Plovdiv: Exciting final round on Friday

by ChessBase
5/2/2008 – In the men's section of the European Individual Championships 2008 no ness than eight players are tied for first – and they all play each other in the final round. In the women's section GM Kateryna Lahno of the Ukraine leads, with four internationally known player in hot pursuit. Others can only pray. Come and watch the final action on the Playchess server.

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The IX European Individual Chess Championship is taking place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from April 21st to May 3rd 2008, with one free day, on Monday, April 28. The tournament halls are in the Novotel Plovdiv. The championship is an 11 round Swiss, playing time is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. The total prize fund in the men's section is 92,200 EUR (first 15,000, 2nd 10,000, third 8,000, fourth 6,500, fifth 5,500 etc.) and in the women's section 34,500 EUR (first 6,000, second 5,000, third 4,000, fourth 3,000, fifth 2,000, etc.). According to Bulgarian law all prizes are taxable (10%).

Round ten report

The going is getting rougher, a bunch of eight grandmasters are in the lead together, with 7.5/10 points each and just one round to go (today at 13:30h CEST = 11:30 UTC).

Top standings after ten rounds (total 337 players)

1 GM Sutovsky Emil 2630 ISR 7.5
2 GM Tregubov Pavel V 2629 RUS 7.5
3 GM Volkov Sergey 2633 RUS 7.5
4 GM Movsesian Sergei 2695 SVK 7.5
5 GM Tiviakov Sergei 2634 NED 7.5
6 GM L'Ami Erwin 2600 NED 7.5
7 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy 2612 UKR 7.5
8 GM Baklan Vladimir 2647 UKR 7.5
9 GM Laznicka Viktor 2578 CZE 7.0
10 GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2566 GRE 7.0
11 GM Najer Evgeniy 2627 RUS 7.0
12 GM Mamedov Rauf 2617 AZE 7.0
13 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2632 FRA 7.0
14 GM Khalifman Alexander 2628 RUS 7.0
15 GM Grachev Boris 2610 RUS 7.0
16 GM Motylev Alexander 2666 RUS 7.0
17 GM Nyback Tomi 2587 FIN 7.0
18 GM Akopian Vladimir 2673 ARM 7.0
19 GM Bologan Viktor 2665 MDA 7.0
20 GM Nielsen Peter Heine 2629 DEN 7.0
21 GM Fressinet Laurent 2656 FRA 7.0
22 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2617 RUS 7.0
23 GM Roiz Michael 2659 ISR 7.0
24 GM Andreikin Dmitry 2580 RUS 7.0
25 GM Hracek Zbynek 2613 CZE 7.0
26 GM Vajda Levente 2582 ROU 7.0

The top pairings for the final round are:

1 Kryvoruchko Yuriy 2612
7.5
vs
7.5
Movsesian Sergei 2695
2 Baklan Vladimir 2647
7.5
vs
7.5
Tregubov Pavel V 2629
3 Tiviakov Sergei 2634
7.5
vs
7.5
Sutovsky Emil 2630
4 Volkov Sergey 2633
7.5
vs
7.5
L'Ami Erwin 2600
5 Mamedov Rauf 2617
7.0
vs
7.0
Akopian Vladimir 2673
6 Nyback Tomi 2587
7.0
vs
7.0
Motylev Alexander 2666
7 Hracek Zbynek 2613
7.0
vs
7.0
Bologan Viktor 2665
8 Roiz Michael 2659
7.0
vs
7.0
Laznicka Viktor 2578
9 Papaioannou Ioannis 2566
7.0
vs
7.0
Fressinet Laurent 2656
10 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2632
7.0
vs
7.0
Vitiugov Nikita 2617
11 Nielsen Peter Heine 2629
7.0
vs
7.0
Grachev Boris 2610
12 Khalifman Alexander 2628
7.0
vs
7.0
Vajda Levente 2582
13 Andreikin Dmitry 2580
7.0
vs
7.0
Najer Evgeniy 2627

In the women's section GM Kateryna Lahno is in the sole lead with 8.0/10 and a performance of well over 2600. She is followed by four players with 7.5 points each.

Top standings after ten rounds (total 159 players)

1 GM Lahno Kateryna 2479 UKR 8.0
2 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2450 UKR 7.5
3 IM Ushenina Anna 2474 UKR 7.5
4 GM Cramling Pia 2539 SWE 7.5
5 IM Skripchenko Almira 2443 FRA 7.5
6 IM Houska Jovanka 2390 ENG 7.0
7 IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2466 LTU 7.0
8 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2413 ARM 7.0
9 IM Dembo Yelena 2429 GRE 7.0
10 IM Muzychuk Anna 2486 SLO 7.0
11 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2470 RUS 7.0
12 IM Danielian Elina 2479 ARM 7.0
13 IM Socko Monika 2505 POL 7.0
14 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2443 GEO 6.5
15 IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2421 RUS 6.5
16 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2538 BUL 6.5
17 IM Lomineishvili Maia 2400 GEO 6.5
18 WGM Demina Julia 2337 RUS 6.5
19 IM Repkova Eva 2381 SVK 6.5
20 IM Rajlich Iweta 2411 POL 6.5
21 IM Moser Eva 2395 AUT 6.5
22 GM Peng Zhaoqin 2455 NED 6.5
23 WGM Romanko Marina 2325 RUS 6.5
24 WGM Zimina Olga 2363 ITA 6.5
25 WGM Muzychuk Mariya 2387 UKR 6.5
26 IM Turova Irina 2380 RUS 6.5
27 IM Tairova Elena 2412 RUS 6.5
28 IM Atalik Ekaterina 2409 TUR 6.5
29 IM Khukhashvili Sopiko 2371 GEO 6.5

Kateryna Lahno faces her compatriot IM Anna Ushenina in the final round. The other direct contenders, Natalia Zhukova, Almira Skripchenko and Pia Cramling are well-known international players.

1 Lahno Kateryna 2479
8.0
vs
7.5
Ushenina Anna 2474
2 Zhukova Natalia 2450
7.5
vs
7.5
Skripchenko Almira 2443
3 Cmilyte Viktorija 2466
7.0
vs
7.5
Cramling Pia 2539
4 Danielian Elina 2479
7.0
vs
7.0
Socko Monika 2505
5 Muzychuk Anna 2486
7.0
vs
7.0
Pogonina Natalija 2470
6 Mkrtchian Lilit 2413
7.0
vs
7.0
Houska Jovanka 2390
7 Dembo Yelena 2429
7.0
vs
6.5
Peng Zhaoqin 2455

You can watch the final round games on the official web site or on the Playchess server (links and instructions are at the bottom of this page). In case of equal scores there will be tiebreak games on Saturday to establish the title and medal winners.


Picture Gallery


Robert Zelcic vs Emil Sutovsky (front) and Igor Kurnosov vs Sergei Movsesian (back)


Hot contenders: Pavel Tregubov and Emil Sutovsky


Intense concentration in the round nine game Bologan vs Halkias


German GM and poker crack Jan Gustafsson, 2603, 6.5/10


The youngest participant: Twelve-year-old Alexander Monev of Bulgaria, rated 2038, with 4.0/10 points


GM Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine vs WIM Katerina Nemcova of the Czech Republic


Title aspirations: IM Anna Muzychuk, 2486, SLO, 7.0/10


IM Jovanka Houska of England, rated 2390, with 7.0/10


IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, 2421, RUS, 6.5/10 gives autographs before a game


Former women's world champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova, 2538, BUL, 6.5/10


A quick prayer before the game? WFM Elena Cherednichenko, 2155, UKR, 3.5/10


Veronika Minina of Russia, 2148, 4.0/10 points

All pictures courtesy of the official tournament site

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