Besiktas wins 2015 Turkish Super League

by Albert Silver
8/22/2015 – After seven rounds, Wesley So’s team, Deniz Su Aquamatch led with a perfect 7.0/7, until round eight when it faced its rival, Besiktas. It was the match of the event, as Besiktas defeated the leaders, and from there on, never let go of the lead. The top players all had good days and bad, and in round twelve Wesley So lost to Cheparinov, but bounced back with a win over Zhigalko.

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The teams all color coordinated with their official t-shirts

No, this is not a montage of some sort. Here is round ten when Alexander Moiseenko (2710)
faced 12-year-old Ege Karaahmetoglu (2032) on board one.

IM Demre Kerigan playing for Turkish Airlines

One of the stars of the event, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov performed solidly, though not without incident

'Great. There goes my preparation.'

IM Ekatar Atalik played for Kayseri Sugar Sports Club

The top prizes for first board, with Sergey Zhigalko winning first prize with 7.5/13. This might
seem like a modest score until you remember the level of competition. Furthermore, he played
all thirteen rounds for his team. In second was Alex Moiseenko, and third was Yuriy Kuzubov.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for the top seeds either. In round twelve, Welsey So lost to Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov:

[Event "TCh-TUR Super League 2015"] [Site "Kocaelli TUR"] [Date "2015.08.14"] [Round "12.5"] [White "Cheparinov, I."] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2015.08.04"] [EventType "team-schev"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "TUR"] [SourceDate "2015.08.17"] [WhiteTeam "Turk Hava Yollari (Thy) Sports Club"] [BlackTeam "Deniz Su Aquamatch Satranc Genclik Ve Sports "] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 b6 9. Rd1 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Bd2 Nhf6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nc6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 Rc8 16. Qb5 Ne8 17. Qd3 Nd6 18. Nc3 (18. b3 f5 19. Be1 Nb8 20. e3 Nc6 21. f3 Qd7 22. Nc3 Rc7 23. Rac1 Rfc8 24. Bf1 Ne8 25. Nb5 Nb4 26. Rxc7 Nxc7 27. Bxb4 Bxb4 28. Rc1 Ne8 29. Rxc8 Qxc8 30. a3 Be7 31. Nxa7 Qc1 32. Nb5 g5 33. b4 g4 34. fxg4 fxg4 35. Qc3 Qd1 36. Qd3 Qc1 37. e4 Nf6 38. Nc3 dxe4 39. Nxe4 Nd5 40. Kf2 Bf8 41. h3 Qb2+ 42. Be2 Bg7 43. hxg4 Qxd4+ 44. Kf3 Qxd3+ 45. Bxd3 Bb2 46. b5 Bxa3 47. Ng5 h6 48. Nxe6 Kf7 49. Nd4 Kf6 50. Nf5 Bc1 51. Ke4 Ne7 52. Nd6 Ba3 53. Nc4 Bc5 54. Be2 Nc8 55. Ne5 Bd6 {1/2-1/2 (57) Giri,A (2734)-So,W (2719) Wijk aan Zee 2014}) 18... Nc4 {This is the novelty in a position that has been under close scrutiny by the top players.} (18... Nb8 19. b3 Nc6 20. e3 Qd7 21. Rdc1 Rc7 22. Nd1 Rfc8 23. Bc3 {1/2-1/2 (23) Sandipan,C (2590)-Wojtaszek,R (2710) Jurmala 2013}) (18... g6 19. b3 Nb8 20. Bc1 Nc6 21. Bb2 Nf5 22. e3 Qd7 23. Rac1 Rfd8 24. Qd2 Nd6 25. Qe2 Bf6 26. Bf1 Bg7 27. Ba3 Bf8 28. Bb2 Bg7 29. Qe1 Qb7 30. Ba3 Bf8 31. Bd3 Ne4 32. Bxf8 Nxc3 33. Rxc3 Kxf8 34. Rdc1 Ne7 35. Qe2 a5 36. h4 h5 37. Kg2 Qd7 38. Ba6 Rxc3 39. Rxc3 Qa7 40. Bd3 Qb8 41. Qc2 Rc8 42. Rxc8+ Qxc8 43. Qxc8+ Nxc8 44. f3 Kg7 45. Kf2 {1/2-1/2 (45) Tomashevsky,E (2707)-Matlakov,M (2632) Taganrog 2011}) 19. Bc1 Bb4 20. e4 Bxc3 21. bxc3 dxe4 22. Bxe4 Nf6 23. Bb7 Rc7 24. Ba6 Qd5 25. Rb1 Rd8 26. Bf4 e5 $2 {A serious mistake that costs Black a pawn. It is unclear what he missed.} 27. Bxe5 Nxe5 28. dxe5 Qxd3 29. Bxd3 Rcd7 30. Bc2 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 32. Bxd1 {The endgame is going to be extremely tough to save.} Ne4 33. c4 a5 34. Bb3 g5 35. f3 Nc5 36. Bc2 (36. Kf2) 36... h6 37. Kf2 f6 38. exf6 Kf7 39. Ke3 Kxf6 40. f4 gxf4+ 41. Kxf4 Nd7 42. Ke4 Ke6 43. Bd1 Ne5 44. Be2 Nc6 45. a3 Ne7 46. h4 Kd6 47. g4 Ke6 48. g5 hxg5 49. hxg5 Ng6 50. Bg4+ Kd6 51. Bh5 Nf8 52. g6 Ne6 53. Bg4 Ng7 54. a4 Ke7 55. Kd5 1-0

To his credit, however, he bounced back with a strong win over Sergey Zhigalko in the final round:

[Event "TCh-TUR Super League 2015"] [Site "Kocaelli TUR"] [Date "2015.08.15"] [Round "13.3"] [White "So, W."] [Black "Zhigalko, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A17"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2654"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2015.08.04"] [EventType "team-schev"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "TUR"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2015.08.17"] [WhiteTeam "Deniz Su Aquamatch Satranc Genclik Ve Sports "] [BlackTeam "Kahramanmaras Buyuksehir Belediye Sports Club"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Qxc3 d6 7. b4 e5 8. e3 Re8 9. Bb2 h6 10. Be2 Bf5 11. O-O Nbd7 12. d3 c6 13. a4 a5 14. b5 c5 15. e4 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Nf8 18. g3 Ne6 19. Bg2 Nd4 20. Rae1 Kf8 21. f4 Ke7 22. Qd2 b6 23. h4 $1 {This shot actually prevents Black's next move, though he appears to have missed it and continues on his plan to give his king fresh air.} Kd7 24. Bh3+ Kc7 (24... Ke7 {would only be moderately better.} 25. Bxd4 cxd4 (25... exd4 {is impossible with the rooks ready to fire.} 26. e5 $1 $18) 26. Rc1 Kf8 27. fxe5 Rxe5 (27... dxe5 {would allow} 28. c5 $1 $18) 28. Rf4 Nd7 29. Qf2 { and the d4 pawn will and must fall.}) 25. Bxd4 cxd4 (25... exd4 26. e5 Ng8 { Ugly but what else?} (26... dxe5 27. fxe5 Ng8 28. Rxf7+ {etc.}) 27. Qg2 $1 { The penetration on the long diagonal, notably the d5 and c6 squares, is decisive.}) 26. fxe5 dxe5 {Black misses or underestimates the danger he is in.} 27. Rc1 Qd6 {[#]} 28. c5 $1 bxc5 29. Rxc5+ $1 {This isn't about winning the queen and pawn for two rooks.} Qxc5 30. Rc1 Nd7 31. Rxc5+ Nxc5 32. Qa2 $1 {The queen cannot be stopped. Not only is she threatening to take on f7, but she is also preparing to reach c6 via d5.} Kb6 33. Qd5 Rac8 {Not an oversight. there is simply no other move to prevent Qc6+ and Qd6+ winning the knight, or mate.} ({For exaample,} 33... Ne6 34. Qc6+ Ka7 35. Bxe6 $1 {and if Rxe6 Qc7 mate!}) 34. Bxc8 Rxc8 35. Qxf7 Nxd3 36. Qe6+ Kb7 37. Qa6+ Kb8 38. Qb6+ Ka8 39. Qxa5+ Kb8 40. Qb6+ Ka8 41. Qa6+ Kb8 42. b6 Rc1+ 43. Kg2 Rc2+ 44. Kf1 Rc1+ 45. Ke2 1-0

The heavy scorers were not the top boards however crucial they might be. Besiktas could
not have hoped for better as second board GM Dragan Solak scored 9.5/13.

Turkish Airlines Sports Club took third

In second came Deniz Su Aquamatch

The grand winners of the 2015 Turkish Super League: Besiktas Gymnastics Club

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.