
As we reported in Part I of our article on the Teplice Open, the event was won by the Icelandic GM Hannes Stefansson after he edged out his rival Evgeny Postny on the tie-breaks. The third place was taken by the Russian GM Alexander Rakhmanov.
The top three prize winners of the tournament: (from left) Stefansson, Postny and Rakhmanov
GM Sipke Ernst of the Netherlands finished fourth
Top seed Sergei Movsesian had to settle for the fifth spot
Sixth: GM Tamir Nabaty from Israel
The battle between the two above players who finished fourth and sixth had a very nice finish. Here is the position:
Ernst-Nabaty, fourth round, White to play.
The cold-blooded engines say that White is winning in this position after 61.Qc4. But after many ups and downs, Ernst decided to end the game with 61.Qb8+! The reason for the exclamation is not because it is a good move but it is not every day that you see a stalemate with so many pieces remaining on the board. As soon as the queen was placed on the b8 square both players began to laugh and shook their hands agreeing to a draw!
An unusual stalemate brings smiles even on the faces of the best players
The best player from the Czech Republic, Jiri Stocek, finished seventh
Eighth: GM Bartlomiej Heberla from Poland
IM Pawel Weichhold from Poland played a wonderful tournament, but missed out
on his GM norm due to a last round defeat against Hannes Stefansson
Rk. | SNo | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg |
TB1
|
TB2
|
TB3
|
1 | 5 | GM | Stefansson Hannes | ISL | 2580 |
7.5
|
43.5
|
55.5
|
2 | 2 | GM | Postny Evgeny | ISR | 2634 |
7.5
|
43.0
|
55.0
|
3 | 3 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | RUS | 2623 |
7.0
|
42.0
|
53.5
|
4 | 9 | GM | Ernst Sipke | NED | 2527 |
7.0
|
41.5
|
53.0
|
5 | 1 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | ARM | 2655 |
6.5
|
42.0
|
54.0
|
6 | 4 | GM | Nabaty Tamir | ISR | 2597 |
6.5
|
42.0
|
54.0
|
7 | 6 | GM | Stocek Jiri | CZE | 2567 |
6.5
|
42.0
|
53.5
|
8 | 7 | GM | Heberla Bartlomiej | POL | 2560 |
6.5
|
41.5
|
52.5
|
9 | 23 | IM | Weichhold Pawel | POL | 2399 |
6.5
|
40.5
|
52.5
|
10 | 16 | IM | Plat Vojtech | CZE | 2454 |
6.5
|
40.5
|
51.0
|
11 | 27 | IM | Kerigan Demre | TUR | 2391 |
6.5
|
39.5
|
49.5
|
12 | 20 | IM | Butkiewicz Lukasz | POL | 2433 |
6.5
|
38.0
|
49.5
|
13 | 18 | IM | Sagar Shah | IND | 2451 |
6.5
|
37.0
|
48.5
|
14 | 30 | IM | Johansson Jan | SWE | 2381 |
6.5
|
33.5
|
43.5
|
15 | 12 | IM | Van Foreest Jorden | NED | 2514 |
6.0
|
41.0
|
52.5
|
16 | 11 | GM | Ulybin Mikhail | RUS | 2519 |
6.0
|
41.0
|
51.5
|
17 | 21 | GM | Bykhovsky Avigdor | RUS | 2411 |
6.0
|
39.5
|
50.0
|
18 | 19 | IM | Smirnov Artem | RUS | 2448 |
6.0
|
39.0
|
49.5
|
19 | 28 | IM | Tsyhanchuk Stanislav | BLR | 2389 |
6.0
|
38.5
|
49.0
|
20 | 15 | IM | Cernousek Lukas | CZE | 2467 |
6.0
|
38.0
|
49.0
|
21 | 10 | GM | Gleizerov Evgeny | RUS | 2527 |
6.0
|
38.0
|
47.5
|
22 | 29 | FM | Jarmula Lukasz | POL | 2384 |
6.0
|
37.0
|
48.5
|
23 | 39 | Cukrowski Filip | POL | 2324 |
6.0
|
37.0
|
46.5
|
|
24 | 78 | CM | Teclaf Pawel | POL | 2103 |
6.0
|
36.5
|
46.0
|
25 | 33 | FM | Moehn Hans | GER | 2358 |
6.0
|
36.0
|
46.0
|
26 | 31 | IM | Hnydiuk Aleksander | POL | 2375 |
6.0
|
35.0
|
45.0
|
27 | 53 | Grela Kacper | POL | 2237 |
6.0
|
34.5
|
44.5
|
|
28 | 22 | IM | Haub Thorsten Michael | GER | 2407 |
6.0
|
33.0
|
42.0
|
WIM Bianka Havanecz from Hungary was the
best female player in the event. She scored 5.5/9.
Second best woman player: Mariola Wozniak from Poland
The playing hall was slightly cramped and lacked ventilation…
… but it was very comfortable for the top four boards who played on the podium.
Also there were drinks and refreshments available for all the players free of charge
It was the first time in my life that I did not play with a Staunton chess set. The main difference here is with the king. As you can see it looks like an oversized bishop. Sometimes when you are not used to such chess pieces, it can create problems and confusion.
The very talented ten-year-old Ieysaa Bin-Suhayl (1894, 4.0/9) with his mother
Second IM norm for... no, just kidding. But they just keep getting younger!
Teplice is a small and quiet town with some beautiful cafes
The cobbled street and flowers create a very nice atmosphere
A picturesque sunset that we witnessed from the balcony of our room
The Teplice Open is a nicely organized event by Mr. Pavel Kirs and his team which gives you an opportunity to visit a beautiful town with a rich chess history. If you do plan to play in Teplice 2016, do not miss the majestic Pravcicka gate.
The Pravčická Brána (Pravcicka Gate) is the largest natural sandstone arch in Europe. With a span of 26.5 metres, an inside height of 16 metres the arch it is one of the most striking natural monuments in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
The city of Hrensko is the starting point for the trek to Pravcicka gate and Hrensko is just
60 kilometres from Teplice. In order to reach the Pravcicka Gate you have to ...
... trek for nearly five hours through beautiful natural trails in the dense forest and take boat rides like this!
Pictures by Amruta Mokal
Before taking your leave, I would like to show you one of the games from the 1922 Schachkongress held in Teplice in 1922. Fourteen European chess masters were invited to participate in the round robin event. Despite the absence of World Champion José Capablanca, former champ Emanuel Lasker, and Alexander Alekhine, the tournament was extremely strong, thanks to the participation great masters like Akiba Rubinstein, Siegbert Tarrasch, Rudolph Spielmann, and Savielly Tartakower. Representing Czechoslovakia were Richard Réti and Karel Treybal. Reti, the hyper-modernist, and Spielmann, the romanticist, tied for first place, each with nine points out of 13 rounds. The tournament achieved attention through its seven brilliancy prize games of amazing artistic and technical skill.
The participants of the Teplitz-Schönau 1922. Standing from left: 1. Borislav Kostic, 2. Paul Johner,3. Karel Treybal, 4. Ernst Grünfeld, 5. Richard Réti, 6. Friedrich Sämisch, 7. Rudolf Spielmann, 8. Saviely Tartakower 9. Not known. Sitting from left: 1. Akiba Rubinstein, 2. Geza Maroczy, 3. Siegbert Tarrasch, 4. Not known, 5. Jacques Mieses, 6. Heinrich Wolf, 7. Richard Teichman, 8. Not known.
There were seven games in this tournament that received a brilliancy prize, but I think the game between Maroczy and Tartakower was the most impressive one.
Maroczy – Tartakower, 1922
Black to play – what would you do?
Please take around ten minutes to think over this position and then play through the game in our Javascript board below, to understand how Black should continue. Really, look at it before you peek at the solution.
Master of the attack – Savielly Tartakower