Morozevich wins Vladimir Petrov Memorial in Jurmala
Alexander Morozevich won the Vladimir Petrov Memorial in Jurmala, Latvia on Sunday. The Russian grandmaster scored 5/7 and finished half a point clear of Alexei Shirov and Igor Kovalenko.
Alexander Morozevich, winner in Jurmala | Photo © Latvian Chess Federation
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Vladimir Petrov was a Latvian chess master who lived in the first half of the 20th century. He shouldn't be confused with Alexander Petrov, the Russian player of the mid-19th century whose name is connected to the opening moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6.
The 'Latvian Petrov' was quite a strong player; for example he tied for first with Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr at Kemeri in 1937, ahead of Alexander Alekhine, Paul Keres, Endre Steiner, Saviely Tartakower, Reuben Fine, Gideon Stahlberg and others. He died tragically in a Soviet camp during the Second World War.
The Vladimir Petrov Memorial was held February 15th-19th in Jurmala, Latvia. It was organized by the Latvian Chess Federation together with Alexei Shirov, who is very active in the Latvian chess community these days. He switched back federations from Spain to Latvia on January 1st, 2012 and also co-organized the Aivars Gipslis Memorial on February 12th in Riga (and won it).
With Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and himself, Shirov created the strongest tournament in his native country since 1995. Even though the rate of play was "only" 15 minutes plus 6 seconds increment, the event was a great opportunity for local players to get a chance to face world class grandmasters. The festival also included a children's tournament, a team blitz event, a regular blitz tournament, simuls and even a combined chess and table tennis tournament.
The four top GMs were already seeded for the final round robin. Four more spots could be won in a preliminary 9-round Swiss on February 16th and 17th, held in the Jurmala City Museum, in which 58 players participated. Daniel Fridman, Ildar Khairullin, Michal Krasenkow and Igor Kovalenko qualified.
Let's look at a few game fragments. In the first, an incorrect bishop sacrifice was successful:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem A 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.16"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Azarov, Sergei"]
[Black "Glek, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2667"]
[BlackElo "2401"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r2b1kr/4q2p/p3p1pQ/3pP1P1/8/p2B1R2/5PP1/2R3K1 w - - 0 36"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2012.02.16"]
36. Rc7 Bd7 37. Bxg6 $2 a2 $2 (37... hxg6 38. Qxg6+ Qg7 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40.
Rxd7+ Kg8 $19) 38. Bf7+ $1 Qxf7 39. Rxf7 a1=Q+ 40. Kh2 Qxe5+ 41. f4 1-0
One of the qualifiers, Daniel Fridman, surprised Sergei Azarov in a well-known line:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem A 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.17"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Fridman, Daniel"]
[Black "Azarov, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2660"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2012.02.16"]
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. g4
$5 (8. Qxb7 Nb4 9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Rc1 Bd6 11. Bxd6+ cxd6 12. a3 Rb8 13. Qxa7 Nc2+
14. Ke2 Ra8 15. Qb7 Rb8 16. Qa7 Ra8 {
1/2-1/2 Parligras,M (2598)-Feller,S (2657)/Aix-les-Bains 2011}) 8... Bxg4 (8...
Nxg4 9. Qxb7 Nb4 {must be critical.}) 9. Qxb7 Bd7 10. Bxc7 Qc8 11. Ba6 $5 Nb4
12. Qxc8+ Bxc8 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Kf1 Rc8 15. Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. Be5 Ne4 17. Nge2 f6
18. Bg3 h5 19. h4 Nd3 20. Kg2 Ke6 21. Rab1 g5 22. Rhd1 Nxb2 23. Nxe4 Nxd1 24.
Nc5+ Bxc5 25. dxc5 gxh4 $6 (25... Nxe3+ 26. fxe3 Rxc5) 26. Bd6 Rhg8+ 27. Kf3
Nxf2 28. Kxf2 Kf5 29. Kf3 Rg4 30. Rd1 h3 31. Rxd5+ Ke6 32. Rxh5 Ra4 33. Rh7
Rxa2 34. Nf4+ 1-0
Here's another game by quick-play specialist Fridman, who this time outplays a strong grandmaster from an almost equal position:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem A 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.17"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Nyback, Tomi"]
[Black "Fridman, Daniel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2634"]
[BlackElo "2660"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r1r2k1/p4ppp/qp2p3/8/2QR4/4P3/PP3PPP/R4K2 b - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2012.02.16"]
21... b5 22. Qd3 Rxd4 23. Qxd4 b4+ 24. Kg1 h6 25. b3 Qa5 26. Qd2 Rd8 27. Qc2
Rd5 28. h3 Qd8 29. a3 Rd2 30. Qc1 Qf6 31. f3 Rc2 32. Qb1 bxa3 33. Rxa3 Qc3 34.
Ra1 Qd2 35. Qf1 Qxe3+ 36. Kh1 Rc7 37. Qg1 Qxg1+ 38. Kxg1 Kf8 39. Ra6 Ke7 40.
Kf2 Kf6 41. Ra5 Rb7 42. Kg3 e5 43. h4 Kf5 44. Ra4 h5 45. Kf2 f6 46. Ra5 Ke6 47.
Ra4 Kd5 48. g4 hxg4 49. Rxg4 Ke6 50. Ra4 Kf5 51. Kg2 Kg6 52. b4 Kh5 53. Kg3 g6
54. b5 f5 55. Ra5 Re7 56. Ra6 f4+ 57. Kf2 Rb7 58. Kg2 Rxb5 59. Rxa7 Kxh4 0-1
Nyback was also the victim in the following game - after playing the Blumenfeld Gambit, he saw his own king being chased:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem A 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.17"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Krasenkow, Michal"]
[Black "Nyback, Tomi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2634"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2012.02.16"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 5. dxe6 fxe6 6. cxb5 a6 7. bxa6 d5 8. Bf4
Bxa6 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 Bd6 12. Qa4+ Ke7 13. Qf4 Bxe5 14. Qxe5
Qa5 15. g3 Ne4 16. Qxg7+ Kd6 17. Rd1 Nxd2 18. Rxd2 Qxa2 19. Bh3 Qa1+ 20. Rd1
Qa5+ 21. Kf1 Qb4 22. Rxd5+ Kc6 23. Qd7+ Kb6 24. Qxe6+ Ka5 25. Kg2 Bb7 26. e4
Rae8 27. Ra1+ Kb5 28. Qd7+ Bc6 29. Qf5 Rxe4 30. Kg1 Re1+ 31. Bf1+ Rxf1+ 32.
Rxf1 Qc4 33. Rd6 Be4 34. Qd7+ Kb4 35. Rb6+ Ka5 36. Qa7+ 1-0
The legendary Latvian GM Evgeny Sveshnikov also participated. The following game was spectacular:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem A 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.17"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Grachev, Boris"]
[Black "Sveshnikov, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2693"]
[BlackElo "2513"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2012.02.16"]
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e4 dxe4 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qe2 Bg4 7. f3 exf3 8. Nxf3
g6 9. O-O-O Bg7 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. g4 Nbd7 13. h4 h5 14. gxh5 Nxh5
15. Bd2 b5 16. Kb1 Ne5 17. Qg2 Nc4 18. Be2 Nxd2+ 19. Rxd2 Nf4 20. Qe4 Qd6 21.
h5 f5 22. Qe3 g5 23. Rg1 g4 24. Rf1 Bh6 25. Rdd1 Nxh5 26. Qg1 Ng3 27. Rfe1 Bg7
28. Bd3 c4 29. Re6 Qf4 30. Ne2 Nxe2 31. Bxe2 Rf7 32. Qc5 Qg5 33. Rg1 Rd8 34. a4
f4 35. Bxg4 Rxd5 36. Qc8+ Rf8 37. Qxa6 f3 38. Rg6 f2 39. Be6+ Kh7 40. R6xg5
Rxg5 41. Rh1+ Bh6 42. Bf5+ Rfxf5 43. Qxh6+ Kg8 44. Qh7+ Kf8 45. Rf1 Rf6 46. Qh2
Rgf5 47. axb5 c3 48. b3 e5 49. b6 Rxb6 50. Rxf2 Rbf6 51. Rxf5 Rxf5 52. Qh3 Rg5
53. Qh6+ Rg7 54. Qf6+ Rf7 55. Qh8+ 1-0
Petrov Memorial 2012 | Prel. tournament | Final standings (top 20)
| Rk. | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | GM | Fridman Daniel | GER | 2660 | 7.0 | 42.0 | 53.0 | 39.5 |
| 2 | GM | Khairullin Ildar | RUS | 2638 | 7.0 | 37.0 | 47.5 | 34.5 |
| 3 | GM | Krasenkow Michal | POL | 2607 | 6.5 | 39.0 | 50.0 | 35.5 |
| 4 | GM | Kovalenko Igor | UKR | 2587 | 6.5 | 37.0 | 47.0 | 35.5 |
| 5 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | RUS | 2525 | 6.5 | 36.0 | 45.5 | 32.0 |
| 6 | GM | Novikov Stanislav | RUS | 2552 | 6.5 | 35.5 | 44.5 | 31.0 |
| 7 | GM | Sulskis Sarunas | LTU | 2595 | 6.5 | 35.0 | 44.5 | 27.5 |
| 8 | GM | Gleizerov Evgeny | RUS | 2566 | 6.5 | 34.0 | 43.0 | 30.5 |
| 9 | GM | Khalifman Alexander | RUS | 2632 | 6.0 | 35.0 | 44.0 | 30.5 |
| 10 | GM | Grachev Boris | RUS | 2693 | 5.5 | 40.0 | 51.5 | 31.5 |
| 11 | GM | Azarov Sergei | BLR | 2667 | 5.5 | 40.0 | 51.0 | 33.0 |
| 12 | GM | Kurnosov Igor | RUS | 2648 | 5.5 | 38.5 | 49.0 | 30.0 |
| 13 | GM | Khenkin Igor | GER | 2631 | 5.5 | 38.0 | 47.5 | 33.0 |
| 14 | FM | Meskovs Nikita | LAT | 2293 | 5.5 | 37.5 | 48.5 | 28.5 |
| 15 | GM | Nyback Tomi | FIN | 2634 | 5.5 | 36.0 | 45.5 | 32.0 |
| 16 | GM | Fedorchuk Sergey A | UKR | 2634 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 43.5 | 28.0 |
| 17 | IM | Carlstedt Jonathan | GER | 2331 | 5.5 | 33.0 | 43.0 | 24.0 |
| 18 | GM | Sveshnikov Evgeny | LAT | 2513 | 5.5 | 32.5 | 42.0 | 28.0 |
| 19 | GM | Miezis Normunds | LAT | 2544 | 5.5 | 32.5 | 42.0 | 24.0 |
| 20 | GM | Sokolov Andrei | FRA | 2581 | 5.0 | 38.0 | 48.0 | 28.0 |
The final, 8-player round robin was held on Saturday and Sunday and was won by Alexander Morozevich, who scored 5/7. The tournament wasn't decided until the final round, because Shirov, Morozevich and, surprisingly, Kovalenko were sharing the lead with 4/6. Three games In the final round ended in draws, and so with his win over Fridman, Morozevich won the tournament:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem Final 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.19"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Black "Fridman, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2660"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qa5 8. a3
cxd4 9. b4 Qc7 10. cxd4 b5 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. Rb1 Be7 13. Bc3 f6 14. Nf4 fxe5 15.
dxe5 Nf8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Qb7 18. Bd3 g6 19. O-O Bd7 20. Qg4 a5 21. Rfc1
axb4 22. axb4 Ra4 23. Bc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 Qb6 25. Rcc1 Qd4 26. Qg5 Rxb4 27. Nxg6
hxg6 28. Bxg6+ Nxg6 29. Qxg6+ Kf8 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Qd8+ Kf7 32. Qxd7+ 1-0
Morozevich lost one game, against the organizer, in round 3:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem Final 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.18"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2012.02.18"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3
O-O 9. Nbd2 e5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nxc4 Nxe5 14. Nxe5
Qxe5 15. Qb3 c6 16. f4 Qe7 17. Rad1 Be6 18. Qc3 Rad8 19. a4 Qf6 20. a5 Bg4 21.
Rde1 Qh6 22. f5 Bh3 23. Bxh3 Qxh3 24. e4 Qh5 25. Qf3 Qg5 26. Re2 Qe7 27. Qc3
Rfe8 28. e5 Rd5 29. e6 Qc5+ 30. Qxc5 Rxc5 31. Rd1 Rxf5 32. exf7+ Kxf7 33. Rd7+
Kf8 34. Rxe8+ Kxe8 35. Rxg7 Rxa5 36. Rxb7 Rb5 37. Rxb5 cxb5 38. b4 Kd7 39. Kf2
Kc6 40. g4 Kd5 41. h4 Ke4 42. Kg3 Ke5 43. Kf3 Kd4 44. g5 Ke5 45. Kg4 a5 46.
bxa5 b4 47. a6 b3 48. a7 b2 49. a8=Q b1=Q 50. Qe8+ Kd6 51. Qf8+ Kc7 52. Qe7+
Kc6 53. Qe6+ Kc7 54. Kh5 Qd3 55. Kh6 Qd4 56. h5 Qh8 57. Qf7+ Kc8 58. Qxh7 Qe5
59. Qg7 Qe2 60. Qf6 Qe3 61. Kg7 1-0
We'll finish this report with the following, very entertaining draw:
[Event "Vladimir Petrov Mem Final 2012"]
[Site "Jurmala LAT"]
[Date "2012.02.19"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Krasenkow, Michal"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 a6 8. a3
Bd6 9. c5 Be7 10. b4 e5 11. b5 exd4 12. exd4 Na7 13. bxa6 Ne4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15.
Ne5 b5 16. cxb6 cxb6 17. Bc4 b5 18. Bxf7+ Rxf7 19. Qb3 Qe8 20. Qd5 e3 21. Nxf7
exd2+ 22. Kd1 Qxf7 23. Qxa8 Qb3+ 24. Kxd2 Bg5+ 25. Ke2 Qc4+ 26. Ke1 Bd8 27. Qe4
Ba5+ 28. Kd1 Bg4+ 29. f3 Qb3+ 30. Kc1 Qc3+ 31. Kb1 Bh5 32. f4 Qb3+ 33. Kc1 Qc3+
34. Kb1 1/2-1/2
Petrov Memorial 2012 | Round robin | Final standings
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.”
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