Greetings from the recent past
1/7/2011 – December was rich for chess events in Tashkent. This report is about the most
important one – the First Safin Memorial. Shukhrat Safin, one of most
prominent Uzbek chess grandmasters, died in September last year (we
published an obituary).
The Memorial was a seven-round rapid Swiss and included his colleagues from
the Uzbek Olympic team. Illustrated report by Jamshid Begmatov.
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Safin Memorial in Tashkent
By Jamshid Begmatov
In memoriam: Uzbek GM Shukhrat Safin died on 20 September of blood cancer at hospital in his home city of Samarqand. Shukhrat had been a member of the Uzbekistan national team since its early days, and played in numerous Olympiads, Asian and World team championships. Born in 1970, Shukhrat had been a Grandmaster since 1999, with a final FIDE rating of 2472.
The parents and widow on the right , watching the tournament in the memory
of their
beloved Shukhrat who not so long ago would often play in this very tournament
hall
The Memorial was a seven-round rapid Swiss, limited to players with 2300 Elo and above, and players of Uzbek national teams in various age groups. Top participants included former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Anton Filippov, several other GMs and IMs, and ladies from the Uzbek Olympic team who had just returned from Asian games in Guangzhou, China, quite sensationally with silver medals. Time control was 15 minutes per game with a ten-second increment per move.
Top-rated Uzbek chess player Rustam Kasimdzhanov often referred to as just Kasim, place two with 5/7. He had also just returned from Guangzhou with an outstanding achievement: Gold in the men’s individual rapids! We all know Kasim as one of the world’s top rapid players (also read about this below). With this in mind, before round one, I was wondering who (if anyone) would be able to draw against him. I didn’t have to wait too long…
…before this young man playing with the black pieces managed to defend an endgame a pawn down. Eugenie Pak, Elo 2327, is of Korean roots, resides in Uzbekistan and is the Champion of Kazakhstan.
The tournament winner with 6/7 GM Anton Filippov, Elo 2620
Full tournament table
| # | Name | Rating |
Score |
M/F |
BH | SB | BH |
| 1 | GM Filippov Anton | 2620 |
6.0 |
M |
28.0 | 23.25 | 20.5 |
| 2 | GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov | 2685 |
5.0 |
M |
31.5 | 22.0 | 22.0 |
| 3 | IM Kwon Andrew | 2461 |
4.5 |
M |
28.5 | 15.75 | 20.0 |
| 4 | IM Hamrakulov Jurabek | 2482 |
4.5 |
M |
28.0 | 14.75 | 19.5 |
| 5 | FM Alexander Kasyan | 2352 |
4.5 |
M |
25.0 | 14.0 | 17.0 |
| 6 | GM Ziyatdinov Rashid | 2406 |
4.5 |
M |
24.0 | 15.5 | 17.0 |
| 7 | Khoroshev Nikita | 2227 |
4.0 |
M |
28.0 | 13.25 | 19.5 |
| 8 | Eugene Pak | 2327 |
4.0 |
M |
27.5 | 14.5 | 19.5 |
| 9 | GM Alexei Barsov | 2507 |
4.0 |
M |
24.0 | 13.0 | 17.0 |
| 10 | Faizullaev Akmal | 2327 |
3.5 |
M |
22.5 | 7.75 | 15.5 |
| 11 | FM Gubaydulin Talgat | 2336 |
3.5 |
M |
22.0 | 9.25 | 15.5 |
| 12 | WIM Khamrakulov Yulduz | 2180 |
3.0 |
F F |
30.0 | 11.0 | 22.0 |
| 13 | Holmirzaev Bakhodir | 2362 |
3.0 |
M |
23.5 | 7.0 | 17.0 |
| 14 | Khamrayev Ravshan | 2284 |
2.5 |
M |
27.5 | 7.75 | 19.5 |
| 15 | Nodirzhanova Nodir | 2149 |
2.5 |
F F |
21.0 | 5.0 | 14.5 |
| 16 | Kurbanbayev Sarvinoz | 2014 |
2.5 |
F F |
21.0 | 6.0 | 14.5 |
| 17 | WFM Irina Gevorgian | 2134 |
2.5 |
F F |
20.5 | 5.75 | 14.0 |
| 18 | Tohirzhanova Hulkar | 2142 |
2.0 |
F F |
21.5 | 5.5 | 15.0 |
| 19 | Chorshanbieva Umida | 2084 |
2.0 |
F F |
18.5 | 5.0 | 13.0 |
| 20 | Vakhidov Nodir | 2139 |
2.0 |
M |
17.5 | 4.5 | 12.5 |
I combine my work with some chess journalism and, as it often happens, Murphy law works perfectly. I do have relatively relaxed periods at work sometimes, but whenever there is some important chess event, I’m overloaded. This is why I couldn’t closely follow games at this tournament, couldn’t review them afterwards. So this report, unfortunately, will go without game examples. I will try to compensate for this with photos.
There are always reporters from several TV channels
at chess events in Tashkent, this one was no exception
The tournament hall with players and spectators
GM Alexei Barsov, 2507, place 9 with 4/7 – hardly an outstanding tournament
for Alexei
Nodira Nodirjanova and...
WIM Yulduz Khamrakulova were among silver medalists of the Asian Games
The key game of round four and the tournament: Filippov-Kasimdzhanov. A
tough draw.
That's Alexei Barsov watching in the background.
What I like most about chess tournaments is post-game analyses, perhaps the only way for us mortals to give a few tips or even lessons to top grandmasters. Sitting on the right, analysing with Rustam Kasimdzhanov, is IM Andrey Kvon, Elo 2461, place three with 4,5/7.
GM Rashid Ziyatdinov, Elo 2406, place six with 4.5 points
The Uzbek national team chatting between rounds: GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov,
GM Alexei Barsov, GM Anton Filippov, IM Jurabek Khamrakulov
And outside that window was a dry winter with the lonely tractor parked
for whatever
reason right in front of the Chess Federation building
I will see you in March with reports on two high-level events: the 5th Agzamov Memorial, and… an eight-game rapid match between two grands: the reigning World Champion Vishy Anand, and the 2004 FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov! Time allowing, yours truly will be the chief press officer at both of these events. Thanks for reading.
Jamshid Begmatov
