Chess: Ukraine Soldier Grandmaster Wins Gold Medal At European Team Championships

Ukraine was nan astir successful federation astatine this week’s European squad championships, winning golden successful nan unfastened arena and metallic successful nan women’s. It besides sparked 1 of nan astir memorable results of caller years, arsenic Igor Kovalenko, a serving service worker who played nary chess for 3 years, won nan individual golden connected 4th committee pinch 6.5/8, nan champion percent of nan full tournament.

Kovalenko’s games included a cardinal win against Serbia’s 2024 European individual champion, Aleksander Indjic, and a tie pinch Gawain Maroroa Jones successful nan last information erstwhile nan Englishman was successful rod position for 3rd committee gold.

A caller chess.com article provides much details of really Kovalenko mixed chess pseudo-warfare pinch existent life war. He is simply a power operator, wherever “the displacement lasts 12 hours a day, pinch nary holidays, weekends, aliases days of rest. You do everything successful a trench pinch mice and changeless dirt.” The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, awarded him a decoration for courageousness successful 2023. Kovalenko is pessimistic astir nan future: “I deliberation nan war, successful its broader context, will ne'er end.”

Has location ever been anyone successful chess history comparable to Kovalenko? The only sanction that comes to mind is Alexander Tolush, who served arsenic a Soviet vessel serviceman successful nan 2nd world war, played successful nan 1944 USSR title successful his service uniform, past returned to nan beforehand to subordinate nan last travel to Berlin.

3994: White mates successful 4 moves (by Oswald von Krobshofer, 1904). Just a azygous statement of play.

During that 1944 title successful Moscow, Tolush became 1 of a fistful of players who person checkmated a world No 1 successful competitory play. Tolush v Mikhail Botvinnik was an aged style Centre Game 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 Qxd4. As Tolush made his 56th move he exclaimed: “You’re mated, Mikhail Moiseevich!” The early world champion ne'er forgave nan disrespect.

England’s unfastened squad made a awesome effort successful nan closing rounds to snatch a badge from what had earlier seemed an inevitable mid-table position, contempt Michael Adams and Shreyas Royal being beneath form. The erstwhile Russian champion Nikita Vitiugov was stone coagulated against precocious rated apical committee opponents, winning 1 crippled and drafting nan rest.

The motor room for nan English betterment was nan duo of Maroroa Jones, who was adjacent to nan committee 3 golden and ended up pinch bronze, including this sharply tactical game, and Luke McShane, who began rustily pinch a nonaccomplishment and a constrictive escape, past recovered his champion shape to decorativeness 4th connected his board, conscionable missing a medal. His games included this intriguing variation of nan Two Knights’ Defence.

Before nan European teams, England seemed flattered by their 5th spot seeding, while successful nan arena they went adjacent to overperforming. The problem now is that nan squad has a constrictive guidelines of players who tin beryllium reliably expected to compete astatine a 2600-plus level: Vitiugov, Maroroa Jones, McShane if lucifer fit, and nan 2022 Olympiad golden medallist David Howell, absent from Batumi connected commentary duties. Royal, 16, whitethorn still request different twelvemonth aliases 2 to subordinate them.

In nan discourse of nan 2026 Olympiad successful Goa, India, it truthful looks desirable for an optimum England capacity and extracurricular chances to badge for Howell to beryllium persuaded to return a break from commentating. There are erstwhile again authorities costs for elite chess, truthful this could beryllium an juncture to usage them.

Final Euroteam scores were Open: 1 Ukraine 15 committee points (21.5 crippled points); 2 Azerbaijan 13 (20.5), 3 Serbia 13 (19.5). Also: 9 England 11 (20). English scores: Vitiugov 4.5/8, Adams 3/7, Jones 6/8 (bronze medal), McShane 4.5/8, Royal 2/5.

Women: 1 Poland 16 (23.5), 2 Ukraine 14 (22.5), 3 Germany 13 (21,5). Also: 22 England 8 (18.5). English scores: Jovanka Houska 1.5/7, Lan Yao 3/7, Harriet Hunt 5/8, Elmira Mirzoeva 5/8, Bodhana Sivanandan 4/6. England’s apical boards recovered nan going tough, and it was disheartening for Houska to suffer successful information six aft outplaying her Georgian force for astir of nan game. On nan affirmative side, Hunt and Mirzoeva had bully tournaments, while Sivanandan, England’s youngest ever subordinate astatine property 10, performed overmuch amended than successful past year’s Olympiad wherever she had seemed overawed, and won immoderate impressive method grinds successful nan style of Magnus Carlsen.

Scotland’s Freddy Waldhausen Gordon, 15, scored 4.5/9 against a section which included 2 GMs and 5 IMs. His squad vanished 40th and last, pinch Gordon, Scotland’s champion ever chess prospect, totalling much points than nan different 4 players combined. The Edinburgh schoolboy is adjacent to his ain IM title, but a sponsor would beryllium helpful.

The 2025 US Championship is successful advancement successful St Louis. After 4 of nan 11 rounds Wesley So leads pinch 3/4, up of Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and Hans Niemann connected 2.5/4. Caruana’s first information win was incisive, and prepared by nan different 6 bxc3 alternatively than 6 Qxc3. In information three, So outplayed Sam Shankland successful a crisp tactical battle.

Immediately aft nan US championship, St Louis will shape an elite quadrangular tourney pinch nan world No 1, Carlsen, nan world No 2, Hikaru Nakamura, nan world No 3, Caruana, and nan reigning world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju. Quadrangulars are a very uncommon format, and nan only existent precedent is St Petersburg 1895-96, pinch world champion Emanuel Lasker, erstwhile champion Wilhelm Steinitz, Russia’s Mikhail Chigorin and USA’s Harry Pillsbury.

Norway chess, successful relation pinch Fide, has conscionable announced a 4 arena “total world championship” combining “Fast Classic”, Rapid, and Blitz, to commencement successful 2027. The victor will beryllium nan champion crossed each 3 disciplines. Fast Classic is 45 minutes per subordinate per game, positive a 30 2nd per move increment.

That speeded up clip complaint will now beryllium eligible for Fide classical rating, truthful will further diminish slower classical chess arsenic we cognize it. What do Guardian readers think?

3994: 1 c8=B! b3 2 Bg4 b2 3 Bd1! Kxb1 4 Bb3 mate. The trap is 1 c8=Q? b3 2 Qh3 b2 3 Rfc1 erstwhile 3…bxc1=Q? allows 4 Qb3 mate but 3…bxc1=N! escapes.