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Report by Paul Spiller

The Howick-Pakuranga in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its inception hosted a  “Chess Week” from July 6-15 which involved a Blitz chess match between FM Martin Dreyer (current president of the Howick club and co- NZ Blitz Champion Nigel Metge.

The match was played in the local “ Poppies Bookshop” and ended in a 5-1 victory for FM Dreyer.

Other activities included a problem solving competition and hosting of the NZ Junior and NZ Senior/ Oceania Seniors Championships.

The NZ Junior was won by CM Alphaeus Ang on 6.5/7 followed by FM Daniel Gong on 6 points while the NZ/Oceania Seniors was tied between IM Leonid Sandler ( Australia) and FM Mike Steadman who also won the NZ Seniors Cup.”

Harshana, the King and Sayuni, Queen at Sri Lanka Chess Nationals!
CFSL provide the highest cash fund, Rs. 320,000/= this year

Harshana Thilakarathne (Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala) being the highest rated player for last 3 decades is the favorite from the start and did the justice for his rating scoring 11 points out of possible 13 points, just giving four draws to his opponents. Harshana was 1 point ahead from early of the event to Isuru Alahakoon, the former National Chess Champion but assured his final position when he beat Isuru on the 10th round. Harshana was awarded the beautiful National Chess Championship Trophy with the Gold Medal and Rs. 100,000/=. Experienced Isuru Alahakoon (SL Navy) did a hard fought event to finish in the 2nd place to earn Rs. 50,000/- with the Silver Medal. The veteran, Chinthaka Anuruddha also played fighting Chess to earn the 3rd place. He was awarded the Bronze medal with Rs. 25,000/=. Chirasana Lamahewa and Youngest, LMST De Silva (Nalanda College) placed 4th and 5th to fill the National Chess Team for this year.

The Sri Lanka National and Women’s National Chess Championships 2019 was held from 28th June to 8th July 2019 at the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka Headquarters, Nugegoda. Chess Federation of Sri Lanka has increased the cash awards to a considerable stage to Rs. 320,000/= giving Rs. 100,000/= for the National Chess Champion.

Sayuni Gihansa Jayaweera (Dharmasoka College) had a great show when she completed the Women’s National Chess Championship with 11.5 points, just giving 3 draws to her opponents. This is the 2nd time she achieved for the title, 2017 being the 1st. She was awarded Rs. 60,000/= with the Trophy and the Gold medal. It is Young, Devnethmi Dahampriya (Visakha) who had a great performance who improved to the level in a very short period of time. She had 9 points out of 13 to be the winner of the Silver Medal with Rs. 30,000/=. Asvini Pavelchandran was also maintaining a standard level through out to win the Silver Medal. Nethmi Fernando and Niklesha Tharushi managed to placed 4th and fifth consecutively to fill the Women’s National Chess Team this year.

Mr. Upali Gunasekara, the Principal of Polymath International School and Former Principal Royal College was the Chief Guest at the Awards Ceremony. Mrs. Buddhi Panagoda, the Hony. Secretary of the Chess Federation was also present.

Sri Lanka Chess Nationals 2019 – Final Ranking
Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 FM Thilakarathne G M H 2405 11,0 0,0 9 64,75 5,0
2 Alahakoon Isuru 2099 9,5 0,0 9 53,00 4,5
3 FM Galappaththi Chinthaka Anuruddh 2082 9,0 0,0 7 51,75 4,5
4 Lamahewa C 1829 8,0 0,5 6 43,75 3,0
5 FM De Silva L M S T 1871 8,0 0,5 4 50,75 4,5
6 CM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan 2133 7,0 0,0 3 39,75 2,5
7 Randil Lakshitha 1953 6,5 1,0 4 37,25 2,5
8 Dissanayake R K T 1865 6,5 0,0 6 33,00 1,5
9 Ilampoornan Raguparan 1934 6,0 0,0 4 34,00 2,5
10 Ariyawansa K A P M 1787 5,5 0,0 4 28,25 2,0
11 CM Wijekoon Chandana 1889 5,0 0,0 4 22,50 1,5
12 Thenuka Kuruwita Gamalathge Kinon 1740 4,0 0,0 2 17,75 1,0
13 Jayasinghe Keeth M S 1811 3,5 0,0 2 20,50 2,0
14 Danushka M A N 1851 1,5 0,0 1 10,50 1,5

Sri Lanka Women’s Chess Nationals 2019 – Final Ranking
Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 WCM Jayaweera Sayuni Gihansa 1719 11,5 0,0 10 68,50 5,0
2 Dahampriya H K T Dewnethmie 1433 9,0 0,0 5 55,50 3,5
3 Pavalachandran Ashvini 1578 8,0 0,0 5 47,75 3,5
4 Fernando G W Nethmi L 1689 7,5 1,0 5 45,75 3,0
5 WCM Tharushi T H D Niklesha 1628 7,5 0,0 6 41,50 2,5
6 WFM Kodikara K K M Sachintha 1578 6,5 1,0 3 38,25 2,5
7 WIM Methmani Nelunika 1623 6,5 0,0 5 34,50 1,0
8 WIM Ranasinghe S D 1844 6,0 0,0 2 35,25 3,0
9 Wickramasinghe Thesandi 1297 5,5 0,0 4 31,00 1,0
10 Jayatilaka W M M Amodya 1388 5,0 1,5 3 29,25 2,5
11 Premanath Prasansa 1347 5,0 1,0 3 30,50 2,0
12 WCM Sanudula K M Dahamdi 1364 5,0 0,5 2 28,25 1,5
13 WCM Pallie Ehsha Mishela 1428 4,5 0,0 3 26,50 2,0
14 Mapa M M W H 1412 3,5 0,0 2 22,50 1,5

Luxman Wijesuriya
Tournament Secretary – Chess Federation of Sri Lanka
General Secretary – Commonwealth Chess Association
Vice President – Asian Chess Federatio

Uzbekistan won 19 gold medals to top the Asian Schools Chess Championship organized by the Uzbekistan Chess Federation under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE from 19 to 29 June 2019 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Three best Federations by gold medals and other medals in all categories received team trophies: First place went to Uzbekistan with 19 gold medals, 13 silver and 16 bronze medals. Second place went to Kazakhstan (5 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals), and third place went to Turkmenistan (5 gold medals, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals).

A record 186 players from 16 countries participated in the Standard, Rapid and Blitz championships. The tournament venue and official hotel of the event was the 5-star hotel International Hotel Tashkent.

Asian Chess Federation Secretary General Hisham Al Taher awarded prizes together with First Vice Chairman of Uzbekistan Chess Federation Mr. Husan Turdialiev and Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, President of Arab Chess Federation and President of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club.

Visit chess-results.com for final standings in Standard, Rapid and Blitz.

Video Assisted Referee (VAR) used for the first time in chess

Anecdotally, VAR was used for the first time in chess at the Asian Schools Rapid chess championship. A Bangladeshi girl cried when her opponent made an illegal move which would lead to unstoppable mate. There was no proof since no Arbiter or witness observed the game and the electronic board did not function. Fortunately, Asian Chess Federation Secretary General Hisham Al Taher had his photo taken nearby which showed the position on the board immediately before the irregularity. The Bangladeshi girl won the game and eventually became champion.

Open 17	Asian Schools Standard Chess	Fed	Pts	Medal
FM	Nurmamedov Azat	TKM	7.0	Gold
FM	Abdilkhair Abilmansur	KAZ	6.0	Silver
FM	Kasimov Ali	UZB	6.0	Bronze
Open 15
	Shermuhammadov Samandar	UZB	6.5	Gold
	Sulaymonov Elbek	UZB	6.5	Silver
	Sharipov Davron	UZB	6.0	Bronze
Open 13
	Jalalvand Amir Hesam	IRI	7.5	Gold
	Rajabboev Ibrat	UZB	6.5	Silver
	Khazhatuly Alikhan	KAZ	6.5	Bronze
Open 11
	Mirpulatov Mirabror	UZB	6.5	Gold
	Dhruv Khosla	IND	6.5	Silver
	Kalvandi Mohammad Naeim	IRI	6.0	Bronze
Open 9
	Jalalvand Amir Hesam	IRI	7.5	Gold
	Rajabboev Ibrat	UZB	6.5	Silver
	Khazhatuly Alikhan	KAZ	6.5	Bronze
Open 7
	Allaberganov Akbar	UZB	7.0	Gold
	bdsattar Alisher	KAZ	7.0	Silver
	Tuvshintulga Tumurchudur	MGL	6.5	Bronze

Girls 17	Asian Schools Standard Chess	Fed	Pts	Medal
	Khusainova Ozoda	UZB	7.5	Gild
	Saparova Sitora	UZB	7.5	Silver
WFM	Mekanova Annagozel	TK,M	6.5	Brojnze
Girls 15
WCM	Khegay Yuliya	UZB	7.5	Gild
WCM	Sultanbek Zeinep	KAZ	7.5	Silver
	Sathwika N	IND	5.5	Brojnze
Girls 13
WFM	Omonova Umida	UZB	8.5	Gild
	Bobomurodova Maftuna	UZB	7.5	Silver
WFM	Shohradowa Lala	TKM	7.0	Brojnze
Girls 11
WCM	Khamdamova Afruza	UZB	7.5	Gild
	Khulan Bayarsaikhan	MGL	6.5	Silver
WCM	Olimova Odina	UZB	6.0	Brojnze
Girls 9
	Kaliakhmet Elnaz	KAZ	9.0	Gild
	Khasanova Shakhzoda	UZB	6.5	Silver
	Arshiya Das	IND	6.5	Brojnze
Girls 7
	Warsia Khusbu	BAN	7.5	Gild
	Amanzhol Khanzada	KAZ	6.5	Silver
	Misheel Ganbayar	MGL	6.5	Brojnze

Open 17	Asian Schools Rapid Chess	Fed	Pts	Medal
FM	Nurmamedov Azat	TKM	5.5	Gold
	Hamad Essam	UAE	5.0	Silver
FM	Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadal	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Open 15
	Halynyazow Vepaly	TKM	5.5	Gold
	Anadkat Kartavya	IND	5.0	Silver
	Sharipov Davron	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Open 13
	Rakhmatullaev Almas	UZB	5.5	Gold
CM	Sindarov Islombek	UZB	5.0	Silver
	Madaminov Mukhiddin	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Open 11
	Suyarov Mukhammadzokhid	UZB	6.0	Gold
	Burbach Brunel Baron	THA	6.0	Silver
	Daaevik Wadhawan	IND	5.0	Bronze
Open 9
	Begmuratov Khumoyun	UZB	6.0	Gold
	Jalalvand Amir Hesam	IRI	6.0	Silver
	Umurzakov Alisher	UZB	4.5	Bronze
Open 7
CM	Tuvshintulga Tumurchudur	MGL	6.0	Gold
	Islamov Shakhzod	UZB	5.5	Silver
	Abdsattar Alisher	KAZ	5.0	Bronze

Girls 17	Asian Schools Rapid Chess	Fed	Pts	Medal
WFM	Mekanova Annagozel	TKM	6.0	Gold
	Malikova Marjona	UZB	5.0	Silver
	Saparova Sitora	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Girls 15
WCM	Sultanbek Zeinep	KAZ	6.5	Gold
	Sathwika N	IND	5.0	Silver
	Saidova Rukhshona	TJK	4.0	Bronze
Girls 13
FM	Omonova Umida	UZB	6.5	Gold
	Kaldarova Ayaulym	KAZ	5.0	Silver
	Karimova Guldona	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Girls 11
WCM	Khamdamova Afruza	UZB	7.0	Gold
	Khulan Bayarsaikhan	MGL	5.0	Silver
WCM	Olimova Odina	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Gurks 9
	Kaliakhmet Elnaz	KAZ	6.5	Gold
	Khasanova Shakhzoda	UZB	5.5	Silver
	Olimova Rukiya	UZB	4.5	Bronze
Girls 7
	Warsia Khusbu	BAN	6.5	Gold
	Amanzhol Khanzada	KAZ	6.0	Silver
	Misheel Ganbayar	MGL	5.0	Bronze

 

Open 17	Asian Schools Blitz Chess	Fed	Pts.	Medal
FM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	UZB	6.5	Gold
FM	Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadali	UZB	5.5	Silver
FM	Abdilkhair Abilmansur	KAZ	5.0	Bronze
Open 15
	Satybaldy Amir	KAZ	6.5	Gold
CM	Nisban Cyrus	SGP	6.0	Silver
	Sharipov Davron	UZB	4.5	Bronze
Open 13
	Rakhmatullaev Almas	UZB	6.0	Gold
	Madaminov Mukhiddin	UZB	5.5	Silver
	Aaditya Dhingra	IND	5.5	Bronze
Open 11
	Iunusov Nuriddin	KGZ	5.5	Gold
	Daaevik Wadhawan	IND	5.0	Silver
	Mamedov Edgar	KAZ	5.0	Bronze
Open 9
CM	Begmuratov Khumoyun	UZB	5.5	Gold
	Sawalakhe Jay	IND	5.0	Silver
	Jalalvand Amir Hesam	IRI	5.0	Bronze
Open 7
	Islamov Shakhzod	UZB	6.0	Gold
	Rashid Husain Alhammadi	UAE	6.0	Silver
	Tuvshintulga Tumurchudur	MGL	5.5	Bronze

 

Girls 17	Asian Schools Blitz Chess	Fed	Pts	Medal
	Kalvandi Nashmil	IRI	6.0	Gold
	Tursunova Aziza	UZB	6.0	Silver
WFM	Mekanova Annagozel	TKM	5.0	Bronze
Girls 15
	Alimova Sevinch	uzb	6.0	Gold
	Batyrowa Merjen	tkm	5.5	Silver
WFM	Sultanbek Zeinep	kaz	5.0	Bronze
Girls 13
WFM	Shohradowa Lala	TKM	5.5	Gold
WFM	Omonova Umida	UZB	5.0	Silver
	Shokirjonova Barchinoy	UZB	5.0	Bronze
Girls 11
WFM	Khamdamova Afruza	UZB	7.0	Gold
	Atabayeva Aygul	TKM	4.5	Silver
wcm	Olimova Odina	UZB	4.5	Bronze
Girls 9
	Arshiya Das	IND	5.0	Gold
	Kukreja Suguna	IND	5.0	Silver
	Khasanova Shakhzoda	UZB	4.0	Bronze
Girls 7
	Amanzhol Khanzada	KAZ	6.0	Gold
	Warsia Khusbu	BAN	6.0	Silver
	Omirserik Alima	KAZ	5.0	Bronze

PRESS RELEASE

GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and WGM Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan won the open and women’s divisions, respectively, of the Asian Continental Chess Championship organized by the Chinese  Chess Association under  the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE, 6-16 June 2019 in Xing Tai, China.

 

(Champion GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam receiving his award from Asian Chess Federation Secretary General Hisham Al Taher.)

Liem  finished alone with 7 points out of 9 rounds followed by four players tied at 6.5 each, namely Indian GMs Murali Karthikeyan, S. P. Sethuraman and S. L. Narayanan and Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan.  GMs Alireza Firouzja of Iran and Abhijeet Gupta of India followed with 6 points each to qualify to the World Cup after tie break.

Liem was gold medalist in the Asian Individual Martial Arts Games 2017. On his way to the 2019 Asian Continental title, Liem was undefeated and beat GMs Chanda Sandipan, Babu Lalith , S.P. Sethurman and IM Vignesh of India and GM Alireza Firouzja of Iran.

(Women’s champion WGM Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan receiving her award from Xingtai Vice Mayor Deng Suxue.)

Women’s top seed Dinara Saduakassova played true to her ranking, finishing first alone with 7.5 points to qualify to the Women’s World Cup. A half point behind, WGM Irene Sukandar was in second place with 7 points. Three players followed with 6 points each, namely WFM Turmunkh Munkhzul of Mongolia, IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam and WGM R. Vaishali of India.

The Asian blitz championship was won by GM Nihal Sarin of India with 8 points out of 9 rounds followed by Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and S. L. Narayanan of India in a tie with 7 points each.

In the women’s division, WGM Zhai Mo of China won the blitz championship with 7.5 points followed by WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam with 6.5 and WIM Giu Tianlu of China with 6 for third place after tie break.

(Organizers and guests of honor at the closing ceremony.)

Visit chess-results.com for final standings and to download games.

Chandana Wijekoon of Sri Lanka Navy won the 6^th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix 2019 held at the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL) Headquarters, scoring 8 points out of possible 11 games.

He got the lead from the very beginning and maintained the lead, finishing with a draw with IM Romesh Weerawardena, his main rival in the last games.

Chandana who is a very senior Chess player in the country showed a great enthusiasm throughout the event, and was awarded the Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix 2019 Champion Trophy, a Gold Medal and Rs. 40,000/=.

Chess Federation of Sri Lanka conducted the event from 25^th May to 3^rd June 2019 which was the first chess activity to be held at the newly opened CFSL Headquarters. A total cash award of Rs. 115,000/= is offered by the CFSL for the event.

IM Romesh Weerawardena, a three times winner of the last five Grand Prix events in Sri Lanka also had a successful event, finishing with the same score of 8 points, but had to be satisfied with the Silver Medal.

He was also awarded Rs. 40,000/= with the sharing of cash awards.

GC Anuruddha placed 3^rd and earned the Bronze Medal while young LMST De Silva also showed an encouraging performance in placing fourth place by only losing to Chandana.

Osheen De Silva, Chamil Priyankara and Kevin Ranindu Silva tied for the 5^th place.

It was too tough event for the youngest Yadeesh Dissanayake but it was a great experience nonetheless for him and valuable in the future.

All games were showed live at www.srilankachess.lk, the official website of CFSL and results are available in www.chess-results.com.

 

From 21^st May to 29^th May 2019 in Tashkent took place Zonal 3.4 FIDE Championship 2019 among men and women.

In the men category participated 25 chess players from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In the women category participated 16 chess players from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

1st place (Men) GM Jumabayev Rinat (KAZ) and 2nd place (Men) GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam (UZB) qualified to the World Cup.

1st place after the tie break (Women) Yakubbaeva Nilufar (UZB) qualified to the World Women Chess Cup.

 

Report by Husan Turdialiev, Zone 3.4 FIDE President

The Sri Lanka Chess Federation Headquarters for Chess Activities at 392/25, 1/1, Gangodawila, Nugegodawas, was ceremonially opened today with the launch of the 6th Sri Lanka Grand Prix 2019.

Mr. Upali Gunasekara, the former Principal of Royal College was the Chief Guest with the presence of Mr. Luxman Wijesuriya, Vice President of Asian Chess Federation and General Secretary of the Commonwealth Chess Association,

The Sri Lanka Chess Federation has a lot of plans to develop it’s Headquarters as a training center with the inclusion of other facilities such as a library.  The most important international and national events will also be played there.

Mr. Upali Gunasekara made the ceremonial opening move on the top board to declare the 6th Sri Lanka Grand Prix 2019 open. The top six chess players in the country are joined by six emerging players to compete for supremacy in the 11 Round Robin Tournament

The Sir Lanka Chess Federation has offered a Rs. 115,000/= cash award together with other Trophies and Medals for the winners of the event.

The games will be played as double rounds on 25th and 26th May and 1st and 2nd June, with single rounds at 4 p.m. on 27th, 31st May and 3rd June 2019.

The Sri Lanka Chess Federation has arranged for the games to be broadcast live Games at www.srilankachess.lk

Under the auspices of FIDE and Asian Chess Federation from 23^rd May (arrival) to 26^th May 2019 (departure) took place the Tashkent Workshop for the training of international arbiters.

The objective was to train and to certify a cadre of FAs and IAs from Asia, who are on top of all the recent changes in the Laws of Chess and the FIDE Competition Rules, plus are able to communicate in English efficiently and to be integrated into multinational arbiter teams at the top-level FIDE events.

Totally 15 participants from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the Workshop.

The seminar was carried out by IA/IO, FIDE Lecturer Husan Turdialiev (Uzbekistan), the assistant was IA/IO Vadim Tsypin (Canada).

Results of the test are also attached here

Report by IA Husan Turdialiev, FIDE Lecturer

 

At the recently finished World Schools Chess Championships, organized from 18-26 April 2019 in Antalya, Turkey, Uzbekistan chess players performed successfully and won five medals:

U-9 Open: Khumoyun Begmuratov – Gold Medal,
U-15 Open: Javokhir Sindarov – Gold Medal,
U-17 Open: Nodirbek Yakubboev – Gold Medal,
U-17 Open: Shamsiddin Vokhidov – Silver Medal,
U-13 Girls: Umida Omonova – Bronze Medal.

Report by Husan Turdialiev
First Vice President, Uzbekistan Chess Federation

Report by Husan Turdialiev

On 16th April in the International Chess Academy in Tashkent took place the exhibition match between the famous Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi (member of the gold medal-winning Russian team at the World Team Chess Championships 2013 and 2019) and international master Nodirbek Yakubboev (member of the gold medal-winning Uzbek team at the World Youth Chess Olympiad 2018 and board gold medal).

The match was played in four games under rapid control, each of the player played two games with white and black color.

More experienced player managed to win the match – Ian Nepomniachtchi scored 3.5 points, making a draw in the last game.

This match was highly anticipated by the local mass media and chess players.

After the games honorable guests of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and GM Boris Gelfand were awarded with special gifts – Uzbek quilted dressing gown called chapan and turban.