Turkish League: great games, great organization

by Albert Silver
8/6/2016 – Amidst rave reviews by players on the quality of organization, the Turkish Is Bank Super Chess League ended with a resounding victory by top team Hatay Municipality, followed by Kayseri Sports Club. While Hatay’s result was no surprise considering its five GMs including Ivanchuk on board one, but Kayseri was certainly a surprise with only two GMs. Here is the final report with numerous entertaining positions to test yourself.

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Photos from the official site

Ivanchuk (right) did what was expected of him and he scored 7.5/10. Above he beat Boris Savchenko.

The organization was praised by all players. Nana Dzagnidze said she though it was just perfect, while Spanish GM Ivan Salgado Lopez said the same, but explained why: "I think organization is fantastic! It is the best league organization! Here all the teams stay in the same hotel, this is fantastic, because every team has the same conditions. And then the hotel is fantastic. There are many tournaments where there is a very bad hotel, the food is really bad, you can’t sleep because someone is disturbing… This one is simply perfect."

The spacious areas with the buffet and tables to snack and chat were applauded

Players came to the tables to enjoy coffee, snacks, and a pleasant chat

This is not a cute pic of someone's daughter posing at one of the boards, this is a cute pic of a young player.

Ivan Cheparinov scored 5.5/10

Fataliyeva - Kaplan

White has a huge position and it is now time to cash in the chips. White to play and win.

There was live commentary every day this year, with a lively group and regular guests

Mchedlishvili - Topak

So many choices with the exposed king and the passed pawn... White to play and win.

Yaran - Gundogan

Black had hoped to fight a long endgame battle to try and save it, but that just isn't in the cards as he faces an expeditious end. White to play and win.

Aleksandr Rakhmanov outdid his expectations with 8.0/13 and a 2693 performance

Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev was the top performance with 8.0/11 and a 2800 performance

Akdogan - Aydincelebi

Guessing the first move is not hard, but the followup is less obvious. White to play and win.

Colak - Benidze

A very nice finish to an excellent game. Black to play and win.

The top players on board two. In first was Ivan Salgado Lopez with 9.5/13, followed by Baadur Jobava and Luka Paichadze, both from Georgia.

Here is a very attractive game played in round nine deserving a special mention thanks to its spectacular yet surgical finish:

Siar Yaran - Emir Alaettin Efe

[Event "2016 Turkiye Is Bankasi Super Satranc L"] [Site "Izmir"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Yaran, Siar"] [Black "Efe, Emir Alaettin"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "49"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O a6 7. Ba4 h5 8. d3 Ng4 9. h3 Nh6 10. Be3 b5 11. Bb3 Na5 12. fxe5 Nxb3 13. axb3 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Be6 15. Qf3 Bd6 16. Nc6 Qd7 17. e5 Be7 18. Nxe7 Rd8 19. Bc5 Ng8 {[#]} 20. Ng6 $3 { The beginning of the end.} Rh6 {Asking White what his next move is.} ({ Obviously not} 20... fxg6 $4 21. Qf8#) 21. Nf8 $1 Qc8 {The only move.} 22. Qc6+ Bd7 {[#]} 23. e6 $3 {A lovely shot that ends the game in great style.} fxe6 ( 23... Bxc6 {would allow} 24. exf7# {Mate by the pawn!}) (23... Rxe6 24. Nxe6 Bxc6 {is also mate after} 25. Nxg7+ Kd7 26. Rxf7+ Ne7 27. Rxe7# {Superb!}) 24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Rf8# 1-0

The best female board was GM Anna Muzychuk with 10.5/13, followed by IM Marina Nechaeva with 9.0/12, and GM Anna Ushenina with 9.0/13

Ozen - Uraz

White fires shot after shot with great precision. White to play and win.

Shot of winning teams and organizers that made it so special (click for high-res)

The organizers have also been providing extensive live video coverage with hours of commentary, interviews and more. This can all be found at the official site or their YouTube channel.

 

Above is a sample of the video commentary from round six

Solutions to quizzes

Select games from the list below the board

Final standings

 
Rk
Teams
Mtch
+
=
-
MP
Pts
SB
1 Hatay MUNICIPALITY OF YOUTH SPORTS CLUB
13
11
2
 
 
24
71½
595.75
2 KAYSERI SUGAR SPORTS CLUB
13
11
1
1
23
69
553.25
3 Aquamatch CHESS CLUB
13
11
 
 
2
22
70
539.50
4 TS WEDDING RINGS CHESS CLUB SPORTS
13
9
 
 
4
18
62½
402.50
5 1920 MARAŞSP CLUB ASSOCIATION
13
8
 
 
5
16
56½
339.50
6 TURKISH AIRLINES (THY) SPORTS CLUB
13
7
1
5
15
59
314.75
7 Tarsus INTELLIGENCE CHESS CLUB
13
5
4
4
14
52½
310.25
8 Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club
13
5
3
5
13
55
270.50
9 YOUNG ACADEMIC HONORS COLLEGE
13
4
3
6
11
49
211.75
10 STONE WALL SPORTS CLUB ASSOCIATION
13
3
3
7
9
50
173.75
11 Bogazici University SPORTS CLUB
13
4
1
8
9
47
183.50
12 ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS CLUB
13
2
 
 
11
4
43½
42.50
13 MEDITERRANEANCHESS YOUTH SPORTS CLUB
13
2
 
 
11
4
37½
55.00
14 Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality SPORTS CLUB
13
 
 
 
 
13
0
5
0.00

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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