Gamelevate.com
  • Esports
    • League of Legends
    • CS:GO
    • Valorant
    • Fortnite
    • Dota 2
    • Overwatch
    • Call of Duty
    • Chess
    • FIFA
  • Gaming
  • Store
  • Reviews
    • Tech Reviews
    • Game Reviews
  • Collegiate
  • Business
  • Company
    • About
    • Affiliates
    • Press Releases
    • Contribute
    • Partners
    • Reprints and Licensing
    • Contact Us
  • league-of-legends
  • fortnite
  • valorant
  • dota-2
  • csgo
  • cs-go-invert
  • call-of-duty
  • overwatch
  • overwatch-invert
  • chess
  • fifa-logo-2
  • fifa-logo-invert
Categories
  • Business
  • Call of Duty
  • Chess
  • Collegiate
  • CS:GO
  • Dota 2
  • FIFA
  • Fortnite
  • Game Reviews
  • Gaming
  • League of Legends
  • Overwatch
  • Press Release
  • Tech Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Valorant
Subscribe
Archives
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
Menu
  • About
  • Affiliates
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • Contact Us
  • Contribute
  • Cookies Policy
  • Homepage
  • My account
  • Partners
  • Press Releases
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprints and Licensing
  • Store
  • Terms of Service
Gamelevate.com
  • Esports
    • League of Legends
    • CS:GO
    • Valorant
    • Fortnite
    • Dota 2
    • Overwatch
    • Call of Duty
    • Chess
    • FIFA
  • Gaming
  • Store
  • Reviews
    • Tech Reviews
    • Game Reviews
  • Collegiate
  • Business
  • Company
    • About
    • Affiliates
    • Press Releases
    • Contribute
    • Partners
    • Reprints and Licensing
    • Contact Us
  • league-of-legends
  • fortnite
  • valorant
  • dota-2
  • cs-go
  • cs-go-invert
  • call-of-duty
  • overwatch
  • overwatch-invert
  • chess
  • fifa-logo-2
  • fifa-logo-invert
  • Chess

Alireza Firouzja wins Grand Swiss to Advance to World Chess Championship Candidates

  • November 7, 2021
  • Pasha Besharaty
Round 11 Win - Firouzja
Credit: International Chess Federation (FIDE)
Total
17
Shares
17
0
0
0
0
0

Iranian-born GM Alireza Firouzja has won the FIDE Grand Swiss Open in Riga, Latvia over a field of more than 100 top international chess grandmasters in the world’s strongest Swiss system tournament. As a result, the young Grandmaster, currently ranked number five in the FIDE world rankings, will advance to the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Italian-born GM Fabiano Caruana, who now plays for the US Chess Federation, also earned a spot in the upcoming Candidates Tournament with a solid second-place showing in Riga.

In a post-tournament interview, Firouzja stated, “these tournaments are very tricky, and I’m happy that it ended well for me.” At 18 years old, Firouzja is the youngest player in the world with a current rating of over 2781. He has been the only teenager ranked in FIDE’s top 15 since March of 2021.

At the age of 12, Firouzja won a gold medal at the Asian Youth Chess Championships, and the Iranian Chess Championship, after which he was promptly awarded the title of International Master. He was then awarded the Grandmaster title after his performance at the Aeroflot Open tournament two years later at 15 years old. The Iranian opted to play under the international FIDE flag in 2019 due to government-related issues in his home country, before joining France’s federation in 2021.

Firouzja vs Caruana Round 9
Credit: International Chess Federation (FIDE)

After a score of 6.5 through 8 rounds (5 wins and 3 draws), Firouzja led the tournament by a full point. In the 9th round, Caruana won a Tal variation of the Caro-Kann defense with the white pieces against Firouzja, who resigned after 54 moves. When asked how tough the tournament was for him, the Iranian stated “I had a very comfortable position until the Fabiano game. After the Fabiano game, it was getting very upsetting because I had a good position out of the opening and managed to lose.”

Firouzja vs Howell Round 10
Credit: International Chess Federation (FIDE)

However, Firouzja bounced back in the next game to defeat English GM David Howell in the 10th round. Howell, who had won each of his previous four games, found an amazing defensive move by the Queen that took Firouzja completely by surprise. This occurred on black’s 31st move but Alireza was able to gather himself and find the only counter to save the game. With both players spending so much time on the opening, they had little time to think through all the resulting complications. Ultimately, Howell made some imprecise calculations and Firouzja was finally able to secure the 57-move comeback victory in a double-bishop endgame.

In the 11th and final round, Firouzja and Russian GM Grigoriy Oparin agreed to a draw after only 28 moves. This draw secured Firouzja’s victory in the Grand Swiss with a total of 8 points out of 11. With this incredibly strong win, he has secured a position in the upcoming Candidates Tournament, where the challenger for the title of World Champion will be decided in an 8-player round-robin.

Many chess fans worldwide consider this to be the next stepping stone towards a great potential rivalry between the young Firouzja and the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, who has reigned as World Champion for eight years. Firouzja’s rapid progress in the last few years has certainly been emblematic of Carlsen’s own rise to the status of number one in the world. Carlson also achieved major international success at a very young age, and he nearly broke Russian GM Garry Kasparov’s record for youngest World Champion ever.

The youngest chess champions are the following:

  1. Garry Kasparov 22 years 6 months 27 days November 9, 1985
  2. Magnus Carlsen 22 years 11 months 24 days November 23, 2013
  3. Mikhail Tal 23 years 5 months 28 days May 7, 1960
  4. Anatoly Karpov 23 years 10 months 11 days April 3, 1975
  5. Vladimir Kramnik 25 years 4 months 10 days November 4, 2000
  6. Emanuel Lasker 25 years 5 months 2 days May 26, 1894

Any rivalry would have to wait for the results of the upcoming FIDE World Chess Championship between Carlsen and Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. This World Championship match will be held from November 24 to December 16, 2021 in Dubai and will have a $2 million prize pool.

The next championship match, after the contest between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi, will take place in 2023. If Firouzja wins the round-robin and the subsequent World Championship match, he would break Kasparov’s record by about two years. Of course, that’s a very tall order for the young Iranian-born French grandmaster who has many more challenges to overcome until the next Candidates tournament begins.

17
0
4
0
Total
17
Shares
Share 17
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Alireza Firouzja
  • Anatoly Karpov
  • Candidates Tournament 2022
  • chess
  • David Howell
  • Emanuel Lasker
  • Fabiano Caruana
  • FIDE Grand Swiss 2021
  • FIDE World Chess Championship 2021
  • Garry Kasparov
  • Grigoriy Oparin
  • ian nepomniachtchi
  • magnus carlsen
  • MIkhail Tal
  • vladimir kramnik
Previous Article
Mercedes SK Gaming
  • Business

SK Gaming and Mercedes-Benz link up for diversity in League of Legends

  • November 6, 2021
  • Mark B. Besharaty
View Post
Next Article
fifa 22 pro
  • FIFA

The Best Fifa 22 Pro Players To Follow This Year

  • November 8, 2021
  • James Metcalfe
View Post
Pasha Besharaty

An avid gamer, Pasha is an accomplished golfer who is currently playing in the Southern California Junior PGA Players Tour. When he is not playing tournament golf, Pasha immerses himself in esports including Overwatch, Chess, and Fortnite.

You May Also Like
World Chess Championship 2023
View Post
  • Chess

The Biggest Prize in Chess: Astana hosts FIDE World Championship 2023 – €2 Million Prize Fund

  • Mark B. Besharaty
  • January 19, 2023
Secretlab Meltwater Chess Tour
View Post
  • Business
  • Chess

Play Magnus Group Partners with Secretlab for the Meltwater Champions Chess Tournament

  • Mark B. Besharaty
  • February 16, 2022
Fide Rapid and Blitz 2021 Winners
View Post
  • Chess

World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2021: Winners and Controversy

  • Mark B. Besharaty
  • December 30, 2021
World Rapid Champions since 2012
View Post
  • Business
  • Chess

FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2021 starts with $1,000,000 prize money

  • Mark B. Besharaty
  • December 26, 2021
View Post
  • Chess

Magnus Carlsen successfully defends World Chess title

  • Kuldeep Thapa
  • December 11, 2021
Magnus Carlsen Mastercard
View Post
  • Chess

Mastercard announce partnership with Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, add Magnus Carlsen as brand ambassador

  • Abhisek Bajaj
  • September 21, 2021
carlsen aimchess
View Post
  • Chess

Magnus Carlsen crushes Vladislav Artemiev to win Aimchess US Rapid 2021

  • Abhisek Bajaj
  • September 10, 2021
Duda FIDE World Cup
View Post
  • Chess

Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins the FIDE World Cup

  • Gamelevate Staff
  • August 7, 2021
Subscribe
Featured Posts
  • Future Stars Promo Fifa 23 1
    Fifa 23 Future Stars Promo: Tokens, Leaks, Predictions, Dates – Are They Worth It?
    • January 30, 2023
  • Caitlyn LoL Guide 2
    Caitlyn LoL Guide: Synergy
    • January 29, 2023
  • LoL Annie Guide 3
    LoL Annie Guide: An Antidote to Low Elo
    • January 29, 2023
  • Overwatch 2 4
    Overwatch 2 Developers Hear Fans and Promise Changes for Season 3
    • January 29, 2023
  • Valorant Lotus City 5
    Unlocking the Secrets of VALORANT’s Lost Lotus City
    • January 28, 2023
Recent Posts
  • Amazon Prime Free Games February
    Spread the Love with Amazon Prime Free Games in February
    • January 27, 2023
  • ChatGPT in Gaming
    Game Changer: How ChatGPT and AI are Transforming Gaming
    • January 27, 2023
  • Cloud9 LoL 2023
    Cloud9 LoL 2023 debut looked impressive
    • January 27, 2023
chess screen
Play Chess
Categories
  • Business
  • Call of Duty
  • Chess
  • Collegiate
  • CS:GO
  • Dota 2
  • FIFA
  • Fortnite
  • Game Reviews
  • Gaming
  • League of Legends
  • Overwatch
  • Press Release
  • Tech Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Valorant
OUR PARTNERS

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Gamelevate.com
  • About
  • Contribute
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Reprints and Licensing
  • Contact Us
  • Partners

Input your search keywords and press Enter.