Hoogeveen Wins World Cities Cup
The team from Hoogeveen in the Netherlands has won the 2012 World Cities Chess Championship held from 22-28 December in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Hoogeveen were represented by Anish Giri, Ivan Sokolov, Sergey Tiviakov and Jan Smeets.
They beat team from Baku, Azerbaijan by a score of 2½-1½ in an exciting final match.
Sergey Tiviakov scored the vital win in the final in a tricky endgame with opposite coloured bishops.
The tournament started with a group stage featuring 6 groups of 4 teams in round-robin competitions. The top two teams qualified from each group plus the 4 best third placed teams. Those 16 teams then played KO matches to determine the winner.
The Hoogeveen team won $21,000 out of the total $150,000 prize fund.
The time control was 90 minutes for 30 moves plus a 30 second increment from the start.
The winners, Hoogeveen (l to r):Ivan Sokolov, Anish Giri, Sergey Tiviakov and Jan Smeets
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The round-robin qualification group results
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Lund - Sweden | * | 2½ | 2 | 2½ | 5 | 7 |
| 2 | London - UK | 1½ | * | 3 | 3½ | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Dhaka - Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | * | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Al Ain - UAE | 1½ | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | 3 |
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Saratov - RUS | * | 2½ | 2½ | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | Ptuj - SLO | 1½ | * | 2½ | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Tashkent - UZB | 1½ | 1½ | * | 3½ | 2 | 6½ |
| 4 | Chennai - IND | 1 | 2 | ½ | * | 1 | 3½ |
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Lviv - UKR | * | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | Athens - GRE | 3 | * | 1½ | 3 | 4 | 7½ |
| 3 | Riga - LAT | 1 | 2½ | * | 3½ | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Canberra - AUS | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | 0 | 1½ |
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Astana - KAZ | * | 2 | 3½ | 2½ | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | Baku - AZE | 2 | * | 3 | 2½ | 5 | 7½ |
| 3 | Istanbul - TUR | ½ | 1 | * | 3 | 2 | 4½ |
| 4 | Timisoara - ROM | 1½ | 1½ | 1 | * | 0 | 4 |
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Paris - FRA | * | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Chicago - USA | 1 | * | 3 | 3½ | 4 | 7½ |
| 3 | Teheran - IRI | 1 | 1 | * | 3½ | 2 | 5½ |
| 4 | Kampala - UGA | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | 1 |
| MP | BP | ||||||
| 1 | Hoogeveen - NED | * | 2½ | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8½ |
| 2 | Novi Sad - SRB | 1½ | * | 2½ | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | Wu Xi - CHN | 2 | 1½ | * | 2 | 2 | 5½ |
| 4 | Cairo - EGY | 0 | 1 | 2 | * | 1 | 3 |
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The final standings
| Place | Team | Fed |
| 1st | Hoogeveen | NED |
| 2nd | Baku | AZE |
| 3rd | Novi Sad | SRB |
| 4th | Tashkent | UZB |
| Last 8 | Lund | SWE |
| Last 8 | Wu Xi | CHN |
| Last 8 | Athens | GRE |
| Last 8 | Saratov | RUS |
| Last 16 | Paris | FRA |
| Last 16 | Chicago | USA |
| Last 16 | Lviv | UKR |
| Last 16 | Dhaka | BAN |
| Last 16 | Ptuj | SLO |
| Last 16 | London | ENG |
| Last 16 | Astana | KAZ |
| Last 16 | Riga | LAT |
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The official website with full match scores and all the games from the competition is at www.worldcitieschess.com.
Picture from the official website. Game and results tables via TWIC.
