Category Archives: Tournaments

Reykjavik Open 2011 – round 1

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The 1st round was an easy one for the higher rated opponents. Here are the top 10 results of round 1:

1 1 GM McShane Luke J 1 – 0 WIM Sahl Sheila Barth 83
2 84 Rothe Guido 0 0 – 1 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2
3 3 GM Gustafsson Jan 1 – 0 WIM Agrest Inna 85
4 86 Burrows Martin P 0 – 1 GM Sokolov Ivan 4
5 5 GM Adly Ahmed 1 – 0 Duchrow Oliver 87
6 88 Van der Plas Rob 0 – 1 GM Kuzubov Yuriy 6
7 7 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig 1 – 0 WIM Andersson Christin 89
8 90 FM Bjornsson Tomas 0 – 1 GM Hansen Sune Berg 8
9 9 GM Chatalbashev Boris 1 – 0 Maack Kjartan 92
10 93 WFM Guindy Esmat 0 – 1 GM Baklan Vladimir 10

A game from live ones caught my attention as not every day you see a nice miniature!

Another game was a King’s Indian – four pawns variation where Black sacrifices an exchange to get control over the center and ruin the pawn structure on the kingside.

Top 10 pairings of 2nd round

1 IM Tiller Bjorn – GM McShane Luke J
2 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij – FM Ariel Donny
3 GM Thorhallsson Throstur – GM Gustafsson Jan
4 GM Sokolov Ivan – IM Devereaux Maxim L
5 FM Sveshnikov Vladimir – GM Adly Ahmed
6 GM Kuzubov Yuriy – IM Milliet Sophie
7 IM Arngrimsson Dagur – GM Hammer Jon Ludvig
8 GM Hansen Sune Berg – FM Johannesson Ingvar Thor
9 IM Sareen Vishal – GM Chatalbashev Boris
10 GM Baklan Vladimir – FM Getz Nicolai

Official website is http://skaksamband.is

Reykjavik Open 2011

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This very strong open event starts today. No pairings yet but the first 50 players list looks very impressive

1 GM McShane Luke J ENG 2683
2 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij UKR 2670
3 GM Gustafsson Jan GER 2647
4 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2643
5 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2640
6 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2627
7 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2606
8 GM Hansen Sune Berg DEN 2603
9 GM Baklan Vladimir UKR 2602
10 GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2602
11 GM Miton Kamil POL 2600
12 GM Pelletier Yannick SUI 2593
13 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2586
14 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2580
15 GM Halkias Stelios GRE 2579
16 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2578
17 GM Hess Robert L USA 2565
18 IM Nyzhnyk Illya UKR 2563
19 GM Stefansson Hannes ISL 2557
20 GM Steingrimsson Hedinn ISL 2554
Continue reading →

The 6th Women’s FIDE Grand Prix in Doha – round 4

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The current leader of the event, Danielian won a very fighting game vs Dzagnidze. While White’s attack didn’t go anywhere, Black marched her pawns forward to open the position of the King. After King’s position got open, she invaded with both rooks and won the R. Here is the game:

Xu Yuhua played a nice Sicilian game where in the middlegame she used two main factors – the weak back rank and the B pair.

Zhu Chen started an interesting attack on the kingside but at the same time her King remained in the center. All was ok until Black managed to open the position up and win a pawn. Then Sebag started exchanging everything (usually the best strategy, unless there is a clear attack!) and went into a winning pawn endgame which she easily won.

Mkrtchian-Chiburdanidze. At first, white was a little bit better but 11.Nxe4 is what probably spoiled her position. 11.Be3 was much better in my opinion. Then Black won a pawn and although white had the B pair, it wasn’t working well. Black easily exchanged the lightsquare Bs and more pieces later and got into a winning endgame (again, the best way!).

Koneru-Stefanova. This game looked pretty equal all the time. Black equalized in the opening, white later created a passed pawn which was quite weak. Then Black exchanged her a6-pawn was the passed d-pawn, some more exchanges followed and it became difficult to play for a win.

Fierro-Cramling. Very unusual opening where Black didn’t have many problems due to fine development, open center and half open f-file. Lots of pieces were exchanged on moves 12 to 19 and it looked like an equal position where still some fight can be in sight due to white’s pawns on light squares. But white managed to exchange everything and get into a Q endgame where it finished in a perpetual.

Results of round 4

GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 0 – 1 GM Danielian Elina 2454
GM Xu Yuhua 2484 1 – 0 IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2410
IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2475 0 – 1 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2502
GM Zhu Chen 2495 0 – 1 GM Sebag Marie 2489
GM Koneru Humpy 2607 ½ – ½ GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2546
IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2363 ½ – ½ GM Cramling Pia 2516

Pairings of round 5

GM Cramling Pia 2516 – GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550
GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2546 – IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2363
GM Sebag Marie 2489 – GM Koneru Humpy 2607
GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2502 – GM Zhu Chen 2495
IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2410 – IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2475
GM Danielian Elina 2454 – GM Xu Yuhua 2484

53rd Reggio Emilia 2010-11

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The 53rd “Torneo di Capodanno” starts today! The participants are:

Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2754
Movsesian, Sergei SLO 2723
Navara, David CZE 2722
Gashimov, Vugar AZE 2719
Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2715
Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2702
Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP 2697
Short, Nigel ENG 2690
Onischuk, Alexander USA 2688
Godena, Michele ITA 2548

The rest day is on the 1st of January.

Pairings of the 1st round:

Short Nigel – Gashimov Vugar
Morozevich Alexander – Navara David
Caruana Fabiano – Ivanchuk Vassily
Vallejo Pons Francisco – Godena Michele
Onischuk Alexander – Movsesian Sergei

You can find more news about the event on http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/twic.html or on the official website – http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it/tablaGeneral.asp?iTorneoIppogrifo=25