English Chess Forum

FIDE have announced the line ups for these tournaments to take place in Riga rather than the Isle of Man.

In the Open event it's just David Howell from the UK whilst the female event features Jovanka Houska and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant of Scotland.

https://www.fide.com/news/1363

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:00 pm

FIDE have announced the line ups for these tournaments to take place in Riga rather than the Isle of Man.

In the Open event it's just David Howell from the UK whilst the female event features Jovanka Houska and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant of Scotland.

https://www.fide.com/news/1363

A slight spanner in the works: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/la ... 021-10-18/

I see that Latvia has announced today that the country will enter a full lockdown from 21 October to 15 November, with no indoor gatherings allowed. I assume that this will scupper the FIDE Grand Swiss which is due to run from 25 October to 8 November.

Oh bugger ( if I'm allowed to say that ).

saspiežot sombrero

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:21 pm

Oh bugger ( if I'm allowed to say that ).

It probably should have been "Oh b....r", but I'll leave that to Carl. I concur with your sentiments.

The irony is that in the event it would probably have been possible to hold the tournaments in the Isle of Man.

https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1 ... 7117040640

From FIDE's twitter account: "The Organizers of the FIDE http://Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss are working with the government to agree on an exemption regarding the high-level international sports events. We will update you as soon as the final decision is made."

Paolo Casaschi wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:10 pm

https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1 ... 7117040640

From FIDE's twitter account: "The Organizers of the FIDE http://Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss are working with the government to agree on an exemption regarding the high-level international sports events. We will update you as soon as the final decision is made."

https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1 ... 5187984384

"FIDE and the organisers would like to assure players and participants that we are doing our best to host the event in Riga in a secure and still comfortable way."

Players and arbiters have been informed that it's going ahead. I don't see an official announcement yet but will keep an eye out for one.

Looks like Hikaru Nakamura won't be going.

Angus French wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:32 am

Looks like Hikaru Nakamura won't be going.

He didn't play in the recent US Championships either. I don't think he is very interested.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:25 pm

Angus French wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:32 am

Looks like Hikaru Nakamura won't be going.

He didn't play in the recent US Championships either. I don't think he is very interested.

I think it is worth quoting what Nakamura said

"If there is indeed a hard lockdown in Latvia starting in a few days, out of respect for Latvians suffering with Covid and for the health and safety of myself and my trainer, I will not be competing in the Grand Swiss chess tournament in Riga."

I think that is a very professional attitude and the sort of 'leadership' that we would hope to see from our sports stars.

Matthew Turner wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:26 pm

I think it is worth quoting what Nakamura said

"If there is indeed a hard lockdown in Latvia starting in a few days, out of respect for Latvians suffering with Covid and for the health and safety of myself and my trainer, I will not be competing in the Grand Swiss chess tournament in Riga."

Purely for the record, I quote the following comment from Emil Sutovsky on Twitter:

"I find a "respect for locals" discourse misplaced as Latvian government supports the event."

https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1 ... 6984983558

"The Latvian government has confirmed that international top-level sports events are allowed to be held during the monthlong lockdown that was announced earlier this week. The 2021 FIDE @Chesscom Grand Swiss Tournament and Women's Grand Swiss will go ahead as planned."

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:55 pm

Matthew Turner wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:26 pm

I think it is worth quoting what Nakamura said

"If there is indeed a hard lockdown in Latvia starting in a few days, out of respect for Latvians suffering with Covid and for the health and safety of myself and my trainer, I will not be competing in the Grand Swiss chess tournament in Riga."

Purely for the record, I quote the following comment from Emil Sutovsky on Twitter:

"I find a "respect for locals" discourse misplaced as Latvian government supports the event."

Naka's somewhat controversial take on the situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xouk7IQeSU