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The 2nd Chess Festival 'Villa Cañada de Calatrava' was held from April 6th to 8th in the Hotel Guadiana in Cañada de Calatrava (Ciudad Real region, Spain). It consisted of three tournaments: rapid, Fischer random and blitz. The total prize fund was 90,000 Euros (with an entry fee of €5 per participant). The first prize was €22,000, second €16,000, third €10,000.
The rate of play was 25 minutes for each player without increment. There was a special rule to look after errors during the game: the first two illegal moves gave the opponent an additional one minute each on the clock, the third illegal move resulted in a loss of the game.
The lineup of 286 players was impressive. We counted 67 GMs and 16 IMs. Here to give you an impression is a list of the top twenty seeds:
1 | Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2786 | 11 | Karpov Anatoly | RUS | 2668 | |
2 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2757 | 12 | Krasenkow Michal | POL | 2661 | |
3 | Gelfand Boris | ISR | 2733 | 13 | Sokolov Ivan | NED | 2655 | |
4 | Ivanchuk Vassily | UKR | 2729 | 14 | Miton Kamil | POL | 2653 | |
5 | Polgar Judit | HUN | 2727 | 15 | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2644 | |
6 | Grischuk Alexander | RUS | 2717 | 16 | Fridman Daniel | LAT | 2635 | |
7 | Bacrot Etienne | FRA | 2709 | 17 | Gagunashvili Merab | GEO | 2625 | |
8 | Shirov Alexei | ESP | 2699 | 18 | Baklan Vladimir | UKR | 2618 | |
9 | Sasikiran Krishnan | IND | 2690 | 19 | Sadvakasov Darmen | KAZ | 2618 | |
10 | Milov Vadim | SUI | 2676 | 20 | Pantsulaia Levan | GEO | 2616 |
The winner of the event was the eighth seed Alexei Shirov, who scored 7½/9 points, beating his colleagues Daniel Fridman, Ivan Sokolov and Boris Gelfand on tiebreak points. They were followed by a group of ten players with 7/9. This group included Anand, Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Polgar, Girschuk, Krasenkow, Miton, Fressinet, and Baklan from the list of the top 20. Bacrot finished at place 27, Sasikiran at 15, Karpov at 31.
The winner of the Villa Cañada de Calatrava Rapid Alexei Shirov (right)
Rank | Seed | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts |
1 | 8 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2699 | ESP | 7½ |
2 | 16 | GM | Fridman Daniel | 2635 | LAT | 7½ |
3 | 13 | GM | Sokolov Ivan | 2655 | NED | 7½ |
4 | 3 | GM | Gelfand Boris | 2733 | ISR | 7½ |
5 | 5 | GM | Polgar Judit | 2727 | HUN | 7 |
6 | 2 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2757 | AZE | 7 |
7 | 6 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2717 | RUS | 7 |
8 | 15 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2644 | FRA | 7 |
9 | 12 | GM | Krasenkow Michal | 2661 | POL | 7 |
10 | 4 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2729 | UKR | 7 |
11 | 18 | GM | Baklan Vladimir | 2618 | UKR | 7 |
12 | 1 | GM | Anand Viswanathan | 2786 | IND | 7 |
13 | 14 | GM | Miton Kamil | 2653 | POL | 7 |
14 | 76 | FM | Del Rey Diego | 2405 | ESP | 7 |
15 | 9 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2690 | IND | 6½ |
16 | 19 | GM | Sadvakasov Darmen | 2618 | KAZ | 6½ |
17 | 24 | GM | Kazhgaleyev Murtas | 2603 | KAZ | 6½ |
18 | 45 | GM | Marin Mihail | 2533 | ROM | 6½ |
19 | 50 | GM | Kovchan Alexander | 2527 | UKR | 6½ |
20 | 48 | GM | Shchekachev Andrei | 2530 | FRA | 6½ |
21 | 56 | IM | Perez Candelario Manuel | 2511 | ESP | 6½ |
22 | 51 | GM | Arizmendi Martinez Julen | 2525 | ESP | 6½ |
23 | 31 | GM | Mamedov Rauf | 2584 | AZE | 6½ |
24 | 10 | GM | Milov Vadim | 2676 | SUI | 6½ |
25 | 84 | IM | Panelo Marcelo | 2392 | ARG | 6½ |
26 | 34 | GM | Akobian Varuzhan | 2574 | USA | 6½ |
27 | 7 | GM | Bacrot Etienne | 2709 | FRA | 6½ |
28 | 60 | GM | Kosyrev Vladimir | 2505 | RUS | 6½ |
29 | 17 | GM | Gagunashvili Merab | 2625 | GEO | 6½ |
30 | 20 | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | 2616 | GEO | 6½ |
31 | 11 | GM | Karpov Anatoly | 2668 | RUS | 6½ |
The Fischer Random tournament was also won by Alexei Shirov, who just before the event visited ChessBase in Hamburg to record a new training DVD. Dare we assume that this session inspired him to his extraordinary success in Cañada de Calatrava? Anand did not participate.
Rank | Seed | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | 1 | 6 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2699 | ESP | 8 |
2 | 7 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2690 | IND | 7½ |
3 | 12 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2644 | FRA | 7½ |
4 | 2 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2729 | UKR | 7½ |
5 | 4 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2717 | RUS | 7½ |
6 | 17 | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | 2616 | GEO | 7 |
7 | 8 | GM | Milov Vadim | 2676 | SUI | 7 |
8 | 50 | IM | Herraiz Hidalgo Herminio | 2498 | ESP | 7 |
9 | 21 | GM | Kazhgaleyev Murtas | 2603 | KAZ | 7 |
10 | 23 | GM | Spasov Vasil | 2592 | BUL | 7 |
In the blitz tournament (again without Anand) Shirov finished in tenth place. It was won by Vassily Ivanchuk, a full point ahead of the field.
Rank | Seed |
Title | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | 1 | 3 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2729 | UKR | 8½ |
2 | 27 | GM | Mamedov Rauf | 2584 | AZE | 7½ |
3 | 4 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2717 | RUS | 7½ |
4 | 8 | GM | Milov Vadim | 2676 | SUI | 7½ |
5 | 35 | IM | Zubov Alexander | 2542 | UKR | 7½ |
6 | 38 | GM | Marin Mihail | 2533 | ROM | 7½ |
7 | 25 | GM | Guliyev Namig | 2590 | AZE | 7 |
8 | 2 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2757 | AZE | 7 |
9 | 33 | GM | Kolev Atanas | 2553 | BUL | 7 |
10 | 6 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2699 | ESP | 7 |
11 | 9 | GM | Krasenkow Michal | 2661 | POL | 7 |
12 | 42 | GM | Kovchan Alexander | 2527 | UKR | 7 |
13 | 45 | GM | Barsov Alexei | 2521 | UZB | 7 |
The home page of the event, created with great ambitions, is not (yet?) filled with the intended content. You can find one three intended reports, and a selection of the games. There is more information on the Spanish site, which you may want to browse, if you understand the language.