Dear Antwerp, thank you for the great memories of the World University Championship Mind Sports!
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The 2022 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports has come to an end and its champions are known.
In the men’s category Arash Daghli from Iran managed to keep his half-point lead over the other players, although he certainly had to fight for it. His fellow Iranian and opponent Mahdi Gholami Orimi could still win the title if he beat Arash, followed by an interesting and sharp game that saw Mahdi attacking from the beginning. However, after Dimitris Alexakis lost on board 2, Arash was certain that a draw would be sufficient to get the world title and he could play safely against his teammate. In the end Mahdi didn’t manage to force a win and Arash secured the world title with a draw against his opponent.
Where Arash was the clear favorite to win the men’s title, it was anyone’s guess who would grasp the women’s title. No less than eleven players still had a chance to end up with a (tied) first place. It is no wonder then that all of the top boards saw great attacking play from both sides. After a couple of hours, it seemed like Fiona Sieber and Katarzyna Dwilewicz had the best chances of ending up on top. When Fiona won her game, it was up to Katarzyna to tie for the first place with her. However, Katarzyna’s opponent Anastasia Avramidou proved her worth and managed to neutralize Katarzyna’s advantage. A draw was agreed, leaving one player ahead of the pack. As a result, Fiona Sieber goes home with the women’s World University Champion title.
The winners of classical chess and blitz chess competition were awarded at the Official Awarding Ceremony.
Women’s Classical Chess Champions:
Men’s Classical Chess Champions:
TEAM Classical Chess Podium:
(including 3 best players)
Women’s Blitz Chess Champions:
Men’s Blitz Chess Champions:
TEAM Blitz Chess Podium:
(including 3 best players)
During this tournament, no less than 5 players have achieved a norm needed to obtain a higher FIDE title.
The following two men achieved a norm to obtain the title of FIDE International Master:
The following three women achieved a norm to obtain the title of FIDE Women International Master
Congratulations to all winners!
There is only one round left to determine the winners of the chess competition.
In the men’s tournament, Arash Daghli (FM) from Iran had taken the lead. Thanks to the suprising defeat of Dimitrios Alexis (IM) to Igor Janik (GM) in the Round 7, Arash became the only undefeated player remaining in the men’s tournament with a stunning score of 6/7.
In the round 7 on the board 7 between Karas Marek (FM) and Gatineau Yovann (IM), both players were roughly equal in strength. Their match took longer then 5 hours and 124 moves. At the end both players were tired, and Marek made a mistake by not exchanging his bishop for a knight. In the end, Yovann checkmated his opponent with two knights against a pawn.
In the women’s tournament after Thursday’s rounds 6 and 7 on Thursday, they made it exciting for the round 8 with five of them tied with an equel number of points 5/9.
The round 8 saw draws on all of the top boards. However, this has a different effect on the women’s and the men’s tournament. In the men’s tournament Arash Daghli is still on his own in pole position with 6,5/8. Dimitris Alexis from Greece and Mahdi Orimi from Iran are still in close pursuit with only half a point less. But if Arash wins round 9, he is guaranteed to get the world title!
The situation couldn’t be different in the women’s section. No less than six players are all tied for the first place! Three of these players are Polish, but they are joined by players from Greece, Germany and Hungary. Round 9 will decide which country gets to take home the title.
Today we reached the 5th round and with it the halfway point of the tournament. Poland is establishing itself as one of the dominant countries of the tournament. Both in the men’s and women’s category a Polish player is tied for the first place, with more players closely following. The games on the top boards are complemented by players from Germany, Singapore, Hungary and Iran. For the second half of the tournament these countries will be the ones to beat.
After five classical chess rounds, the World University Blitz Championship, was organized. While some players elected to skip the tournament to recuperate, a total of 52 players competed in this tournament. As is usual the blitz tournament provided some very exciting games. In the end it was Sliwicka Alicja from Poland, who won the women’s section with 6,5/9. The Singaporean grandmaster Jingyao Tin claimed the men’s title with a stunning score of 7,5/9!
Men’s Blitz Champions:
1 Tin Jingyao (SGP)
2 Janik Igor (POL)
3 Daghli Arash (IRI)
Women’s Blitz Champions:
1 Sliwicka Alicja (POL)
2 Kucharska Honorata (POL)
3 Alinasab Mobina (IRI)
Day 3 brought changes to the top of the standings on the bridge side of the event.
Two Polish teams now occupy the podium position on first and third, with France sandwiched between them.
New tournament leaders, Poland 2, benefitted from Thailand’s worse results, but also marked their superiority over them with a convincing direct victory.
Meanwhile, the first Polish team and France were able to catch up by confidently beating both teams from Uganda, even despite the French loss to the Czech Republic.
German team is not far away from podium and these teams are expected to fight for the medals tomorrow, on the final day of the tournament.
To conclude an eventful day, the customary speedball pairs tournament took place. Berat Unver from Turkey and Mihailo Simic from Serbia came out on top, followed by Yu-Chih Lin from Taipei with Muhammed Furkan Eker from Turkey and an all-French pair of Wilhelmine Schlumberger and Romeric Guth.
Competitions of the 2022 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports kicked off this morning.
The symbolic first move of the 1st round of the Women’s chess competition was played by the Vice-president of FISU Uganda Peninnah Aligawesa Kabenge. The symbolic first move in Men’s Chess was made by the Championship President, Koenraad Keignaert at the beginning of the 2nd Round.
All accreditated players were present at the chess competition on time. The competition started without any problems and went smoothly.
There was quiet exceptional game of the first round, in which player Anna Christina Du Plessis from South Africa with much lower rating (1586) playing black pieces won against stronger with rating 2196.
The second round proved to be just as exciting as the first. As the tournament progresses the level gap between the players becomes smaller. Even so we still saw some great draws by players with several hundreds of elos less than their opponents, with the Ugandian player Mark Nyola (1680) even beating his much higher rated opponent.
Considering that many players participating in the Championship have titles, the level of games is quite high.
As the last games are being finished, only five women and eight men are left with a perfect score after the first day of competition. Today showed that not even a grandmaster is certain to win every game, so tomorrow may bring even more surprises!
The bridge competition kicked off with Taipei 1 and Taipei 2 on the BBO livestream. Taipei 2 took a very good start but Taipei 1 fought themselves back into the game. It was exciting till the end but an aggresive opening decided the game.
The last round of the first day was played by Belgian Youngster (Sam Verstuyft and Kobe Wees) against Thailand (Thanathat Dechakulkamjorn – Akaraphon Jantaraphum) in the closed room. All were very kind and still in good spirits. Thailand was (and still is) in the lead. The Belgians try to climb up in the ranking, but it was not easy against this good team!
Fair play and a good atmosphere were present during the games as always as youngsters are competing each other.
Find selection of photos here.
Welcome Chess players of the 2022 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports:
♟️ 71 Players from 15 countries
33 Women:
38 Men:
Download the list of FISU Mind Sports 2022 Chess players
Welcome 15 countries participating in the Chess Tournament of the 2022 Antwerp FISU World University Championship:
Welcome 11 countries participating in the Bridge Tournament of the 2022 Antwerp FISU World University Championship:
The 2022 FISU Mind Sports Championship will take place in the heart of the University of Antwerp City Campus in the Hof van Liere building.
Chess competitions will be held on the first floor of the building. Bridge players will compete on the second floor.
The beautiful 16th-century Hof van Liere and the adjacent historic buildings, which were constructed by the Jesuits in the 17th century, are an oasis of calm in the bustling city centre.
The central Hof Van Liere, on the University of Antwerp’s Stadscampus, belongs to Antwerp’s cultural-historical patrimony. The regal building was built in 1516, commissioned by the Mayor of Antwerp at that time, Aert van Liere. Antwerp was on the threshold of its ‘golden’ 16th century, a fact that is evidenced by this beautiful building in the Brabant Gothic style.
Check out the interiors of the convention halls on the website of the University of Antwerp: www.uantwerpen.be
FISU Technical Chair Chess Lukasz Turlej (Poland) visited the WUC 2022 Mind Sports venue, the University of Antwerp’s Hof van Liere and met with Geert Bailleul (president of the Belgian Royal Chess Federation) and Nils Van de Velden (event coordinator, University of Antwerp). All is looking great to welcome the world’s top student chess (and bridge) players in Antwerp in september!
Students were playing chess at the University of Antwerp and following the games of the FIDE World Chess Championship Dubai 2021 live on chess24.
Today was a memorable moment: Magnus Carlsen completed his fifth successful world championship match, winning his Dubai title defence. He just proved that he is the best chess player in the world.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the governing body of the sport of chess, and it regulates all international chess competitions.
FIDE is the partner of the 2022 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports. The FISU chess competitions shall be organized in accordance with the most recent technical regulations of FIDE.
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