The double round robin Crown Group has four players: Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Judit Polgar, have an average rating of 2732, making this a Category 20 event. There are also side tournaments: the Unive Open is a nine-round Swiss with around 90 players with a minimum rating of 2000. It has a prize fund of €7,500, with a first prize of €3,000. The Amateur Tournament is in two groups: a Morning and an Afternoon Group, each with a maximum of 84 players. The first prize for both groups is €250.
The players arrived on Saturday, with a serious glitch: Maxime Vachier Lagrave was quite agitated because his notebook computer would not start. "If you think that is an unimportant detail," says the tournament bulletin, "you are mistaken. A laptop with a database and chess engines is the main asset of the modern master. If it fails his Elo rating drops by many points – and he feels like a modern businessman with an Internet-less BlackBerry." Fortunately the problem was solved, as the grateful smile on Maxime's face revealed.
A picture from the opening ceremony, with Kramnik, Vachier-Lagrave, Giri
and Polgar
The first round brought a victory by Vladimir Kramnik over Dutch GM Anish
Giri
[Event "15th Unive Crown"] [Site "Hoogeveen NED"] [Date "2011.10.16"] [Round "1"] [White "Kramnik, V."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E97"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2722"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2011.10.16"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. g3 f5 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Bf3 c6 13. Ba3 $146 {A new move by Kramnik.} cxd5 14. exd5 e4 15. Be2 Ne8 16. Rc1 h6 17. Ne6 Bxe6 18. dxe6 Nc7 19. b5 Be5 20. Qb3 Kg7 $6 {The king is not going to be happy on that square.} ({ The young Dutch GM should have probably taken the pawn right away.} 20... Nxe6) 21. Rfd1 Nxe6 22. c5 Nd4 23. Rxd4 {The logical exchange sacrifice - Kramnik is winning.} Bxd4 24. cxd6 Ng8 25. Nd5 Kh8 26. Rc7 Be5 27. Bb2 (27. Re7 {is quicker:} Bf6 (27... Bg7 28. Nf4) 28. Nf4 Bxe7 29. Nxg6+ Kg7 30. dxe7 {wins}) 27... Qxd6 28. Rxb7 g5 29. b6 a5 30. Bh5 Rab8 31. Ra7 Bxb2 32. Qxb2+ Nf6 33. Bf7 Kg7 {Kramnik in his element.} 34. Rd7 Qc6 35. Be6+ 1-0
Kramnik and Giri analyse in the press room after their game
Hands moving pieces in the analysis of a position
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik starts with a win
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (above) got a clear advantage in this Queen's Indian by Judit Polgar, but could not turn it into a full point in the rook ending a pawn up.
Judit in a portrait shot by Tímea
Jaksa
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Round 1 – Sunday, October
16, 2011, 14:00h
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
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½-½
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Polgar, Judit |
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Kramnik, Vladimir
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1-0
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Giri, Anish |
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Round 2 – Monday, October
17, 2011, 14:00h
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
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Giri, Anish | |
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Polgar, Judit
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Kramnik, Vladimir | |
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Round 3 – Tuesday, October
18, 2011, 14:00h
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Giri, Anish
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Polgar, Judit | |
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Kramnik, Vladimir
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | |
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Round 4 – Thursday, October
20, 2011, 14:00h
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Polgar, Judit
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | |
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Giri, Anish
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Kramnik, Vladimir | |
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Round 5 – Friday, October
21, 2011, 14:00h
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
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Kramnik, Vladimir | |
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Polgar, Judit
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Giri, Anish | |
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Round 6 – Saturday, October
22, 2011, 14:00h
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Giri, Anish
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Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | |
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Kramnik, Vladimir
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Polgar, Judit | |
The Open is under way, and four players lead with 3.0/3 points: Tiviakov, Baklan, Zherebukh and Lenderman. All available games are provided below.
Star attraction in Hoogeveen: Indian IM and WGM Tania Sachdev
Pictures by Jeroen van den Belt and the official web site.
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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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