On the sunny shores of Lake Sevan, in the rustic town of Martuni, Armenia, the already-traditional Category 16 “Lake Sevan 2011” tournament has begun. This year's edition boasts ten strong grandmasters: Baadur Jobava (2713, Georgia), Sergei Zhigalko (2689, Belarus), Ildar Khairullin (2649, Russia), Zhou Jianchao (2636, China), as well as the Armenian GMs Tigran L. Petrosian (2636), Arman Pashikian (2616), Zaven Andriasian (2616), Avetik Grigoryan (2608), Hrant Melkumyan (2600) and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2558).
SNo. |
Name | Rtg |
FED |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
Pts |
Rank |
1 |
Grigoryan Avetik | 2608 |
ARM |
* |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
2½ |
2 |
|||||
2 |
Zigalko Sergei | 2689 |
BLR |
½ |
* |
½ |
½ |
1½ |
8 |
||||||
3 |
Khairullin Ildar | 2649 |
RUS |
½ |
* |
½ |
½ |
1½ |
6 |
||||||
4 |
Pashikian Arman | 2616 |
ARM |
0 |
* |
½ |
0 |
1 |
1½ |
9 |
|||||
5 |
Zhou Jianchao | 2636 |
CHN |
* |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
2 |
4 |
|||||
6 |
Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | 2558 |
ARM |
½ |
* |
½ |
0 |
½ |
1½ |
7 |
|||||
7 |
Petrosian Tigran L. | 2636 |
ARM |
½ |
1 |
½ |
* |
½ |
2½ |
1 |
|||||
8 |
Melkumyan Hrant | 2600 |
ARM |
½ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
* |
2½ |
3 |
|||||
9 |
Jobava Baadur | 2713 |
GEO |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
* |
1½ |
10 |
|||||
10 |
Andriasian Zaven | 2616 |
ARM |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
* |
2 |
5 |
One of the main organizers of the tournament GM Smbat Lputian
Singing girls at the opening ceremony
Elo favourite GM Baadur Jobava in an optimistic mood
Chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan with his son Levon and a local journalist
GM Zaven Andriasian
GM Zhou Jianchao
GM Samvel Ter Sahakyan
GM Sergei Zhigalko
GM Tigran L. Petrosian
GM Avetik Grigoryan
GM Ildar Khairullin
GM Hrant Melkumyan
Participants at the opening ceremony
The beautiful Lake Sevan, which gave the tournament its name
Photos by Gevorg Asatryan
Your reporter, IM Ashot Nadanian
IM Ashot Nadanian is a professional chess player and coach, currently rated 2436. His best single event was the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2002, where his performance against 2628-rated opposition was 2636. Ashot was born on September 19, 1972 in Baku, his parents, Sergei and Irina, are both hairdressers. He has played chess since the age of seven and twice won the Azerbaijan Youth Championship (1986 and 1987). In 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh War began, his family moved to Armenia. There he became an International Master (1997) and fulfilled two grandmaster norms (2002 and 2004). He was the Kuwait National Team coach from 1999-2001 and Singapore National Team coach between 2005-2010. In January 2011 he became the second of Levon Aronian and moved back to Armenia. Ashot is best known for his contribution to opening theory, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4) and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5).
Links
The 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
|
