Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The king calleth the pawn black
The Masters section as the players wait for the round to start
In this seven round swiss, the tournament saw a five-way tie at the top with 5.5/7 points
where top seed German GM Arkadij Naiditsch took first place on tiebreak.
This was the second straight victory in Switzerland for the German as
he had won the Zurich Christmas Open just a week before
Dourerrassou - Naiditsch
Naiditsch caught his opponent napping and won a pawn here.
Black to play and win. (Solution at end)
16-year-old German-born IM Alexander Donchenko (2523 FIDE) was second on tiebreak
Third place was taken by GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (2654 FIDE) of Venezuela
Iturrizaga - Van Foreest
In the position above, Iturrizaga played out an elegant finish. His
opponent Van Foreest just played 1...Ra8 attacking the queen.
White to play and win.
Hungarian GM Richard Rapport (2716), the World no.1 Junior, had a forgettable tournament
scoring 4.5/7 to finish twelfth
Fourteen-year-old Dutch talent IM Jorden Van Foreest (2467) also scored 4.5/7
Swiss GM Yannick Pelletier (2588) scored 5.0/7 to finish eighth
German IM Felix Graf (2472) had a good tournament, finishing ninth with 5.0/7
Serbian GM Milos Pavlovic (2472) bounced back from a shaky start to finish fifth
Legendary GM Vlastimil Hort showed that age is not a factor and scored
a commendable 5.0/7 to finish tenth
The top three prizewinners of the Masters section
In the amateurs section held alongside the Masters’ main event, the winner was Natal Vorotnikova
of Russia, beating out all other challengers
Dourerrassou - Naiditsch: 1...Qc8! attacking the pawn on h3 so 2.Kh2 Bf5! and after the queen moves 3.Qxc2 picks up the pawn.
Iturrizaga - Van Foreest: 1.Rb3+! Kxb3 2.Qb6+ Ka3 3.Rb7! and mate is inevitable.
Photos by Uwe Zinke
|
Rk
|
Name |
Ti.
|
Rtg
|
Fed
|
Pts
|
TB
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1.
|
Naiditsch, Arkadij |
GM
|
2731
|
GER
|
5.5
|
25.0
|
|
2.
|
Donchenko, Alexander |
IM
|
2523
|
GER
|
5.5
|
23.5
|
|
3.
|
Iturrizaga Bonell |
GM
|
2654
|
VEN
|
5.5
|
22.5
|
|
4.
|
Dann, Matthias |
IM
|
2457
|
GER
|
5.5
|
21.5
|
|
5.
|
Pavlovic, Milos |
GM
|
2472
|
SRB
|
5.5
|
18.0
|
|
6.
|
Svane, Rasmus |
IM
|
2507
|
GER
|
5.0
|
22.0
|
|
7.
|
Bok, Benjamin |
GM
|
2572
|
NED
|
5.0
|
21.5
|
|
8.
|
Pelletier, Yannick |
GM
|
2588
|
SUI
|
5.0
|
20.5
|
|
9.
|
Graf, Felix |
IM
|
2472
|
GER
|
5.0
|
20.0
|
|
10.
|
Hort, Vlastimil |
GM
|
2432
|
GER
|
5.0
|
19.5
|
|
11.
|
Van Foreest, Jorden |
IM
|
2467
|
NED
|
4.5
|
23.5
|
|
12.
|
Rapport, Richard |
GM
|
2716
|
HUN
|
4.5
|
22.5
|
|
13.
|
Toth, Bela |
IM
|
2346
|
ITA
|
4.5
|
20.0
|
|
14.
|
Dourerassou, Jonat |
IM
|
2469
|
FRA
|
4.5
|
19.0
|
|
15.
|
Fedorovsky, Michael |
IM
|
2443
|
GER
|
4.5
|
19.0
|
|
16.
|
Loetscher, Roland |
IM
|
2447
|
SUI
|
4.5
|
19.0
|
|
17.
|
Delchev, Aleksander |
GM
|
2627
|
BUL
|
4.5
|
19.0
|
|
18.
|
Guttulsrud, Odd Ma |
CM
|
2180
|
NOR
|
4.5
|
17.0
|
|
19.
|
Djingarova, Emilia |
WGM
|
2235
|
BUL
|
4.0
|
19.5
|
|
20.
|
Lerch, Patrice |
IM
|
2383
|
FRA
|
4.0
|
19.0
|
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
|
