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Photos from the official tournament page
There is no question that when Inarkiev is hot, he is hot. Last year he won the extremely strong Moscow Open, chock full of top grandmasters, with a monster 8.0/9 score. His form later wavered a bit and his rating stayed around 2700. This year, just before the European Individual Championship, the Russian played in the Russian Team Championship, notably the top Premier League. Whilst the absolute top performance was indeed Vladimir Kramnik with 2970, the second best performance was by Ernesto Inarkiev, who not only faced five 2700+ players, but chalked up a 2901 performance! This was literally days before the start of the tournament in Gjakova. He has shown he has lost no steam at all, and after a magnificent win against Navara, is the sole leader with 7.0/8 and is looking at a huge 40 Elo gain this month alone!
Ernesto Inarkiev has been unstoppable this month so far
David Navara - Ernesto Inarkiev
One great result and game is more than enough to make an enjoyable tale and report for a round, but Inarkiev was not the only player to shine. 20-year-old Daniil Dubov, the former pupil of Sergei Shipov, also produce an absolute pearl that impressed elite player Pavel Eljanov so much, that he tweeted:
Daniil Dubov's play was likened to Lasker. While fllattering, it should also be noted that should
be a warning that when you face Pavel Eljanov you are facing someone who is pulling up comparisons
and references that go back to 1925 at least!
Dubov - Brkic
Obviously with so many tip-offs you will probably guess the first move
quite quickly. Nevertheless, enjoy Dubov's inspired move and work out
the line to the full win. White to play and win.
Inspired play by Daniil Dubov
So what about that Lasker game it is being compared to? Have a look at the classic suffered by the 2nd World Champion:
Torre - Lasker
One of the all-time classics: White to play and win.
Click for the solutionReplay games of round eight
Results of round eight
Click for complete round results
Standings after round eight
Rk | SNo | Ti. | Name | Fed | Rtg | Pts | TB | Perf | rtg+/- |
1 | 12 | GM | Inarkiev Ernesto | RUS | 2686 | 7.0 | 38.5 | 2948 | 22.8 |
2 | 2 | GM | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | POL | 2722 | 6.5 | 39.5 | 2872 | 14.5 |
3 | 37 | GM | Kovalenko Igor | LAT | 2644 | 6.5 | 36.0 | 2795 | 15.5 |
4 | 60 | GM | Goganov Aleksey | RUS | 2600 | 6.5 | 34.0 | 2799 | 21.1 |
5 | 1 | GM | Navara David | CZE | 2735 | 6.0 | 38.5 | 2805 | 7.3 |
6 | 26 | GM | Jobava Baadur | GEO | 2661 | 6.0 | 38.0 | 2786 | 13.8 |
7 | 5 | GM | Vallejo Pons Francisco | ESP | 2700 | 6.0 | 36.5 | 2776 | 7.6 |
8 | 8 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2692 | 6.0 | 36.5 | 2786 | 9.5 |
9 | 43 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2632 | 6.0 | 33.5 | 2706 | 8.4 |
10 | 36 | GM | Dubov Daniil | RUS | 2644 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 2759 | 11.0 |
11 | 16 | GM | Piorun Kacper | POL | 2681 | 6.0 | 31.5 | 2726 | 5.2 |
12 | 30 | GM | Saric Ivan | CRO | 2650 | 5.5 | 38.5 | 2710 | 7.4 |
13 | 13 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | BUL | 2685 | 5.5 | 37.5 | 2689 | 1.1 |
14 | 32 | GM | Ipatov Alexander | TUR | 2648 | 5.5 | 37.0 | 2695 | 4.7 |
15 | 42 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | HUN | 2636 | 5.5 | 35.5 | 2706 | 8.6 |
16 | 15 | GM | Najer Evgeniy | RUS | 2681 | 5.5 | 35.5 | 2682 | 0.3 |
17 | 29 | GM | Bartel Mateusz | POL | 2653 | 5.5 | 35.0 | 2677 | 3.4 |
18 | 33 | GM | Zhigalko Sergei | BLR | 2647 | 5.5 | 35.0 | 2681 | 4.6 |
19 | 80 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | GER | 2569 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 2687 | 13.5 |
20 | 55 | GM | Zubov Alexander | UKR | 2612 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 2733 | 11.9 |
21 | 53 | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | GEO | 2613 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 2615 | 1.9 |
57 | GM | Yilmaz Mustafa | TUR | 2603 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 2707 | 12.3 | |
23 | 51 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | ESP | 2616 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 2642 | 4.6 |
24 | 34 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | RUS | 2646 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 2650 | 1.2 |
25 | 86 | GM | Can Emre | TUR | 2557 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 2636 | 9.9 |
26 | 59 | GM | Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | ARM | 2601 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 2657 | 8.3 |
27 | 19 | GM | Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter | GER | 2669 | 5.5 | 33.0 | 2673 | 1.2 |
28 | 72 | GM | Palac Mladen | CRO | 2577 | 5.5 | 33.0 | 2636 | 7.8 |
29 | 85 | GM | Tari Aryan | NOR | 2558 | 5.5 | 33.0 | 2622 | 8.6 |
30 | 24 | GM | Dreev Aleksey | RUS | 2662 | 5.5 | 32.5 | 2646 | -0.7 |
Day
|
Date
|
Time
|
Program
|
Wednesday |
11.05.2016
|
|
Arrival of participants
|
Wednesday |
11.05.2016
|
20:00
|
Opening ceremony
|
Thursday |
11.05.2016
|
22:00
|
Technical meeting
|
Thursday |
12.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round I
|
Friday |
13.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round II
|
Saturday |
14.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round III
|
Sunday |
15.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round IV
|
Monday |
16.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round V
|
Tuesday |
17.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round VI
|
Wednesday |
18.05.2016
|
|
Rest day
|
Thursday |
19.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round VII
|
Friday |
20.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round VIII
|
Saturday |
21.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round IX
|
Sunday |
22.05.2016
|
15:30
|
Round X
|
Monday |
23.05.2016
|
11:00
|
Round XI
|
Monday |
23.05.2016
|
20:00
|
Closing ceremony
|
Tuesday |
24.05.2016
|
|
Departure
|
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