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The Philippine Disabled Chess Team paid a courtesy call on National Chess Federation of the Philippines Chairman/President Prospero A. Pichay (background, second from right) prior to their departure to Belgrade. The team is led by captain IA James Infiesto (background, third from left).

The first-ever Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities represents a historic event for FIDE and the chess world. Over 100 players from 33 countries will gather in Belgrade, Serbia, making a landmark moment for the chess world as the Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities becomes a part of the Chess Olympiad family.

From the 29th of January to the 5th of February the Serbian capital will host the first chess Olympiad for people with disabilities. This is a watershed moment for the chess world as it inaugurates the biggest chess event dedicated to people with disabilities.

Visit fide.com for full story by Milan Dinic.

With two rounds to go in the Oceania Zone 3.6 Zonal Championship, GM Zong-Yuan Zhao of NSW enjoys a half point lead with 6.5 points out of 7 rounds. Five players are in second slot with 6 points each. Visit chess-results.com for round by round results and standings. See photos in facebook page.

In the women’s division WGM Julia Ryjanova is a shoo in for the title with a perfect 7 points. WGM Zhang Jilin is far behind at 5.5 points. Three other players trail with 5 points each.

Nearly 300 hundred players from Australia,New Zealand,Fiji,Papua New Guinea,Guam,Nauru are competing for titles and places in the World Cup qualifying tournaments for the World Championships.

The Oceania Zonal tournament was officially opened by the Hon. Steve Dimopoulos MP Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and Minister for Creative Industries.

Organisers are Chess Victoria President Leonid Sandler (left) and Arbiter Peter Tsai.

This year’s Bob Wade Memorial Masters was held in Auckland from January 14 to 20, 2023, to commemorate the significant contribution made by New Zealand’s first truly professional player IM Bob Wade who was born in 1921. He was a three-time NZ Champion and twice British champion.

The main idea of the event was to celebrate the enormous contribution that Bob made to chess globally and at the same time to hold a tournament that would give IM norm opportunities to aspiring NZ players. It was only made possible by the generosity of NZCF patron Jim Benson and support from the NZ Chess Federation along with the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club and NZCF Vice-president Paul Spiller who was the Chief Organiser. It also created an opportunity for Invercargill chess organiser and arbiter Richie Christie to achieve his final norm for the FA title.

It was won by French/Egyptian Grandmaster Samy Shoker with 7.5/9 — 7 wins, 1 draw (with runner-up Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi) and 1 loss to NZ FIDE Master Ben Hague. GM Moradiabadi had 5 wins and 4 draws to finish 2nd on 7 points. In third place were International Master Gary Lane from Australia (who recently won the Asian Seniors 50+ division in Auckland last October) and 14-year-old NZ chess star Felix Xie. For most of the tournament, Felix was on course to make his first qualification towards his IM title (7 points were needed), but a loss in the penultimate round to GM Shoker dashed his hopes.

There were also two Challengers sections, won by Hao Tang and Daniel Wang respectively. Full results can be found on the Results page.

The Open Asian Women Blitz Chess Tournament will be held 6th February 2023 at the Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

The event is co-organized by UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, International Chess Federation and Asian Chess Federation in Abu-Dhabi, UAE in the framework of Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit.

The Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit will be held from 3-5 February 2023 at the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan will open the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit and will announce opening of Tolerance Games – Asian Women Chess Contest that will become a traditional format. 

Download Asian Chess Women’s Weekend

1. Participants
   All Asian female players are welcome to participate in the Open Asian Women Blitz Chess Tournament.

Players may register online at https://chess-results.com/anmeldung.aspx?lan=1&ggid=719754

2. Venue, Date & Schedule
   The playing venue of the event is Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.
   The tournament will be held on Monday 6 February 2023 as follows

Technical Meeting      16:00

Round 1                       17:00

Round 2                       17:30

Round 3                       18:00

Round 4                       18:30

Round 5                       19:00

Round 6                       19:30

Round 7                       20:00

3. System & Rate of Play

Up to 100 participants will take part in the tournament, which will be 7 rounds – Swiss System. Only players present at the Technical Meeting shall be paired for round 1.

Time control for each player per game is 3 minutes + 2 seconds for each move, starting with the first one.

The winner is determined by the highest number of points scored.
In case of equality of points, the winner is determined by application of the tie-breaking criteria:
◦ Direct encounter,
◦ Number of games won,
◦ Number of Games won with the Black Pieces,

◦ Buccholz System

5. Awards ceremony.
   The awards ceremony will be held at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

The winners will receive trophies, and a total of AED21,000 in cash prizes as follows:

In case of ties prizes shall be decided by tie break.

Kyrgyzstan Youth chess championship was held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan Bishkek from 2^nd to 10^th January 2023 organized by the Kyrgyz Chess Union. The event attracted 500 players from all seven regions of the country.

The event is made possible thanks to the «Mbulak» company which became a General Sponsor of the event. The official sponsor was the professional chess school ABchess.

The tournament was held at the Bilimkana American School with comfortable conditions for both children and parents.

The championship was monitored by the arbiters` team under the supervision of the Chief Arbiter Umarbekov Aziz (IA).

As part of the championship awards ceremony the results of 2022 were summed up. The awards were presented by the President of the Kyrgyz Chess Union Babyrzhan Tolbaev and honorary invited guests.

Team standings:

⠀1^st place – Tilenbaeva Children’s Chess Center: gold – 5, silver – 2, bronze -5 (Total: 12 medals)

⠀2^nd place – Chess school «GARDE»: gold – 2, silver – 5, bronze -1 (Total: 8 medals)

⠀3^rd place – Issyk-Kul region team: gold – 2, silver – 1, bronze – 6 (Total: 9 medals)

⠀4^th place – Children’s and Youth Sports School:  gold – 2, silver – 1, bronze -2 (Total: 5 medals)

⠀5^th place – chess school «Altyn-Tuyun»: gold – 1, silver – 1 (Total: 2 medals)

The best national chess awards 2022

The list of winners:

• The best chess player – Markov Mikhail
• The best female chess player – Sovetbekova Nurai
• The best junior and girl chess players – Sezdbekov Ruslan, Zhakshylykov Erzhan, Orozbaev Eldiiar, Abaeva Aiana
• The best chess players Under-12 – Sharshenbekov Emir, Sezdbekova Aizhan
• The best regional chess players – Keneshbekov Elim, Tursunalieva Nurelina
• The best chess players among people with disabilities – Rakhatbekov Tilegen, Kudainazarova Dariia
• The best chess coach – Damir Talapker
• The best female chess coach – Tilenbaeva Baktygul
• The best regional chess coach – Zhaparov Medet
• The best coach among people with disabilities – Kudaibergenov Beksultan
• The best arbiter – Umarbekov Aziz
• The best organizer – Toktokozhoev Azamat
• The best senior chess players – Takyrbashev Tilek, Vendrova Rosalia
• Chess legend – Mamatov Dair
• For patriotism to the Motherland – Toktaaliev Namys
• For devotion and love to chess – Zhakypova Nurayym
• Best chess school – Tilenbaeva Chess Center
• Best regional school – Karakol Central Academy
• Best chess journalist – Tolkaneva Ksenia

The winners in the nominations received trips to the recreation center “Solemar”.

Chess clocks were donated to help all regional federations.

Tolerance Games – Asian Chess Women’s Contest

Co-organized by UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, International Chess Federation and Asian Chess Federation, 6-7 February 2023 in Abu-Dhabi, UAE in the framework of Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit.

The Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit will be held from 3-5 February 2023 at the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan will open the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit and will announce opening of Tolerance Games – Asian Women Chess Contest that will become a traditional format; after the opening of the Summit H.E. heads to the chess venue for the first move ceremony of “Little Chess Star” for Girls-10 and below.

“Little Chess Star” Chess Tournament

At 11:30 on 6th February, eight invited girls play two qualification tournaments, followed by the final-match for the first and second place.

This will be followed by the Leadership workshop “Women and Chess – Promoting Tolerance & Women Empowerment” at 12nn.

Invited speakers deliver inspirational speeches on women empowerment and tolerance & co-existence through chess.

Moderator: A.Sorokina – Chair of FIDE Commission for Women in Chess

Speakers: D.Reizniece-Ozola – Women chess grandmaster, politician, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board;

A.Karlovich – Women chess international master, Ukrainian chess journalist and photographer.

The 19th Caspian Cup will be held in Rasht, Gilan, Iran, from 11th of February (arrival) till 20th of February (departure) 2023. The competition will be organized and held by Gilan Chess Association under the auspices of Chess Federation of I.R. IRAN.

Download 19th Caspian Cup regulations. There will be three categories:

• Category A Master tournament- for Masters (GM, IM, WGM and WIM) and players with Rating 1800 and higher.
• Category B for players with Rating less than 1800.
• Category C for cadets and youth under 14.

The tournaments are open to all local chess players and foreign players who have FIDE ID.

Players age categories are as below:
• Under 6: Born on or after 1 January 2017
• Under 8: Born on or after 1 January 2015
• Under 10: Born on or after 1 January 2013
• Under 12: Born on or after 1 January 2011
• Under 14: Born on or after 1 January 2009
• +65: Born on 1958
• +50: Born on 1973

Tehran Chess Association under auspices of Chess Federation of I. R. Iran has the honor to invite all National Chess Federations of FIDE and interested players to participate in the “5th Paytakht Cup, International Chess Festival” which will be held from February 3rd to 11th, 2023 in Tehran, Iran. Download Paytakht Cup 2023_Regulation_En(1)