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.

• Official web site (GCF site with results, standings, games, captioned photos)
• Click to download all games in zipped PGN

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

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 Official page of the club “Law Academy” Page of the National Law Academy of Ukraine "Yaroslav the Wise" All games from the Men's section and the Lady's section (in PGN) Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light You can use ChessBase Light to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. It also gives you immediate access to play and watch events on Playchess.com server.