Here are the top 24 board round 1 results - lots of talent here, and I note that Adams got a whole point, as did Americans Kamsky with the black pieces, and Lenderman with white : 1 FM Camus de Solliers, Guillau FRA - 2356 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2713 ½-½ 2 GM Movsesian, Sergei SVK - 2708 IM Peek, Marcel NED 2342 1-0 3 FM Lovik, Lasse Ostebo NOR - 2343 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP 2705 0-1 4 GM Adams, Michael ENG - 2694 WGM Reizniece, Dana LAT 2341 1-0 5 FM Dittmar, Peter GER - 2341 GM Kamsky, Gata USA 2693 0-1 6 GM Fressinet, Laurent FRA - 2670 IM Zozulia, Anna BEL 2321 1-0 7 FM Wantiez, Fabrice BEL - 2315 GM Fridman, Daniel GER 2654 0-1 8 GM Gustafsson, Jan GER - 2627 Andre, Gordon GER 2308 1-0 9 FM Forsaa, Espen NOR - 2301 GM Sandipan, Chanda IND 2622 0-1 10 WIM Schoene, Maria GER - 2251 GM Koneru, Humpy IND 2614 0-1 11 GM Edouard, Romain FRA - 2608 WFM Videnova, Iva BUL 2301 1-0 12 FM Perez Pardo, Juan Carlos ESP - 2297 GM Istratescu, Andrei ROU 2607 0-1 13 GM Lopez Martinez, Josep Manu ESP - 2593 Stebbings, Anthony J ENG 2290 ½-½ 14 Getz, Nicolai NOR - 2280 GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal IND 2584 0-1 15 GM Felgaer, Ruben ARG - 2573 IM Kozlov, Oleg RUS 2279 ½-½ 16 Royset, Paal NOR - 2279 GM Halkias, Stelios GRE 2566 0-1 17 IM Lenderman, Alex USA - 2560 Schuetze, Norman GER 2269 1-0 18 FM Nikolaidis, Konstantinos GRE - 2266 GM Lemos, Damian ARG 2556 ½- ½ 19 GM Malakhatko, Vadim BEL - 2549 Stephan, Axel GER 2252 1-0 20 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta BUL - 2545 FM Overeem, Marc NED 2245 1-0 21 Montero Melendez, Rafael ESP - 2248 GM Bhat, Vinay S. USA 2540 0-1 22 FM Hartvig, Ove Weiss DEN - 2245 GM Cramling, Pia SWE 2528 ½-½ 23 GM Naumann, Alexander GER - 2525 FM Avalos Parra, Joao CHI 2245 ½-½ 24 FM Marchand, Francois FRA - 2244 GM Speelman, Jon S ENG 2525 ½-½
Gata has been playing pretty good chess over the last year ..I wish he could have beaten Topolov to play Anand but Top is tough to beat. People may not like him that much but he is always well prepared ..
thanks for all the good post
I need to go back and re-read them again when i have more time...I need to get ready for work and of course i do not feel like working but i have too..
Do you think Chess players feel the same way ? I think they do some times , like Ivanchuck went through a LONG spell of not playing very good and i think he was burned out ..But then he got his act together and started to play well again..
On Jan 27, 6:51 pm, Sin...@webtv.net (SAT W-7) wrote:
> Gata has been playing pretty good chess over the last year ..I wish he > could have beaten Topolov to play Anand but Top is tough to beat. > People may not like him that much but he is always well prepared ..
> thanks for all the good post
> I need to go back and re-read them again when i have more time...I need > to get ready for work and of course i do not feel like working but i > have too..
> Do you think Chess players feel the same way ? > I think they do some times , like Ivanchuck went through a LONG spell > of not playing very good and i think he was burned out ..But then he got > his act together and started to play well again..
Yeah. To refute chess is dead talk to real players, here is my fellow Cornishman always looking for early new lines to explore and re- envigorating ancient lore, progressing with this win to share current Gib lead
gibraltarchess on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free One of the unique features of the Gibtelecom Chess Festival is thenewly-commissioned commentary facilities at the Caleta Hotel.
Every afternoon GM Stuart Conquest comments on the live games from 15:00 (GMT+1) for up to six hours. These are unmissable - in every sense of that word. If you have not been able to tune in to his live broadcasts, you can still hear them at your leisure. They have all been stored online and can still be watched at ...
If you move to a point around 1:26 hours into the video, Boris Spassky made an unscheduled visit to the commentary room. Seeing him in the audience, Stuart Conquest persuaded him to come alongside to talk "for a few minutes" - which turned into nearly three hours!
At first Boris is off-camera (we weren't expecting him) but around 1:42 you can Boris talking about the games. After that we have nearly three hours' video film of the legendary ex-world champion.
Please feel free to embed this video into your websites. John Saunders-- Press Office Gibtelecom Chess Festival
1 GM Adams, Michael 4.5 ENG M 2694 2 GM Gustafsson, Jan 4.5 GER M 2627 3 GM Bacrot, Etienne 4.0 FRA M 2713 4 GM Movsesian, Sergei 4.0 SVK M 2708 5 GM Kamsky, Gata 4.0 USA M 2693 6 GM Fressinet, Laurent 4.0 FRA M 2670 7 GM Fridman, Daniel 4.0 GER M 2654
8 GM Sandipan, Chanda 4.0 IND M 2622
9 GM Edouard, Romain 4.0 FRA M 2608
10 GM Felgaer, Ruben 4.0 ARG M 2591
11 IM Lenderman, Alex 4.0 USA M 2560 12 GM Malakhatko, Vadim 4.0 BEL M 2549 13 GM Speelman, Jon S 4.0 ENG M 2525 14 GM Guliyev, Namig 4.0 AZE M 2516 15 GM Dzagnidze, Nana 4.0 GEO F 2506 16 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 4.0 UKR F 2462
17 Battaglini, Gabriel 4.0 FRA M 2411 18 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 3.5 ESP M 2705
19 GM Cheparinov, Ivan 3.5 BUL M 2660
20 GM Koneru, Humpy 3.5 IND F 2614
21 GM Istratescu, Andrei 3.5 ROU M 2607
22 GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 3.5 IND M 2584
23 GM Halkias, Stelios 3.5 GRE M 2566
24 GM Maze, Sebastien 3.5 FRA M 2554 25 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 3.5 BUL F 2545
On Feb 1, 10:23 am, Sin...@webtv.net (SAT W-7) wrote:
> Adam vs the Lady , should be interesting but i expect Adam to win..
> I think it is good the ladies play the men since i belive it makes them > ( ladies ) better players even if they get beat..
The ladies, 2 US, are half a point adrift; next round:-
17 GM Malakhatko, Vadim 4.5 BEL 2549 - Tate, Alan 5.0 SCO 2211 18 IM Zatonskih, Anna 4.5 USA 2466 - GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 4.5 BUL 2545 19 GM Bhat, Vinay S. 4.5 USA 2540 - IM Krush, Irina 4.5 USA 2455 20 GM Cramling, Pia 4.5 SWE 2528 - IM Hirneise, Tobias 4.5 GER 2421
2 GM Bacrot, Etienne 6.0 FRA M 2713 3 GM Movsesian, Sergei 6.0 SVK M 2708 4 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 6.0 ESP M 2705 5 GM Adams, Michael 6.0 ENG M 2694 6 GM Kamsky, Gata 6.0 USA M 2693 7 GM Fressinet, Laurent 6.0 FRA M 2670 8 GM Sandipan, Chanda 6.0 IND M 2622 9 GM Koneru, Humpy 6.0 IND F 2614 10 GM Halkias, Stelios 6.0 GRE M 2566 11 GM Lemos, Damian 6.0 ARG M 2556 12 GM Naumann, Alexander 6.0 GER M 2525 13 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 6.0 GEO F 2493 14 IM Boskovic, Drasko 6.0 SRB M 2454
Eighth Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2010 Tues 26 Jan - Thurs 4 Feb 2010 PRESS RELEASE – ROUND 8 REPORT
GUSTY WIND BLOWS THROUGH GIBRALTAR
The presence of a chess legend has added an extra frisson to life at the Gibtelecom Chess Festival. One day I was waiting for the lift when I noticed a white-haired gentleman in his seventies move swiftly past me and put me to shame by using the stairs. Another day I was about to step into what I thought was an unoccupied lift only to notice at the last minute that it was occupied by the same man, who blinked at me in surprise as my rotundity briefly threatened to collide with his rather more svelte figure.
Yesterday I had my closest encounter yet with said gentleman, whom I’m sure you will already have guessed is the tenth World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky. I noticed him sitting in the bar with Stewart Reuben and Ruben Felgaer. At the time I was having difficulty finding somewhere to sit down and enjoy my chicken baguette and I was quite pleased to see them get up and depart, giving me an ideal place to sit down and have lunch.
About 20 minutes later a slightly perplexed Spassky returned to the same place. To my surprise, he bore down on me and asked “have you seen my glasses? I was sitting here before”. I was galvanised into action. Lifting the cushion on the chair, I caught sight of the great man’s spectacles on the floor under the chair. I fished them out and handed them to him. A trivial enough thing to do, of course, but Boris’s reaction was as if I had just given him a fully-worked, cast- iron refutation of the Benoni. Lifting his arms to the skies for added effect, he exclaimed: “This is a miracle! How did you do it?”
Trifling though the favour was, it was extremely pleasurable to have been of service to one of the greatest players who has ever lived. My life is now complete and my epitaph will surely read “here lies the man who once helped Boris Spassky find his specs”.
Now to business: 30-year-old German grandmaster Jan ‘Gusty’ Gustafsson moved into the sole lead in round eight of the Gibtelecom Masters, blowing away Natalia Zhukova with some ease though he has thirteen players still breathing down his neck as the tournament reaches its penultimate round. (I’ve been racking my brains for some more meteorological metaphors but I think I’ll call it a day at three. I don’t want a reputation as a windbag.)
Natalia Zhukova had so far been the surprise package of this year’s festival but her streak came to an end when she faced the Hamburg-born grandmaster. Despite having the white pieces, she soon found herself in a passive position and Gustafsson found a powerful tactical coup to end the game on move 33.
Other games between the eleven overnight leaders started brightly but gradually subsided into draws. Kamsky-Adams was a heavyweight encounter and promised a good struggle but after a number of exchanges the game reduced to a level endgame.
Five players in the next score group took the opportunity to move close to the leading score. Top seed Etienne Bacrot moved back into contention by defeating Alex Lenderman of the USA in a long, fluctuating struggle. Georgian International Master Lela Javakhishvili became one of two women players to reach the group in second equal place when she won impressively against Spanish grandmaster Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez.
The game of the day was almost certainly the one between Argentinian grandmaster Damian Lemos and French International Master Clovis Vernay. The Frenchman, playing Black, attempted to extract himself from difficulties with a remarkable tactical combination involving an eye-catching queen sacrifice. Many a player would have succumbed to such a dangerous attack but the Argentinian found an equally astonishing defence to neutralise the Black counterattack and convert the material advantage into victory. Great credit must go to both players for providing this feast of chess.
Leaders after Round 8: 1st Jan Gustafsson (Germany) 6½ points out of 8; 2nd= Etienne Bacrot (France), Sergei Movsesian (Slovakia), Paco Vallejo Pons (Spain), Michael Adams (England), Gata Kamsky (USA), Laurent Fressinet (France), Chand Sandipan (India), Humpy Koneru (India), Stelios Halkias (Greece), Damian Lemos (Argentina), Alexander Naumann (Germany), Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia), Drasko Boskovic (Serbia) 6 points.
John Saunders Webmaster/Chess Press Gibraltar International Chess Festival, e-mail: gibchesspr...@gmail.com
The Gibtelecom International Chess Festival 26th Jan – 4th Feb can be followed on-line at www.gibraltarchesscongress.com Live streaming with commentary is available every afternoon with Grandmaster Stuart Conquest. This year the tournament boasts a new broadcasting suite with the very latest technology installed by Gibtelecom. These commentaries are broadcast live on the congress website www.gibraltarchesscongress.com
The festival’s total prize fund of £112,500 is one of the highest in the world for an event which is open to all. The Masters has £96,600 in prizes, and there are two Challenger Tournaments, each lasting five days, with prizes for each of £5,500. Two five-day Amateur Tournaments are also played, with prize money of £2,300 each. Chess news from Susan Polgar
Natalia Zhukova defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk today with the Black pieces to move back into a tie for the lead in the women's standings. She is also slightly ahead of Humpy Koneru in rating performance. Stefanova is performing over 2660. Cramling and Javakhishvili are both performing around 2570.
Round 9 top board results:
1 GM Gustafsson, Jan 6.5 GER 2627 GM Bacrot, Etienne 6.0 FRA 2713 ½-½ 2 GM Movsesian, Sergei 6.0 SVK 2708 GM Halkias, Stelios 6.0 GRE 2566 1-0 3 GM Naumann, Alexander 6.0 GER 2525 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 6.0 ESP 2705 0-1 4 GM Adams, Michael 6.0 ENG 2694 GM Lemos, Damian 6.0 ARG 2556 1-0 5 GM Koneru, Humpy 6.0 IND 2614 GM Kamsky, Gata 6.0 USA 2693 ½-½ 6 GM Fressinet, Laurent 6.0 FRA 2670 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 6.0 GEO 2493 ½-½ 7 GM Sandipan, Chanda 6.0 IND 2622 IM Boskovic, Drasko 6.0 SRB 2454 ½-½ 8 GM Guliyev, Namig 5.5 AZE 2516 GM Cheparinov, Ivan 5.5 BUL 2660 ½-½ 9 GM Carlsson, Pontus 5.5 SWE 2476 GM Fridman, Daniel 5.5 GER 2654 0-1 10 GM Edouard, Romain 5.5 FRA 2608 GM Bindrich, Falko 5.5 GER 2512 0-1 11 GM Hoffmann, Michael 5.5 GER 2508 GM Istratescu, Andrei 5.5 ROU 2607 ½-½ 12 GM Felgaer, Ruben 5.5 ARG 2591 IM Kapnisis, Spyridon 5.5 GRE 2510 ½-½ 13 IM Harika, Dronavalli 5.5 IND 2471 GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 5.5 IND 2584 0-1 14 IM Lenderman, Alex 5.5 USA 2560 GM Dzagnidze, Nana 5.5 GEO 2506 1-0 15 IM Krush, Irina 5.5 USA 2455 GM Malakhatko, Vadim 5.5 BEL 2549 ½-½ 16 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 5.5 BUL 2545 IM Shankland, Samuel L 5.5 USA 2491 1-0 17 FM Lovik, Lasse Ostebo 5.5 NOR 2343 GM Cramling, Pia 5.5 SWE 2528 0-1 18 GM Speelman, Jon S 5.5 ENG 2525 IM Cori, Jorge J 5.5 PER 2483 ½-½ 19 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 5.5 RUS 2523 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 5.5 UKR 2462 0-1 20 GM Lopez Martinez, Josep Manu 5.0 ESP 2593 FM Degtiarev, Evgeny 5.0 GER 2374 ½-½
Kernow Bys Vyken! A fellow cornishman wins Gibraltar
Adams Wins The Final
John Saunders reports: English grandmaster Mickey Adams has won the 8th Gibtelecom Masters after a four-player play-off. He did it the hard way, losing the first game of his semi-final against German GM Jan Gustafsson and having much the worst of the second game before Gustafsson blundered a piece. There followed an Armageddon game, with Adams obliged to win, which he did in some style.
In the other semi-final Paco Vallejo Pons of Spain won his first game quite comfortably against Chand Sandipan of India. He was comfortable in the second game but Sandipan fought back to the point where he should have won, only the make a terrible blunder which cost him the win.
The final saw Adams in his best form, soon securing a strong advantage which he carried through to victory. In the return, Vallejo Pons got a bad position but his attempt to mix the game up cost him a piece and he could only draw. The two-game mini-matches were played at a time control of 10 minutes with 10 second increments and the Armageddon game at 5 minutes to 4.
10 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 7.0 UKR F 2462 2686 +3.02 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 12 GM Koneru, Humpy 7.0 IND F 2614 2663 +0.77 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 21 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 BUL F 2545 2614 +1.00 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 24 GM Cramling, Pia 6.5 SWE F 2528 2546 +0.38 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 0 27 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 6.5 GEO F 2493 2535 +0.75 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0
Rk Name Score Fed. M/F Rating TPR W-We 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 GM Gustafsson, Jan 7.5 GER M 2627 2769 +1.88 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 2 GM Adams, Michael 7.5 ENG M 2694 2764 +0.97 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 3 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 7.5 ESP M 2705 2726 +0.33 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 4 GM Sandipan, Chanda 7.5 IND M 2622 2720 +1.29 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 5 GM Kamsky, Gata 7.5 USA M 2693 2719 +0.38 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6 GM Bacrot, Etienne 7.5 FRA M 2713 2713 +0.11 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7 GM Movsesian, Sergei 7.5 SVK M 2708 2708 +0.07 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 8 GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 7.5 IND M 2584 2656 +0.95 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 9 IM Lenderman, Alex 7.5 USA M 2560 2652 +1.33 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 10 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 7.0 UKR F 2462 2686 +3.02 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 11 GM Fressinet, Laurent 7.0 FRA M 2670 2666 +0.04 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 12 GM Koneru, Humpy 7.0 IND F 2614 2663 +0.77 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 13 GM Halkias, Stelios 7.0 GRE M 2566 2630 +0.95 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 14 GM Hoffmann, Michael 7.0 GER M 2508 2630 +1.73 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 15 GM Malakhatko, Vadim 7.0 BEL M 2549 2590 +0.67 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 16 GM Cheparinov, Ivan 7.0 BUL M 2660 2568 -0.88 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 17 GM Istratescu, Andrei 7.0 ROU M 2607 2554 -0.49 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 18 GM Speelman, Jon S 7.0 ENG M 2525 2551 +0.56 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 19 IM Boskovic, Drasko 7.0 SRB M 2454 2506 +0.90 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 20 GM Guliyev, Namig 7.0 AZE M 2516 2505 +0.18 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 21 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 BUL F 2545 2614 +1.00 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 22 GM Fridman, Daniel 6.5 GER M 2654 2613 -0.45 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 23 GM Bindrich, Falko 6.5 GER M 2512 2583 +1.04 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 24 GM Cramling, Pia 6.5 SWE F 2528 2546 +0.38 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 0 25 IM Hirneise, Tobias 6.5 GER M 2421 2541 +1.66 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 1
