SCO draughts

In June 2023 a prestigious tournament of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was played in Ufa. There were players from 14 countries including Russia, Brazil, India, China, Mongolia, Iran and Turkey. According to the website the draughts federations of the SCO and BRICS countries have recently formed an association with the headquarter in Ufa.

The rapid tournament was won by Alexander Georgiev with 37 points before Alexei Chizhov with 36 and Ainur Shaibakov with 31 points. The games were covered live, and the daily videos with comments from among others Andrei Kalmakov can be found on the website http://scodraughts.online.

The winners — The top three of the rapid tournament Chizhov, Georgiev and Shaibakov.

Below a few highlights of the tournament can be found.

Silva Allan - Chizhov Alexey 1-1

Instead of 46.34-29 white could have made an immediate draw using the combination ≡ 46.47-41! 36x47 47.34-29 23x34 48.30x39 47x29 49.28-23 19x28 50.32x1.

Valjuk Andrej - Naraliyev Aibek 2-0

32.38-32? White fails to decide the game using the elegant combination ≡ 32.24-19! 14x23 33.25-20 15x24 34.35-30 24x35 35.44-40 35x33 36.38x18 12x23 37.47-41 36x38 38.43x3.

Li Zhenyu - Tserenbyamba Erdembileg 2-0

16.43-39? White missed the hidden combination ≡ 16.37-31! 26x39 17.38-33 39x28 18.29-23 18x29 19.34x5.

Huseynov Farhad - Tsogtbaatar Sukhbat 2-0

13-18? 32.33-28! and black resigned due to ≡ 33.28-22 17x28 34.27-21 26x17 35.38-33 29x38 36.42x4 W+

Chizhov Alexey - Huseynov Farhad 2-0

After 20-24? Chizhov forced a nice win using 39.39-34! 12-18 40.40-35! and black has no more moves, e.g. 9-14? 41.27-22 18x27 42.32x21 16x27 43.35-30 24x35 44.45-40 35x44 45.43-39 44x33 46.38x20 W+ In the game black sacrificed a piece with ≡ 24-30 and lost the game.

Li Zhenyu - Chizhov Alexey 0-2

33.21-17? 12x21! 34.26x6 18-22 35.28x17 19-23 36.29x18 13x11 37.6x17 24-30 38.35x24 20x49 and white resigned.

Georgiev Alexander - Huseynov Farhad 2-0

With 36.33-29! Georgiev attempts to strangle the black center, and this strategy turns out to be very successful. 13-19 37.35-30 2-8 It was better to keep the position open with the exchange ≡ 14-20 38.25x14 19x10. ≡ 38.43-38 8-13(?) The black player aims for a frontal clash, but this is definitely better for white. 39.38-33! 1-7 40.49-44! 27-32? The decisive mistake. With ≡ 7-11 41.44-40 28-32 42.40-35 23-28 43.48-43 11-16 44.47-41 16-21! 45.43-38 32x43 46.39x48 28x39 47.34x43 19-23 48.43-38 23x34 49.30x39 18-23 black has enough counterplay for his ugly right wing. ≡ 41.44-40 7-11 42.40-35 14-20 43.25x14 19x10 44.30-24 32-38 45.33x42 28-32 46.48-43 22-27 47.31x22 17x28 48.47-41 and black resigned.

Georgiev Alexander - Zeng Qianrang 1-1

After 46.50-44? 13-19! 47.29-24 19x30 48.25x34 11-17 black managed to survive this precarious situation. The winning move for white was ≡ 46.29-24! Then 11-16? is relatively hopeless for black after the logical moves 47.50-44 2-7 48.44-39 7-11 49.39-34 11-17 50.34-29 17-21 (or ≡ 14-19? 51.25-20 19x30 52.29-23 18x29 53.28-22 17x28 54.32x25 W+) ≡ 51.28-23 12-17 52.23x12 17x8 53.24-20 etc. And after ≡ 2-8? white plays 47.28-22!! and the game is practically over, e.g. 11-16 48.24-20 14-19 49.32-28 16-21 50.27x16 18x27 51.28-22 27x18 52.20-15 etc.

Nogovitsyna Matrena - Baptista Evelyn 2-0

26.49-43? With the unusual ≡ 26.28-23 19x39 27.49-43 20x29 28.43x21 white could immediately have won a piece.

Georgiev Alexander - Tserenbyamba Erdembileg 2-0

Georgiev decided the game using the spectacular combination 21.37-31! 26x46 22.27-22 18x27 23.32x21 16x27 24.48-43 46x23 25.34-29 23x34 26.40x16.