Gibraltar Rd07: With Love, from Hou Yifan

by ChessBase
1/31/2017 – Once again there was an impressive percentage of decisive games amongst the top boards – 14 out of the top 20 – and we now have four players on the leading score of 6/7: Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), David Anton Guijarro (Spain) and Yu Yangyi (China). However, the round belonged to Hou Yifan who stole the limelight with a queen sacrifice par excellence.

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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 07: With Love, from Hou Yifan

Report by Aditya Pai

The sixth round had witnessed carnage on the top boards with grandmasters going for each other’s throats. Three grandmasters — Hikaru Nakamura, David Anton Guijarro, and Michael Adams — were left in the lead at the beginning of the seventh round. Admittedly, it is fun to watch such a bloody battle for the first prize. As a chess fan, watching a tournament like Tradewise Gibraltar is more like watching several gladiators fight each other in the Roman Colosseum. They battle to their death, not settling for anything less than a victory.

However, wouldn’t it be funny to watch two such gladiators shake hands and announce peace while the rest kill each other around them?

Round seven of the Gibraltar Masters witnessed another short draw on board one.

Just one hour into the round, on move 14, Hikaru Nakamura and David Anton Guijarro shook hands having repeated the position of an unorthodox Queen’s Gambit played by Nakamura. The American usually fights for blood, but it may have been that Nakamura saw this as an opportune moment to recharge his batteries.

It remains to be seen how goddess Caissa deals with this ‘sin’, as our friend Nigel Short would put it.

On board two, however, things were different. Maxime Vachier Lagrave proved yet again that the almost equivocally dreaded Berlin wall can be broken.

In a 55-move-long game against the Michael Adams in the mainline endgame, MVL was able to keep constant pressure on the English veteran’s position and made him crack eventually.  With his win against Adams, Vachier Lagrave has climbed up to 6.0/7 and has joined the leaders.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Be7 10. Nc3 Nh4 11. Nxh4 Bxh4 12. Be3 h5 13. Rad1+ Ke8 14. Ne2 b6 15. a4 c5 16. Nc3 Bf5 17. Nb5 Bd8 18. Rd2 a6 19. Nc3 h4 20. a5 Rh5 21. Rfd1 Bh7 22. Nd5 Be4 23. c4 Rb8 24. f4 Rf5 25. Nc3 Bb7 26. axb6 cxb6 27. Rd6 Bc7 28. Rd7 Bd8 29. Ne2 Rh5 30. e6 Be7 31. Rc7 Bc8 32. exf7+ Kf8 33. f5 Bxf5 34. g4 hxg3 35. Nxg3 Bc2 36. Rdd7 Re5 37. Bf4 Bf6 38. Nh5 Re1+ 39. Kf2 Bh4+ 40. Ng3 Re6 41. Bd6+ Rxd6 42. Rxd6 Bf6 43. Rxf6 gxf6 44. Nh5 Rd8 45. Nxf6 Bf5 46. Kg3 Rd6 47. Ng4 Rd4 48. b3 b5 49. Ne5 Re4 50. Rxc5 bxc4 51. Rd5 Rxe5 52. Rxe5 Bd3 53. b4 c3 54. Rc5 c2 55. Rc7 1-0

A surprising feature of this round was that Veselin Topalov and his longtime friend Ivan Cheparinov decided to fight a proper game instead of settling for a draw.

Topalov, unlike many of his colleagues, doesn't need to do anything special to play interesting, edge-of-the-seat chess. A gladiator is a painter with a sword, or to put it in a couple of words, Veselin Topalov. Cheparinov, on the other hand, has helped Topalov prosper at the top with entertaining novelties like the Nxf7!! against his bête noire Vladimir Kramnik — an idea that Veselin is grateful for to this day. (The entire game with annotations by Michael Krasenkow can be found in your Mega Database).

They started off with an anti-Gruenfeld with 3. f3, but the game soon transposed into a King’s Indian wherein Topy missed a tactical shot by Cheparinov on move 24. Fortunately, for him, he was able to exchange queens in the nick of time and hold his compatriot to a draw.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Cheparinov, Ivan"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2739"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "6600+10"] [WhiteClock "0:48:39"] [BlackClock "0:36:58"] 1. d4 {552} Nf6 {564} 2. c4 {0} g6 {0} 3. f3 {0} c5 {0} 4. d5 {0} d6 {0} 5. Nc3 {0} Bg7 {0} 6. e4 {0} a6 {23} 7. a4 {0} e6 {4} 8. Nge2 {180} exd5 {0} 9. cxd5 { 0} Nbd7 {61} 10. Bg5 {271} h6 {69} 11. Be3 {0} h5 {21} 12. Nf4 {330} Ne5 {184} 13. Be2 {49} O-O {311} 14. O-O {0} Rb8 {55} 15. Qc2 {170} Bd7 {572} 16. a5 {168 } Ne8 {99} 17. Na4 {1338} Qxa5 {1337} 18. b4 {32} Bxa4 {57} 19. Rxa4 {0} Qd8 {7 } 20. bxc5 {5} dxc5 {33} 21. Qxc5 {99} Nd6 {474} 22. Qb4 {343} Re8 {678} 23. Rc1 {255} Qf6 {810} 24. Ne6 fxe6 {0} 25. Qxd6 {832} Nf7 {56} 26. Qc5 {268} b6 { 417} 27. Qc7 {500} exd5 {129} 28. Rxa6 {46} dxe4 {163} 29. Rc6 {491} Rbc8 {304} 30. Qxc8 {58} Rxc8 {0} 31. Rxf6 {458} Bxf6 {0} 32. fxe4 {68} Nd6 {85} 33. Rxb6 {25} Be5 {0} 34. Rb3 {330} Nxe4 {34} 35. Bd3 {0} Nc5 {3} 36. Bc4+ {35} Kg7 {105 } 37. Rb5 {0} Bd6 {106} 38. Rb6 {0} Be5 {109} 39. Rb5 {10} Bd6 {0} 40. Bd4+ {9} Kf8 {0} 41. Rb1 {0} Nd7 {0} 42. Be6 {0} Rc7 {0} 43. Rf1+ {0} 1/2-1/2

Topalov explains the game

China’s Yu Yangyi was paired against the only international master playing on the top 10 boards, the Austrian IM Valentin Dragnev.

In a crazy position that cropped up from the Paulsen variation of the Sicilian, Dragnev threw his h-pawn forward allowing his opponent a broad center. The Chinese no. 2 made the most of the broad center given to him and won the game in 26 moves.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Dragnev, Valentin"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2492"] [BlackElo "2738"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "6600+10"] [WhiteClock "0:51:00"] [BlackClock "0:11:22"] 1. e4 {553} c5 {582} 2. Nf3 {3} e6 {5} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nc6 {52} 5. Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 6. Bf4 {0} d6 {129} 7. Nxc6 {0} bxc6 {0} 8. Qd2 {0} Be7 {3} 9. h4 {549} e5 {695} 10. Bg5 {180} f6 {0} 11. Be3 {0} f5 {0} 12. Bg5 {1627} fxe4 {15} 13. Nxe4 {144} d5 {64} 14. O-O-O {102} Nf6 {625} 15. Nxf6+ {417} gxf6 {298} 16. Bh6 {56} Qb6 {43} 17. Be2 {163} Be6 {374} 18. Bh5+ {87} Kd7 {0} 19. f4 {1635} Rhb8 {287} 20. b3 {0} a5 {27} 21. fxe5 {68} a4 {235} 22. Qf4 {278} axb3 {98} 23. axb3 {1} Qa5 {225} 24. Bg4 {305} Qc3 {80} 25. Bxe6+ {21} Kxe6 {0} 26. Qg4+ {0} f5 {0} 0-1

Having lost to Nigel Short in the last round, tournament’s top seed, Fabiano Caruana beat Russia’s Kateryna Lagno on board 15.

Hungry for a win, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands when his opponent made an inaccuracy in the middle game of a Ruy Lopez. Having lost both — the game and his World No. 2 spot, Fabiano will be eager to do a Caruana in the remaining games of the tournament.

Peter Svidler, with white, had been ahead in his encounter against Nigel Short until things began to turn around.

In fact, Peter had a stunning win that is very difficult to calculate. Some would argue that it is too ‘computerish’ to expect humans to see everything, but, maybe, this just means that the benchmark to achieve aesthetically pleasing games has risen above the level that was acceptable in the past or even in the present.

 

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta Hotel"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Short, Nigel D"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2675"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [WhiteClock "0:13:30"] [BlackClock "0:31:55"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. a3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Nb8 12. Bd3 Nc6 13. Bf2 a6 14. O-O f6 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Na4 b5 17. Nb6 Rb8 18. Nxc8 Qxc8 19. c3 g6 20. Qe2 Qd7 21. Rae1 e5 22. Bc5 Rf7 23. fxe5 Bxe5 24. Rxf7 Qxf7 25. a4 bxa4 26. Bxa6 Qc7 27. Kh1 Bxh2 {[#]Black has just played 27...Bxh2 and the game continuation was} 28. Bb5 ({Instead the computer plays} 28. Qe6+ $1 Kg7 (28... Kh8 {meets the same reply} ) 29. Bb5 $3 Rxb5 {- not much choice other than to accept the sacrifice since otherwise White gains the d4 square for a lethal check with his bishop on the long diagonal -} 30. Bf8+ $3 Kxf8 (30... Kh8 31. Bh6 {and mate in a further three moves}) 31. Qf6+ Qf7 32. Qh8+ Qg8 33. Rf1+ Ke7 34. Qxg8 {and White will win easily.}) 28... Ne5 29. Bd4 Bg3 30. Bxe5 1/2-1/2

Boris Gelfand returned to winning ways with a nice trick at the end of his game with Sebastien Mazé.

 

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta Hotel"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Maze, Sebastien"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2613"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Rc8 12. Bf4 Bc5 13. Qd3 Qb6 14. Nd2 O-O 15. Ne4 Rfd8 16. Nxc5 Bc6 17. Qb3 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rxc5 19. Rac1 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Nd5 21. Bg5 f6 22. Bd2 f5 23. Qc2 Rd7 24. Qc8+ Rd8 25. Qc5 Qb7 26. Qc6 Qxc6 27. Rxc6 Ne7 28. Rc2 Kf7 29. Bb4 Nd5 30. Ba5 Rd7 31. Kf3 Ne7 32. e4 a6 33. Ke3 fxe4 34. Kxe4 h5 35. Bc7 Rd1 36. Bf4 Nd5 37. Bg5 Nf6+ 38. Kf3 Rd5 39. Bd2 g5 40. Ke2 h4 41. Rc7+ Kg6 42. gxh4 gxh4 43. Rc6 Ng4 44. Rxe6+ Kf5 45. Rxa6 Nxf2 46. Rh6 Kg4 47. Be1 Nd3 48. h3+ Kxh3 49. Rxh4+ Kg2 50. Rg4+ Kh2 51. b3 Nc1+ 52. Kf1 Rf5+ 53. Bf2 Rh5 54. Rg2+ Kh1 55. Rg4 {[#]Here White had set a deadly trap by checking with his rook on g2 and returning to g4. Black has a choice of returning to h2 with his king to h2 or equalising the material. He makes the wrong choice.} Nxa2 $2 ({After} 55... Kh2 56. a4 Nxb3 57. axb5 Nd2+ 58. Ke2 Rxb5 59. Kxd2 {is a drawn R+B v R endgame according to the tablebase. The text leads to a win for White.}) 56. Bg3 $1 Nc3 (56... Rh3 57. Be5 $1 Rf3+ 58. Ke2 Rf5 59. Bf4 {and White mates (or wins material) as in the game.}) 57. Bf4 (57. Bf4 Ne2 {is the only way to stop the immediate mate but White has} 58. Kxe2 Rc5 59. Kf1 {and soon mates anyway.}) 1-0

Game of the Tournament? John Saunders Explains...

The Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan showed her class by winning a brilliant game against the French IM Borya Ider. John Saunders reports on the game in detail:

Hou Yifan played a truly astonishing game against the French IM Ider Borya. First, she went in for an unusual queen sacrifice for which the material return was only two minor pieces and a pawn, but she had seen further and realized that she could maintain a positional grip almost indefinitely. Then she crowned the achievement by coolly ignoring what looked like a devastating double check, which would cost her a rook and allow her opponent to pursue her king up the board with queen and rook.

 

Again, she had seen further and worked out that her king was headed for a safe haven on g4, and that her own less obviously lethal counter had a sting in the tail.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta Hotel"] [Date "2017.01.30"] [Round "7.20"] [White "Ider, Borya"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2463"] [BlackElo "2651"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bf4 Bb7 4. e3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Be2 d6 7. c4 Nbd7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O e6 10. Qc2 Nh5 11. Bh2 f5 12. d5 (12. b4 {, 12.Nd2 and 12.Rfd1 have all been played here before.}) 12... e5 13. g4 {Very provocative and ruining the pawn structure in front of his castled king.} fxg4 14. hxg4 Nhf6 15. Ng5 { [#]Not a particularly riveting game so far but now the fun really starts.} Nxd5 $5 16. Ne6 Nxc3 17. Nxd8 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Bf3 19. Qd3 Nc5 20. Qa3 Rfxd8 {Black has only secured two minor pieces and a pawn for the queen but she has a few additional positional pluses, including control of the light squares on the long diagonal, and domination of the weak h2 bishop. Even so it is not entirely obvious that Black has genuine compensation.} 21. e4 ({White hopes Black takes the bait but she is not tempted since Bxe4 would mean ceding control of 3. Instead the more natural} 21. b4 Ne4 22. Rac1 {might be worth a try, even though it looks as if Black will ultimately be able to launch a kingside attack without White being able to mount a strong enough defence.}) 21... Rf8 22. Rae1 Bh6 23. b4 Ne6 (23... Nxe4 {allows the exchange sacrifice} 24. Rxe4 Bxe4 {when} 25. f3 {allows the white king to breathe a little easier.} ) 24. c5 Nd4 25. Qd3 b5 {Black increases her vice-like grip on the position. It is difficult to see how White can ever open up the position in order to exploit his material advantage.} 26. Bg3 Bg5 27. a4 a6 28. Qa3 Bxg4 29. Rd1 { White offers another exchange sacrifice in his keenness to shake Black's all-board blockade but Hou Yifan is still not biting.} Nf3+ 30. Kg2 dxc5 31. bxc5 h5 {Black reveals part of her simple plan: to advance the h-pawn in order to win back material or perhaps give mate.} 32. Qa2+ Kh7 33. Qd5 Rae8 34. Qc6 Re7 35. Rd3 (35. axb5 axb5 36. Qxb5 h4 37. Bh2 {loses to} h3+ 38. Kh1 Nxh2 { , etc.}) 35... h4 36. Bh2 bxa4 37. Qxa4 Kh6 {Black is in no hurry, feeling that she has White where she wants him.} 38. Qa3 Ref7 39. Qb2 Re7 40. c6 a5 41. Rb3 Kg7 42. Rb5 ({A mistake but, even after looking at the position with a computer for a long while, it is barely possible to say why.} 42. Rxf3 Bxf3+ 43. Kg1 $5 {is one computer suggestion but it also looks risky in the long term with the white king so vulnerable to a mating attack.}) 42... h3+ 43. Kh1 {[#]Now Black goes all in.} Nxh2 $1 44. Rxe5 Bf3+ 45. Kg1 (45. Kxh2 {allows mate after} Bf4+ 46. Kxh3 Rxe5 {, etc.}) 45... Nxf1 $3 {[#]A position to savour. Black has nerves of steel, simply allowing White what looks like a devastating double check, winning a rook and setting up a queen check on g7. But Hou Yifan has calculated it all through to a remarkable conclusion in which Black's greatly depleted forces triumph over White's larger but strangely impotent heavy pieces.} 46. Rxe7+ Kh6 {Black had taken seven minutes over her 44th move but her subsequent series of moves came after only a few seconds each, suggesting that she had calculated all the way through to the win.} 47. Qg7+ Kh5 48. Qh7+ Kg4 49. Re8 (49. Rxc7 h2+ 50. Kxf1 h1=Q+ 51. Qxh1 Bxh1 {is simple enough.}) ({And after} 49. Kxf1 {the killer move is} Rb8 $1 { when White can do nothing about the threat to his back rank.}) 49... Rxe8 50. Qd7+ Kh4 51. Kxf1 (51. Qh7+ Bh5 52. Kxf1 Rb8 {is hopeless.}) 51... Rd8 52. Qh7+ Kg4 0-1

Yifan talks about her victory.

Charming! Beautiful! Ingenious! We are referring to the game, of course. This remarkable performance must be in the running for the £1,000 best game prize.

Signing off: An American, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a Chinese are tied for the first place and the battle in the Colosseum is poised to get bloodier from this point onward.

Gibraltar's Minister of Equality, Samantha Sacramento, was the guest of honour.


A One Hour Masterclass with Hou Yifan!

A fun little video where Tania Sachdev asks quick questions!

Watch LIVE with commentary!


Top pairings and results of Round 07

Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts. Res. Pts. Ti. Name FED Rtg
GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 ½-½ GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2785
GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2796 5 1-0 GM Adams Michael ENG 2751
GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2689 5 ½-½ 5 GM Topalov Veselin BUL 2739
IM Dragnev Valentin AUT 2492 5 0-1 5 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2738
GM Svidler Peter RUS 2748 ½-½ 5 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675
GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2721 1-0 GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2613
GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2606 ½-½ GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702
GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2594 0-1 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2701
GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2679 0-1 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2594
GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2583 ½-½ GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660
GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2652 0-1 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2512
GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2633 1-0 GM Debashis Das IND 2472
GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2587 0-1 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628
GM Edouard Romain FRA 2613 1-0 FM Shachar Ehud ISR 2374
GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2827 4 1-0 4 GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2530
GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2724 4 1-0 4 GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2524
GM Mikhalevski Victor ISR 2504 4 ½-½ 4 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2684
GM Shankland Samuel L USA 2674 4 1-0 4 IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2468
GM Howell David W L ENG 2655 4 1-0 4 IM Kollars Dmitrij GER 2500
IM Ider Borya FRA 2463 4 0-1 4 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651
GM Piorun Kacper POL 2651 4 1-0 4 IM Cheng Bobby AUS 2452
GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2645 4 0-1 4 IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2413
IM Docx Stefan BEL 2405 4 0-1 4 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637
FM Garriga Cazorla Pere ESP 2386 4 0-1 4 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2579
GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO 2370 4 0-1 4 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2572
GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2564 4 1-0 4 IM Siva Mahadevan IND 2356
WGM Papp Petra HUN 2352 4 0-1 4 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559
IM Mannion Stephen R SCO 2326 4 0-1 4 GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2557
IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2455 ½-½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2752
IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2443 ½-½ GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2625
GM Istratescu Andrei FRA 2593 1-0 IM Kantor Gergely HUN 2448
IM Sarkar Justin USA 2428 0-1 GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2589
GM Womacka Mathias GER 2435 0-1 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2580
GM Blomqvist Erik SWE 2574 0-1 IM Wemmers Xander NED 2424
GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2420 +-- GM Vazquez Igarza Renier ESP 2572
GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER 2550 1-0 WIM Shvayger Yuliya ISR 2413
GM Libiszewski Fabien FRA 2545 1-0 FM Mihajlov Sebastian NOR 2384
GM Spraggett Kevin CAN 2542 ½-½   Henderson De La Fuente Lance ESP 2380
GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G ESP 2527 1-0 IM Derakhshani Dorsa IRI 2370
GM Lemos Damian ARG 2516 1-0 GM Paehtz Thomas GER 2365
GM Narciso Dublan Marc ESP 2508 0-1 IM Bellin Robert ENG 2353
IM Aryan Chopra IND 2503 ½-½   Kulkarni Rakesh IND 2344
IM Liang Awonder USA 2496 0-1 FM Kozak Adam HUN 2376
IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina ESP 2406 0-1 IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2491
IM Steinberg Nitzan ISR 2486 1-0 FM Thavandiran Shiyam CAN 2367
IM Godart Francois BEL 2381 0-1 IM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2484
IM Kobo Ori ISR 2482 1-0 FM Tate Alan SCO 2309
IM Salomon Johan NOR 2470 1-0 FM Cordes Hans-Joerg Dr. GER 2242
IM Omar Noaman UAE 2369 1-0 GM Riff Jean-Noel FRA 2468
IM Esserman Marc USA 2468 1-0   Tscharotschkin Michael GER 2190
IM Kantans Toms LAT 2456 1-0   Serarols Mabras Bernat ESP 2242
IM Piasetski Leon CAN 2327 0-1 3 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2657
FM Gulamali Kazim USA 2341 3 0-1 3 GM Kaidanov Gregory S USA 2572
GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2551 3 0-1 3 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 2335
FM Lombaers Peter NED 2314 3 1-0 3 IM Bellahcene Bilel FRA 2493
GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando ESP 2492 3 ½-½ 3 IM Saravanan V. IND 2306
FM Bergstrom Rolf SWE 2268 3 0-1 3 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 2452
GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2447 3 1-0 3 WIM Pratyusha Bodda IND 2247
FM Bannink Bernard NED 2244 3 ½-½ 3 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2418
IM Kuipers Stefan NED 2414 3 ½-½ 3   Weisbuch Udi ISR 2240
FM Damia Angelo ITA 2233 3 0-1 3 FM Pustovoitova Daria RUS 2407
IM Milliet Sophie FRA 2387 3 0-1 3   Bujnoch Radek CZE 2233
WGM Tsolakidou Stavroula GRE 2387 3 1-0 3   Pinho Paulo POR 2220
FM Ladron De Guevara Pinto Paolo ESP 2386 3 1-0 3 WIM Heinemann Josefine GER 2227
IM Herman Matthew J USA 2383 3 1-0 3 IM Gluckman David RSA 2215
IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel MGL 2378 3 0-1 3   Galmandakh Badrakh MGL 2215
  Veltkamp Gerben NED 2166 3 0-1 3 IM Szabo Bence HUN 2378
WGM Gara Ticia HUN 2378 3 1-0 3   Villar Reymundo Juan Antonio PER 2212
WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2375 3 1-0 3 FM Smith Andrew Philip IRL 2152
IM Lazarne Vajda Szidonia HUN 2364 3 0-1 3   Finsterwalder Sebastian GER 2130
IM Sahl Bjarke NOR 2363 3 0-1 3   Burrows Martin P ENG 2124
IM Vuilleumier Alexandre SUI 2347 3 ½-½ 3   Seraoui Mohcen ALG 2100
IM Sodoma Jan CZE 2344 3 ½-½ 3   Amgalanbaatar Ravdanlkhumbuu MGL 1988
FM Perez Garcia Alejandro ESP 2398 ½-½ CM Herbold Manfred GER 2198
  Tveten Per NOR 1486 0 0-1 0 CM Reuben Stewart *) ENG 2076
FM Guerra Rivera Salvador ESP 2389 ½-½ CM Osuna Vega Enrique ESP 2181
FM Jessel Stephen IRL 2382 ½-½   Semprun Martinez Fernando ESP 2174
GM Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel ESP 2339 1-0 FM Alberto Manuel ANG 2168
FM Baert Andy BEL 2210 ½-½ FM De Haan Eric NED 2319
  Bopp Thomas Dr. GER 2157 1-0 IM Welling Gerard NED 2314
  Chan Kim Yew MAS 2152 0-1 FM Webb Laurence E ENG 2313
FM Wantiez Fabrice BEL 2312 0-1   Herzwurm Robert GER 2143
WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa IRI 2303 1-0   Whatley Stephen A J GIB 2127
  Lochte Thomas GER 2070 0-1 IM Povah Nigel E ENG 2298
FM Kandic Milan SRB 2061 0-1 FM Loh Zachary AUS 2291
  Hewson Brian Wr ENG 2055 0-1 FM Buchenau Frank GER 2274
  Gluhovsky Mark RUS 2263 1-0   Byron Alan M ENG 2110
WIM Kantane Anna POL 2259 1-0   Skutta Bernd Dr. GER 1957
  Burke Mitchell R ENG 1975 0-1 FM Sanchez Jerez Emilio Miguel ESP 2257
FM Plotkin Victor CAN 2253 ½-½ FM Gluckman Paul RSA 1831
  Broekman Willem NED 1997 0-1 FM De Francesco Klaus GER 2252
  Gillis Onieva Celia ESP 1966 ½-½   Vea Odin Blikra NOR 2234
  Verneuil Pascal FRA 2215 ½-½   Agbabishvili Lali CAN 2095
FM Lopez Mulet Inigo ESP 2304 2 1-0   Korning Peter SWE 2080
  Berrocal Ruiz Valentin ESP 2042 2 ½-½ 2 FM Bach Matthias GER 2264
FM Derakhshani Borna IRI 2195 2 1-0 2   Carlsten Peter SWE 2047
  Vilarnovo Caamano Jose ESP 2009 2 0-1 2   Mueller-Dehn Christian Dr. GER 2170
  Gonzalez Gonzalez Alfonso ESP 2162 2 1-0 2   Fomani Medhi ESP 2042
  Roman Lopez Jesus ESP 1962 2 1-0 2   Seyfried Claus GER 2152
  Green Per SWE 1956 2 0-1 2 FM Weeramantry Sunil SRI 2129

Top standing after seven rounds

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1  w-we
1 2 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2796 6.0 2881 0.71
2 24 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 6.0 2867 1.73
3 3 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2785 6.0 2865 0.61
4 8 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2738 6.0 2843 0.73
5 5 GM Adams Michael ENG 2751 5.5 2812 0.57
6 16 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675 5.5 2785 1.03
7 13 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2689 5.5 2774 0.75
8 28 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628 5.5 2760 1.19
9 7 GM Topalov Veselin BUL 2739 5.5 2757 0.20
10 12 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2701 5.5 2736 0.33
11 10 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2721 5.5 2724 0.14
12 58 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2512 5.5 2720 1.90
13 27 GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2633 5.5 2717 0.77
14 33 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2594 5.5 2702 0.79
15 30 GM Edouard Romain FRA 2613 5.5 2623 0.17
16 20 GM Howell David W L ENG 2655 5.0 2716 0.69
17 38 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2583 5.0 2703 1.23
18 11 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 5.0 2691 -0.01
19 23 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2651 5.0 2682 0.42
20 9 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2724 5.0 2675 -0.29
21 1 GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2827 5.0 2673 -0.86
22 94 IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2413 5.0 2670 2.56
23 6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2748 5.0 2663 -0.51
24 22 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651 5.0 2661 0.23
25 26 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637 5.0 2651 0.28
26 32 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2606 5.0 2642 0.46
27 18 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660 5.0 2641 -0.04
  47 GM Muzychuk Anna UKR 2558 5.0 2641 0.72
  67 IM Dragnev Valentin AUT 2492 5.0 2641 1.55
30 48 GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2557 5.0 2639 0.91
31 40 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2579 5.0 2634 0.62
32 17 GM Shankland Samuel L USA 2674 5.0 2629 -0.27
33 42 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2572 5.0 2618 0.56
34 45 GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2564 5.0 2602 0.47
35 46 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 5.0 2559 0.12
36 34 GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2594 4.5 2668 0.84
37 21 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2652 4.5 2641 0.05
38 39 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2580 4.5 2632 0.48
39 15 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2679 4.5 2621 -0.41
40 31 GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2613 4.5 2601 0.06
41 50 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER 2550 4.5 2586 0.50
  69 IM Steinberg Nitzan ISR 2486 4.5 2586 0.98
43 68 IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2491 4.5 2584 0.93
44 72 GM Debashis Das IND 2472 4.5 2569 1.04
45 73 IM Salomon Johan NOR 2470 4.5 2559 0.88
46 37 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2587 4.5 2550 -0.13
47 14 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2684 4.5 2543 -1.10
48 71 IM Kobo Ori ISR 2482 4.5 2533 0.61
49 116 FM Shachar Ehud ISR 2374 4.5 2529 1.88
50 114 FM Kozak Adam HUN 2376 4.5 2513 1.70

Top pairings for Round 08 on 2017/01/31 at 15.00

Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts. Res. Pts. Ti. Name FED
GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 6   6 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA
GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2738 6   6 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA
GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675   GM Adams Michael ENG
GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628   GM Topalov Veselin BUL
GM Fridman Daniel GER 2594   GM Gelfand Boris ISR
GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2701   GM Edouard Romain FRA
GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2512   GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL
GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 5   GM Akobian Varuzhan USA
GM Gopal G.N. IND 2579 5   5 GM Caruana Fabiano USA
GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2572 5   5 GM Svidler Peter RUS
GM Muzychuk Anna UKR 2558 5   5 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS
GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 5   5 GM Shankland Samuel L USA
GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660 5   5 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA
GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2557 5   5 GM Howell David W L ENG
GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651 5   5 GM Ju Wenjun CHN
IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2413 5   5 GM Piorun Kacper POL
GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637 5   5 IM Dragnev Valentin AUT
GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2684   5 GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS
IM Steinberg Nitzan ISR 2486   GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS
IM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2484   GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN
GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2613   IM Kobo Ori ISR
GM Debashis Das IND 2472   GM Lagarde Maxime FRA
GM Cramling Pia SWE 2454   GM Istratescu Andrei FRA
GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2589   IM Salomon Johan NOR
IM Wemmers Xander NED 2424   GM Lalith Babu M R IND
GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2580   IM Esserman Marc USA
GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2420   GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER
GM Libiszewski Fabien FRA 2545   IM Kantans Toms LAT
IM Bellin Robert ENG 2353   GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G ESP
FM Shachar Ehud ISR 2374   GM Lemos Damian ARG
FM Kozak Adam HUN 2376   GM Mikhalevski Victor ISR
IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2491   IM Omar Noaman UAE
GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2752 4   4 IM Docx Stefan BEL
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2657 4   4 IM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs MGL
  Henderson De La Fuente Lance ESP 2380 4   4 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND
GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2625 4   4 WGM Tsolakidou Stavroula GRE
GM Kaidanov Gregory S USA 2572 4   4 FM Garriga Cazorla Pere ESP
GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2546 4   4 FM Ladron De Guevara Pinto Paolo ESP
IM Szabo Bence HUN 2378 4   4 GM Spraggett Kevin CAN
GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2530 4   4 IM Herman Matthew J USA
GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2524 4   4 WGM Gara Ticia HUN
IM Siva Mahadevan IND 2356 4   4 IM Aryan Chopra IND
IM Kollars Dmitrij GER 2500 4   4 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND
  Kulkarni Rakesh IND 2344 4   4 IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO
IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2468 4   4 GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO
FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 2335 4   4 IM Ider Borya FRA
  Bujnoch Radek CZE 2233 4   4 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO
IM Cheng Bobby AUS 2452 4   4 WGM Papp Petra HUN
IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 2452 4   4 IM Mannion Stephen R SCO
  Galmandakh Badrakh MGL 2215 4   4 GM Zhukova Natalia UKR


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

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