Gideon Japhet: Svidler wins match 5-3

Gideon Japhet Memorial Open Chess Tournament 2014

The Second Gideon Japhet Memorial Open Chess Tournament took place in Jerusalem, from July 16-24, 2014. It consisted of three Opens and an Amateur Group. The nine-round Open A was for player rated 2000 or above; the seven-round Opens B and C for players rated 1800 to 2200 and for players with ratings up to 1900; and the five-round Amateurs for unrated players. Rate of play was 40 moves in 90 minutes, then the rest of the game in 30 minutes, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting at the first move. The prize fund was 55,000 NIS (New Israli Sheqels = 12,000 Euros or US $16,000).

Gelfand-Svidler Rapid match

The event was also host to a series of eight Rapid Chess games between local hero Boris Gelfand and Russian GM Peter Svidler, with two games per day on Sunday, 20.7 (15:30 - 18:00), Monday, 21.7 (14:00 - 16:30), Wednesday, 23.7 (14:00 - 16:30) and Thursday, 24.7 (11:00 - 14:00).

Games five to eight

At the midpoint, Boris Gelfand was trailing Peter Svidler by a point, and then in game five he struck back with a win with the black pieces. Then in game six, it was Peter Svidler's turn to strike back on his own, and once again the Russian led by a point with 3.5-2.5

As in the previous days, the action was followed by interviews and extended game commentary by the players. Although this is not a new formula, albeit very much appreciated, we'd like to suggest our readers take the time to listen to the interviews which in some cases certainly break from the usual ABC questions one is prone to hearing.

Peter Svidler demonstrates tried-and-true techniques to act surprised at the board. Gelfand
is duly impressed.

While a question such as "Do you dream about chess?" might not sound so unusual, be sure to hear the replies when asked what their inlaws thought of their daughter marrying a chess player.

Still, the meat of it is still the game analysis, and in game five, Svidler promises to let Gelfand
do the talking. Will he succeed? Stay tuned....

Post game analysis and interview of game five

Asked about his approach when trailing in a match, Gelfand explains his strategy

In game six, Peter Svidler avenged his loss of the day, and the players analyse the game.
As previously, a replay board is provided below to allow you to follow their analyses.

In the action-packed rapid match, round seven saw the Russian decide the match in his favor with a second consecutive win, taking his score to 4.5-2.5, and no longer any chance for Gelfand to save it.

Host Gilad Japhet tells the players he will start with some warm-up questions, bringing smiles
from both players

Round seven saw Svidler decide the match with the fourth decisive game of the encounter.
Once again, the interview questions are both interesting and the answers insightful, and well
worth listening to. If you prefer to skip to the player analysis, then go to 15:10.

The last game was played out by the players, in spite of not affecting the match's
outcome, and ended in a draw

Final standings

Additional photographic impressions by Dorit and Gad Ritvo

Identical postures: the two players have much in common

... except that Peter can relax ...

... while Boris tends to suffer

Great atmosphere at the press conference with Gilad Japhet

And then: back to work and back to suffering...

... with Peter feeling some of it as well

The glare: like castling or en passant an essential part of the game of chess

And nobody can do it as well as Boris Gelfand

But in the end, with Gilad Japhet as host, we are all happily united in this wonderful game

Information and photos provided by Gilad Japhet

Gilad Japhet is the son of Gideon Japhet and organized this tournament to honor his memory. Gilad is the CEO of MyHeritage, a family-oriented social network service and genealogy website that allows members to create their own family websites, share pictures and videos, organize family events, create family trees, and search for ancestors. With over 75 million users, MyHeritage is one of the largest sites in the social networking and genealogy field. The company represents a community of more than 75 million users, 1.5 billion profiles and over four billion historical records. There are more than 27 million family trees and 163 million photos on the site, and the site is accessible in 40 languages.

Links Official tournament site All games of Gelfand-Svidler in PGN The games were 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.