
The 23rd Acropolis 2008 International Open Chess Tournament took place at the
President Hotel (43 Kifissias Avenue, "Europa" Hall) in Athens, Greece,
from August 9th to 17th 2008. The Israeli Grandmaster Ilia Smirin was the winner
for the second consecutive year. This time he tied for first place with the Romanian GM Mircea Parligras, but had superior tie-breaks (average rating of opponents).
In the games in the 9th and final round Smirin preferred not to take any chances
against the Bulgarian GM Atanas Kolev, while Parligras played a very double-edged
game against the Moldavian GM Dmitry Svetushkin, which eventually ended in a draw
after many adventures.

The three winners (in the middle): Mircea Parligras, Ilya Smirin, Nana Dzagnidze
Half a point behind the leaders were Kolev, the German GM Alexander Graf (who beat
Zubarev) and two female players, the Georgian IM Nana Dzagnidze and the Armenian IM
Elina Danielian, who beat Maric and Kotanjian respectively. Dzagnidze finished
third on tie-breaks, while her victory today secured her a Grandmaster norm.
Further down the standings, on 6 points out of 9 games, is the top junior
of the tournament, the 17-year-old Spanish GM Ivan Salgado Lopez, as well as the top
Greek player GM Hristos Banikas. The first Greek woman was IM Yelena Dembo and
top girl honors were won by Zoe Iordanidou. The top Greek juniors were Tasos
Pavlidis, Antonis Pavlidis and Paminos Kourousis.
Natalia Zhukova, Elina Danielian and, covered with a Georgian flag, Nana
Dzagnidze
"Acropolis 2008" was organized by the Greek Chess Federation and
the Prefecture of Athens, which actively supported the event for the second
consecutive year. The Hellenic Post Bank was the sponsor of the tournament.
The event was held and was covered by the GCF
website with results, standings, games, photos as well as live transmission
of the most important games of each round.
Rk |
Name |
SNo. |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
RtgØ |
Fide |
BH. |
1 |
Smirin Ilia |
GM |
ISR |
2637 |
7 |
2523 |
38½ |
51½ |
2 |
Parligras Mircea |
GM |
ROU |
2588 |
7 |
2513 |
39 |
48 |
3 |
Dzagnidze Nana |
IM |
GEO |
2458 |
6½ |
2449 |
33 |
46½ |
4 |
Graf Alexander |
GM |
GER |
2621 |
6½ |
2448 |
32½ |
49½ |
5 |
Danielian Elina |
IM |
ARM |
2495 |
6½ |
2429 |
32½ |
46 |
6 |
Kolev Atanas |
GM |
BUL |
2565 |
6½ |
2391 |
32 |
46 |
7 |
Salgado Lopez Ivan |
GM |
ESP |
2532 |
6 |
2460 |
34 |
50½ |
8 |
Banikas Hristos |
GM |
GRE |
2572 |
6 |
2442 |
33 |
48 |
9 |
Svetushkin Dmitry |
GM |
MDA |
2587 |
6 |
2432 |
31 |
47½ |
10 |
Managadze Nikoloz |
IM |
GEO |
2444 |
6 |
2378 |
29 |
41½ |
11 |
Mastrovasilis Dimitrios |
GM |
GRE |
2563 |
6 |
2354 |
28 |
43½ |
12 |
Rakhmanov Aleksandr |
GM |
RUS |
2489 |
5½ |
2483 |
31½ |
50½ |
13 |
Zubarev Alexander |
GM |
UKR |
2517 |
5½ |
2464 |
32½ |
49½ |
14 |
Zhukova Natalia |
WGM |
UKR |
2489 |
5½ |
2433 |
30½ |
45½ |
15 |
Atakisi Umut |
IM |
TUR |
2388 |
5½ |
2429 |
29½ |
47 |
16 |
Maric Alisa |
IM |
SRB |
2412 |
5½ |
2428 |
31½ |
46 |
17 |
Romanishin Oleg M |
GM |
UKR |
2530 |
5½ |
2426 |
32 |
50½ |
18 |
Caselas Cabanas Jacobo |
IM |
ESP |
2418 |
5½ |
2385 |
30 |
41½ |
19 |
Rasmussen Allan Stig |
IM |
DEN |
2519 |
5½ |
2381 |
30 |
43 |
20 |
Kotanjian Tigran |
GM |
ARM |
2578 |
5½ |
2379 |
29½ |
46 |
21 |
Dembo Yelena |
IM |
GRE |
2431 |
5½ |
2374 |
29½ |
45 |
22 |
Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi |
IM |
IND |
2411 |
5½ |
2356 |
26 |
42 |
23 |
Secer Ata |
FM |
TUR |
2320 |
5½ |
2341 |
26½ |
42 |
24 |
Zawadzka Jolanta |
WGM |
POL |
2389 |
5½ |
2336 |
26½ |
41½ |
25 |
Tirard Hugo |
IM |
FRA |
2461 |
5½ |
2277 |
24 |
37 |
Work and play at Acropolis 2008
Pictorial report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich
The international chess tournament Acropolis 2008 took place for second time
in the current form. In different years the organizers staged round robin tournaments,
with women’s opens and men’s opens on the side, but in the last
two years they decided to have a common tournament for men and women, while
retaining the same attractive prize fund.
Acropolis 2008 was organized by the Greek Chess Federation and the Prefecture
of Athens, the sponsor of the tournament was the Hellenic Post Bank This year
84 chess players from 22 countries took part in the event, including 25 holders
of GM and WGM titles.

Israeli GM Ilia Smirin took first with 7.0 out of 9 points

IM Nana Dzagnidze finished third after winning the last round game against
Alisa Maric. During the tournament Nana also defeated GM Alexander Graf and
Tomaz Gelashvili, making a GM norm in the process.

17-year-old GM Ivan Salgado Lopez from Spain, 6 points, 7th place

GM Oleg Romanishin, Ukraine, 5.5 points

IM Natalia Zukova, Ukraine, 5.5 points, third place among women

IM Yelena Dembo, the best Greek woman player, 5.5 points

IM Alisa Maric, Serbia, 5.5 points, fouth place among women

IM Salome Melia, Georgia, 5 points, sixth place among women

WIM Vera Papadopoulou, Greece, 4 points

WGM Maria Velcheva, Bulgaria, 4.5 points

WGM Ann Rudolfa, Hungary, 4.5 points

12-year-old Daniel Howard Fernandez from Singapore, the youngest participant
in the tournament
Athens and the chess cafe Acapus
Athens is the capital of Greece and the largest city which holds half the
population of the country. It is a city of narrow streets, ancient monuments
and modern buildings, a city which has its own spirit and special timetable
(city life goes faster in the evening and at night).

Athens, the capital and center of Greece

The Parthenon on the Acropolis

The entrance of the national library in Athens

A Google Earth satellite view of the President hotel in the middle of Athens

The 20-storey hotel where the tournament took place

On top of the hotel a swimming pool and recreation area (see satellite picture
above)

Marcea Parligras and Dmitriy Svetushkin enjoying a refreshing dip

Likewise WIM Anna Burtasova, whom we know from the North
Urals articles

Greek players in the bar of President Hotel
During the last years the players of the Acropolis tournament created a tradition
of visiting the sport (chess) cafe Acapus, a bar which is located in the Pagrati
district of Athens. It is a friendly and accessible place, with all kinds of
table games and rhythms of Greek and foreign rock music. So after the closing
ceremony many chess players moved there...

Young greek chess players enjoying blitz...

... or a round of table football...

... or ping pong

...while we say goodbye to Athens and the 23rd Acropolis Open 2008
Anastasiya
(Nastja) Karlovich was Ukrainian champion and vice-champion among girls
under 16, 18 and 20. She was European Champion with the Ukrainian team in the
Youth Team Championships. She is also
- a candidate officer in the National Law Academy “Yaroslav the Wise”,
- a member of the chess club “Law Academy”
- a member of the German club Grosslehna
- one of the organisers of WGM and GM closed tournaments “Cup of Rector”.
- a Woman Grandmaster since 2003
 |
Links
|