Politiken Cup 2010: Eljanov reels it in

8/10/2010 – The Politiken Cup, held in Denmark, was dominated and won by an unexpected participant, Pavel Eljanov, rated 2755, who was not afraid to put his Elo on the line. The event also served to celebrate Bent Larsen's 75th year, with a rapid match between Svidler (2734) and Heine Nielsen (2700), and two blitz matches, one with the Larsen Opening as theme. Here is the report with videos.

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The Politiken Cup took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 31st July - 8th August 2010. It was a 10-round Swiss open that attracted 291 players, including 21 grandmasters. The elo favorite by far was Pavel Eljanov, rated 2755 and 8th in the world. Few top players are willing to play such opens due to the sheer difficulty in protecting their rating, however Eljanov did a creditable job, taking clear first with 8.5/10, including a last round win against the event's second highest rating, Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2655).

GM Pavel Eljanov (2755), not afraid to put his rating on the line.

2nd-4th with 8.0/10 were Maxim Rodshtein (2609), Konstantin Landa (2598), and Bartolomiej Macieja (2639).

Israeli GM Maxim Rodshtein

Here was an impressive conclusion by Eljanov in the 5th round:

Eljanov,P (2755) - Carlstedt,J (2379) [D34]
Politiken Cup Copenhagen DEN (5), 03.08.2010

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.a3 h6 11.b4 Bb6 12.Bb2 Bf5 13.Na4 Be4 14.Rc1 Qe7 15.e3 Rfd8 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Qe2 Nd7 18.Qd2 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Nde5 20.Be2 f6 21.b5 Na5 22.Qb4 Qf7 23.Bd4 Qe6 24.Rc7 Nec4 25.Rd1 Rac8 26.Re7 Qf5.

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27.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 28.Qe7+ Kg8 29.Bd3 Rd7 30.Bxf5 Rxe7 31.Bxc8 Kg7 32.Bh3 Nb3 33.Bc3 Nc5 34.Rxd5 Nxa3 35.Bf1 Nc2 36.Rd2 Ne1 37.Rd1 Nf3+ 38.Kg2 Ng5 39.Rd5 Nge4 40.Bd4 Rc7 41.f3 Ng5 42.Rd6 Nce6 43.Bd3 1-0 [Click to Replay]

The following game was awarded the tournament Beauty Prize:

Postny,E (2577) - Brunello,S (2488) [E18]
Politiken Cup Copenhagen DEN (7), 05.08.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 Ne4 8.Bd2 Bf6 9.Qc2 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 d6 11.e4 Nd7 12.Rfe1 g6 13.Rad1 Bg7 14.h4 h5 15.Ng5 Qe7 16.f4 f6.

/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg

17.e5!! fxg5 17...Bxg2 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Rxe6 Qg7 20.Kxg2 18.Bxb7 gxf4 19.exd6 cxd6 20.Rxe6! Qd8 20...Qxe6 21.Bd5 21.Bxa8 Qxa8 22.Nd5 fxg3 23.Qg5 1-0 [Click to Replay]

Bent Larsen - 75 Years

The event served also to celebrate Bent Larsen's 75th year (he was born March 4th, 1935), Denmark's greatest player. As such, Peter Svidler (2734) and Peter Heine Nielsen (2700) played three matches in his honor. The first was a 6-game rapid match that was won by Svidler 4.5-1.5.

They then played a two day blitz match spanning 20 games. On day 1, they played a 10-game match with Larsen's opening 1.b3 as the theme, which Svidler won 7-3. On the second day they played a normal blitz match which was drawn 5-5.

Several of the games were actually filmed, where one can clearly see the players, the board and even the clocks. Truly a treat to watch.