Hybrid Chess celebrates its debut

by Stefan Löffler
2/25/2021 – Necessity is the mother of invention! Since the Corona crisis has limited travel possibilities, and many people don't want to play only online blitz and rapid chess, hybrid chess was created. On February 21 and February 22, the four cities of Barcelona, Malmö, Oslo and Bratislava played the first official Hybrid Chess tournament, the Hybrid Cities Cup. Almost like the old days...
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Barcelona wins first official Hybrid Chess tournament

Hybrid Chess is a new form of referee-supervised competition that has recently been officially recognised by FIDE and that is Elo-rated. The players are in public places, but the games are played over the internet. Last weekend, the first official and FIDE-rated Hybrid Chess tournament took place.

Teams from four cities played matches on four boards with classical time control. The increment was 35 seconds instead of the usual 30 seconds as the players had to make the moves for their opponents on their own board. Electronic DGT boards were used and the games were played online on Lichess. Eleven grandmasters took part and all of them were asked to answer a questionnaire.

Axel Smith, Swedish Grandmaster and climate activist, calculated that the carbon footprint of the hybrid event was more than 93% less than if one city had hosted the event while the other three teams would have flown to that city.

The winning team from Barcelona (GMs Edouard, Alvar, Peralta, Narciso Dublan and Moskalenko) played from the office of the Catalan Chess Federation, Bratislava from the Mayor's Palace, Malmö from the Hipp Theatre and Oslo from the Offerspill Chess Club, founded in 2019 by Magnus Carlsen.

For 2020, the Catalan Chess Federation had planned a hybrid open with tournament venues worldwide, but due to the second wave of the pandemic this tournament had to be cancelled. The chess industry news site ChessTech.org promotes the concept of hybrid chess, and it also coordinated the pioneering event in collaboration with the Catalan Chess Federation, the Slovak Chess Federation, Sigeman Chess Malmö and the Offerspill Chess Club Oslo.

A second Hybrid Cities Cup is planned for March 13 and March 14, to build on the experience of the first event. Organisers who have a safe venue and a 2400+ rated team are welcome to apply. 

Final standings

Rg. Team  Tb1 
1 Barcelona 6
2 Bratislava 3
3 Malmö 2
4 Oslo 1

Games

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.e3 Bb7 6.Bd3 Ne4 7.Qc2 f5 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.Nd2 Qh4 11.f3 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Nc6 13.Rae1 Na5 14.c5 Kh8 15.c4 Nc6 16.Qb2 Rae8 17.Bc3 Qe7 18.Kh1 Nd8 19.Bb4 Nc6 20.Ba3 d6 21.e4 fxe4 22.Rxe4 Nd8 23.cxd6 cxd6 24.d5 Bc8 25.Rfe1 e5 26.f4 Qh4 27.Bxd6 Rxf4 28.Bxe5 Kg8 29.Qb5 Re7 30.d6 Re6 31.g3 Rxe4 32.Bxe4 Qh5 33.d7 Bb7 34.Bxb7 Nxb7 35.Qd5 Nd8 36.Bc3 Qf7 37.Kg2 Rxe1 38.Bxe1 Qe6 39.g4 h6 40.Bh4 g5 41.Bg3 Kf7 42.Bb8 b5 43.Qxe6+ Kxe6 44.cxb5 Normal 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pechac,J2507Johansson,L24861–02021E12Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.1
Hauge,L2483Sahidi,S2407½–½2021C24Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.2
Kostolansky,S2393Nilsen,J24181–02021B27Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.3
Ranaldi,L2333Jablonicky,M22870–12021E63Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.4
Edouard,R2614Hillarp Persson,T2543½–½2021E60Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.1
Smith,A2452Alonso Rosell,A25640–12021A06Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.2
Narciso Dublan,M2520Ahlander,B23951–02021B23Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.3
Brynell,S2421Moskalenko,V2478½–½2021A40Hybrid Cities Cup 0011.4
Christiansen,J2612Hillarp Persson,T2543½–½2021B96Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.1
Smith,A2452Urkedal,F2568½–½2021A28Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.2
Johansson,L2486Ahlander,B2395½–½2021D35Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.3
Brynell,S2421Ranaldi,L2333½–½2021E18Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.4
Pechac,J2507Edouard,R2614½–½2021A61Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.1
Alonso Rosell,A2564Druska,J2495½–½2021A07Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.2
Sahidi,S2407Peralta,F25540–12021A46Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.3
Moskalenko,V2478Kostolansky,S2393½–½2021E27Hybrid Cities Cup 0012.4
Moskalenko,V2478Kostolansky,S2593½–½2021Continued game2.4
Edouard,R2614Christiansen,J2612½–½2021E32Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.1
Urkedal,F2568Alonso Rosell,A25640–12021D38Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.2
Peralta,F2554Johansson,L24861–02021E44Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.3
Ranaldi,L2333Narciso Dublan,M2520½–½2021D12Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.4
Hillarp Persson,T2543Pechac,J25070–12021A07Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.1
Sahidi,S2407Smith,A2452½–½2021A07Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.2
Ahlander,B2395Kostolansky,S23931–02021E54Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.3
Jancovic,P2297Brynell,S2421½–½2021E12Hybrid Cities Cup 0013.4

Links

Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

Stefan Löffler writes the Friday chess column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and succeeds Arno Nickel as editor of the Chess Calendar. For ChessBase the International Master reports from his adopted country Portugal.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.