
Donostia Chess Festival in San Sebastian
Report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich
The Donostia Chess Festival is taking place from 7th-16th July 2009. The main
event is a round robin tournament with ten GMs, all but local Pablo San Segundo
rated over 2600, five over 2700. The average rating in 2682, the category is
18. Play starts at 17:00h CEST = 16:00h London, 11 a.m. New York.
In the first round American GM Hikaru Nakamura defeated legendary World Champion
Anatoly Karpov, and in the second round French number two Maxime Vachier Lagrave.
Nakamura leads with 2.0/2. Here are the standings after two rounds:

Picture Gallery
Donostia-San Sebastián is the capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa,
in the Basque Country, Spain. The population is around 180,000.
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Larger Map – pan with mouse, zoom in or out
San Sebastian is famous for its intense cultural life and international festivals
such as the International Film Festival and Jazzaldia – the longest, continuously
running Jazz Festival in Europe. It takes place during the last week of July
and features the top musicians from around the world.

A design
house in San Sebastian

San Sebastián's picturesque coastline makes it a popular beach resort

The waves of Zurriola Beach attract courageous surfers

The figure of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which looks out over the city from
the Urgull Mountain. The mountain is about 120 meters above sea level and up
to 1863 it was a military stronghold that survived several sieges.

The Town Hall became the playing hall for the chess tournament. It is renowned
as being one of the most beautiful buildings in Spain. The Town Hall was originally
intended as casino and hosted many important events including the famous chess
tournament in 1911, where Capablanca, Bernstein and others played.

The opening ceremony

Rustam Kasimdzhanov and his wife Firuza chatting with Peter Svidler (left)

Russian WGMs Irina Zakurdjaeva and Yana Melnikova

Souvenirs for the ballot

Peter Svidler (right) at the opening ceremony

Anatoly Karpov with his second Alexander Riazantsev

Fascination: Ruslan Ponomariov listening to some girly conversation

Slicing the local ham

The welcome dinner in a sea food restaurant

Fresh fish grilled over charcoal – one can almost smell it from this
picture

The organizer of the tournament, Felix Izeta, pours the local wine in a
very special way

The playing hall full of players and spectators

Rating favourite of the woman tournament: IM Tania Sachdev from India

IM Sophie Millet from France

WGM Iulia Ionica from Romania

WIM Vesna Rozic from Slovenia

FM Christian Michna from Germany
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
the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access.
You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. |
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