President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has transferred the powers of his office to Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos following the announcement that the US Treasury had placed him on a blacklist. The blacklist forbids US citizens from doing business with Ilyumzhinov. On December 6, the FIDE office in Athens released a statement which said Ilyumzhinov had withdrawn from FIDE’s legal, financial and business operations. The statement read in part as follows:
“Following the announcement by the US Department of Treasury that the US levied sanctions against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian citizen and FIDE President, Mr Ilyumzhinov has informed the Presidential Board that he will withdraw from any legal, financial, and business operations of FIDE until such time as Mr Ilyumzhinov is removed from the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanction list.
“Mr Ilumzhinov advised he has initiated legal procedures in the US aiming to request additional information and reverse restrictive measures put by the US Department of the Treasury. During the next Presidential Board meeting, Mr Ilyumzhinov will update the Board as to the progress of the legal procedures.
“Mr Ilyumhinov’s decision to withdraw from any legal, financial and business operations of FIDE is to enable him to concentrate on clearing the situation with the Department of Treasury.”
The final paragraph of the statement refers to the Statutes of FIDE in relation to the deputy president’s assumption of the new office.
The transfer of power to the deputy president of FIDE comes at a time when the US has three players in the world’s top ten chess players in Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana. There is a possibility one of the three can qualify to oppose the world champion for the revered title. Should this occur, would there be consequences? Additionally, would Americans be allowed to contest FIDE tournaments? Can the world championship match be held in the US? At this time, the answers to such questions are opaque. We have to wait and see.
Eight of the world’s top ten players, including the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, are competing in the London Chess Classic tournament, England’s premiere event. Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, ranked number five in the top ten, and American grandmaster Wesley So, number ten, are the two non-participants. The two have been succeeded by Russia’s Alexander Grischuk and England number one chess player, Michael Adams.
Since the tournament began on December 4, draws have been the order of the day although most of the games have been exciting to follow live on the internet. Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri drew first blood in round one by beating Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov, and this was followed by France’s Maxime Vachier-Lgrave’s win against Topalov also. Hikaru Nakamura, America’s number one, got the better of former Indian world champion Vishy Anand, and Anand in turn outplayed an out-of-form Topalov in a beautiful virtuoso end game. Those have been the decisive games of the tournament at the conclusion of the fifth round. Carlsen has not been successful in scoring a victory. In the remaining four rounds, Carlsen’s toughest opponents would be Nakamura and Giri. Both are tough as nails, but Nakamura is classically adventurous in the manner in which he plays. The tournament ends today.
Chess Game
The first three games were played at the 2015 London Chess Classic, arguably the strongest tournament ever played on English soil. It comprised the world chess champion and most of the top ten players. The tournament ends today. The fourth game is from the China Kings Chess Tournament which was contested in Taizhou, China. The game won the brilliancy prize for Wei Yi, the 16-year-old grandmaster who won the tournament.
White: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Black: Veselin Topalov
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 Nbd7 9. Bg2 b5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Rb8 12. Be3 Be7 13. Qd2 Nf6 14. O-O O-O 15. Kh2 Bb7 16. Nc3 Rc8 17. a4 b4 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 a5 20. Qe2 Bg5 21. Bxg5 Qxg5 22. h4 Qf6 23. Qb5 Qe7 24. Qxa5 Rxc2 25. Rac1 Rxb2 26. Rb1 Ra2 27. Qxb4 Ba6 28. Qb3 Bxf1 29. Qxa2 Bxg2 30. Kxg2 Ra8 31. a5 e4
32. Rb3 f5 33. Qd2 Qc7 34. Qb2 Rxa5 35. Rb7 Ra2 36. Qb5 Rxf2+
37. Kxf2 Qc2+ 38. Qe2 1-0.
White: Hikaru Nakamura
Black: Viswanathan Anand
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Rd1 Nc6 10. Nxc6 Qxc6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Na3 Bd7 14. Rab1 Rac8 15. Qd3 Rfd8 16. cxd5 Qa4 17. Rd2 b5 18. Rbd1 exd5 19. Bxd5 Bc6 20. e4 a6 21. h4 Bxd5 22. exd5 Qb4 23. Rb1 Qa5 24. b4 Qa4 25. Rb3 Be7 26. Re2 Rc7 27. Kg2 Bf6 28. Qf3 Re7 29. Rd2 Red7 30. Qe2 g6 31. h5 g5 32. Qd1 Bg7 33. Nc2 Qxa2 34. Ne3 Qa1 35. Qxa1 Bxa1 36. Ra2 Bd4 37. Nf5 Bg7 38. Rxa6 Bf8 39. d6 Bxd6 40. Nxh6+ Kh7 41. Ng4 1-0.
White: Veselin Topalov
Black: Anish Giri
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Qa4 Nfd7 6. cxd5 Nb6 7. Qd1 cxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e3 Bg7 10. Nge2 O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. b3 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. h3 Bf5 15. Nd4 Bd3 16. Re1 Ba6 17. Qd2 Nd3 18. Rd1 Bxd4 19. exd4 Qf6 20. a4 Qxd4 21. a5 Nd7 22. Ra4 Qe5 23. Nxd5 Nxc1 24. Rxc1 Nf6 25. Nc7 Rad8 26. Qf4 g5 27. Qb4 Qb2 28. Raa1 Re2 29. Qc5 h6 30. Nxa6 bxa6 31. Rab1 Qd2 32. Bf3 Ne4 33. Qxa7 Nxf2 34. Bxe2 Nxh3+ 35. Kf1 Qd5 36. Bh5 Qh1+ 37. Ke2 Qg2+ 38. Ke1 Re8+ 39. Kd1 Nf2+ 40. Kc2 Ne4+ 0-1.
White: Wei Yi
Black: Bu Xiangzhi
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 Re8 13. Nbd2 exd4 14. cxd4 Nd7 15. Nf1 Na5 16. Bc2 Bf6 17. N1h2 c5 18. d5 Nc4 19. Rb1 Nde5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. b3 Nb6 22. Ng4 Bd4 23. Be3 Bc3 24. Re2 b4 25. Bf4 a5 26. Re3 Bc8 27. Rg3 Bxg4 28. hxg4 a4 29. g5 axb3 30. axb3 g6 31. Be3 c4 32. Rh3 Ra2 33. g3 Qc7 34. Kg2 Rea8 35. Rc1 Rb2 36. Bd4 f6 37. gxf6 Bxd4 38. Qxd4 Raa2 39. Rxh7 Qxh7 40. Qxb6 Qf7 41. Rh1 Ra8 42. Bd1 Qxf6 43. Bg4 Re8 44. Qa7 Qe5 45. Rh7 Rxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Rf8+ 47. Kg2 Qxe4+ 48. Kh2 Rf2+ 49. Qxf2 Kxh7 50. Qf7+ Kh8 51. Qf4 Qc2+ 52. Kh3 Kg7 53. Qd4+ Kh7 54. Qxc4 Qf2 55. Qf4 Qg1 56. Qf3 1-0.
Chess puzzle
Nicolas Innocente vs Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave, France, 1999.
Black to play and win
Solution to last week’s puzzle
Black played: …Nxe5 if dxe5
Qxe5+ Ne2 Qxa1
