Philippine disabled player Sander Severino tied for first in the 1st FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilities held May 21 at playchess.com. This invitational five-round Swiss tournament brought together 38 participants representing 28 national federations playing not only for the title and glory but also for a €2,200 prize fund.
During a brief opening ceremony the participants were greeted by FIDE President Arkady Dvokovich: “On behalf of FIDE, I would like to welcome all the player of the first FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilitie. I think it is a great effort by the organizing team and I hope that even in these difficult times, all the players, everyone who is online now can enjoy chess, show the best qualities and prepare for FIDE Olympiad, which will also have a competition for people with disabilities. Good luck everyone, stay safe and enjoy chess.”
Before the start of the event, two highest-rated players Marcin Tazbir (Poland) and Sander Severino (Philippines) were considered to be the main favorites. Eventually, they finished with 4.5 points each with the Polish player taking the title thanks to better tiebreaks, but their way to the very top was not a smooth sail, to say the least.
Final standings:
| 1 | Marcin Tazbir | 2535 | POL | 4,5 |
| 2 | Sander Severino | 2373 | PHI | 4,5 |
| 3 | Yuri Meshkov | 2258 | RUS | 4,0 |
| 4 | Denis Palin | 2091 | RUS | 4,0 |
| 5 | Gabor Acs | 2047 | HUN | 4,0 |
| 6 | Mihail-Dacian Pribeanu | 2169 | ROU | 3,5 |
| 7 | Dmitrij Scerbin | 2238 | RUS | 3,0 |
| 8 | Vit Valenta | 1994 | CZE | 3,0 |
| 9 | Andrei Gurbanov | 2284 | ISR | 3,0 |
| 10 | Ilia Lipilin | 1983 | RUS | 3,0 |