2008 SPICE Cup
The SPICE Cup took place from September 19 to 28, 2008, in the Texas
Tech Student Union Building in Lubbock, Texas, staged by the University’s Susan Polgar
Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE). It was a ten-player international
round-robin tournament in U.S. history, with an average rating of 2605, making
it a Category 15 event – making it the highest-rated tournament of its kind held
on U.S. soil. The tournament ended in a four-way tie for first place, with
India's third-highest ranked GM Pentala Harikrishna taking the first prize on tie-break.
The winner: Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna
Final standings
| # |
Player |
Nat |
Rtng |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
Pts |
Perf |
| 1. |
Harikrishna, Pentala |
IND |
2668 |
* |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
1 |
= |
5.5 |
2678 |
| 2. |
Akobian, Varuzhan |
USA |
2610 |
= |
* |
= |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
= |
= |
1 |
5.5 |
2684 |
| 3. |
Onischuk, Alexander |
USA |
2670 |
= |
= |
* |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
= |
= |
1 |
5.5 |
2678 |
| 4. |
Kritz, Leonid |
GER |
2610 |
= |
= |
= |
* |
0 |
1 |
= |
= |
1 |
1 |
5.5 |
2684 |
| 5. |
Becerra Rivero, Julio |
USA |
2598 |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
* |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
5 |
2649 |
| 6. |
Mikhalevski, Victor |
ISR |
2592 |
= |
= |
= |
0 |
= |
* |
0 |
1 |
1 |
= |
4.5 |
2606 |
| 7. |
Perelshteyn, Eugene |
USA |
2555 |
= |
0 |
0 |
= |
= |
1 |
* |
= |
0 |
1 |
4 |
2568 |
| 8. |
Miton, Kamil |
POL |
2580 |
0 |
= |
= |
= |
= |
0 |
= |
* |
1 |
0 |
3.5 |
2528 |
| 9. |
Kaidanov, Gregory |
USA |
2605 |
0 |
= |
= |
0 |
= |
0 |
1 |
0 |
* |
1 |
3.5 |
2525 |
| 10. |
Stefansson, Hannes |
ISL |
2566 |
= |
0 |
0 |
0 |
= |
= |
0 |
1 |
0 |
* |
2.5 |
2443 |
The four winners: Varuzhan Akobian, Pentala Harikrishna, Alexander Onischuk,
Leonid Kritz, initiator Susan Polgar
Critical
final round game: Harikrishna won and made first place
The setup of
the playing venue in Lubbock
The Texas Tech University
The SPICE Cup winner Pentala Harikrishna on the college campus
Lubbock is in Texas, not far from the infamous alien landing site
Guess who was born in Lubbock: rock legend Buddy Holly
... who was also buried there after his tragically short career and the airplane
crash
