News
Ipatov & Troff Tie for First at SPICE Cup

Ipatov & Troff Tie for First at SPICE Cup

PeterDoggers
| 8 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Alexander Ipatov and IM Kayden Troff tied for first place at the SPICE Cup Open 2013, held 15th-19th October in Saint Louis, Missouri. The winners finished on 6.5/9, half a point more than a group of six players. For Troff it meant double success, as his score was enough for his second GM norm. IM Raja Panjwani of Canada also scored a GM norm while FM Kostya Kavustkiy of Ukraine scored an IM norm.

The 2013 SPICE Cup Open was sponsored by Webster University and the Susan Polgar Foundation. The games were not transmitted live but we thank Susan Polgar for providing a few of the tournament's key encounters.

In the fifth round, 24-year-old Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov start with 1.b3 and slowly outplayed CM Li Ruifeng of the USA. White's space advantage and activity in the ending was quite hard to deal with.


In the same round, former World Junior Champion Alexander Ipatov of Turkey beat IM Panjwani Raja of Canada. Don't miss White's 21st move which started a devastating attack after Black declined the offer.

That 1.b3 move seems to be getting quite popular. Ipatov also played it in his game with 15-year-old IM Kayden Troff of the USA, although this turned into a double fianchetto. Troff defended this game to a draw with very solid chess.

The game between the eventual winners

In the penulatimate round, Ipatov beat American IM Mackenzie Molner to grab sole lead:

Ipatov was the only player on 6.5/9 and then drew his last round game with Aleksandr Rakhmanov on top board. Kayden Troff caught him in first place thanks to the following win:

The top woman prize was won by WFM Sarah Chiang, who finished with 4 points. IM Akshat Chandra and FM Samuel Sevian tied for first place for the under 2400 prize while FM Kostya Kavutskiy and FM Awonder Liang shared the under 2300 prize.

SPICE Cup Open 2013 | Final standings (top 30)

# Name Rtng Tot
1 GM Alexander Ipatov 2625 6.5
2 IM Kayden Troff 2431 6.5
3 GM Quang Liem Le 2712 6.0
4 GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov 2603 6.0
5 GM Alexander Shabalov 2520 6.0
6 GM Alex Yermolinsky 2516 6.0
7 GM Mackenzie Molner 2493 6.0
8 IM Raja Panjwani 2422 6.0
9 GM Ray Robson 2628 5.5
10 GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez 2575 5.5
11 IM Keaton Kiewra 2404 5.5
12 GM Manuel Leon Hoyos 2552 5.0
13 GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2539 5.0
14 GM Anatoly Bykhovsky 2521 5.0
15 GM Denes Boros 2494 5.0
16 IM Leonid Gerzhoy 2478 5.0
17 GM Andre Diamant 2461 5.0
18 IM Priyadharshan Kannappan 2425 5.0
19 FM Samuel Sevian 2393 5.0
20 IM Akshat Chandra 2318 5.0
21 FM Kostya Kavustkiy 2272 5.0
22 FM Awonder Liang 2207 5.0
23 GM Ben Finegold 2482 4.5
24 FM Jeffrey Xiong 2345 4.5
25 FM Robby Adamson 2278 4.5
26 CM Ruifeng Li 2246 4.5
27 Andrew Tang 2174 4.5
28 IM Joshua Ruiz 2399 4.0
29 IM Vitaly Neimer 2378 4.0
30 FM Joel Banawa 2367 4.0
PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.

Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.

Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013.

As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!


Company Contact and News Accreditation: 

Email: peter@chess.com FOR SUPPORT PLEASE USE chess.com/support!
Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
Address: 877 E 1200 S #970397, Orem, UT 84097

More from PeterDoggers
PBG Alaskan Knights Maintain Strong Lead; Ganges Grandmasters Get 1st Win

PBG Alaskan Knights Maintain Strong Lead; Ganges Grandmasters Get 1st Win

PBG Alaskan Knights Continue Strong On Global Chess League Day 2

PBG Alaskan Knights Continue Strong On Global Chess League Day 2