-1906) made blindfolded simultaneous chess harder still, when he took part in a memorable exhibition against 12 high-quality opponents in New York. Before beginning, Pillsbury was read a list of 30 complicated words, with each assigned a random number. The words included antiphlogistine, periosteum, takadiastase, plasmon, threlkeld and streptococcus. After completing his chess matches with a record of eight wins, two draws and two defeats, he repeated every word several times, in a number of different orders. Considered one of chesss great flawed geniuses, he died of syphilis at 38.

A case tinged by tragedy is that of Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997), one of the most charismatic chess players in history. Having traveled from Poland to Buenos Aires to compete in the Chess Olympiad in 1939, Najdorf, who was Jewish, opted to remain in Argentina in the wake of Hitlers invasion of his native country. Unaware of whether his relatives in Poland had survived (they had not), he decided to take part in chess-playing feats that would gain significant media attention, in the hope that his family would learn of his whereabouts. Najdorf twice broke the record for blindfolded simultaneous chess: in 1943, he accrued 36 wins, one draw and three defeats against 40 opponents in the Argentinian city of Rosario; and in 1947, he won 39, drew four and lost two when he contested 45 matches at the same time in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Gareyev wants to raise his unprecedented total of 48 matches to 55. And he wants to do so in style: Im not going to settle for beating the record in the same circumstances as in 2016, when I had to be the organizer and pretty much the sponsor all by myself. This time, it would be at a big festival of chess and memory games, where the public would have a great time. And he adds that he is really enjoying the World Chess Championship between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, who are due to play Game 12 of their best-of-14 title clash on Wednesday, with the Russian 6-5 ahead. Its a really exciting match-up, Gareyev says.

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Timur Gareyevs fantastic feats of blindfolded chess - EL PAS USA

The latest episode of "Impact x Nightline" takes a look at the ongoing scandal in the chess community. "Checkmate: The Great Chess Scandal" is now streaming on Hulu.

September 4, 2022: the third round of the Sinquefield Cup, one of the country's pre-eminent chess tournaments, is underway.

On one side of the board sits Magnus Carlsen: the 32-year old Norwegian is the reigning 5-time World Chess Champion, the top rated chess player in the world, and is widely considered the heir apparent to the title of greatest chess player of all time.

In the chess world, he's seen as a model champion, whose publicly engaged persona and entrepreneurial spirit led to his company, Play Magnus, being sold to Chess.com the largest chess website in the world for just under $83 million.

"He has this aura around him that makes other grandmasters sometimes intimidated to play him," Alexandra Botez, a high ranking chess player and streamer, told "Impact x Nightline."

Magnus Carlsen is the five-time reigning World Chess champion.

ABC News

On the other side of the board sits Hans Neimann: the 19-year old American teen titan vaulted up the chess rankings with his stellar play during the pandemic, becoming a Chess Grandmaster in 2021.

Buttressed by his reputation as the "bad boy of chess", Hans is known within the chess community for his boisterous personality, captivating interviews, and extensive trash talking during chess games.

Hans Niemann has become a rising star in the world chess world.

ABC News

"I played him when he was 9 or 10 years oldI remember he just completely crushed me," Levy Rozman, a longtime chess player and YouTube host, told "Impact x Nightline.

"He was the most brash-talking kid," Max Dlugy, a chess Grandmaster and coach in New York City, said of Niemann.

What would happen, then, if this brash-talking teenager were to defeat the world champion in a high stakes tournament? The greatest scandal in recent chess history.

The saga capped off when the two squared off for the first time in August in Miami during the FTX Crypto Cup.

The two grandmasters were scheduled to play each other in a best-of-four series.

Carlsen was and is the highest rated player in the world, while Niemann was the lowest rated player in the tournament. Unexpectedly, Niemann won the first match.

"Hans yesterday was a terrible day for you, and today you start out with a masterpiece, how would you summarize it?" Sverre Krogh Sundb asked Niemann in a post game interview.

"Chess speaks for itself," he responded.

Carlsen went on to win the final three games and Niemann finished last in the tournament.

Two weeks later, Carlsen and Niemann would go head to head once again at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis. The tournament is considered to be one of the most consequential chess tournaments in the United States, and is closed to in-person public viewing.

In a few hours, Niemann defeated Carlsen in their sole match.

"I think he's just so demoralized because he's losing to such an idiot like me. You know, it must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to me, I feel bad for him" Niemann said in an interview with the St. Louis Chess Club after the match.

Carlsen had a 53-game classical unbeaten streak for nearly a year prior to their match.

Al Lawrence, the managing director of U.S. Chess Trust, who was one of the few people allowed into the tournament hall to watch the match, told "Impact" that Carlsen did not take the loss well.

"[Carlsen] stormed out that evening, changed hotels [and] went home to Norway," he said.

Al Lawrence, the managing director of U.S. Chess Trust, speaks with ABC News' Trevor Ault.

ABC News

The next day, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament and tweeted a video of the then-Chelsea football coach Jose Mourinho saying after a surprise defeat in 2014, "If I speak, I am in big trouble."

Many chess observers said Carlsen's tweet heavily inferred that Niemann cheated in the match. The tweet went viral and began to fuel wild conspiracies, including one that was re-tweeted and later deleted by Elon Musk, that alleged wireless anal beads were used to give Niemann signals on how to beat his opponent.

Niemann addressed the rumors with the St. Louis Chess Club and said he didn't cheat in his match against Carlsen. However, he did admit he cheated twice in online matches when he was 12 and 16.

Chess.com, the online platform where Niemann played, ended up suspending him from their site, where he played several online matches, and uninvited him from their $1 million global championship.

"We have shared detailed evidence with him concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating on Chess.com," the company wrote in a statement at the time.

Niemann and Carlsen would go up against each other two weeks later in a tournament held by Chess 24, a subsidiary of chess.com, but Carlsen resigned after one move in protest.

Carlsen declined to say why he resigned from the match in an interview, stating, "People can draw their own conclusion."

He added, "I have to say I am very impressed by Niemann's play and I think his mentor Maxim Dlugy must have been doing a great job."

Chess grandmaster Maxim Dlugy mentored Hans Niemann.

ABC News

Some in the chess community saw the reference to Dlugy as another insinuation of Niemann's cheating.

Dlugy told "Impact" that he coached Niemann when he was 11 years old, and remains a mentor although he believes Niemann would consider him more of a friend.

Dlugy was also himself previously twice removed from Chess.com for cheating. In one instance, Dlugy said it was unintentional, and the other he has denied completely.

Dlugy refuted allegations that he helped Niemann cheat in the St. Louis match and told "Impact" he was in the Poconos when it happened.

"It's unfortunate that this is how paranoia works," he said. [Carlsen] is using this kind of very -- very stretched imagination to portray me as a potential accomplice to Hans, which I wouldn't even know what I was supposed to do in this case.

Carlsen would soon cut through the insinuation, and released a very direct statement on the entire saga, writing in part, "I believe that Niemann has cheated more - and more recently - than he publicly admitted...I am not willing to play chess with Niemann."

Ken Regan, a professor of computer sciences at SUNY Buffalo a current chess International Master, was tasked by the governing body of chess FIDE to investigate the cheating claims in the match.

Regan, who watched the match, said his analysis showed that Niemann didn't cheat in the match or other over-the-board matches.

Ken Regan speaks with ABC News' Trevor Ault.

ABC News

"The main thing is I think that there was some illusion caused by Niemann's known past record, because it is known that he had cheated online, and unfortunately chess players are as susceptible to cognitive illusions as everyone else," he told "Impact."

On Oct. 4, Chess.com released a 72-page report that alleged: "Hans has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games, including several prize money events."

The company added, "while his performance in some of these matches may seem to be within the realm of some statistical possibility, the probability of any single player performing this well across this many games is incredibly low."

The report did state there was no concrete evidence that Niemann cheated against Carlsen, or in any in-person games.

Niemann has denied the allegations and continued to play in other tournaments.

Danny Rensch, the chief chess officer of Chess.com, told "Impact" that he and other officials from the site weighed through all of the facts before making their decision.

"When we felt we were releasing that report, we actually felt that in many ways we were providing truth to the fact Hans hasn't cheated over-the-board. At least there's no evidence to suggest that," he said.

Danny Rensch and Erik Allebest speak with ABC News' Trevor Ault.

ABC News

Erik Allebest, who co-created the current version of Chess.com in 2007, told "Impact" that Carlsen, who is an ambassador for the site, had nothing to do with their decision. Carlsen's company, "Play Magnus," was sold to Chess.com in an $83 million deal.

"Magnus Carlsen losing a game is great for the drama of chess. It just is. It's great for the story, it's great for the game," Allebest said.

Niemann, however, took issue against Chess.com, Carlsen and chess streamer Hikaru Nakumara in late October, he filed a $100 million lawsuit for a slew of reasons among them libel, slander, and antitrust violations, and claiming that he was blacklisted from the chess community

As of April, the lawsuit is ongoing.

Carlsen's attorneys and Niemann's attorneys declined to comment to "Impact" about the lawsuit. Nakamura didn't respond to requests for comment.

Allebest and Rensch said they were surprised by the lawsuit but contend they didn't defame Niemann.

"It's, like, very far away from what happened," Allebest said.

"I don't believe that Hans' chess career is anything but just starting and continuing to take off and positive," Rensch added.

The attorneys for the Chess.com defendants refuted the other charges in their motions to dismiss the suit.

Rozman said that whatever happens in this feud, he doesn't think the chess world will be satisfied with an answer.

"I've sort of decided that there are no winners," he said.

Hans Niemann plays a match at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships as Magnus Carlsen watches other matches from behind.

ABC News

Regan said that he hopes that the grandmasters and the community can put this saga behind them.

"I'm actually going to draw on my philosophical religious background and say I hope it ends with a mutual apology, repentance and forgiveness because I think they both overstepped in certain ways," he said.

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Cheating allegations, a $100 million lawsuit, and false rumors ... - ABC News

The Week in Chess 1485

TWIC Home

My thanks to Olexandr Prohorov, Holger Lieske,Ehud Lahav, Simon McNamara, Luca Sivelli,Patricia Llaneza Vega, Nicolas Brunner, Anders Hansen,Hugh Brodie, Paulo Rocha, Gert Ligterinkand everyone else who helped with this issue.

We will have a new World Chess Champion this time next week.Ian Nepomniachtchi won game 7 to take the lead again andDing Liren had strong chances to win game 8 but that was drawnas were games 9-11. Nepomniachtchi leads by a point with justthree games and a potential tie-break left. Nepomniachtchiis favourite but things could get very tense indeed.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

The first issue of TWIC was produced on September 17th 1994.I rely on advertising and donations to be able to keep going.If TWIC is important and useful to you please consider giving a donation.

I've recently introduced a subscribe button. People will be entitled to an update of the TWICdatabase whenever they need it. If there is sufficient take up there will probably beat an email with useful additional information and I'm open to other ideas.

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Send a 30 donation via Paypal and contact me via email (Email Mark Crowther - mdcrowth@btinternet.com) I'll send you an address for a ChessBase cbv file of my personalcopy of every issue of the games in one database.

My deep thanks to those who do contribute. Also thanks to those who help by sending news or games.

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The World Chess Championship takes place 7th April (opening ceremony) to 1st May 2023. The match is between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren. The current World Champion Magnus Carlsen announced in July last year he would not be defending his title, he seems to have more or less made up his mind two years ago dismantling his team after beating Nepomniachtchi. The match is held in Astana, Kazakhstan over 14 games, two days on, one off with a single game in round 7 to switch the order of the colours. The games start at 10am BST each day, game one Sunday 9th April, Nepomniachtchi has white. The players are closely matched being two and three in the world and Nepomniachtchi narrowly leading +3 -2 =8 head to head.

The II Sunway Formentera Open takes place 18th to 28th April 2023.

The Satty Zhuldyz Rapid and BLitz takes place in Astana 20th to 25th April 2023.

The French Junior Championships take place 23rd to 30th April 2023.

The Portuguese Women's Championship takes place 22nd to 25th April 2023.

The Russian Junior Championships take place 19th to 27th April 2023.I had a really good look but couldn't find any games.

The Caissa Hotel Yasemin Group takes place 22nd to 27th April 2023.

The Polish Chess Championship took place 11th to 21st April 2023. The Open was a knockout and the women's event an all-play-all.Bartosz Socko beat Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2.5-1.5 in the final.Michalina Rudzinska won the women's event with 6/9.

The Kazakhstan vs World Women's Match took place 17th to 19th April 2023.The World won the rapid 34.5-29.5 and blitz 38.5-25.5.

The Mitropa Cup took place 11th to 19th April 2023. France won both open and women's events.

The Vezerkepzo Easter tournaments took place 13th to 21st April 2023.Kaido Kulaots won the GM event on tie-break from Sahaj Grover. There wasa Vezerkepzo Easter IM won by Jakub Pulpan with 6.5/9. There was a secondApril IM event won by Bence Leszko with 7/9.

The Sahibkiran Amir Temur Cup took place 14th to 21st April 2023.Alisher Suleymenov won with 7/9.

The Third Saturday Djenovici IM IV took place 15th to 23rd April 2023.Dusan Rajkovic won with 6.5/9.

The 11th LUCOPEN returned after a long break 15th to 21st April 2023.Momchil Nikolov edged out Vladyslav Larkin and Radoslav Dimitrov on tie-breakafter all scored 7/9. I couldn't find any games.

The 2nd Mikis Theodorakis took place 17th to 23rd April 2023.Johan-Sebastian Christiansen edged out Dimitris Alexakis and Elina Danielian on tie-breakafter all scored 7.5/9. I couldn't find any games.

The ITT Chess Martelli Young Talents took place 13th to 21st April 2023.Joaquin Fiorito won with 7/9.

The SonFlow Cup took place 21st to 23rd April 2023. There were a few 6 player round robins. The strongest two are reported below.

The Caissa Hotel Kadife Group took place 15th to 20th April 2023.

The Pobeskydi Chess Festival took place 6th to 10th April 2023.Petr Gnojek won the IM event with 6.5/9. Jakub Suliborski won the Talents Open with 7.5/9.Some additional talents games now available.

The Dimitrovgrad Spring Vacation IM took place 11th to 16th April 2023. It was a Schiller team event.Just to point out that I had to make a correction late last week. I have a drop down list of venues and their countries,this Dimitrovgrad event was in Serbia, not the one in Bulgaria.

Volodymyr Sakun won the Kyiv Blitz Marathon 22nd to 23rd April 2023.

The Excelsior April Open took place 21st to 23rd Aprkil 2023.Nikolay Noritsyn and Bator Sambuev won with 4.5/5.The live file left a bit to be desired. Will wait and see ifanother emerges.

The 1000GM Bay Area Schev April took place 21st to 23rd April.

The II Menorca Open took place 11th to 16th April 2023. There was a 10 way tie on 7/9 with D Gukesh taking first on tie-break.The round 6 game Solodovnichenko - Niemann was clearly not right so a fix by using the live coverage has been tried. I did changeit early last week but I give this single game again.

Titled Tuesday Blitz now has two sections called early and late.The 18th April events Tuan Minh Le won the early and MVL won the late.

The 10th round of the Belgian Interclubs was last weekend and the games are now available. Final round on the 30th.

Pinggau-Friedberg won the Austrian Mitte League which finished last weekend.Mayrhofen/Zillertal won the West and SG Mistelbach/Altlichtenwarth the East thatfinished this weekend.

The Catalan League finished last weekend. Colon Sabadell beat Barcelona in the final to take the title.The relegation issues are also finished. The file I have has most of the matches but not quite all.

The Tuxera Aquaprofit NSK won the Hungarian League that had its final two rounds this weekend.

The Lithuanian League had its final 4 rounds this weekend.Vilniaus MRU-ROSK Consulting won the title.

The final round of the Dutch League was this weekend. Amevo Apeldoorn 1 won the title.

The Swiss Team Championship takes place 16th April to 15th October 2023. Round 1 games now available.

The IBCA European Teams takes place 20th to 29th April 2023.I'll round up all the games together next week.

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The Week in Chess 1485 - The Week in Chess