Chess (#1201)

The European chess championships is always one of those tough events with a massive number of strong GMs in the fray. This year's event, the 17th edition, is being held in Gjakova, Kosovo. The field includes players from 39 nations. The list is topped by 5 GMs rated over 2700 and there are a total of 103 GMs in the field.

Apart from money, the European championships qualifies players for the World Cup. Ivan Saric of Croatia was the sole leader with 5.5 from 6 games before he lost to Ernesto Inarkiev in Rd 7. Inarkiev and David Navara share the lead (both 7). There have been a total of 500 decisive games, versus just 182 draws, which gives you an idea about the intensity.

Incidentally some parties with strong links to chess also feature in the Panama Papers. Two companies registered in the British Virgin islands, Chess Lane and Chess News Agency. Chess Lane have FIDE connections. These were founded by two brothers Ziyavudin and Mohammed Magomedov, who are from Dagestan, an autonomous republic within Russia. Israeli businessman and FIDE's CEO of Development, David Kaplan is also associated with Chess Lane and Chess News Agency.

Anatoly Karpov is listed as a director in a Cyprus-based company , Indiforth. Karpov is a smart investor and a millionaire many times over. He has also been a member of Parliament for United Russia, (Vladimir Putin's party). He claims this listing is a mistake (not impossible since "Anatoly" and "Karpov" are common Russian names). Intriguingly the late Bobby Fischer was also listed. He held a power of attorney over a company called Kettering Associates, in 2007.

Being associated with an offshore company is of course, no sign of criminality. The Fide President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov faces more serious accusations. He was sanctioned in 2015 by the US Treasury Department for links with Bashar al-Assad. The Russian Financial Alliance Bank, in which Ilyumzhinov has a stake, was dealing with the Syrian government.

The Diagram, White to Play ( White: Nepomniachtchi Vs Black: Sjugirov, Sochi Russian Teams 2016) features a freakish idea. The game started 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4 Be7 6.d4 0-0 7.Bd3 Ng5 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Bxg5 Bxg5. Diagram

White played 10.Bxh7+! Kxh7 11.h4!! - This is weird but it works. [11...Bxh4 12.Qd3+ Kg8 13.Rxh4 f5 or 11...Bh6 12.Ng5+ Qxg5 (12...Bxg5? 13.hxg5+ Kg8 14.Qxg4) 13.hxg5 Bxd1 14.Rxd1! are both very good for white]

Black tried 11...Bd2+ 12.Qxd2 Re8+ 13.Kf1 Bxf3 14.Qd3+! Kg8 15.Qxf3. Now White is up a pawn with a better position. He won (1-0, 32 moves). Teenaged GM, Daniil Dubov found the Bxh7, H4 idea and shared it with Ian Nepomniachtchi, who thanked him publicly and profusely.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player