Chigorin Memorial: Alekseenko wins; Abdusattorov shines

Photos by Alina Bivol, Sergey Sorokhtin and Boris Oskina

Akiba Rubinstein, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Vassily Smyslov, Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi — these are not just names. Names are but masks that hide not just the players but also the idea they signify. Ideas are bulletproof.

Each of them did something special that changed our sport in numerous ways. They may have all passed away, but their ideas still lead generations of chessplayers forward. Something else is common between these greats. They all have won the Chigorin Memorial tournament at some point in their lives.

The Chigorin Memorial Tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, has had a long tradition. It is named after the founder of the Soviet Chess School Mikhail Chigorin. A list of strong grandmasters competed in the 2016 edition for the prize fund of 18 million rubles (US$28 thousand / 26 thousand euros). More than 30 grandmasters were playing in a field of 372 players with 16 of them rated above 2600.

Russia’s GM Kirill Alekseenko (2554) scored 8.0/9 to take clear first place ahead of 26 higher rated grandmasters. He also won the event in 2015.

In the final round, the top table witnessed a Russia vs. China struggle as Alekseenko had to defend his lead against former world junior champion GM Lu Shanglei  (2615).

Alekseenko - Shanglei

Arguably, the real star of the tournament was 11-year-old FM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2395) of Uzbekistan — sixth place finish with an 2673 performance.

FM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2395) of Uzbekistan

Those who have seen him progress know that Nodirbek is a phenomenal talent. In this tournament, he scored 7.0/9, 4.0/6 of which came against grandmasters.

Some just blundered like Benjamin Bok here, who played …Ra2, not noticing that Abdusattorov had set a cunning trap.
White to play and win.

White had a way to gain the upper hand here. Think outside the box!

What would you play if you had to manufacture a tactic in this position? Warning: The answer is based on a tactic, but it is not a normal ‘White to play and win’. It is more like an interesting position where you have to conjure up something out of thin air. Stupak himself missed it and fell into a nasty trick his young opponent had foreseen.

Stupak - Abdusattorov

The prize winners: Alekseenko flanked by GM Evgeny Romanov (2619) and GM Gata Kamsky (2637), both of whom scored 7.5/9 and were second and third respectively

Khismatullin - Sengupta

GM Sergey Volkov also scored 7.5/9 but had to settle for fourth place

GM Sanan Sjugirov (2660) was fifth with 7.0/9

Top seed GM Ilia Smirin (2685) could manage only 6.0/9

Gusain - Rozum

The playing arena

Russian hope FM Andrey Esipenko (2490) will not be too happy with his 6.0/9

At Caissa’s feet, everyone is equal. Which sport can give you that immense satisfaction and pleasure as a player yourself, when you sweat hard and win, even if you are differently abled, or a young child?

Final standings