The 4th FIDE World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities is knocking at the door!
People are excited about the World Chess Championship 2021, but how about people with disabilities?
FIDE has announced the date and preliminary pairing of the fourth world cup for people with disabilities. The event will be organized from November fourth to 14th, 2021 by the Dresdner Schachfestival eV under the patronage of FIDE.
The 9-round Swiss tournament with 45 minutes + 30 seconds increments per move, from the first move, is an individual tournament with an additional team rating. The winners receive the title “World Chess Champion for Disabled 2021” in the individual ranking and “World Chess Team Champion for Disabled 2021” in the team ranking.
The first round kicks off on November 05, 2021; the winners will be determined after the last round, played on November 13. The official Closing Ceremony of the event is scheduled for November 14, 2021.
Whoever reading this, if you fall under the criteria, you can sign up for registration.
All games will be held online using the Tornelo playing platform. Here you can find the rules and regulations.
Check out this news on players who have already registered for this. Here is one for you:
"11-time Russian champion, 8-time world champion, participant of 6 World Chess Olympiads, IM Andrei Obodchuk, 66, is one of the most experienced and titled participants of the 4th FIDE World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities.
In 1994, Obodchuk became an international master, the first in the world among the disabled. His highest rating achieved is 2447. Obodchuk is also a well-known theoretician, an experienced trainer, and author of the book "The Four Knights Game", as well as several theoretical studies for "New in Chess". Once, at a super tournament in Poikovsky, he defeated GM Alexander Onischuk with Black in the difficult line of Botvinnik's variation - the game was included in the book "Revolution in the 70s" by Garry Kasparov.
In October 2018, team Russia won gold medals at the 1st World Team Chess Championship for Disabled, with Andrei Obodchuk playing on Board 1.
"Playing online is not the same as playing over the board. This is a completely different game," Obodchuk says. Still, his performance in online events is as impressive as in OTB tournaments. In June 2020, Andrei Obodchuk finished second in the first World Online Championship of IPCA (the International physically disabled chess association affiliated to FIDE). He also played Board 2 for Russia in the first FIDE online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, helping his team to win silver medals." ( www.fide.com/news/1378 )
I am planning on writing a detailed blog about players with disabilities and their interesting stories! Comment below if you have a story!
Information From :
1. https://www.worldchess-disabled.com/en/
2. https://new.uschess.org/news/4th-fide-world-chess-championship-people-disabilities
