As the world goes through a global health crisis, chess stands out as a unique sport that has successfully resurfaced online to bring together professionals, amateurs, and fans around the world. Besides, chess can serve as an excellent platform for charity and collaboration.
At the initiative of the tournament participants, the Chess Federation of Russia and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation will co-support the first charity online tournament that will feature the country's strongest grandmasters. The event is scheduled to take place in mid-May.
The prize pool will be shared among regional hospitals and health workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. The participants will determine beforehand the amount and recipients of the donation, depending on the needs of a particular institution. The entire prize fund is distributed equally among the regions, regardless of the final standings.
The dates of the Play for Russia Charity Tournament are announced: the event will be held on May 12-14.
The charity tournament features a stellar lineup:
Vladimir Kramnik (Krasnodar Krai)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Bryansk Oblast)
Alexander Grischuk (Moscow)
Sergey Karjakin (Crimea)
Peter Svidler (St. Petersburg)
Evgeny Tomashevsky (Saratov Oblast)
Ernesto Inarkiev (Caucasus)
Alexander Riazantsev (Ural and Siberia).
It will be a double round-robin event featuring 5 minutes per game plus a 2-second increment per move. The GMs will first play the round-robin part to reveal the strongest four to qualify into a knockout play-off.
Tournament Schedule:
May 12 – first half (7 rounds)
May 13 – second half (7 rounds)
May 14 - semifinals and a final.
Games start at 3 p.m. Moscow time.
The prize pool will be shared among regional hospitals and health workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. The participants will determine beforehand the amount and recipients of the donation, depending on the needs of a particular health institution. The entire prize fund is distributed equally among the regions, regardless of the final standings.
2,505,000 rubles have been donated so far.
The tournament is supported by the Ramax group of companies. Match TV, media partner of the tournament, will provide the coverage and live broadcast. The tournament will be played on Lichess.org, one of the most popular gaming platforms.
We invite all chess lovers to support this event!
Official information and details for bank transfers
press release by Russian Chess Federation
The 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik gave an interview to Alexey Dospekhov, an observer of the Kommersant newspaper:
- Of course, we've discussed the current situation with fellow chess players and decided to organize a charity event. For well-known reasons, there are no sporting competitions at the moment. Chess is one of the few sports, which can exist even in the present circumstances. There are quite a lot of online tournaments going on. But we wanted to organize not a commercial but a purely charitable competition.
Our country is big and it is difficult to help everybody. Nevertheless, we want to do everything in our hands. So, we've concluded that big cities and regional centres are doing more or less all right. But the situation in outlying regions is often much worse. In general, we want to help hospitals and doctors with protective suits, equipment, medicines and so on. This is how the tournament appeared.
Vladimir Kramnik's interview in Kommersant (in Russian)
CFR President Andrey Filatov:
- Cooperation and help are very important in these times. I am very glad that the Russian chess players came up with such a wonderful initiative and will practically support the doctors, who are working in an emergency mode and fighting the virus on the frontline. This tournament will not only become a bright event for the chess amateurs, but also an essential social activity. I wish the best of luck to our grandmasters!
