The traditional Serbian Ladies Grandmaster tournament received a special ‘guest’ for its 55th edition. The international chess championship for the first time featured VAR to support referees in complicated game situations.

Video refereeing, little by little, is beginning to have an increasing presence in different chess tournaments. Since its implementation in July 2023, when it was used for the first time in the West Asian Youth Championship, it has been considered as a support for referees to make the best decisions and to quickly analyze controversial movements thanks to recordings and the artificial intelligence present in the VAR.

LIVE STREAMING AND VOD ON idCHESS

In the case of the Ladies Grandmaster, which was held in Belgrade between March 2 and 10 – in round robin format -, in addition to video refereeing, there was also live streaming and VOD on the idChess platform as another of the tournament’s novelties.

“This technology gives guarantees”

“I am happy to have VAR for the first time in Serbia. This technology guarantees fair play in chess,” commented Vladimir Sakotic, organizer of the tournament in statements included on the official website of the International Chess Federation.

Regarding the sports topic, the champion was the Polish Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, followed by the tie for second place by Elif Mehmed from Serbia and Lu Miaoyi from China.