Chess Festival in Basel – three GMs lead with perfect scores

by ChessBase
1/3/2013 – The seven-round Swiss Master tournament has a lot of high-rated grandmasters in a field of 89 players, with second seed Boris Grachev leading together with two other players after three rounds (all with 3-0 scores). We bring you games, results and portrait pictures – but in addition, as a special new service, a selection of tactical highlights for you to enjoy.

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The Basel Chess Festival is taking place from January 1st to 5th as a seven-round Swiss tournament, with top seeds Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Boris Grachev, Edouard Romain and a host of strong GMs in a field totalling 89 players (197 in all groups).


The playing hall in Basel


The top four games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on Playchess

Standing after three rounds

# Player
Titel
Rtng
Nat.
+
=
Pts
1. Grachev,Boris
GM
2688
RUS
3
0
0
3.0
2. Vajda,Levente
GM
2603
ROU
3
0
0
3.0
3. Lötscher,Roland
FM
2395
SUI
3
0
0
3.0
4. Fier,Alexandr
GM
2573
BRA
2
1
0
2.5
5. Vorotnikov,Vladis
GM
2464
RUS
2
1
0
2.5
6. Kurmann,Oliver
IM
2456
SUI
2
1
0
2.5
7. Vachier-Lagrave,M
GM
2711
FRA
2
1
0
2.5
8. Istratescu,Andrej
GM
2654
FRA
2
1
0
2.5
8. Gavrilov,Alexei
GM
2501
RUS
2
1
0
2.5
10. Turov,Maxim
GM
2630
RUS
2
1
0
2.5
10. Van Kampen,Robin
GM
2581
NED
2
1
0
2.5
12. Aguera Naredo,Jav
FM
2417
ESP
2
1
0
2.5
12. Milosevic,Goran
IM
2328
SUI
2
1
0
2.5
14. Melkumyan,Hrant
GM
2656
ARM
2
1
0
2.5
15. Edouard,Romain
GM
2686
FRA
2
1
0
2.5

Here are some interesting top games from the first three rounds to play through:

And here are some fun tactical shots from the tournament. Click on the diagram in the notation to jump to the critical position. Note that you can download the PGN file our Javascript player is showing and load it with Fritz (or Rybka, or Houdini) and analyse the positions marked as diagrams. It is quite a lot of fun, really, and we urge you to try it.

Player portraits

1. Grachev,Boris
GM
2688
RUS
+3
=0
–0
3.0

2. Vajda,Levente
GM
2603
ROU
+3
=0
–0
3.0

5. Vorotnikov,Vladis
GM
2464
RUS
+2
=1
–0
2.5

7. Vachier-Lagrave,M
GM
2711
FRA
2
1
0
2.5

8. Gavrilov,Alexei
GM
2501
RUS
+2
=1
–0
2.5

10. Van Kampen,R.
GM
2581
NED
+2
=1
–0
2.5

14. Melkumyan,Hrant
GM
2656
ARM
+2
=1
–0
2.5

15. Edouard,Romain
GM
2686
FRA
+2
=1
–0
2.5

Links

The games are being 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.

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