Cheparinov Wins In Zafra
Ivan Cheparinov (pictured), the Bulgarian GM better known as Topalov's second, has won the 3rd Ruy Lopez tournament in Zafra, Spain, held from 13-19 June.
Cheparinov won the 8-player round robin event with a score of 5/7 against an interesting field featuring two female GM's, Pia Cramling and Koneru Humpy, and the talented young Italian-American GM, Fabiano Caruana.
However, in an unpredictable event with few draws it was the local IM, David Larino Nieto who pulled off the biggest upset by beating last year's winner and favourite Mickey Adams in the first round.
Some spectacular and instructive games from the competition are shown below.
The final standings were:
| Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) | 2678 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5 |
| Adams, Michael (ENG) | 2703 | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4½ |
| Larino Nieto, David (ESP) | 2464 | ½ | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3½ |
| Granda Zuniga, Julio E (PER) | 2610 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3½ |
| Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) | 2649 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3½ |
| Cramling, Pia (SWE) | 2528 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 3 |
| Perez Candelario, Manuel (ESP) | 2513 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 2½ |
| Koneru, Humpy (IND) | 2612 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | 2½ |
Caruana and Cheparinov clash in a thrilling first round game (pic from the official site)
