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

The 6th Women’s FIDE Grand Prix in Doha – round 9

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Great day for the white pieces! Sebag, Mkrtchian, Danielian and Munguntuul won against Dzagnidze, Zhu Chen, Fierro and Cramling respectively.

Here are the standings after the 9th round:

1 GM Danielian Elina 2454 ARM 7½
2 GM Sebag Marie 2489 FRA 6½
3 GM Koneru Humpy 2607 IND 6
4 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 GEO 5
5 GM Cramling Pia 2516 SWE 4½
6 GM Chiburdanidze M 2502 GEO 4½
7 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2475 ARM 4
8 IM Fierro Baquero M 2363 ECU 4
9 IM Munguntuul Batkh 2410 MGL 3½
10 GM Xu Yuhua 2484 CHN 3
11 GM Stefanova Antoa 2546 BUL 3
12 11 GM Zhu Chen 2495 QAT 2½

Sebag-Dzagnidze. It was a Spanish with rare 3…g6 move, white got a very good center and development and started a nice attack with 14.Ng5! which concluded on move 30.

Mrtchian-Zhu Chen. A King’s Indian with 6.h3 in which Black got a good position out of the opening and should have continued 16.a4 to block any possibility for white to play on the queenside. The position was around equal until white got the chance to play 35.Ng4. 34…Kg7 was keeping the equal position.

Danielian-Fierro. 12…Be6 was strange as it gave white the B pair without much compensation. Instead 12…Rd8 looked normal. 15.f4 was a lot more active than Be3 as Black N would have been then pushed back. 15…d5 was a good idea as the white K sits on g2 instead of the B 🙂 17…Nc6 is a good idea, to transfer the N to d4 if it gets the chance. 25.Nc5 would have won the d6-pawn and ruin the pawn structure.

Munguntuul-Cramling. A Scheveningen which is a rare guest in Grandmaster games nowdays. White chose an agressive line with 13.g4, played by Alekseev, Kasimdzhanov, Tiviakov and in the past by Spassky, Anand, Balashov, Adorjan, etc. On move 14, instead of the usual 14.g4, white played 14.Bg2 which was played only once in 2010. 20.f5 was a very strong move after which white has a much better position and an attack. 22.gxh6 was stronger than the text move. 24…Nh7 was a mistake, 24…e5 would protect the N on g4 and block any ideas of white playing …e4-e5 herself.

Today’s pairings

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