Traditional chess giveaway tournament held in Moscow

Moskovsky Komsomolets and the Russian Chess Federation held the XXII World Chess Giveaway Championship. In the most frivolous chess competition, in addition to grandmasters and masters, well-known politicians, stars of culture and show business participated. The winner lost all his games and was only happy about it.

Mid April. Warmth and sun returned to Moscow. Saturday morning, Gogolevsky Boulevard and the joyful lightness of the blue sky. I want to joke and smile. Even if you tried hard, it would be difficult to choose a more suitable day for the most frivolous World Chess Championship. More precisely, according to chess giveaways.

In memory of Evgeny Gik

When you hear it for the first time, you are surprised – but do such people exist? Chess is a very serious and intellectual sport that requires silence and hard work of the mind. What kind of jokes and giveaways are there. But at Moskovsky Komsomolets, they have long figured out how to turn the battle for their chess crown into a fun and absolutely not boring competition.

Chess giveaway tournaments began to be held in 1996 on the initiative of Pavel Gusev, editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets, and a well-known chess writer who wrote more than 190 books about chess and other sports, MK journalist Evgeny Gik, who, alas, passed away several years ago . This year marks the 80th anniversary of his birth, and it is quite natural that the championship was dedicated to the memory of the outstanding popularizer of chess.

All previous tournaments were held on April Fool’s Day, April 1, and always gathered representatives of business, politics and sports around the chessboard. For example, composer Vladimir Dashkevich won the championship four times.

This time, MK and the Russian Chess Federation decided to change the date of the championship. Since April 9, our grandmaster Yang Nepomniachtchi has been fighting Chinese chess player Liren Ding for the world title in Astana, Kazakhstan. In the Botvinnik Central House of Chess Players (CDS) there is a fan zone open to everyone, from where live broadcasts are conducted during the games. And when the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov and the President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov came for an interview to the editorial office of MK at the end of March, the idea to hold the XXII World Chess Giveaway Championship at the Central House of Artists in mid-April was quite naturally born. So that its participants can simultaneously enjoy the game of Yang and Liren.

Entrance to the chess kingdom

The heavy doors of the TsDSh open with difficulty. But as soon as you cross the threshold of this legendary historical mansion, you immediately find yourself in a real chess kingdom. Very cozy and very atmospheric. You go up the big stairs to the second floor and you are already in the very epicenter of the championship match in Astana. To the left are the same high and heavy doors to a semi-dark hall, where the games of Nepomniachtchi and Dean are played live by the most famous Russian grandmasters. To the left is a large and equally comfortable living room. In which, in anticipation of the opening of the chess giveaway championship, participants and guests of our traditional tournament gather.

How great his prestige is can be judged by the fact that the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov, the president of the FSR Andrey Filatov, the first deputy editor-in-chief of MK Petr Spektor, the columnist for MK Ilya Legostaev and film director Mikhail Slutsky spoke at the opening.

Andrey Filatov presented flowers to the widow of Yevgeny Gika, Bella, who also delivered a speech thanking everyone for preserving the memory of our wonderful colleague. After the official part, the concert of the ensemble “Genofond” took place, which was listened with smiles on their faces by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov, head of the L.I. Yashin Fund for Social Security of Athletes Gennady Venglinsky, journalist and TV presenter Lev Novozhenov, actors Andrey Sokolov and Ekaterina Strizhenova, grandmasters Sergei Smagin, Mikhail Kobalia, Volodar Murzin, composer Roman Lvovich, songwriter Alexander Shaganov, singer and songwriter Katya Lel and many more, no less famous and popular representatives of the world of politics and art, who attended the chess giveaway championship held in the chess hall of the Central Children’s School on the first floor.

To lose is to win

Surprisingly, you also need to be able to lose at chess! After Alexander Zhukov finished the “warm-up game”, the judging committee announced the pairs of the first round. The rules were very simple – in the course of two matches, you had to quickly lose all your pieces and lose in order to win. Such a chess oxymoron. How difficult it is, the author of the article was able to see from his own experience – after passing the first round, in the second I ran into a professional chess player. And, to his surprise, he ate his opponent’s pieces with a whistle, not having time to come to his senses – the opponent was constantly exposed to a blow. Moreover, in this comic championship the king has no special status and his loss does not lead to the end of the game. It’s more fun to play only “Chapaev”, but there the fingers get tired of clicking on the checkers faster. And here’s something else to think about.

Despite the defeats, everyone was in a cheerful and playful mood. Alexander Zhukov helped Ekaterina Strizhenova, who decided to take part in the championship at the last minute. And the judges did not object to such assistance at all. By the way, Zhukov then played a game with his Duma colleague Boris Chernyshov, which ended with a friendly handshake. The winners, and therefore the losers, returned to the living room to continue their conversation and at the same time discuss the fifth game between Nepomniachtchi and Dean. Yang added to everyone’s good mood on this sunny Saturday afternoon by beating the Chinese to take a 3-2 lead on points.

And who won the giveaway championship? Grandmasters Mikhail Kobalia and Volodar Murzin fought in the final match, having won in the semifinals against Andrey Minkov and Sergey Smagin, respectively. And the victory in the XXII tournament of “MK” and FSR was won by the head coach of the youth team of Russia, grandmaster Kobalia. Once again proving the old and so modern truth in our days that any defeat is ultimately only part of a larger victory.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29012 dated April 17, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Championship reversed