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The University of Salamanca organized the sixth edition of the Salamanca Cradle of Modern Chess Festival on April 25-29. The festival commemorates the fact that the modern rules of chess were first formulated in 1497 by Luis Ramírez de Lucena in Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con CL Juegos de Partido, the first extant chess book. Lucena was a student at the University of Salamanca.
In the main event, eight players (four men and four women) battled it out in a single round-robin tournament. Living legends Veselin Topalov and Vasyl Ivanchuk were joined by six active players, including former women’s world champion Anna Ushenina.
Avoiding mistakes in the opening and even learning from mistakes is a valuable tool to improve your chess. Ruslan Ponomariov, former FIDE World Champion, demonstrates basic patterns that will help you navigate through the game more easily.
Kirill Alekseenko from Russia and Jaime Santos from Spain topped the standings with 5½ points. Alekseenko had a better tiebreak score than his colleague from León, and was thus declared champion.
Going into the final round, Alekseenko and Santos were sharing the lead with 4½ points each. Ivanchuk and Topalov stood a half point back, and coincidentally none of the four players fighting for first place were paired up against each other.
All four contenders for the title won in round 7. Alekseenko played black against 8-time women’s Spanish champion Sabrina Vega. The Russian grandmaster, who famously participated in the 2020-21 Candidates Tournament, played boldly and grabbed the win he needed to claim tournament victory. Alekseenko knew that a full point would secure him overall victory, since he had collected one more win than Santos up to that point — and the number of wins was the relevant tiebreak criterion to decide the champion.
By the same criterion, Ivanchuk finished in third place, as he did not sign a single draw in the event. He won five games and was defeated by the two top scorers. Topalov, who also obtained 5 points, beat Alekseenko and drew Santos, but was defeated by Ivanchuk in their very entertaining round-6 direct encounter.
Ushenina was the top scorer among the women.
Ayer volvimos al @cieusales para disfrutar con la tensión de las rondas 3 y 4 del Torneo Magistral de la sexta edición del Festival de Ajedrez 'Salamanca Cuna del Ajedrez Moderno'. Puedes verlas en nuestro canal de YouTube https://t.co/scMhTX6VQt pic.twitter.com/05cX1K0Rtb
— ALUMNI - USAL (@alumniusal) April 28, 2023
