World Amateur Chess Championship
The World Amateur Chess Championship is a tournament organised by FIDE. The world governing body intended to promote amateur chess play by holding championship tournaments linked to the Olympic Games, but only two events were held.
History
The first championship was held the year that FIDE was founded, at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. This is considered the unofficial first Chess Olympiad, and is the only Olympiad that was an individual event. The second championship was held at the 1928 Summer Olympics in The Hague, in conjunction with the 2nd Chess Olympiad.
Chess has never been an official part of the Olympic Games, and since the chess community does not make any essential distinction between amateur and professional[1] the championship was discontinued after 1928. However, in 1995 FIDE has revamped it to celebrate the centenary of the Hastings International Chess Congress[2] and since then has been held annually. The first renewed edition, held concurrently with the 1995/96 Hastings Congress from 28 December 1995 to 5 January 1996, was restricted to not FIDE-rated players.[3] Subsequently, amateur was defined as a player with a FIDE rating below 2000 and not having attained a rating of more than 2000 in the past 2 years. Since 2016, the championship has been split in three rating categories: U-2300, U-2000 and U-1700.
According to the current FIDE regulations, the winner is awarded with the title of FIDE Master (FM), while the runner-up and the bronze medallist receive the Candidate Master (CM) title. Analogously the women's champion receives the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM), silver and bronze medallists in the women's category are granted the title Woman Candidate Master (WCM).[4]
Since 2012, there is another World Amateur Chess Championship, organised by the Amateur Chess Organisation (ACO),[5] which is not recognised by FIDE.[6]
Winners
Year | Dates | Host | Winner(s) | Women's champion(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1924 | 4 May – 27 Jul | Paris | Hermanis Matisons | |
1928 | 17 May – 12 Aug | Amsterdam | Max Euwe | |
1996 | 28 Dec – 5 Jan | Hastings[7] | Brian Johnson[8] | |
1997[9] | 28 Dec – 5 Jan | Hastings | Olev Schults | Catherine Dewitte |
1998[10] | 29 Dec – 11 Jan | Hastings | Viraf Avari | Rosalind Kieran |
1999[11] | 29 Dec – 10 Jan | Hastings | Gaguik Oganessian | Jessie Gilbert |
2000[12] | 29 Dec – 6 Jan | Hastings | Sven Mühlenhaus | Elaine Rutherford[2] |
2001[13] | 27 Dec – 8 Jan | Pamplona | Bismarck Nicolás Chaverra Rojas | Maria Goni |
2001[14] | 6–13 Dec | Bento Gonçalves | Flávio Olivência | Amanda Benggawan |
2002[15] | 13–19 Dec | Bento Gonçalves | Juliano Resende Pereira | Thalita Cincinato |
2003[16] | 2–13 Jul | Tshwane | Shabier Bhawoodien | Daleen Wiid |
2004[17] | 30 Jun – 10 Jul | Cape Town | Farai Mandizha | Jenine Ellappen |
2005[18] | Cancelled | |||
2006[19] | 23 Nov – 3 Dec | Tripoli | Rachid Hifad | Nirmala Chandrasiri |
2007[20] | 11–18 Aug | Predeal | Alexandru Gabriel Duca | Eugenia-Daniela Ghita |
2008[21] | 28 Apr – 6 May | Chalkidiki | Panagiotis Galopoulos | Mitali Patil |
2009[22][23] | 27 Apr – 3 May | Thessaloniki | Stefan Parlog | Efstathia Andrikopoulou |
2010[24][25] | 19–25 Mar | Skokie | Andrew Hubbard | Yun Fan |
2011[26][27] | 1–10 Oct | Antalya | Bilgunn Sumiya | Bayar Anu |
2012[28][29] | 16–22 Apr | Chalkidiki | Haralambos Tsakiris | Laura Perez |
2013[30][31] | 21–30 Apr | Iași | Lehel Vrencian | Bayarsaikhan Yanjinlkham |
2014[32] | 26 Apr – 3 May | Singapore | Gijir Munkhbayar | Chitlange Sakshi |
2015[33] | 14–21 Apr | Chalkidiki | Mire Deniz Doğan | Paula-Alexandra Gitu |
2016[34] | 18–28 Apr | Chalkidiki | Zhuban Bigabylov (U2300) Khulan Enkhsaikhan (U2000) Jatin S.N. (U1700) |
Georgia Grapsa (U2300) Khulan Enkhsaikhan (U2000) Diana Zakharova (U1700) |
2017[35] | 1–9 Apr | Spoleto | Win Tun (U2300) Maciej Koziej (U2000) Hope Mkhumba (U1700) |
Bayarjargal Bayarmaa (U2300) Zainab Saumy (U2000) Vilena Popova (U1700) |
2018[36] | 22–29 Apr | Cagliari | Arvinder Preet Singh (U2300) Kanan Hajiyev (U2000) Batuhan Sutbas (U1700) |
Bayarjargal Bayarmaa (U2300) Elisaveta Chetina (U2000) Vilena Popova (U1700) |
2019 | 29 Jun – 7 Jul | Colima | Omya Vidyarthi (U1700) |
See also
- 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad (Paris 1924)
- 2nd Chess Olympiad (The Hague 1928)
References
- A chess amateur is a player who does not earn a living through chess. Chess amateurs are not restricted in any way: they can win prizes, accept appearance fees, and earn any chess title, including World Champion. In 1935 Max Euwe became the last amateur to win the World Championship. (Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 13)
- Henderson, John (January 2000). "Elaine Rutherford wins World Title". Chess Scotland. Archived from the original on 2017-01-14. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- Hastings Centenary Congress (PDF). The Hastings International Chess Congress. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
- Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 July 2017. FIDE.
- Amateur Chess Organization
- WORLD AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP. FIDE. 2013-11-05
- "Dr Shabier Bhawoodien is World Amateur Champion". FIDE. 2003-07-18.
- FIDE Honours. English Chess Federation.
- The Week in Chess 113
- The Week in Chess 166
- The Week in Chess 218
- [75th Hastings International Chess Congress Bulletin]
- Brasilbase
- Brasilbase
- Brasilbase
- Brasilbase
- World Amateur Championship 2004
- World Amateur Championship 2005
- "Brave schoolgirl is first female world champ". Daily Mirror. 2007-01-02.
- World Amateur Chess Championship
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2008
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2009
- World Amateur Championship 2009
- World Amateur Chess Championships 2010
- Winners of the 2010 World Amateur Chess Championship
- 2011 World Amateur Chess Championship
- 14-year-old wins World Amateur Chess Championship 2011
- World Amateur Championship 2012
- FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2012 crowns new champions
- World Amateur Championships 2013
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2013
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2014
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2015
- World Amateur Chess Championships 2016 – Winners. Chessdom.
- World Amateur Chess Championship 2017
- FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2018
- Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, Hamlyn Publishing Group, p. 18, ISBN 1-55521-394-4
- Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 13, ISBN 0-19-280049-3
- Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, p. 28, ISBN 0-85112-455-0