Shirov Disaster at Poikovksy
After winning recently at the extremely strong M-Tel tournament in Bulgaria, Alexei Shirov (pictured) was favourite for the 10th International Poikovsky Tournament in Russia.
However, in a remarkable turn-around in form, Shirov has lost his first four games to find himself propping up the leaderboard, with any hopes of a tournament victory already long gone.
Chess can be a cruel mistress! When things start to go badly, it can be difficult to turn your fortunes around, and losses seem to breed even more painful losses.
Joint leaders on 3.5/4.0 are Vugar Gashimov and Alexander Motylev, both of whom have already beaten Shirov. There have been a few brutally short losses in the event so far, some of which are presented below for your viewing pleasure!
The full standings after 4 rounds:
Gashimov, Vugar | AZE | 2730 | 3½ |
Motylev, Alexander | RUS | 2677 | 3½ |
Inarkiev, Ernesto | RUS | 2676 | 3 |
Naiditsch, Arkadij | GER | 2700 | 2½ |
Sutovsky, Emil | ISR | 2660 | 2 |
Bologan, Viktor | MDA | 2690 | 2 |
Efimenko, Zahar | UKR | 2682 | 1½ |
Onischuk, Alexander | USA | 2684 | 1 |
Rublevsky, Sergei | RUS | 2702 | 1 |
Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2745 | 0 |