Warakomski wins 2015 Rubinstein Memorial

The final report

By Tomasz Mincewicz

The Akiba Rubinstein International Chess Festival in Polanica Zdrój  is the oldest chess tournament in Poland whose roots go back to the 1960s. Over the years numerous famous world-class chess players have played there, among whom : Karpov, Smysłov, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Shirov, Topalov and many others.  In the 1990s the Rubinstein Memorial reached its peak of popularity but alas shortly after, the organisers ran into financial problems and the tournament lost its top mark. Although such a strong line-up hasn’t been repeated so far, the memorial still keeps the interest of both amateurs and grandmasters.  

This year was the 51st edition no less, which took place as usual in the picturesque spa-town of Polanica Zdrój from 21st to 30th of August. In the GM round robin tournament,  there were ten players and the top seed was Ukrainian GM Mihail Brodsky (2540). However  it quickly turned out that he wasn’t in his best shape as he lost a theoretically drawn ending against ultimate winner early on, a setback from which he was unable to recover.  

GM Brodsky was unable to prove his theoretical superiority. His 4.5/9 was only good enough for seventh

As to Tomasz Warakomski, he started very unevenly scoring 2.0/4.Although he won his first two games, he then lost the following two and fell into the middle of the table. However later he put his foot on the accelerator, and swiftly joined the leaders.  

IM Tomasz Warakomski (2466), Poland

Initially, GM Andrey Kovalev was the one with the biggest chance to take gold when, after five rounds, he was the sole leader with 4.5/5. Unfortunately for him, he lost his freshness in the second part of the competition and was caught by the group of chasing GMs. In round seven Kovalev was defeated a bit at his own request by GM Vitaly Siviuk, which heated up the atmosphere leading to a finish with everyone tied up at the top to decide first.

Before the final round the leaders were : Andrey Kovalev, Tomasz Warakomski, Vitaly Sivuk and Łukasz Cyborowski, all with 5.0/8. The situation was incredibly tense because any win would most likely be tantamount to winning the tournament. Luckily for Tomasz Warakomski, none of his main rivals were able to win their games, while Warakomski himself scored a seemingly easy victory against Italian FM Pierre Luigi Basso.

Caissa favors the best and rewarded winner IM Tomasz Warakomski

Runner-up GM Andrey Kovalev (2509) finished with 5.5/9

GM Łukasz Cyborowski (2530) drew his last game and therefore finished third with 5.5/9

GM Sivuk from Ukraine played a very good tournament but he lost in the final round to ...

...IM Maciej Klekowski, who finished right behind the podium with 5.0/9

Guest from England IM  David J. Eggleston

FM Pierre Luigi Basso, Italy

Final standings

The winners of the GM group (from left to right): Tomasz Warakomski, Andrey Kovalev, Łukasz Cyborowski

Group B

In the B Open Piotr Sabuk (2340) scored a sensational victory, playing very sharp fighting chess. Things all seemed to click as he not only saved losing positions but even managed to change one into a win . After a fantastic finish with two brilliant wins against GMs he took first with 7.5 /9. Additionally he scored a NM norm.

Deserved winner of group B Piotr Sabuk (2340), Poland

Silver went to GM Vladimir Segeev from Ukraine. His excellent play was only marred by his
loss in round eight to the eventual winner, and he finished with 7.0/9

In third was veteran GM Vladimir Malaniuk who had a perfect 5.0/5 start but he slowed
down after with four draws, ending on 7.0/9

GM Rafał Antoniewski was the top seed of Open B and was poised to take first, but a crucial
last round loss to Sabuk relegated him to fifth

Final standings

Click for complete standings

Closing ceremony of group B. In the middle stand the three best players

Photos are from official tournament site

Links Official tournament site All GM games in PGN All Open B games in PGN 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.