Vasyl Ivanchuk wins Menorca Open

by André Schulz
4/29/2025 – Vasyl Ivanchuk may be approaching 60, but he still enjoys chess and is currently enjoying his (at least) third chess renaissance. He recently went on a run of almost 30 games without defeat and won the Menorca Open. | Photo: Federico Marin Bellon
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Vasyl Ivanchuk, born in 1969, was already ranked number two in the world in 1991, at a time when many of today's top chess players were not even born. He reached his peak Elo rating of 2787 in 2007 at the age of 38. Ivanchuk has long been ranked in the top ten in the world and was capable of beating any other player. Ivanchuk was FIDE Vice-World Champion, World Blitz Champion and World Rapid Champion. The Ukrainian is now approaching 60, but still enjoys chess immensely.

After the European Championship, Ivanchuk played in the Czech league, then at the Reykjavik Open, the San Vincente Open and immediately afterwards at the Menorca Open. The last player to defeat Ivanchuk was Daniel Dardha in the Czech Extraliga. After that, the Ukrainian from Lviv went on to play 29 games without defeat.

At the Menorca Open, Ivanchuk, currently ranked 2604, was only eighth in the seedings but demonstrated his superior chess skills with seven wins and two draws. Among those he defeated was Nihal Sarin, who topped the seedings with an Elo rating of 2687.

In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening.

Nihal Sarin26870–1Ivanchuk, Vasyl2604
4th Menorca Open 2025
Ciutadella Menorca24.04.2025[Schulz,A]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 Preparing against Ivanchuk is very easy: He plays everything and therefore your opening preparation is probably in vain. 5.Nxe4 Be7 5...Nbd7 6.Nf3 h6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Bh4 c5 9.c3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Bc4 0-0 12.Qe2 Bd7 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Rfd1 Rad8 15.a4 a5 16.Bg3 Rfe8 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.Bxb5 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Bf4 Nd5 22.Bd2 Bc5 23.g3 b6 24.Kg2 Nf6 25.b4 Be7 26.Qd3 Nd5 27.Bc4 Qa8 28.Bxd5 exd5 29.b5 Bc5 30.Qf3 Qd8 31.Be3 d4 32.cxd4 Bxd4 33.Bc1 Qc8 34.Be3 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Qd8 36.Qe4 1/2-1/2 (36) Vokhidov,S (2578)-Ivanchuk,V (2653) Douglas 2023 6.Nxf6+ 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 6...gxf6!? 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Bd3 c5 1/2-1/2 (87) Paravyan,D (2620) -Bluebaum,M (2640) Chess.com INT 2024 6...Bxf6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Qd3 Bd7!? 10.Qe3 Nc6 11.0-0-0 Rad8
White has more space and is slightly better. 12.Bc4 12.h4!? 12...Ne7 13.Ne5 Bc6 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15.c3 Ne7 16.Rhe1 c6 17.Bd3 Nd5 18.Qg3 Qf4+ 19.Qxf4 Nxf4
White's slight advantage vanished completely. But Black's knight is nimble and strong. 20.Bf1 Rd7 21.Kc2 Rfd8 22.a4 a5 23.g3 Nd5 24.Re5 Kf8 25.Bc4 g6 26.Rde1 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Rde1 b6 28.Rxd5 Rxd5 29.Re5 Ke7= 26...h5 27.h4 Ke7 28.Kd3 Kd6 29.f3 Rh8 To stop White from playing g4. 30.Bxd5 cxd5 31.c4 dxc4+ 32.Kxc4 Rc7+ 33.Kd3 b6 34.Rb5
The endings is equal, but still offers chances for both sides. 34...Rc6 35.Re4 Rb8 36.Re1 Ke7 37.g4 hxg4 38.fxg4 Rd8 39.Re4 Kf6 40.Rf4+ Kg7 41.h5 Rcd6 42.Ke3 R8d7 43.hxg6 Kxg6 44.g5 Kg7 45.Rh4 Rc7
46.Rh2? This loses a pawn. Better was 46.Rh6 with the idea -- 47.d5= Or 46.b3 Rc2 47.Kd3 Rdc6 48.d5 R6c3+ 49.Kd4= 46...Rc4 47.Rd2 Rxa4 48.Ke4 Ra1 And Ivanchuk won without much trouble. 49.Ke5 Rc6 50.d5 Re1+ 51.Kf4 Rd6 52.Rd3 Kg6 53.Rdb3 e5+ 54.Kf3 Kxg5 55.Rc3 Rd1 56.Ke4 Re1+ 57.Kd3 Kf6 58.Kc2 Re2+ 59.Kd3 Re1 60.Kc2 e4 61.Rc7 Re3 62.b4 a4 63.Rb7 Rd3 64.R7xb6 Rxb6 65.Rxb6+ Ke5 66.Ra6 Rxd5 67.Rxa4 f5 68.Ra8 e3 69.Kc3 Kf4 70.Kc4 Re5 0–1

Ivanchuk's performance in Menorca corresponded to an Elo performance of 2833. With his steep upward curve and his successes, he will move up again in the next Elo list. His current Elo gain is almost 40 points. 

Behind Ivanchuk, Lu Shanglei and Murali Kartheyan took second and third place with 7.5 points. Just under 330 players took part in the A Open, with another 115 participating in the B Open.

Finals standings

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Ivanchuk, Vasyl 8 49,5
2 Lu, Shanglei 7,5 48,5
3 Karthikeyan, Murali 7,5 45,5
4 Sosa, Tomas 7 49
5 Woodward, Andy 7 45
6 Mamedov, Edgar 7 43,5
7 Shankland, Sam 7 43
8 Nihal, Sarin 6,5 52,5
9 Suleymenov, Alisher 6,5 49,5
10 Pranav, Anand 6,5 49
11 Ghazarian, Kirk 6,5 48
12 Pranesh, M 6,5 48
13 Murzin, Volodar 6,5 47,5
14 Macias Pino, Diego 6,5 47
15 Zanan, Evgeny 6,5 46,5
16 Pranav, V 6,5 45,5
17 Matviishen, Viktor 6,5 45,5
18 Fier, Alexandr 6,5 45
19 Makhnev, Denis 6,5 44,5
20 Dragnev, Valentin 6,5 43
21 Iermito, Sebastian Dario 6,5 39,5
22 Baum, Jonasz 6,5 39
23 Raja, Rithvik R 6 49
24 Oro, Faustino 6 48
25 Puranik, Abhimanyu 6 46

336 players...

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.
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