Gibraltar Rd10: Almighty Hikaru

by Priyadarshan Banjan
2/3/2017 – The 2017 edition of the best Open in the world was all set for a mouth-watering finale, with as many as 9 contenders for the 23000 pounds first prize. Young David Anton Guijarro is the greatest of Spanish hopes these days and was leading the tournament. But among the players pursuing him, there was one particular face who has made winning at the Rock a habit. Almighty Hikaru.

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Photos by John Saunders and Sophie Triay

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017

The Tradewise Gibraltar Open is one of the strongest and best organised events of its kind in the world. Anyone who knows the moves (and pays the entry fee) can take part, and perhaps face top participants like Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave or Hikaru Nakamura. The tournament lasts from January 23 (opening) to February 4. The location is very balmy: ten hours of daylight, average day temperature 16° C, warm sea temperatures, beautiful scenery. Paradise!

Gibraltar 10: Almighty Hikaru

The final round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters had everything you could ask for from the climax of an Oscar-winning movie. A 21-year-old Spaniard was the sole leader, but one look at the pack of heavyweights pursuing him and you would have known that you are in for a thriller.

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Unlike other Opens where, often in such scenarios, the players just shake hands, share the prizes and go home, Tradewise Gibraltar has a speed chess playoff that makes things curious and exciting. The first prize was the mouth-watering 23,000 pounds, the second was 18,000 pounds and the third and fourth places mean 14,000 and 10,000 pounds respectively.

If two or four players tied for first place, there would be a speed knock-out play-off, while if three players tie then the player with the highest total performance rating would be seeded directly in the finals, while the other two play a semi-final to determine the other finalist. If more than four players tied for the first place, the top-four according to the TPR will play the knock-out speed play-off.

And with a list as strong as this in contention, it was anybody’s tournament.

However, one among these players was a hot-favorite, even though he was not leading and only had the black pieces in the final round!

But even before most games would be out of the openings, there was already a ‘scandal’ on the 17th board when Hou Yifan chose a unique form of protest to express her dissatisfaction with the pairings.

What do we call this one? Pairingsgate? Read everything here.

We must also note that an appeal was lodged by Hikaru Nakamura's stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry who stated that the tournament leader Guijarro had received six whites in the ten-round event. The arbiters soon explained that if David wasn’t given white in the last round, it would have messed up the average of whites and blacks for the 8 player group which was tied for the second place.

Michael Adams was in a must-win situation with the black pieces.

He opened with 4…a6 against a Queen’s Gambit Declined — a relative sideline that must’ve surprised David Anton Guijarro. Nevertheless, if anybody ever had an edge, it was White. While David maneuvered his knight to c5 to put pressure on Black, Adams rerouted his knight from h6-f7-g5 to e4, negating the rival on c5.

A draw was agreed, knocking Adams out of the contention for the first place.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.02"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Anton Guijarro, David"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2650"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:16:20"] [BlackClock "0:07:54"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bg3 Bf5 8. e3 O-O 9. Qb3 Bxg3 10. hxg3 Nc6 11. Nh4 Bg4 12. Bd3 Re8 13. O-O Rb8 14. Rac1 Ne7 15. Qc2 c6 16. Rfe1 Qd6 17. a3 Ng6 18. Nf3 Ne7 19. Ne5 g6 20. Nxg4 Nxg4 21. Be2 Nf6 22. g4 Kg7 23. g5 Nfg8 24. Qd2 f5 25. Na4 h6 26. gxh6+ Nxh6 27. Nc5 Rh8 28. g3 Nf7 29. Kg2 Ng5 30. Rh1 Ne4 31. Nxe4 fxe4 32. Bg4 1/2-1/2

David, who had reached 8.0/10, was glued to the other boards, nervously. Who will challenge his lead?

Boris Gelfand

Boris Gelfand and Maxime Vacher-Lagrave discussed a Symmetrical-English where MVL equalized effortlessly with black. Sadly, for both the titans, there was almost no way to press for a victory. They stopped for the day and stepped out of contention.

Romain Edouard beat Nigel Short in the previous game, but was unable to resist Hikaru Nakamura

He started with a 4.Nf3 Nimzo-Indian with white against Hikaru Nakamura. Edouard had to take the pawn but afterwards couldn't find a way to castle. Hikaru brought his pieces into the game, and then attacked and won with characteristic ruthlessness. Romain Edouard explained, "I forgot about the opening, then had to accept a pawn sacrifice and a difficult position. It was anyway unclear until I played 20.h3? (instead of 20.Nf5) after which I got crushed." In the process, Hikaru joined David Anton at the top with 8.0/10 and sealed his place in the playoffs.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.02"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Edouard, Romain"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2613"] [BlackElo "2785"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:03:16"] [BlackClock "0:09:00"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. Rc1 h6 7. Bh4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 d5 9. e3 e5 10. Nf3 d4 11. exd4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Qb6 13. Nf3 Rd8 14. Qc2 g5 15. Bg3 Nc6 16. Bd3 g4 17. Nh4 Bf8 18. Qb1 Re8+ 19. Kf1 Be6 20. h3 Nh5 21. Ne4 Nxg3+ 22. Nxg3 Rad8 23. hxg4 Ne5 24. Be2 Bxg4 25. Bxg4 Nxg4 26. Qc2 Bb4 27. c5 Qa6+ 28. Kg1 Be1 29. Rh3 Bxf2+ 30. Kh1 Re1+ 31. Rxe1 Bxe1 32. Nf3 Nf2+ 33. Kh2 Nxh3 34. Nxe1 Ng5 35. Qc3 Qg6 0-1

Ju Wenjun had had a terrific time at 2017 Gibraltar.

She has already crossed the 2600-mark and sealed the first prize for women, no matter the result. On top of it, she was in with a chance to qualify for the play-offs if she beat compatriot Yu Yangyi.

Ju defended with the French Defence and Yu chose the Advanced Variation. Black was obviously cramped for space and Yu confidently broke on c4, developed all his pieces and steamrolled his opponent into submission.

Yu Yangyi

What was supposed to an interesting Chinese derby turned out to be a walk in the park for Yu Yangyi. He joined David and Hikaru in the playoffs with 8.0/10.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.02"] [Round "10.4"] [White "Yu, Yangyi"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2583"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:16:30"] [BlackClock "0:15:55"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Bd7 7. Be2 Nge7 8. dxc5 Qxc5 9. b4 Qb6 10. c4 Qc7 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bb2 Nf4 13. O-O Ne7 14. Nc3 Neg6 15. Rc1 Nxe2+ 16. Qxe2 Qb6 17. Rfd1 Be7 18. g3 Bc6 19. Nd4 O-O 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21. h4 Rfd8 22. h5 Nf8 23. h6 g6 24. Ne4 Rd5 25. Qf3 Nd7 26. Nd6 Rf8 27. Rxd5 exd5 28. Qg4 Qc7 29. Qd4 Nb6 30. b5 Nc4 31. e6 f6 32. Nxc4 dxc4 33. Qxc4 c5 34. Rd1 Rd8 35. Rd7 Rxd7 36. exd7+ Kf8 37. Qd5 Qb6 38. a4 1-0

However, there still was one last place up for grabs and the only contender was Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov who had 7.0/10. He had the black pieces against Russia’s Maxim Matlakov and had to win the game to qualify.

Ivan Cheparinov

But no side really had any advantage whatsoever and the game petered out to a repetition. Cheparinov was out of contention.

Veselin Topalov in conversation with the legendary Spanish chess journalist Leontxo García

 
 

And then there were three…

A Spaniard, an American, and a Chinese remained at the top of the heap. The speed play-off was a two-game rapid match with a 10 mins.+5 sec. time-control. In the event of a tie, there would be a blitz tiebreaker with 3 mins.+2 sec. control. And if this did not yield a result, there would be an Armageddon.

One has to note that most people were vehemently against breaking ties with faster time controls just a few months back in the 2016 World Championship. Meanwhile, most fans generally accept it as the best way to resolve a tie in an Open.

And since this was a three-way tie for first place, David Anton Guijarro, who had the best TPR, was seeded directly into the finals. He took the opportunity to gain some sage advice from two legends of the sport.

Yu and Hikaru began with the rapid games.

The Chinese barely put any pressure on Black when he had the white pieces. In the return game, Nakamura maneuvered his queen from d1-d2-c1-a1 to put pressure on the long diagonal and almost netted a win. But the Chinese defended tenaciously and saved the point.

Yu Yangyi feeling the heat

In the blitz tiebreaker, Nakamura grabbed space on the kingside and squeezed the life out of Yu. Nakamura kept finding the right maneuvers, never mind the ticking clock, and won the game. Meanwhile, with black, he defended calmly against a Scotch and was holding a draw, which would have been enough. However, a frustrated Yu overpressed and lost anyway.

And then there were two…

It's a full house!

In the 2016 edition, David Anton had been beaten by Hikaru in the final round to qualify for the playoffs where he went on to beat MVL to win the tourney. Life had come full circle in a year for the young Spaniard who took on the same opponent once again, this time in a playoff.

The H-Bomb explodes!

David achieved a pleasant position with white in the first rapid game and was in cruise control but Hikaru defended actively and held a draw. In the second rapid game, Hikaru built up a huge advantage with white and was toying with David's position. He finished with a cute tactic to win the Gibraltar Masters for the fourth time, the third time in succession.

 

2008, 2015, 2016, 2017: Hikaru Nakamura — the King of Gibraltar.

 

Hikaru speaks about his performance


Hilarious Out-takes from Gibraltar Masters — Premature Attackulation:

The term 'Premature' was all the rage among the top-players of Gibraltar.



Pairings and results of Round 10

Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts. Res. Pts. Ti. Name FED Rtg
GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 ½-½ 7 GM Adams Michael ENG 2751
GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2721 7 ½-½ 7 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2796
GM Edouard Romain FRA 2613 7 0-1 7 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2785
GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2738 7 1-0 7 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2583
GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2701 ½-½ 7 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2689
GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2827 ½-½ GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2633
GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2589 0-1 GM Topalov Veselin BUL 2739
GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628 1-0 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2684
GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660 ½-½ GM Howell David W L ENG 2655
GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675 6 1-0 IM Steinberg Nitzan ISR 2486
GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2572 6 ½-½ 6 GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2752
GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2557 6 0-1 6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2748
GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2546 6 0-1 6 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2724
GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 6 0-1 6 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702
GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2530 6 ½-½ 6 GM Shankland Samuel L USA 2674
GM Libiszewski Fabien FRA 2545 6 0-1 6 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2652
GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651 6 0-1 6 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2587
GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2512 6 ½-½ 6 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2651
GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637 6 1-0 6 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER 2550
GM Fridman Daniel GER 2594 6 ½-½ 6 IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2443
IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2491 6 ½-½ 6 GM Istratescu Andrei FRA 2593
IM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2484 1-0 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2679
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2657 1-0 IM Salomon Johan NOR 2470
GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2625 ½-½ IM Esserman Marc USA 2468
GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2613 1-0 IM Ider Borya FRA 2463
GM Debashis Das IND 2472 0-1 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2606
GM Riff Jean-Noel FRA 2468 1-0 GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2594
GM Gopal G.N. IND 2579 ½-½ IM Kantans Toms LAT 2456
IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2455 ½-½ GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2564
GM Muzychuk Anna UKR 2558 1-0 GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2447
IM Kantor Gergely HUN 2448 ½-½ GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G ESP 2527
GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2524 1-0 IM Sodoma Jan CZE 2344
GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2420 ½-½ GM Lemos Damian ARG 2516
IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2413 0-1 GM Mikhalevski Victor ISR 2504
IM Godart Francois BEL 2381 0-1 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando ESP 2492
IM Dragnev Valentin AUT 2492 1-0   Henderson De La Fuente Lance ESP 2380
GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2645 5 1-0 5 FM Perez Garcia Alejandro ESP 2398
GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2580 5 1-0 5 IM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs MGL 2390
GM Blomqvist Erik SWE 2574 5 0-1 5 WGM Tsolakidou Stavroula GRE 2387
FM Jessel Stephen IRL 2382 5 ½-½ 5 GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2551
GM Paehtz Thomas GER 2365 5 0-1 5 GM Spraggett Kevin CAN 2542
IM Lazarne Vajda Szidonia HUN 2364 5 0-1 5 GM Narciso Dublan Marc ESP 2508
IM Szabo Bence HUN 2378 5 0-1 5 IM Aryan Chopra IND 2503
IM Bellahcene Bilel FRA 2493 5 1-0 5 FM Garriga Cazorla Pere ESP 2386
FM Shachar Ehud ISR 2374 5 0-1 5 IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2492
FM Gulamali Kazim USA 2341 5 0-1 5 IM Kobo Ori ISR 2482
GM Cramling Pia SWE 2454 5 ½-½ 5 FM Ladron De Guevara Pinto Paolo ESP 2386
IM Cheng Bobby AUS 2452 5 ½-½ 5 IM Herman Matthew J USA 2383
IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 2452 5 1-0 5 IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel MGL 2378
IM Siva Mahadevan IND 2356 5 1-0 5 GM Womacka Mathias GER 2435
FM Sanchez Jerez Emilio Miguel ESP 2257 5 0-1 5 GM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2430
IM Karavade Eesha IND 2418 5 ½-½ 5 WGM Gara Ticia HUN 2378
WIM Pratyusha Bodda IND 2247 5 ½-½ 5 WIM Shvayger Yuliya ISR 2413
FM Pustovoitova Daria RUS 2407 5 1-0 5 GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO 2370
IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina ESP 2406 5 0-1 5 GM Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel ESP 2339
  Galmandakh Badrakh MGL 2215 5 ½-½ 5 IM Docx Stefan BEL 2405
IM Kollars Dmitrij GER 2500 1-0 IM Piasetski Leon CAN 2327
IM Povah Nigel E ENG 2298 0-1 IM Liang Awonder USA 2496
IM Saravanan V. IND 2306 1-0 IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2468
  Villar Reymundo Juan Antonio PER 2212 1-0 IM Sarkar Justin USA 2428
IM Wemmers Xander NED 2424 1-0 FM Lombaers Peter NED 2314
FM Mihajlov Sebastian NOR 2384 ½-½ FM Lopez Mulet Inigo ESP 2304
FM Kozak Adam HUN 2376 ½-½ WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa IRI 2303
  Bujnoch Radek CZE 2233 1-0 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2375
IM Derakhshani Dorsa IRI 2370 ½-½ FM Plotkin Victor CAN 2253
FM Thavandiran Shiyam CAN 2367 1-0   Chan Kim Yew MAS 2152
  Kulkarni Rakesh IND 2344 1-0 FM Kandic Milan SRB 2061
FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 2335 1-0   Hamer Martyn ENG 2039
IM Gluckman David RSA 2215 4 0-1 4 IM Kuipers Stefan NED 2414
  Tscharotschkin Michael GER 2190 4 0-1 4 FM Guerra Rivera Salvador ESP 2389
CM Herbold Manfred GER 2198 4 ½-½ 4 IM Milliet Sophie FRA 2387
  Semprun Martinez Fernando ESP 2174 4 1-0 4 IM Sahl Bjarke NOR 2363
WGM Papp Petra HUN 2352 4 1-0 4   Verneuil Pascal FRA 2215
FM De Haan Eric NED 2319 4 ½-½ 4 FM Derakhshani Borna IRI 2195
  Obiamiwe Paul NGR 1926 3 1-0 3 CM Reuben Stewart *) ENG 2076
IM Welling Gerard NED 2314 4 1-0 4 FM Baert Andy BEL 2210
FM Webb Laurence E ENG 2313 4 0-1 4   Finsterwalder Sebastian GER 2130
FM Smith Andrew Philip IRL 2152 4 1-0 4 FM Wantiez Fabrice BEL 2312
FM Weeramantry Sunil SRI 2129 4 1-0 4 FM Loh Zachary AUS 2291
FM Buchenau Frank GER 2274 4 0-1 4   Bendayan Claros Aaron ESP 2128
FM Bergstrom Rolf SWE 2268 4 0-1 4   Lochte Thomas GER 2070
  Whatley Stephen A J GIB 2127 4 ½-½ 4   Gluhovsky Mark RUS 2263
  Burrows Martin P ENG 2124 4 ½-½ 4 WIM Kantane Anna POL 2259
FM De Francesco Klaus GER 2252 4 1-0 4   Eagleton Greg T ENG 2055
  Korning Peter SWE 2080 4 0-1 4 FM Bannink Bernard NED 2244
  Serarols Mabras Bernat ESP 2242 4 ½-½ 4   Feldbacher Harald GER 2050
  Amgalanbaatar Ravdanlkhumbuu MGL 1988 4 1-0 4 FM Damia Angelo ITA 2233
WIM Heinemann Josefine GER 2227 4 1-0 4   Suez-Panama Gilles FRA 2010
  Pinho Paulo POR 2220 4 1-0 4   Gillis Onieva Celia ESP 1966
  Carlsten Peter SWE 2047 4 0-1 FM Tate Alan SCO 2309
FM Cordes Hans-Joerg Dr. GER 2242 1-0   Agbabishvili Lali CAN 2095
  Weisbuch Udi ISR 2240 1-0   Compton Alistair NZL 2094
  Mueller-Dehn Christian Dr. GER 2170 ½-½   Berrocal Ruiz Valentin ESP 2042
FM Alberto Manuel ANG 2168 1-0   Skou Niels DEN 2025
FM Press Shaun PNG 1970 ½-½   Gonzalez Gonzalez Alfonso ESP 2162
  Bopp Thomas Dr. GER 2157 1-0   Burke Mitchell R ENG 1975
  Seyfried Claus GER 2152 1-0   Van Kemenade Rudy WLS 1955
  Herzwurm Robert GER 2143 1-0   Roman Lopez Jesus ESP 1962
  Skutta Bernd Dr. GER 1957 0-1   Behrendt Clemens GER 2121
  Seraoui Mohcen ALG 2100 1-0   Slinger Tony J ENG 1911
  Lochte Szilvia HUN 1829 1-0 3   Veltkamp Gerben NED 2166
FM Bach Matthias GER 2264 3 ½-½ 3   Green Per SWE 1956
WFM Haussernot Cecile FRA 2108 3 0-1 3   Broekman Willem NED 1997
  Kozarcanin Sead CRO 2069 3 --+ 3 CM Miracola Giorgia ITA 1924
  Ramirez Leyva Freddy MEX 1862 3 0-1 3   Hewson Brian Wr ENG 2055
  Dasaolu Rotimi NGR 2051 3 ½-½ 3   Newbry Benjamin J USA 1879
  Fomani Medhi ESP 2042 3 1-0 3   Boerkamp Harry NED 1955
FM Gluckman Paul RSA 1831 3 0-1 3   Vilarnovo Caamano Jose ESP 2009
  Gravett Alan D ENG 1820 3 0-1 3   Noordhoek Henk NED 2004
  Cramling Bellon Anna SWE 1954 ½-½   Wilson Matthew R ENG 1791
WFM Gamboa Alvarado Olga Leticia CRC 1913 1-0   Day Christopher CAN 1760
  Christophe-Hayot Romain FRA 1784 0-1   Koes Richard NED 1830
  Ford Clifton P USA 1781 1-0   Winter Kevin ENG 1818
  Minnema Rens NED 1893 2 0-1   Chilton James I ENG 1756
  Murray J Stephen SCO 1789 2 ½-½ 2 FM Odeh Kenneth NGR 1969
  Bauer Dieter GER 1772 0-1 2   Neumanova Monika CZE 1707
  Bullock Lee ENG 1563 ½-½ ½   Tveten Per NOR 1486

Top final ranking (after ten rounds)

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1  w-we
1 24 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 8.0 2859 2.69
2 3 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2785 8.0 2847 0.87
3 8 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2738 8.0 2830 1.17
4 2 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2796 7.5 2804 0.33
5 5 GM Adams Michael ENG 2751 7.5 2797 0.67
6 28 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628 7.5 2759 1.78
7 13 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2689 7.5 2755 0.91
8 7 GM Topalov Veselin BUL 2739 7.5 2749 0.23
9 10 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2721 7.5 2729 0.30
10 20 GM Howell David W L ENG 2655 7.0 2732 1.13
11 38 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2583 7.0 2731 2.07
12 16 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675 7.0 2722 0.79
13 1 GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2827 7.0 2709 -0.98
  27 GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2633 7.0 2709 1.16
15 12 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2701 7.0 2699 0.13
16 11 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 7.0 2696 0.04
17 9 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2724 7.0 2679 -0.44
18 18 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660 7.0 2677 0.33
19 21 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2652 7.0 2675 0.42
20 26 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637 7.0 2673 0.63
21 6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2748 7.0 2671 -0.74
22 37 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2587 7.0 2640 0.90
23 30 GM Edouard Romain FRA 2613 7.0 2639 0.61
24 58 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2512 6.5 2659 2.09
25 42 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2572 6.5 2654 1.23
26 69 IM Steinberg Nitzan ISR 2486 6.5 2644 2.13
27 54 GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2530 6.5 2634 1.28
28 47 GM Muzychuk Anna UKR 2558 6.5 2630 0.96
29 23 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2651 6.5 2619 -0.28
30 33 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2594 6.5 2617 0.39
31 67 IM Dragnev Valentin AUT 2492 6.5 2613 1.77
32 31 GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2613 6.5 2612 0.14
33 32 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2606 6.5 2611 0.19
34 68 IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2491 6.5 2609 1.61
35 17 GM Shankland Samuel L USA 2674 6.5 2603 -0.79
36 14 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2684 6.5 2594 -1.01
37 36 GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2589 6.5 2565 -0.07
38 70 IM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2484 6.5 2564 1.15
39 4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2752 6.5 2562 -1.92
40 19 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2657 6.5 2536 -1.29
41 74 GM Riff Jean-Noel FRA 2468 6.5 2517 0.76
42 35 GM Istratescu Andrei FRA 2593 6.5 2504 -1.00
43 86 IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2443 6.5 2501 0.91
44 56 GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2524 6.5 2491 -0.34
45 65 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando ESP 2492 6.5 2481 0.03
46 60 GM Mikhalevski Victor ISR 2504 6.5 2430 -0.34
47 48 GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2557 6.0 2592 0.62
48 22 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651 6.0 2590 -0.66
49 40 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2579 6.0 2580 0.11
50 46 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 6.0 2565 0.22
51 39 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2580 6.0 2562 -0.10
52 50 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER 2550 6.0 2558 0.25
53 45 GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2564 6.0 2539 -0.21
54 52 GM Libiszewski Fabien FRA 2545 6.0 2520 -0.10
55 71 IM Kobo Ori ISR 2482 6.0 2505 0.43
56 84 IM Kantor Gergely HUN 2448 6.0 2503 0.90
57 80 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2455 6.0 2491 0.58
58 66 IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2492 6.0 2486 0.44
59 51 GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2546 6.0 2481 -0.56
60 53 GM Spraggett Kevin CAN 2542 6.0 2469 -0.83
61 75 IM Esserman Marc USA 2468 6.0 2467 0.18
62 25 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2645 6.0 2461 -1.80
  79 IM Kantans Toms LAT 2456 6.0 2461 0.26
64 55 GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G ESP 2527 6.0 2458 -0.79
65 57 GM Lemos Damian ARG 2516 6.0 2457 -0.68
66 88 GM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2430 6.0 2445 0.42
  124 IM Siva Mahadevan IND 2356 6.0 2445 1.21
68 96 FM Pustovoitova Daria RUS 2407 6.0 2434 0.56
69 29 GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2625 6.0 2433 -1.98
70 91 GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2420 6.0 2430 0.31
71 83 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 2452 6.0 2425 -0.12
72 59 GM Narciso Dublan Marc ESP 2508 6.0 2414 -1.14
73 61 IM Aryan Chopra IND 2503 6.0 2399 -1.24
74 64 IM Bellahcene Bilel FRA 2493 6.0 2381 -1.21
75 103 WGM Tsolakidou Stavroula GRE 2387 6.0 2374 0.17
76 131 GM Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel ESP 2339 6.0 2248 -0.71
77 94 IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2413 5.5 2585 2.36
78 34 GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2594 5.5 2575 -0.15
79 15 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2679 5.5 2534 -1.77
80 72 GM Debashis Das IND 2472 5.5 2520 0.76
81 73 IM Salomon Johan NOR 2470 5.5 2518 0.64
82 82 IM Cheng Bobby AUS 2452 5.5 2499 0.70
83 81 GM Cramling Pia SWE 2454 5.5 2481 0.63
84 98 IM Docx Stefan BEL 2405 5.5 2474 1.02
85 110   Henderson De La Fuente Lance ESP 2380 5.5 2466 1.46
86 109 IM Godart Francois BEL 2381 5.5 2465 1.43
87 62 IM Kollars Dmitrij GER 2500 5.5 2446 -0.54
88 95 WIM Shvayger Yuliya ISR 2413 5.5 2445 0.54
89 90 IM Wemmers Xander NED 2424 5.5 2443 0.45
90 78 IM Ider Borya FRA 2463 5.5 2435 -0.18
91 85 GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2447 5.5 2420 -0.19
92 132 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 2335 5.5 2415 0.88
93 49 GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2551 5.5 2408 -1.45
94 166   Galmandakh Badrakh MGL 2215 5.5 2397 2.27
95 162   Bujnoch Radek CZE 2233 5.5 2389 2.02
96 63 IM Liang Awonder USA 2496 5.5 2387 -1.25
97 141 IM Saravanan V. IND 2306 5.5 2376 0.95
98 105 FM Ladron De Guevara Pinto Paolo ESP 2386 5.5 2375 0.11
99 107 IM Herman Matthew J USA 2383 5.5 2354 0.00
100 120 FM Thavandiran Shiyam CAN 2367 5.5 2337 0.42

Games round 1 - 10

 

Get the complete pairings and results: Masters + Rankings + Challengers A + Amateur A

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
 

Priyadarshan Banjan is a 23-year-old club player from India. He works as an editor for ChessBase News and ChessBase India. He is a chess fanatic and an avid fan of Vishy Anand. He also maintains a blog on a variety of topics.

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