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From February 3rd to 9th, Lisbon hosted one of the strongest chess tournaments ever played on Portuguese soil. About 260 players from 42 countries took part in the "Portugal Open". The ranking list was led by Baadur Jobava, but nearly 50 other grandmasters and international masters took up the fight for the prize money, including a first prize of 2,200 euros.
After nine rounds in this Swiss system open Alexandar Indijic, Anton Demchenko and Nikita Petrov, were tied, but Indijic was declared the tournament on best tiebreak score (Buchholz).
After the sixth round, Anton Demchenko had taken the lead, but he lost in the eighth round the eventual winner. Tournament favorite Jobava stumbled in the fifth round over the Indian GM Anurag Mhamal.
Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!
With 31.Qa3 followed by 32.Nc6, Black is forced to exchange on c6 and White got a dangerous passed pawn.
Alexandar Indjic (third from left) with his trophy | Photo: openportugal.fpx.pt
Irina Bulmaga was the best female scorer | Photo: openportugal.fpx.pt
Former World Championship candidate Kevin Spraggett has lived in Portugal for many years | Photo: openportugal.fpx.pt
| Rk. | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Indjic Aleksandar | 2612 | 7,5 | 0,0 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Demchenko Anton | 2671 | 7,5 | 0,0 |
| 3 |
|
IM | Petrov Nikita | 2573 | 7,5 | 0,0 |
| 4 |
|
GM | Jobava Baadur | 2685 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 5 |
|
IM | Diermair Andreas | 2495 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 6 |
|
IM | Nagy Gabor | 2469 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 7 |
|
IM | Repka Christopher | 2513 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 8 |
|
GM | Venkatesh M.R. | 2445 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 9 |
|
GM | Korneev Oleg | 2554 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 10 |
|
IM | Santos Latasa Jaime | 2546 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 11 |
|
GM | Sevian Samuel | 2617 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 12 |
|
IM | Damaso Rui | 2445 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 13 |
|
GM | Ghamarian Tigran | 2622 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 14 |
|
IM | Nayhebaver Martin | 2456 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 15 |
|
GM | Gabrielian Artur | 2502 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 16 |
|
IM | Kaczur Florian | 2459 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 17 |
|
IM | Kerigan Demre | 2350 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 18 |
|
IM | Bulmaga Irina | 2411 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 19 |
|
GM | Nevednichy Vladislav | 2551 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 20 |
|
IM | Froewis Georg | 2428 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 21 |
|
IM | Sandalakis Angelos | 2448 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 22 |
|
IM | To Nhat Minh | 2338 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 23 |
|
GM | Anurag Mhamal | 2476 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 24 |
|
GM | Warakomski Tomasz | 2517 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 25 |
|
GM | Sanal Vahap | 2551 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
... 260 players
The Sicilian Rossolimo for White
The Rossolimo Variation 3.Bb5 is considered to be one of the strongest replies to 2…Nc6 in the Sicilian Defence. The fact that the move has been played by practically all the top players proves its popularity and strength. But the most interesting aspect of playing 3.Bb5 is that we force sharp, attacking players who love to have the initiative to forget about the Open Sicilian and to adjust themselves to a new world, one full of positional ideas, manoeuvres and nuances.
Translation from German: Macauley Peterson
