President's Cup Baku 2010
This eight-player round robin event took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 29th
April to 2nd May 2010. The time controls were 25 minutes per side per game,
with two or three games per day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday
there is blitz tournament. All games are being broadcast live on the official
site and on Playchess.
The "President's Cup" is dedicated to the memorial of the national
leader Haydar Aliyev and is being held in the Park Inn hotel. Half of the players
are from Azerbaijan and half from abroad. The Azeris are Shakhriyar Mamadyarov,
Teimour Rajabov, Rauf Mamadov and Gadir Guseinov (or Qədir Hüsynov in Azerbaijani),
the foreign players are Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Gata Kamsky (USA), Judit
Polgar (Hungary) and Emil Sutovsky (Israel).
Second half of the tournament
The set-up of the President's Cup on the stage in Baku, Azerbaijan
In the fourth round the leaders of the tournament so far clashed: Shahriyar
Mamadyarov lost the game and lead to Gata Kamsky.
The key game in round five – Kramnik mated Kamsky in 49 moves of a
Trompowsky
In the fifth round it was Kamsky who succumbed former World Champion Vladimir
Kramnik, who had the black pieces. Gadir Guseinov lost in 30 moves to the only
female player in the event, Judit Polgar.
Kramnik vs Radjabov in round six – in front of a micro-audience typical
of chess event these days
In the sixth round Gata Kamsky beat Gadir Guseinov with the black pieces to
maintain his lead. Kramnik and Mamedyarov won their games – against Teimour
Radjabov and Judit Polgar respectively. Both GMs trailed Kamsky by half a point.
In the final round Kamsky drew Polgar, whild Kramnik and Mamedyarov won their
games again, this time against Emil Sutovsky and Rauf Mamadov. This meant that
three GMs finished with 5.0/7. The tiebreak system left Kramnik in first place,
Mamedyarov in second and Kamsky in third.
Final standings
The draw average in this event was just 35% (ten out of 28 games). White won
ten games and Black eight games.The longest game – Kramnik vs Polgar in
round three – lasted 67 moves and ended in a draw. The shortest was Guseinov
vs Mamedyarov in round three – it was over after just 13 moves.
The crystal trophy that the winner – Vladimir Kramnik –
received
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and, with
friendly support of the organisers, on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
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