Akopian, Malakhov, Matlakov lead in Plovdiv, Mamedyarov forfeits

Vladimir Akopian, Vladimir Malakhov and Maxim Matlakov are leading the European Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The three grandmasters scored 6.5/8 and are half a point ahead of 16 grandmasters. In the 8th round, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov arrived at his board too late and was forfeited.

Vladimir Malakhov beats sole leader Sergei Azarov in round 8 | Photo © Svoboda Chankova, courtesy of the official website, more here

Round 7

After 6 rounds Sergei Azarov, Laurent Fressinet, Ernesto Inarkiev, Gawain Jones, Denis Khismatullin, Anton Korobov, Yuriy Kuzubov, Maxim Matlakov, Arkadij Naiditsch and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were sharing the lead with 5 points. On Tuesday these players faced each other on the top boards in Plovdiv, and 4 of the 5 games ended in draws. Sergei Azarov, ranked 32 in the starting list, became the sole leader with 6/7 after beating Arkadij Naiditsch. The leader of the German national team played inaccurately in the middlegame and his position was already lost on move 30. Azarov chose a slower but secure continuation and won the game in 73 moves.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Azarov, Sergei"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2667"]
[BlackElo "2702"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 h6 11. Rd1+ Ke8 12. Bf4 Be6 13. Nd4 Nd5 14.
Nce2 g5 15. Bd2 Bg7 16. c4 Nb6 17. b3 Bxe5 18. f4 gxf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 20. Nxf4
Bd7 21. Rf1 c5 22. Rae1+ Kd8 23. Nf3 Be8 24. Ne5 Nc8 25. Nfd3 Nd6 26. Nxc5 a5
27. Ne4 f5 28. Ng3 Rg8 29. Kh2 Ra6 30. c5 Ne4 31. Nxe4 fxe4 32. Rxe4 Re6 33.
Rfe1 Rf6 34. a3 h5 35. Rd4+ Kc8 36. Red1 Bb5 37. R1d2 Rf5 38. Ng6 Rf7 39. Nf4
Kb8 40. Nxh5 Rf5 41. Rd5 Rxd5 42. Rxd5 Bc6 43. Rd2 Rg5 44. g4 Rxc5 45. Nf6 Rc3
46. g5 Ka7 47. g6 Rc1 48. Rg2 a4 49. g7 Bxg2 50. g8=Q Bc6 51. Qf7 Rc2+ 52. Kg1
Rg2+ 53. Kf1 Rg3 54. Qxc7 Rf3+ 55. Ke2 axb3 56. Nd7 Rf5 57. Qb6+ Ka8 58. Qd8+
Ka7 59. Qb8+ Ka6 60. Qc7 Ka7 61. Ne5 Bb5+ 62. Ke3 Rh5 63. Qa5+ Ba6 64. Qc5+ Ka8
65. Qf8+ Ka7 66. Nc6+ Kb6 67. Qd8+ Kc5 68. Nb4 Rxh3+ 69. Kd2 Rh2+ 70. Kc3 b2
71. Qd4+ Kb5 72. a4+ Ka5 73. Nc6+ 1-0

Azarov beats Naiditsch in round 7

In fact boards 2-10 all ended in draws, and most of these games were not too interesting. The following game deserves to be included:

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.10"]
[White "Ivanisevic, Ivan"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2645"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. Nd2 h6 4. Bh4 c5 5. e4 cxd4 6. e5 g5 7. Bg3 Nd5 8. h4
Qb6 9. hxg5 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Qf3 Qxf3 12. Ngxf3 Nc6 13. Ne4 Nc3 14. Nxc3
dxc3 15. Bd3 b6 16. Rh4 Bb7 17. Ke2 h5 18. Rb3 Rc8 19. g6 Ne7 20. gxf7+ Kxf7
21. Ra4 Bxf3+ 22. Kxf3 Rc7 23. Rf4+ Ke8 24. Rc4 Rxc4 25. Bxc4 Bg7 26. Ke4 h4
27. Bh2 Kf7 28. Ra3 Rc8 29. Be2 a5 30. Bf4 Nd5 31. Ra4 Nb4 32. Bd3 Bf8 33. Be3
Bc5 34. a3 Nd5 35. Bxc5 Rxc5 36. Rc4 Rc6 37. Rd4 Rc8 38. Bc4 Rg8 39. Kf3 Rh8
40. Bxd5 exd5 41. Rxd5 Ke7 42. Rd3 Rf8+ 43. Ke3 Rg8 44. Rd4 Rxg2 45. Rxh4 b5
46. Rh6 Rg1 47. Rb6 Rb1 48. f4 b4 49. axb4 axb4 50. f5 Re1+ 51. Kd4 Re2 52.
Rxb4 1/2-1/2

Andrei Istratescu beat Sergei Movsesian with a nice attack.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.12"]
[White "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Black "Istratescu, Andrei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k6r/1p3r2/p1b1p3/3pP3/PQpR4/2P1R1P1/5P2/2qB2K1 b - - 0 45"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

45... Rh2 46. Kxh2 Rxf2+ 47. Kh3 Qxe3 48. Qd6 Rf1 49. a5 Rh1+ 50. Kg4 Rh8 51.
Rf4 Rg8+ 52. Kh5 Qxg3 53. Rf8+ Be8+ 0-1

Nikita Vitiugov defended against Robert Hovhannisiyan's fierce attack:

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.18"]
[White "Hovhannisyan, Robert"]
[Black "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4rk1/1bqp2pp/p1n1p3/1p2PpQ1/5Bn1/P1NB4/1PP2PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 16"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

16. Nd5 exd5 17. Bxf5 Nh6 18. e6 Qd8 19. e7 Nxe7 20. Bxh7+ Kxh7 21. Rxe7 Rf7
22. Rae1 Qf8 23. Bd2 Nf5 24. R7e5 d6 25. Re6 d4 26. g4 Bd5 27. gxf5 Bxe6 28.
fxe6 Rf5 29. Qh4+ Kg8 30. e7 Qf7 31. Bg5 Re8 32. f4 Rc5 33. Re2 Qf5 34. Qh5 g6
35. Qf3 Kf7 36. h4 Kg7 37. h5 Rxc2 38. h6+ Kh7 39. Rxc2 Qxc2 40. Qd5 Qc1+ 41.
Kg2 Qxb2+ 42. Kg3 Qc3+ 43. Kg4 Qc4 44. Qxd6 Qe2+ 45. Kg3 Qe3+ 46. Kg4 Rc8 47.
Qe5 Qg1+ 48. Kf3 Qh1+ 49. Ke2 Qg2+ 50. Kd1 Qc2+ 51. Ke1 Qb1+ 52. Ke2 Rc2+ 53.
Kd3 Rc3+ 0-1

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had started with 6 (!) draws, but apparently he used his rest day to wake up from his “draw-sleep”. He scored a quick win against Bulgarian youngster GM Grigor Grigorov (2489) in 32 moves and 2,5 hours of play.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.75"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Grigorov, Grigor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2489"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4
d6 9. Rd1 a6 10. b3 Nbd7 11. h3 O-O 12. g4 Nc5 13. g5 Ne8 14. h4 f5 15. Qe3 f4
16. Qd2 Nc7 17. Bb2 Qe8 18. b4 Nd7 19. Na4 e5 20. c5 bxc5 21. bxc5 d5 22. Nxe5
Nxe5 23. Bxe5 Qxa4 24. Bxc7 f3 25. Bxf3 Bxc5 26. Rac1 Ba7 27. Bg3 Rf7 28. Bxd5
Bxf2+ 29. Bxf2 Qg4+ 30. Kh2 Kh8 31. Bg3 Re8 32. Re1 1-0

David Navara, who had also started disappointingly, won in rounds 6 and 7 but 17-year-old Dutchman Anish Giri suffered a third loss on Tuesday, this time against Hungarian Tamas Fodor (2482).

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.76"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Fodor, Tamas Jr"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A09"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2482"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 e5 5. d3 Nf6 6. O-O Bd6 7. Na3 O-O 8. Nc2
Re8 9. a3 a5 10. b3 Ne7 11. Bg5 Nd7 12. b4 c6 13. Bd2 h6 14. e3 dxe3 15. Nxe3
Nf8 16. Bc3 Nf5 17. Nc2 Bc7 18. Qd2 f6 19. Rfe1 Ne6 20. Rad1 axb4 21. axb4 Ra2
22. Ra1 Rxa1 23. Bxa1 Nd6 24. Qe2 Bd7 25. Nh4 Ng5 26. Ne3 Qc8 27. Bb2 Ndf7 28.
Qh5 f5 29. Re2 f4 30. gxf4 exf4 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. Qg6+ Kf8 33. Nef5 Bxf5 34.
Rxe8+ Qxe8 35. Qxf5 Qe1+ 36. Bf1 Qe6 37. c5 Nf3+ 38. Kh1 Qxf5 39. Nxf5 Be5 40.
Kg2 Ne1+ 41. Kh3 Bf6 42. Kg4 Nxd3 43. Bxd3 Ne5+ 44. Kxf4 Nxd3+ 45. Ke4 Nxf2+
46. Ke3 Ng4+ 47. Kf4 Nxh2 48. Nd6 Bd8 49. Nxb7 Bc7+ 50. Kf5 Ke7 0-1

15-year-old Illya Nyzhnyk lost against Ferenc Berkes (2682) and remained at 4/7.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.27"]
[Round "7.22"]
[White "Berkes, Ferenc"]
[Black "Nyzhnyk, Illya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2682"]
[BlackElo "2585"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. b4 c6 10. a4 a5 11. bxa5 Qxa5 12. Ra3 c5 13. Bd2 Ra6 14. Qc1 Nd7 15. h4
Nf6 16. g3 Qd8 17. Kg2 Ng4 18. Ng5 h6 19. Ne6 Bxe6 20. dxe6 h5 21. exf7+ Rxf7
22. Bxg4 hxg4 23. Bg5 Qd7 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25. Nd5 Qe6 26. Qg5 Ra8 27. Ne3 Rf3 28.
Rfa1 Raf8 29. Nxg4 Qf7 30. R1a2 Kh7 31. Qc1 Rxa3 32. Rxa3 Qe6 33. f3 Ra8 34.
Qc2 Bh6 35. Rb3 Qf7 36. Rb6 1-0

Round 8

The 8th round started with another forfeit as a result of the zero-tolerance rule. None less than second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov didn't arrive in time at his board, and got a zero. The Azeri GM said he arrived "only 10 seconds" late, but the tournament bulletin speaks of "more than a minute". It was a coincidence that his opponent Shota Azaladze had been forfeited himself in one of his previous games.

At the moment of writing there are three leaders. Two of them are representatives of the Russian school and one is Armenian: Vladimir Malakhov, Maxim Matlakov and Vladimir Akopian. Malakhov, who played so strongly in the 2009 World Cup, beat the sole leader Azarov.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Malakhov, Vladimir"]
[Black "Azarov, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Be7 4. Bb2 Nf6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. e3
Nbd7 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Ne2 c5 12. d3 Bf6 13. Qc2 Bxb2 14. Qxb2 Qf6
15. Qxf6 Nexf6 16. Rfd1 Rfe8 17. Nc3 Nf8 18. d4 Ne6 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Rac1 Rad8
21. Ne5 Ba8 22. Na4 g6 23. f4 Rc8 24. Bf3 d4 25. Bxa8 Rxa8 26. exd4 cxd4 27.
Nc5 Nxc5 28. Rxc5 Rad8 29. Rc7 Nd5 30. Rxa7 Nc3 31. Rd2 Ra8 32. Rd7 Nxa2 33.
R2xd4 Nc1 34. Rb4 Rad8 35. Rxd8 Rxd8 36. Rb7 Rd1+ 37. Kg2 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Rxh2 39.
b4 Rb2 40. Nxf7 Rb3+ 41. Kg2 Ne2 42. Nh6+ Kf8 43. f5 gxf5 44. Nxf5 h5 45. b5
Nc3 46. b6 Na4 47. Rb8+ Kf7 48. b7 Nc5 49. Nd6+ Kg7 50. Rc8 Nxb7 51. Rc7+ Kg6
52. Rxb7 Rd3 53. Nc4 1-0

Matlakov won a sharp game against Bologan.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Bologan, Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[BlackElo "2687"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e4 Bb4 7. e5 Nd5 8. Bd2 b5
9. axb5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 cxb5 11. Ng5 h6 12. Qh5 O-O 13. Ne4 Nc6 14. h4 f5 15. Nd6
Bd7 16. Rh3 Be8 17. Qd1 Qe7 18. g4 Rd8 19. g5 f4 20. gxh6 gxh6 21. Nxb5 Nxe5
22. Rxa7 Qf6 23. Na3 Nd3+ 24. Rxd3 cxd3 25. Bxd3 Qxh4 26. Qf3 Rf7 27. Rxf7 Bxf7
28. c4 Ne3 29. Qe4 Nf5 30. Nc2 Rb8 31. Bxf4 Rb1+ 32. Kd2 Qxf2+ 33. Kc3 Kh7 34.
Be5 Rd1 35. Be2 Rc1 36. Bd3 h5 37. Qa8 Kh6 38. Qf8+ Kg5 39. Qxf7 Qe1+ 40. Kb3
Rb1+ 41. Ka2 Qc1 42. d5 Rb6 43. Qg8+ Kh6 44. Qf8+ 1-0

Akopian beat Khismatullin in a Najdorf, English Attack.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Akopian, Vladimir"]
[Black "Khismatullin, Denis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2684"]
[BlackElo "2656"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3
Nbd7 9. g4 Nb6 10. g5 Nh5 11. Qd2 Be7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. Rg1 Rc8 14. Kb1 g6 15.
Qf2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 b5 19. Qe2 Qd7 20. Nd2 Rc6 21. c4
Rb8 22. cxb5 Rxb5 23. Qd3 Rxd5 24. exd5 Rc7 25. Qxa6 Qf5+ 26. Ka1 Nf4 27. Ne4
Ng2 28. Qe2 Nh4 29. Rf1 Kg7 30. Qf2 Qh3 31. Kb1 Nf5 32. Bd2 Rb7 33. Rg1 Nd4 34.
Bc3 Qxf3 35. Qxf3 Nxf3 36. Rg3 Nh4 37. a4 h6 38. gxh6+ Kxh6 39. Bd2+ Kh5 40.
Ra3 Nf5 41. a5 Nd4 42. a6 Ra7 43. b4 g5 44. Be3 f5 45. Nc3 Bd8 46. Bxd4 exd4
47. Nb5 Ra8 48. Nxd4 f4 49. Rh3+ Kg6 50. Rh8 g4 51. Kc2 g3 52. hxg3 fxg3 53. b5
Kf6 54. Kd3 Ke5 55. Nc6+ Kf5 56. Nxd8 g2 57. Rg8 1-0

Caruana and Jones had drawn their game at the Reykjavik Open earlier this month, and now, with colors reversed, they split the point again:

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E84"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2635"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Nge2 a6 8. Qd2
Rb8 9. Rc1 Bd7 10. Nd1 b5 11. c5 Re8 12. Nf2 dxc5 13. Rxc5 e5 14. d5 Ne7 15.
Nd3 c6 16. d6 Nc8 17. Ng3 Nxd6 18. Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Rxe5 Nd5 20. Bd4 f6 21. Bc5
Nf7 22. Rxd5 cxd5 23. exd5 f5 24. Be2 Qf6 25. b4 Rd8 26. f4 Bc6 27. Bf3 Qc3 28.
Qxc3 Bxc3+ 29. Ke2 Bxd5 30. Bxd5 Rxd5 31. Rc1 Bf6 32. Be3 Rd6 33. Rc8+ Nd8 34.
Nf1 Rc6 35. Ra8 Kf7 36. Ra7+ Be7 37. Bc5 Re6+ 38. Ne3 Nc6 39. Rb7 Ke8 40. Bxe7
Rxe7 41. Rxe7+ Kxe7 1/2-1/2

Baadur Jobava had the fastest victory in the main hall of the "Novotel Plovdiv" in which the first 154 competitors play. The Georgian GM beat Daniel Fridman of Germany in less than two and a half hours.

[Event "13th EICC"]
[Site "Plovdiv BUL"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Black "Fridman, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2653"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. e3 O-O 6. a3 b6 7. Nb5 Na6 8. Nf3
Bb7 9. Rc1 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd5 11. Be5 c6 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. Rxc3 b5 14. Bd3 b4 15.
Rc1 c5 16. h4 h6 17. Ng5 cxd4 18. Qh5 Bf6 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Nh7 Qd8 21. Nxf8
dxe3 22. Bh7+ Kxf8 23. O-O e2 24. Rfe1 bxa3 25. bxa3 f5 26. Qxe2 Qd5 27. f3
Qd4+ 28. Qe3 Qxe3+ 29. Rxe3 Kf7 30. Rb3 Bd5 31. Rb5 Rd8 32. h5 Kf6 33. Bg6 Rd7
34. Kf2 Ke7 35. Ra5 Rd6 36. Rc8 Rb6 37. Bxf5 Bb7 38. Rg8 exf5 39. Rxg7+ Kf6 40.
Rg6+ Ke7 41. Re5+ Kd7 42. Rxb6 axb6 43. Rxf5 Nc5 44. Rf6 b5 45. Rxh6 Nd3+ 46.
Ke3 Ne1 47. Rh7+ 1-0

European Championship 2012 | Round 8 standings (top 40)

Previous reports

• European Championship starts with many upsets (and a dress code)
• Gawain Jones leads European Championship after four rounds
• European Championship: 10 players in the lead, 7 defaulted