European Clubs Cup 2003 in Rethymnon, Crete
An invitation to chess – two lovely Greek hostesses greet visitors
A key game Grischuk vs Kasparov. This drew the greatest number of photographers,
just in case the younger player would manage to pull off a win. But Kasparov
was in no-nonsense mode and decided the game for himself.
The man who actually pulled it off: Alexander Huzman, who won the game after
Kasparov blundered in the penultimate round. This is the critical position in
Huzman-Kasparov:
Black (to play) has an overprotected pawn, attacked once and defended three
times. Kasparov played 20...Bc8 to attack the white knight
on f5, forcing it back to d4 or g3 with a good game for Black. Unfortunately
the move overlooks a simple tactical combination: 21.Rxd5!
Black cannot recapture with the knight because of 22.Qxg7 mate, nor can he take
with the queen because of the fork 22.Ne7+. White wins two pawns for nothing,
and after 21...Qe8 22.Bxc4 Kasparov resigned.
In our report
we speculated on the mechanisms of this kind of error, committed by a player
who carries a 2830 rating and had scored four out of four (against very strong
opposition) in this tournament. Viktor Bologan offered one more snippet: "When
you play a move that threatens something, like attacking the unpleasant knight
on f5, that is the time when you are most likely to commit a blunder. You simply
assume your opponent has to react to this threat. People overlook short mates
in such situations."
What on earth happened there? Kasparov pondering, Israel GM Emil Sutovsky
Now this is definitely more pleasant: Kasparov posing with the ladies
The youngest GM-strength player in Crete: 13-year-old Kateryna Lahno
Great pals: Almira Skripchenko with Antoaneta Stefanova
The venue of the men's tournament: the Creta Star Hotel
A final farewell to a beautiful island
Previous stories
-
A great triumph
and a shocking loss
05.10.2003 The European Clubs Cup 2003, which ended on Saturday, was won
by the NAO Chess Club of Paris. The event was marked by some remarkable
performances and a shocking fifth-round loss in 22 moves by Garry Kasparov
– who still chalked up the second-highest performance of the tournament
(2841). You will find the whole story, including an illustrated report by
Anna Dergachova.
-
European
Club Championship: Kasparov in Crete
16.09.2003 What does a player to do when his shot at the FIDE world title
gets cancelled? Some would be glad for the unexpected break. Not Garry Kasparov,
who has agreed to take part in the European Club Championship in Crete.
He will also play a match against the European champion Azmaiparashvili.
Details.
-
The way Kasparov
likes...
24.09.2003 Throughout the millennia the Greek island of Crete has fallen
to Romans, Arabs and Ottomans. Today its town of Geropotamos (tourism slogan:
"The way you like...") was conquered by Garry Kasparov. The world
number one demolished European champion Zurab Azmaiparashvili in a brief
exhibition match of rapid and blitz games. Report and games
-
Kasparov
on the rampage
03.10.2003 The European Clubs Cup in Crete is turning into a crunch fest.
After five rounds there are ten players with performance ratings of over
2800. Peter Svidler has 2831, Joel Lautier 2859, Alexander Morozevich 2932.
You do not want to know to what heights Garry Kasparov is soaring. We bring
you games, pictures, results and links.
- The Women
of Crete
07.10.2003 Our reports on the 2003 European Clubs Cup in Crete concentrated
on male chess players and their spectacular performances. But, we were reminded
by one visitor, there was an exciting women's tournament going on at the same
time. Our correspondent Pufichek (a.k.a. Diego Garces), sent us a report and
some lovely pictures.
