Reykjavik Open 2011 – round 2

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There were two notable results in round 2 – GM Thorhalsson won against 3rd top seed GM Gustafsson and FM Sveshnikov drew GM Adly.

One game was particularly interesting to those who wonder when to sacrifice, how to continue the attack and how to defend.

And another game where white tried to sacrifice material and get active play while Black was just gathering pawns.

So the question is – how to sacrifice and win?! 🙂 The answer – when you have a good positional foundation for it!

Top 10 results

1 IM Tiller Bjorn 0 – 1 GM McShane Luke J
2 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 1 – 0 FM Ariel Donny
3 GM Thorhallsson Throstur 1 – 0 GM Gustafsson Jan
4 GM Sokolov Ivan 1 – 0 IM Devereaux Maxim L
5 FM Sveshnikov Vladimir ½ – ½ GM Adly Ahmed
6 GM Kuzubov Yuriy 1 – 0 IM Milliet Sophie
7 IM Arngrimsson Dagur 0 – 1 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig
8 GM Hansen Sune Berg 1 – 0 FM Johannesson Ingvar Thor
9 IM Sareen Vishal 0 – 1 GM Chatalbashev Boris
10 GM Baklan Vladimir 1 – 0 FM Getz Nicolai

Top 10 boards of round 3

1 GM McShane Luke J – GM Williams Simon K
2 IM D’amore Carlo – GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij
3 IM Grover Sahaj – GM Sokolov Ivan
4 IM Henrichs Thomas – GM Kuzubov Yuriy
5 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig – IM Berbatov Kiprian
6 IM Sammalvuo Tapani – GM Hansen Sune Berg
7 GM Chatalbashev Boris – IM Ziska Helgi Dam
8 IM Gunnarsson Jon Viktor – GM Baklan Vladimir
9 GM Miton Kamil – Dearing Eddie
10 IM Thorfinnsson Bragi – GM Gupta Abhijeet

Official website – http://skaksamband.is

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 →

Snow in March

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We got snowed in March! I don’t expect you to believe it as it definitely looks like a joke, especially since it is Greece we are talking about but… yes, we are snowed 😀

Here are the photos!

The 6th Women’s FIDE Grand Prix in Doha – round 11

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Koneru managed to beat Zhu Chen in the last round to tie the 1st place with Danielian. Having a better tie-break Koneru was 1st and is going to play Hou Yifan for the women’s world championship title.

Here are the most interesting moments in last round’s games

Results of the last round’s games

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

Standings

1 GM Koneru Humpy 2607 IND 8 41.75
2 GM Danielian Elina 2454 ARM 8 40.25
3 GM Sebag Marie 2489 FRA 7 35.00
4 GM Cramling Pia 2516 SWE 5½ 30.50
5 GM Chiburdanidze Mai 2502 GEO 5½ 26.75
6 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 GEO 5½ 29.25
7 GM Xu Yuhua 2484 CHN 5 24.75
8 IM Munguntuul Batkh 2410 MGL 5 25.75
9 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2475 ARM 4½ 23.50
10 IM Fierro Baquero Ma2363 ECU 4½ 21.00
11 GM Stefanova Antoan2546 BUL 4 23.50
12 GM Zhu Chen 2495 QAT 3½ 17.50