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The chess team from the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod won its seventh national championship title last weekend. The eleventh and final round of the top division was held in Ramat Aviv, a neighbourhood in northwestern Tel-Aviv. A total of 72 players participated, representing the top 12 teams, out of which 32 were grandmasters and 20 international masters. The only female player present was IM Yuliya Shvayger, the current Israeli women's champion.
Ashdod drew their first round match against Kfar Saba A, but then won all their ten remaining encounters, including "the match of the season" against their main rivals for the crown — Beer-Sheva Levant. Ashdod won 4½:2½ (one bonus point is added for the team victory, which means they got the win by the smallest of margins) and did not let the lead slip away until the end of the season. The team was based on their long-time local line-up that includes GMs Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin, Arthur Kogan, Vitaly Golod & Boris Kantsler and IM Roman Bar. The locals were aided by the occasional foreign reinforcement, which included Ukrainian GMs Pavel Eljanov & Alexander Moiseenko, Latvian Igor Kovalenko and German Daniel Friedman.
The champions celebrating
Ashdod scored 46 board points plus 10 bonus points for their ten victories, and with a total of 56 points took the gold for the seventh time, leaving the silver medals to Beer-Sheva Levant on 53. Beer-Sheva’s team composition included local GMs Maxim Rodshtein, Evgeny Postny, Michael Roiz, Alex Khuzman, Victor Mikhalevsky and Alon Greenfeld, plus some foreign reinforcements: Azeri Arkadij Naiditch, Ukrainian Anton Korobov and Russian Vladimir Malakhov. Bronze medals went to Kfar Saba A, a team that accumulated 51½ points and was led by GMs Tamir Nabaty, Avital Boruchovsky and Eduardas Rozentalis.
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Rodshtein facing Eljanov on board one of the crucial Beer Sheva v Ashdod match-up
Rishon LeZion got fourth place (led by GM Boris Alterman) with 44 points, ahead of Zafrir Rehovot, a young team reinforced by former Soviet and Israeli champion GM Lev Psakhis that finished in a respectable fifth place with 38 points.
| Rk | Team | Pts | Leader |
| 1 | Ashdod | 56 | Emil Sutovsky |
| 2 | Beer-Sheva Levant | 53 | Maxim Rodshtein |
| 3 | Kfar Saba A | 51½ | Tamir Nabaty |
| 4 | Rishon LeZion | 44 | Boris Alterman |
| 5 | Zafrir Rehovot | 38 | Lev Psakhis |
| 6 | Beer-Sheva Yud-Alef | 37½ | Ilya Khmelniker |
| 7 | Herzliya | 36 | Dan Zoler |
| 8 | Elitzur Petah-Tikva | 30½ | Alexander Zubov |
| 9 | Hapoel Petah-Tikva | 30 | Vitaly Sivuk |
| 10 | Hapoel Kfar Saba B | 28½ | Ariel Erenberg |
| 11 | Elitzur Netanya | 26½ | Thal Abergel |
| 12 | ASA Tel-Aviv | 23½ | Ram Soffer |
The best player of the entire season was GM Emil Sutovsky (Ashdod), the current General Director of FIDE, who scored 9½ out of 11 points and ended up undefeated against a field that included eight grandmasters. Owing to his new public commitments, he hardly had the time to prepare properly, but his drive to get a well-fought game remained intact. Here is one of Emil’s finest efforts, played in the most important match of the season against Beer-Sheva Levant — a fine example of his reputed uncompromising combative style:
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Also had good runs GMs Ilya Smirin (Ashdod) and Eduardas Rozentalis (Kfar Saba A), who managed to score 8½/11 and concluded the event undefeated; GM Victor Mikhalevsky (Beer-Sheva Levant) finished on 8 out of 10 (+7 =2 -1); and undefeated with an 8/11 score were GM Maxim Rodshtein (Beer-Sheva Levant), IM Roman Bar & FM Jan Gelburd (Zafrir Rehovot) — Bar and Gelburd scored their first GM norms.
Two players scored IM norms: Or Bronstein (Rishon LeZion), who finished on 5½/9, and Michael Lurie (Elitzur Netanya), on 5½/10.
Avital Boruchovsky (Kfar Saba A) versus Igor Kovalenko (Ashdod) during round one
Current Israeli women's champion Yuliya Shvayger
