Round one of the #GibChess Battle of the Sexes Tournament, held at the Gibraltar Garrison Library on Monday 24 January, got off to a pulsating start as the team of women’s players, dubbed "Team Pia" after their captain, GM Pia Cramling, scored a big win over "Team Sabino", as the men’s team is now known, with four of the ten women’s players scoring wins against their male adversaries, with only one male player able to win in reply. The first player to win a game was Olga Girya (pictured) who defeated Joe Gallagher in a King's Indian. | Photos: John Saunders
At the end of 2013, a match facing chess legends from the 20th century against young female talented players was organized in Podebrady, the Czech Republic. A 20-year-old Alina Kashlinskaya was the top scorer in the winning team of the Snowdrops, while Boris Gulko and Iossif Dorfman were the strongest for the Oldhands.
With the Tata Steel Masters kicking off next Saturday, chess aficionados are set to enjoy another year of elite tournaments. Besides the traditional event in Wijk aan Zee, a tournament with a new format will take place in Gibraltar, while the first two legs of the FIDE Grand Prix will be played in close succession in February.
By John Saunders
One of the ideas behind Gibraltar tournament organiser Brian Callaghan’s forthcoming #GibChess Battle of the Sexes – a Scheveningen-format match-tournament between two teams of ten men and ten women, 23 January - 3 February 2.
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