Sargissian scores 3021 performance

After last week's lengthy article on the Ruy L?ɬ?pez Festival we had to return to this wonderful tournament once more. And especially because of the big success of the Armenian Gabriel Sargissian, who won the tournament with 6,5 out of 7 and a performance rating of 3021! Winning 24 rating points in one tournament, as a 2600 player, that's not so bad.

We left the tournament last week after round 4, when Sargissian was leading with 3,5 points. In the fifth round Ponomariov had to beat him with Black to keep chances for victory, but didn't succeed. The Unkrainian did try, including a pawn sacrifice, but Sargissian stayed cool, took over the initative and won the game. The fight for the second spot, between Candelario and Granda, was not yet decided after their draw. Sokolov found himself in a lost position against Stefanova but with some tactival strokes he managed to beat her anyway. Hou Yifan had a advantage against Sasikiran but couldn't convert it.

With his victory over Candelario in round 6, Sasikiran secured the victory already. The two players know each other well as they play for the same team in the Spanish competition, Linex-Magic from M?ɬ©rida. Candelario was brave enough to accept Sargissian's Marshall but soon got into trouble. A bit later it seemed that the Spaniard had good drawing chances in the ending but Sargissian's excellent technique secured a win anyway. Ponomariov beat Hou Yifan in style and Granda again confirmed his good form by defeating Sokolov. The draw between Sasikiran and Stefanova was another great fight.

In the last round Sargissian won again, this time against Julio Granda Zuniga, who was put under pressure more and more, until he had to resign in the ending. In her last game, Hou Yifan scored her first victory, over local hero Manuel P?ɬ©rez Candelario, who afterwards said that because of tiredness he couldn't fully remember his opening preparation. Ponomariov couldn't beat Stefanova and so had to be satisfied with the third place. Sokolov showed spectacular chess till the end and was successful against Sasikiran, one of the Mtel participants. The final position is of great beauty, where the Indian can't make a single move anymore.

The games of the last three rounds:



Final standings Magistral:

                                       pnt + = 0   tpr

1. Gabriel SARGISSIAN (2658)      ARM  6,5 6 1 0  3021 
2. Julio GRANDA (2612)            PER  4,0 2 4 1  2656
3. Ruslan PONOMARIOV (2723)       UKR  4,0 3 2 2  2640  
4. Ivan SOKOLOV (2652)            HOL  3,5 3 1 3  2600  
5. Manuel Perez CANDELARIO (2515) ESP  3,0 2 2 3  2570  
6. Antoaneta STEFANOVA (2483)     BUL  2,5 1 3 3  2522  
7. Krishnan SASIKIRAN (2700)      IND  2,5 0 5 2  2491  
8. HOU YIFAN (2509)               CHI  2,0 1 2 4  2462

Gabriel Sargissian | photo: Jorge Armestar Marroquin

After the tournament, a nine round Swiss rapid was played in which the Ruy Lopez opening was obligatory. All Magistral participants played, and a bunch of GMs with them, e.g. Spasov, Fedorchuk and Ye Jiangchuan. Sargissian also won here, but he is quite a Ruy Lopez specialist. This also counts for Ivan Sokolov, who was shared first but second on tiebreak. The final standings:

 1.  GM Sargissian, Gabriel          2658 ARM 6 26 
 2.  GM Sokolov, Ivan                2652 NED 6 24?Ǭ? 
 3.  GM Sasikiran, Krishnan          2700 IND 5?Ǭ? 25 
 4.  GM Spasov, Vasil                2588 BUL 5?Ǭ? 24 
 5.  GM Granda Zuniga, Julio E       2612 PER 5?Ǭ? 24 
 6.  GM Ponomariov, Ruslan           2723 UKR 5?Ǭ? 23?Ǭ? 
 7.  GM Fedorchuk, Sergey A          2601 UKR 5?Ǭ? 23 
 8.  GM Khamrakulov, Ibragim S       2527 ESP 5 22 
 9. WFM Hou Yifan                    2509 CHN 5 22 
10.  GM Ye Jiangchuan                2632 CHN 5 21?Ǭ? 
11.  GM Paunovic, Dragan             2516 SRB 5 21?Ǭ? 
12.  IM Carrasco, Martinez Juan M    2421 ESP 5 21?Ǭ? 
13.  GM Strikovic, Aleksa            2557 SRB 5 21 
14.  FM Cabezas, Ayala Ivan          2318 ESP 5 20 
15.  GM Georgiev, Vladimir           2529 MKD 5 19 
16.     Figuero Toro, Julian         2249 ESP 5 19 
17.     Garcia Romero, Benjamin Abel 2235 ESP 5 18 
18.  GM Gofshtein, Zvulon            2539 ISR 4?Ǭ? 22 
19.  GM Kolev, Atanas                2538 BUL 4?Ǭ? 22 
20.  GM Stefanova, Antoaneta         2483 BUL 4?Ǭ? 20?Ǭ? 
21.  IM Perez, Candelario Manuel     2515 ESP 4?Ǭ? 19?Ǭ? 
22.  GM Djuric, Stefan               2464 SRB 4?Ǭ? 19?Ǭ?
23.  ... (89 spelers)

See also: "In remembrance of Ruy L?ɬ?pez"