Gjakova: Ivan Saric takes the lead

by Marco Baldauf
5/18/2016 – Ivan Saric was the only player from the top group who won in round six of the European Championship in Gjakova. The Croatian grandmaster showed himself to be well-prepared and came up with a new move in the Marshall. This led to an endgame which Saric won after two inaccurate moves of his opponents. With 5.5/6 Saric is now sole leader.
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Results of round six

Bo.     Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name FED Rtg  
1
 
 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2722 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Navara David CZE 2735
 
2
 
 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2661 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2686
 
3
 
 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2650 4½ 1 - 0 4 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2693
 
4
 
 GM Berkes Ferenc HUN 2636 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2721
 
5
 
 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2619 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2692
 
6
 
 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2685 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2600
 
7
 
 GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian ROU 2599 4 0 - 1 4 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2644
 
8
 
 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2715 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 2603
 
9
 
 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2700 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2609
 
10
 
 GM Ragger Markus AUT 2696 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2601
 
11
 
 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2681 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2602
 
12
 
 GM Kunin Vitaly GER 2595 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Korobov Anton UKR 2674
 
13
 
 GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof POL 2666 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Demchenko Anton RUS 2589
 
14
 
 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2656 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2576
 
15
 
 GM Saric Ante CRO 2594 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2653
 
16
 
 GM Kozul Zdenko CRO 2591 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2649
 
17
 
 GM Ipatov Alexander TUR 2648 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Stefansson Hannes ISL 2581
 
18
 
 GM Prohaszka Peter HUN 2593 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2647
 
19
 
 GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2575 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2646
 
20
 
 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2644 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2574
 
21
 
 GM Stocek Jiri CZE 2534 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2641
 
22
 
 GM Romanov Evgeny RUS 2641 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Gagunashvili Merab GEO 2569
 
23
 
 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2569 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM 2632
 
24
 
 GM Onischuk Vladimir UKR 2628 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2562
 
25
 
 IM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2480 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2620
 
26
 
 IM Atakisi Umut TUR 2330 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2618
 
27
 
 IM Erdogdu Mert TUR 2439 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2616
 
28
 
 GM Zubov Alexander UKR 2612 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Sturua Zurab GEO 2548
 
29
 
 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2691 3 ½ - ½ 3½ FM Moroni Luca Jr ITA 2443
 
30
 
 GM Dvirnyy Danyyil ITA 2552 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2689
 

The games at the two top boards were drawn. Wojtaszek was surprised by Navara's opening - Cambridge-Springs - and reacted with the very rare 8.Rc1, which Grischuk had tried recently. With this move Wojtaszek invited Navara to take two pawn. Navara accepted the invitation and took the two pawns which cost him a lot of time and allowed White to control the black squares. But before White's pressure got too serious Navara returned his material plus and equalized completely.

 

David Navara (Photo: Anežka Kružíková)

In round three Ivan Saric had drawn but after winning in rounds four and five he had rejoined the top group. His win against Maxim Matlakov in round six allowed him to take the sole lead.

Ivan Saric (Photo: Arman Karakhanyan)

 

In 2014 Saric finished on place eight at the European Championship and won the B-group in Wijk aan Zee. In 2015 he played in the A-group in Wijk and became twelfth with 4.5/13. His most famous game is his win against Magnus Carlsen at the Chess Olympiad 2014 in Tromso.

Saric at the beginning of his game against Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee 2015. (Photo: Joachim Schulze)

An exciting game was the encounter between Jan-Krzystof Duda and Anton Demchenko.

 

Jan-Krzystof Duda lost control in time-trouble. But the rest day after round six gives time to recover.

Games of rounds 1 to 6:

 

Standings after six rounds

Rk.     Name Rtg Pts.  TB1 
1
 
 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2650 5,5
2
 
 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2722 5,0
3
 
 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2661 5,0
4
 
 GM Navara David CZE 2735 5,0
5
 
 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2686 5,0
6
 
 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2644 5,0
7
 
 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2721 4,5
8
 
 GM Ipatov Alexander TUR 2648 4,5
9
 
 GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2618 4,5
10
 
 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2685 4,5
11
 
 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2700 4,5
12
 
 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2715 4,5
13
 
 GM Zubov Alexander UKR 2612 4,5
14
 
 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2600 4,5
15
 
 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2692 4,5
16
 
 GM Berkes Ferenc HUN 2636 4,5
17
 
 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2616 4,5
18
 
 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2653 4,5
19
 
 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2619 4,5
20
 
 GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2601 4,5
21
 
 GM Demchenko Anton RUS 2589 4,5
22
 
 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2693 4,0
23
 
 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2562 4,0
24
 
 GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian ROU 2599 4,0
25
 
 GM Laznicka Viktor CZE 2668 4,0
26
 
 GM Stocek Jiri CZE 2534 4,0
27
 
 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2647 4,0
 
 
 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2574 4,0
29
 
 GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2602 4,0
30
 
 GM Brkic Ante CRO 2584 4,0
31
 
 GM Gagunashvili Merab GEO 2569 4,0
 
 
 IM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2480 4,0
33
 
 GM Kunin Vitaly GER 2595 4,0
 
 
 IM Svane Rasmus GER 2526 4,0
35
 
 GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2649 4,0
 
 
 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2641 4,0
37
 
 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2620 4,0
38
 
 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2644 4,0
39
 
 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2674 4,0
 
 
 GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2575 4,0
41
 
 GM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM 2632 4,0
 
 
 GM Prohaszka Peter HUN 2593 4,0
43
 
 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2681 4,0
44
 
 GM Najer Evgeniy RUS 2681 4,0
45
 
 GM Hracek Zbynek CZE 2598 4,0
46
 
 GM Can Emre TUR 2557 4,0
47
 
 GM Onischuk Vladimir UKR 2628 4,0
48
 
 FM Moroni Luca Jr ITA 2443 4,0
49
 
 GM Romanov Evgeny RUS 2641 4,0
 
 
 GM Kozul Zdenko CRO 2591 4,0

...245 players

Schedule

Day

Date

Hour

Program

Wednesday

11.05.2016

 

Arrivals of participants

Wednesday

11.05.2016

20:00

Opening ceremony

Thursday

11.05.2016

22:00

Technical meeting

Thursday

12.05.2016

15:30

Round I

Friday

13.05.2016

15:30

Round II

Saturday

14.05.2016

15:30

Round III

Sunday

15.05.2016

15:30

Round IV

Monday

16.05.2016

15:30

Round V

Tuesday

17.05.2016

15:30

Round VI

Wednesday

18.05.2016

 

Rest day

Thursday

19.05.2016

15:30

Round VII

Friday

20.05.2016

15:30

Round VIII

Saturday

21.05.2016

15:30

Round IX

Sunday

22.05.2016

15:30

Round X

Monday

23.05.2016

11:00

Round XI

Monday

23.05.2016

20:00

Closing ceremony

Tuesday

24.05.2016

 

Departure

Photos: Tournament page

Teaser photo of Ivan Saric: Evgeny Vashenyaka

All results at Chess-Results.com

 

Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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