The first Geneva Chess Masters

The first Geneva Chess Masters is taking place from June 26th to 30th. Eight players in two groups qualify for a knockout phase. The games are played at 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. In the initial phase, two groups of four players play two game matches and play-offs (in other words, no ties) and produce points to go into an all-play-all table. The top two in each group go through to the final phase.

Day three

The hall of one of the many parallel events for chess fans

It brought players of all ages, including many a battle-hardened veteran

Advice from Mommy? "Be sure to snarl as you stare him down."

The final day of the Geneva Chess Master qualifiers kept the momentum of what has been a fun tournament to watch so far, and although there was effectively only one spot left undecided, even the players with no chance had a score to settle, not wanting to leave on a negative note.

If you don't have the biggest Elo you can at least have the biggest pieces

Special youth events are also being held

In Group A, Shakhriyar Mamdyarov had already secured his spot in the finals by virtue of his two match wins over Kramnik and Pelletier, while his opponent, Judit Polgar, was smarting from two losses. Both players are well-known for their fighting spirit, and Judit was especially motivated to once again strike a blow for the women.

Although she leveled the match, Judit Polgar succumbed in the blitz tiebreaks

Their match started badly as Mamedyarov drew first blood and won game one, but in game two they played a Closed Ruy Lopez in which impatience got the better of the Azeri and he made a mistake that cost him the endgame, pushing to the tiebreaks.

The two 5-minute tiebreaks were not enough to break the tie as they exchanged blows, and Shakhriyar was only able to maintain a perfect match score in the Armageddon which went his way.

This was the one match where both players were fighting for their life

The match between Yannick Pelletier and Vladimir Kramnik was the one with the greatest sporting interest as they were the two players whose fate was undecided and it was up to them. The rapid games did little to change their fates as they both ended in fairly uneventful draws, and it was in the blitz games that the former world champion was able to get the edge. After a draw in the first blitz game, game four was a Queen’s Indian that went badly for the Swiss player as he lost a pawn and that was all she wrote.

Oddly, it was in Group B that some of the brightest fireworks took place despite the guaranteed spots by Hikaru Nakamura and Etienne Bacrot, both of whom had two wins, which meant that both Romain Edouard and Alexandra Kosteniuk had two losses.

The official site has been providing excellent video coverage

In a rare initiative, commentary has been provided in both English and French.
Above are the French commentators GM Gilles Miralles and Axel Fritz.

Alexandra Kosteniuk faced Romain Edouard, and with both players staring at an abysmal total loss, they were equally anxious to be the one to strike a blow for honor. In theory, Kosteniuk was the one with the highest mountain to climb as her opponent outrated her by nearly 200 Elo, but you would never have noticed in their games. In game one it was a 25-move miniature with a lovely epaulette mate in the lines well worth the price of entry.

In game two, the French grandmaster got the advantage in a Torre Attack, but failed to capitalize on his advantage. The Russian managed to mobilize her kingside pawns and reverted the situation for her second win and the match.

Hikaru Nakamura had already won his two matches quite decisively, and his final encounter with Etienne Bacrot was no different. His first game was a miniature for which the game score is unavailable at the moment due to technical difficulties from the official site, and he rounded it off with a power attack in game two.

Hikaru Nakamura blitzed Bacrot in the rapid games for a 2-0 win

Links Official tournament site All A Games in PGN All B Games in PGN 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.