The Guardian Weekly

CHESS

Leonard Barden

Alireza Firouzja, the brilliant 18-year-old who jumped to world No 2 last autumn, is back in action after a mysterious five-month absence from competitive play. The former Iranian, who now represents France, is one of four GMs using the Superbet Classic in Bucharest as a warmup for next month’s Candidates in Madrid.

Round one at Bucharest included the pairing Fabiano Caruana v Firouzja, the two prime favourites for the Candidates. No fireworks,

just a cautious 29-move draw by repetition.

England’s chess children claimed a record 14-medal haul when the island of Rhodes hosted the European Schools age group championships followed

3814 Peter Roberson v MirceaEmilian Parligras, 4NCL 2022. White to move and win. How did the English IM defeat the Romanian GM?

by the Fide World Rapid and World Blitz youth championships. Seven golds, one silver and six bronzes put England second in the medal table.

Two seven-year-olds were both multiple winners. Kushal Jakhria won two golds and a bronze, while Bodhana Sivanandan scored a triple gold and won all 24 games she played.

England’s girls won five of the seven golds, as the English Chess Federation’s campaign to attract more female participants gathers momentum.

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