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The ACP cup runs from the 13th of September to the 15th of September in Riga, Latvia. The tournament will be a rapid event with blitz tiebreaks in a knock out format. The pairings will be somewhat unusual, as the four highest rated players will be randomly paired against the four lowest rated players, consequently the players ranked fifth to eighth will be randomly paired against the players ranked ninth to twelfth. The tournament will follow FIDE rapid play rules and FIDE blitz play rules for the normal portion and the tiebreaks.
The matches will consist of 25 minutes per player at the start of the game with 10 seconds increment from move one. In case of a tiebreak the games will move to 3 minutes with 2 seconds increment. Finally, an Armageddon will be used where White starts with 5 minutes and must win against Black's 4 minutes; at the 61st move however players will begin to receive a 2 second increment.
We will leave what Grischuk is saying to Fressinet up to your imagination
This is the strongest rapid event of the year, and it is the traditional ACP Cup, which was staged in 2007-2010, then it stopped being organized and was renewed under the new ACP leadership, along with other events ACP organized in 2012-2013: ACP Women Cup (Tbilisi 2012) Women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships (Batumi (2012)and the ACP Golden Classic (Amsterdam 2012)Day one report
Alexander Grischuk vs. Laurent Fressinet
This was the only series that went to overtime. In the first game of the series the players reached an uneventful rook endgame, and in the second it was a simple short draw. However Grischuk crushed in the tiebreakers and took the series 3-1.
Grischuk keeps practicing the "draw the normal games and win the tiebreaks" strategy he is so famous for
Shakhriyar Mamedyarovs vs. Igor Kovalenko
Mamedyarov was easily held with the white pieces, but he convincingly demonstrated his strength simply outplaying his opponent with black to take the series 1.5-0.5
A victorious Mamedyarov is a happy Mamedyarov
Ian Nepomniatchi vs. Alexander Moiseenko
Nepomniatchi crushed Moiseenko in the second game after holding a solid draw. That's all it takes in a knock out tournament. 1.5-0.5
Peter Svidler vs. Dmitry Jakovenko
Svidler used his toothless opening, the same one he used against Ushenina, to crush Jakovenko in the first game. He obtained a quick extra pawn and was able to convert it. A miscalculation in the second game quickly caused Jakovenko to resign and Svidler passes 2-0.
Teimour Radjabov vs. Alexei Shirov
After a draw in the first game a devastating incursion on the 7th rank of Radjabov's queen and rook destroyed Shirov's position. The Azerbaijani passes with a 1.5-0.5 score.
Vladimir Malakhov vs. Pavel Eljanov
Malakhov tried to win his first game in an extremely long endgame that lasted 86 moves. However it was in the second game with Black, also in an endgame, where he was finally able to puncture through Eljanov's defenses and take the win. Malakhov 1.5-0.5 Eljanov
Alexander Morozevich vs. Ruslan Ponomariov
Morozevich's new look didn't help him in the game
Morozevich was soundly outplayed in the first game. Ponomariov's Slav was powerful, and despite his exposed king position it was White that always had the initiative and was able to convert it to a win. In a complicated position Ponomariov was able to force a perpetual in the second game and secure his pass. Ponomariov 1.5-0.5 Morozevich.
Radoslaw Wojtaszek vs. Vassily Ivanchuk
After a first game that was close and a draw, Wojtaszek was able to consistently pull tactics on Ivanchuk which first netted him a pawn and then a piece. This was of course impossible to recover from and the Polish star moves to the next round, knocking out one of the potential winners. Wojtaszek 1.5-0.5 Ivanchuk
The matches tomorrow are the following:
Grischuk-Wojtaszek
Mamedyarov-Ponomariov
Nepomniatchi-Malakhov
Svidler-Radjabov
September 14:
1/4 Finals, 1st set of games
14:00 game 1
15:15 game 2
16:30 Tiebreaks
1/4 Finals, 2nd set of games
18:00 game 1
19:15 game 2
20:30 Tiebreaks
September 15:
Semi Finals
12:00 game 1
13:15 game 2
14:30 Tiebreaks
Finals
14:30 game 1
14:45 game 2
19:00 Tiebreaks
The games will have live broadcast in Russian and English on the official tournament site
LinksThe games will be 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |