Iturrizaga wins Corus satellite qualifier
The full list still has to be published, but the first participant of the Corus C group is already known: it's Eduardo Iturrizaga. The young Venezuelan GM won ICC's Corus 'C' Group satellite qualifier by beating Brazilian GM Alexander Fier in the final.Iturrizaga (19) won 3-1 in the blitz tiebreakers after two tough draws in the rapid matches, to take the top prize of the Corus C Group invite, a round-trip ticket to Amsterdam, Hotel & Breakfast in Wijk aan Zee, plus $1300 appearance fee.The result of a place in the famous Corus tournament is a dream come true for the young three-time Venezuelan champion, who is a national hero being his country's one and only grandmaster. It also comes on the back of some promising results during the summer for Iturrizaga, who was runner-up (behind Peruvian GM Julio Granada Zuniga) in the 2008 Iberamerican Championship before going on to win the Central America & Caribbean FIDE Sub-Zonal.16 players - selected by Corus, in consultation with ICC - from around the globe originally fought it out in this unique online rapid knockout tournament. The full field included GM Alexander Fier (Brazil), GM Eljtaj Safarli (Azerbaijan), GM Georg Meier (Germany), GM Mark Bluvshtein (Canada), GM Ivan Salgado (Spain), IM Sanan Giri (Russia), GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (Venezuela), IM Manuel Rodriguez (Cuba), IM Sevak Krikor Mekhitarion (Brazil), IM David Smerdon (Australia), IM Ray Robson (USA), FM Anish Giri (Russia), IM Robert Ris (Netherlands), FM Marcos Lamos (Brazil), WGM Dagne Ciuksytev (England) and FM Graham Morrison (Scotland).In the end Ris, Santo and Smerdon didn't play; about Ris we know that he was playing in Kiev and tried in vain to get two of his games rescheduled to take part in the tournament - regretfully, the organizers didn't co-operate.| ?Ǭ§ | 1/8 FINAL | 1/4 FINAL | 1/2 FINAL | FINAL |
1 16 |
GM Alexander Fier (BRA, 2581) 1.5 FM Graham Morrison (SCO, 2328) 0.5 |
GM Fier 1.5 IM Mekhitarian 0.5 |
GM Fier 2.5 GM Salgado 1.5 | GM Fier 1 GM Iturrizaga 3 |
8 9 | IM Manuel Rodriguez (CUB, 2521) 0 IM Sevak Mekhitarian (BRA, 2511) 2.0 |
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5 12 | GM Ivan Salgado (ESP, 2556) 2.5 FM Anish Giri (RUS, 2466) 1.5 |
GM Salgado 1.5 GM Bluvshtein 0.5 |
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4 13 |
GM Mark Bluvshtein (CAN, 2557) IM Robert Ris (NED, 2417) bye/no-show |
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3 14 |
GM Georg Meier (GER, 2558) FM Marcus Santo (BRA, 2394) bye/no-show | GM Meier 1.5 IM Robson 0.5 |
GM Meier 0.5 GM Iturrizaga 1.5 |
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6 11 |
IM Sanan Sjugirov (RUS, 2549) 2.0 IM Ray Robson (USA, 2466) 3.0 |
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7 10 |
GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (VEN, 2538) IM David Smerdon (AUS, 2470) bye/no-show |
GM Iturrizaga 3 GM Safarli 1 | ||
2 15 |
GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE, 2568) 2.0 WGM Dagne Ciuskytev (ENG, 2339) 0 |
All games by Eduardo Iturrizaga:Thanks to John HendersonLinks:
