Page 3 - Garrison Library News Today

The "Battle of the Sexes" was a ten-round Scheveningen match between ten male and ten female players that was played from 24 January to 3rd February in Gibraltar. The men won 53-47, and looking back on the match, Irina Bulmaga (pictured), who commentated the games live in Gibraltar, wonders if and why the men were better at team-building and what this match says about women's chess. | Photo: David Llada

It's Gibraltar, so they clearly know how to rock on. The hugely popular annual chess festival on the little spot of Britain at the mouth of the Mediterranean was called off last year because of COVID-19, and tournament sponsors had to scramble again this year because the Caleta Hotel, the longtime venue for the event, has just closed for a three-year renovation.

The final round (ten) of the Battle of the Sexes match-tournament, held at Gibraltar, saw the men’s team win by 6½-3½ to finish overall winners by 53-47. The winners on the final day were Bobby Cheng, who beat Jovi Houska; Ravi Haria, who beat Olga Girya; and Bilel Bellahcene, who defeated Marie Sebag (her only loss of the event). Balazs Csonka drew his game with Marsel Efroimski and this was enough to secure his second grandmaster norm.

The #GibChess Battle of the Sexes reached its halfway point at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Friday 28 January with a tense 5-5 draw in round five, with the women having White on all boards. The women thus still lead the men by a single point, with 25½ points to the men’s 24½. The match is beautifully poised for a tense second half when play resumes on Sunday | Report and photos by John Saunders

After two tough rounds in which they were heavily defeated, the men’s team fought back with a vengeance in round three of the #GibChess Battle of the Sexes Tournament and won by the impressive margin of 7-3 in this men versus women classical chess event, played at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Wednesday 26 January. The match score is thus now 16-14 in favour of the women but with the men close behind with a long way to go. | Report and photos by John Saunders

Round two on Tuesday 25 January of the #GibChess "Battle of the Sexes" in Gibraltar, a ten-round Scheveningen match between ten male and ten female players, proved to be an exact repeat of the medicine dished out by the women to the men in round one - a 6½-3½ drubbing for the male sex. John Saunders reports, with a description of the games and interesting video interviews with the players. | Photos: John Saunders

GIBRALTAR is capitalising on the huge success of the movie, ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, by showcasing female talent in the world of chess with a Battle of the

The opening ceremony of the #GibChess Battle of Sexes Chess Match-Tournament, to be held at the Garrison Library, 24 January to 3 February 2022, took place at the Garrison Library at 6pm on Sunday 23 January 2022 in the presence of the Hon. Dr John Cortes, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change and Education, and Dr Jennifer Ballantine, Director of the Gibraltar Garrison Library, which is hosting the event.

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.

For the past eighteen years the Gibraltar International Chess Festival has been held in the Caleta Hotel. But the organisers have found an ideal replacement: Gibraltar’s historic Garrison Library. The 2022 event, #GibChess, is entitled "Battle of the Sexes Match-Tournament" and takes place from Monday 24 January until Thursday 3 February 2022.