Open Tournaments Around Christmas And New Year
Lots of chess events always take place during the Christmas and New Year holidays. This report sums up the major ones.
Naiditsch Repeats Swiss Double
In December 2014 he did it with a German flag at his board, and last month he repeated his success as a player representing Azerbaijan. Arkadij Naiditsch won the open tournaments in both Zurich and Basel, just like last year.
In Zurich, Naiditsch won the traditional Christmas Open, held December 26-30, with a score of 6.0/7. That was enough for clear first.
Naiditsch played two quick draws with Vitaly Kunin and Christian Bauer (who finished second and third), and won the other five convincingly.
In the penultimate round, Naiditsch started quietly with a Four Knights, but then went for an early g2-g4. It wasn't a new move though!
Photo Georg Kradolfer courtesy of the Christmas Open.
Christmas Open (Zurich) 2015 | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | AZE | 2698 | 6 | 33,5 | 211,5 | 24,5 |
| 2 | 6 | GM | Kunin Vitaly | GER | 2572 | 5,5 | 32,5 | 211 | 23,5 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Bauer Christian | FRA | 2624 | 5,5 | 32,5 | 202 | 24 |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Gonda Laszlo | HUN | 2544 | 5,5 | 29,5 | 193,5 | 21 |
| 5 | 13 | GM | Gundavaa B. | MGL | 2506 | 5,5 | 29 | 196,5 | 20,5 |
| 6 | 2 | GM | Georgiev Kiril | BUL | 2627 | 5,5 | 29 | 192,5 | 21,5 |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Burmakin Vladimir | RUS | 2556 | 5 | 32 | 194 | 23 |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Vorobiov Evgeny | RUS | 2574 | 5 | 31,5 | 198 | 23 |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Sebenik Matej | SLO | 2523 | 5 | 30 | 196,5 | 22 |
| 10 | 32 | Kheit Wahbi | ISR | 2306 | 5 | 30 | 185 | 23,5 | |
| 11 | 9 | GM | Bogner Sebastian | SUI | 2546 | 5 | 27,5 | 191 | 19 |
| 12 | 15 | IM | Georgiadis Nico | SUI | 2485 | 5 | 27 | 195 | 19,5 |
| 13 | 36 | FM | Gantner Matthias | SUI | 2274 | 5 | 26,5 | 189,5 | 19,5 |
| 14 | 20 | FM | Habu Yoshiharu | JAP | 2398 | 5 | 26,5 | 186,5 | 19 |
| 15 | 19 | IM | Studer Noël | SUI | 2404 | 4,5 | 30,5 | 192,5 | 21,5 |
| 16 | 34 | FM | Wyss Jonas | SUI | 2289 | 4,5 | 29,5 | 184 | 21 |
| 17 | 7 | GM | Pelletier Yannick | SUI | 2571 | 4,5 | 29,5 | 181 | 21,5 |
| 18 | 14 | GM | Cvitan Ognjen | CRO | 2499 | 4,5 | 28,5 | 189,5 | 20 |
| 19 | 4 | GM | Bindrich Falko | GER | 2583 | 4,5 | 28,5 | 177 | 20,5 |
| 20 | 25 | FM | Dragnev Valentin | AUT | 2356 | 4,5 | 28 | 189,5 | 21 |
(Full final standings here.)
He won his last tournament in 2015, and after celebrating the new year Naiditsch also won his first in 2016. That was another Swiss event in Switzerland: the Basel Chess Festival, which was held January 1-5.
There Naiditsch started with two wins. In the second round he defeated Yoshiharu Habu, who also played in Zurich.
Habu is not well known as a chess player but “world famous” in Japan, where he is a true Shogi legend. Every now and then Habu travels to Europe and plays some chess there — a bit like Vassily Ivanchuk playing draughts these days.
You can see that Habu definitely has talent for chess as well (you shouldn't miss this game if you don't know it yet) in his game with Naiditsch, where he's still alive and kicking around the time control.
But then it suddenly went wrong for Naiditsch: he lost to Dutch IM Arthur Pijpers in a very messy game.
But Naiditsch continued with three wins, then drew with Mihaj Stojanovic and saw everyone on 4.5 points finish his tournament with a draw as well. His 5.0/7 was again enough for clear first.
Can you find how he forced resignation in round four?
Basel Chess Festival 2016 | Final Standings (Top 20)
| # | Name | Title | Elo | Land | W | D | L | Pts | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | Naiditsch,Arkadij | GM | 2696 | AZE | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | 22.5 | 32 |
| 2 | Demuth,Adrien | GM | 2535 | FRA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 32.5 |
| 3 | Bellahcene,Bilel | IM | 2465 | FRA | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 31 |
| 4 | Pijpers,Arthur | IM | 2463 | NED | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 21.5 | 30 |
| 4 | Sprenger,JM | IM | 2496 | GER | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 21.5 | 30 |
| 6 | Heimann, Andreas | IM | 2552 | GER | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 20.5 | 29.5 |
| 6 | Shvayger,Yuliya | WIM | 2381 | ISR | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 20.5 | 29.5 |
| 8 | Stremavicius,Titas | IM | 2468 | LTU | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 20.5 | 27.5 |
| 9 | Stojanovic,Mihajlo | GM | 2507 | SRB | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 19.5 | 26.5 |
| 10 | Riff,Jean-Noel | GM | 2512 | FRA | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4.5 | 21.5 | 30.5 |
| 11 | Hort,Vlastimil | GM | 2430 | GER | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4.5 | 20 | 28 |
| 12 | Ghaem Maghami, E | GM | 2594 | IRI | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4.5 | 19 | 27.5 |
| 13 | Filipovic,Branko | IM | 2369 | CRO | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4.5 | 18.5 | 27 |
| 14 | Derakhshani,Borna | CM | 2178 | IRI | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4.5 | 17.5 | 25 |
| 15 | Kopylov,Michael | IM | 2406 | UKR | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4.5 | 17 | 23 |
| 16 | Starostits,Ilmars | GM | 2422 | LAT | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 19.5 | 30 |
| 17 | Minko,Vladimir | FM | 2361 | RUS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18.5 | 29.5 |
| 18 | Habu,Yoshiharu | FM | 2398 | JPN | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16.5 | 28 |
| 19 | Derakhshani,Dorsa | WIM | 2315 | IRI | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16.5 | 25 |
| 20 | Metz, Hartmut | FM | 2323 | GER | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 25.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Hammer & Rodshtein Break 2700 At Rilton Cup
An even more traditional tournament around this time of year is the Rilton Cup. This year the tournament took place December 27-January 5 in Stockholm.
It is named after Tore Rilton (1904-1983), a doctor and a chess lover. After his death, from his assets 8 million Swedish krona (more than 5 million after tax) were put in the Rilton Foundation, from which the tournament is supported every year.
It was Michal Krasenkow who seemed to be running away with the tournament again. The Polish grandmaster won four times before in Stockholm, and he was the only one to start with 5.0/5.
But then he went down against Norway's number two Jon Ludvig Hammer, who played a truly excellent game.
Possibly the best game I've ever played. Creativity, aggression, alertness, beauty, endgame accuracy. It had it all.
— Jon Ludvig Hammer (@gmjlh) January 2, 2016
However, Hammer dropped half-points against GMs Alexander Donchenko (Germany) and Sam Sevian (USA), and his last-round win against IM Martin Zumsande wasn't enough: GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel came first with the splendid score of 8.0/9.
In the last round GM Hans Tikkanen got slowly outplayed in a double rook endgame:
With 5 minutes on the clock, I think there's basically no chance Tikkanen will hold. Rodshtein with 8/9. Extremely well done!
— Jon Ludvig Hammer (@gmjlh) January 5, 2016
Both Hammer and Rodshtein broke the 2700 barrier and as a result their names can be found on 2700.com now!
2015-16 Rilton Cup | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | ISR | 2678 | 8 | 48 | 53 |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Hammer Jon Ludvig | NOR | 2695 | 7,5 | 51 | 55,5 |
| 3 | 17 | GM | Blomqvist Erik | SWE | 2493 | 7 | 45,5 | 50,5 |
| 4 | 12 | GM | Hillarp-Persson Tiger | SWE | 2521 | 6,5 | 47 | 51 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2578 | 6,5 | 46 | 50,5 |
| 6 | 22 | GM | Socko Monika | POL | 2437 | 6,5 | 36 | 39 |
| 7-8 | 4 | GM | Krasenkow Michal | POL | 2610 | 6 | 49 | 53,5 |
| 7-8 | 6 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | GER | 2588 | 6 | 49 | 53,5 |
| 9 | 13 | GM | Tikkanen Hans | SWE | 2515 | 6 | 44,5 | 47,5 |
| 10 | 20 | IM | Zumsande Martin Dr. | GER | 2442 | 6 | 42,5 | 45,5 |
| 11 | 5 | GM | Goganov Aleksey | RUS | 2597 | 6 | 41,5 | 44 |
| 12 | 15 | IM | Poetsch Hagen | GER | 2509 | 6 | 40 | 44 |
| 13 | 10 | IM | Tari Aryan | NOR | 2556 | 6 | 40 | 42 |
| 14 | 14 | IM | Nikita Meskovs | LAT | 2511 | 6 | 39,5 | 40 |
| 15 | 7 | GM | Socko Bartosz | POL | 2587 | 5,5 | 48 | 51,5 |
| 16 | 3 | GM | Alekseev Evgeny | RUS | 2642 | 5,5 | 46 | 50,5 |
| 17 | 19 | IM | Andersen Mads | DEN | 2474 | 5,5 | 45 | 48,5 |
| 18 | 37 | FM | Sagit Rauan | SWE | 2375 | 5,5 | 44,5 | 48 |
| 19 | 23 | GM | Semcesen Daniel | SWE | 2431 | 5,5 | 43,5 | 47,5 |
| 20 | 30 | IM | Sjödahl Pontus | SWE | 2404 | 5,5 | 43,5 | 46,5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Hastings Chess Congress
The Hastings Chess Congress has known better times, but maybe things are improving. This year, for the first time, the tournament was sponsored by Tradewise, the company that also supports the Gibraltar Chess Festival.
At the oldest still running tournament, 11 of the classical chess world champions once played. This year only 11 grandmasters played in Hastings, and just two of them were rated above 2600: Ferenc Berkes (Hungary, 2650) and Igor Khenkin (Germany, 2605). Neither of them managed to win the tournament.
The first prize was shared between two players: little-known GM Jahongir Vakhidov, who is the number three of Uzbekistan behind Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Anton Filippov, and GM Aleksander Mista, the number 15 of Poland.
It was Vakhidov who won their mutual game in round five:
Mista caught the Uzbek in the final round as Glenn Flear stumbled in time trouble:
2015-16 Hastings Chess Congress | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 5 | GM | Vakhidov Jahongir | UZB | 2546 | 7 | 42,25 | 2792 |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Mista Aleksander | POL | 2567 | 7 | 40 | 2762 |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Sulskis Sarunas | LTU | 2535 | 6,5 | 38,25 | 2693 |
| 4 | 2 | GM | Khenkin Igor | GER | 2605 | 6,5 | 36,75 | 2659 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Fodor Tamas Jr. | HUN | 2492 | 6,5 | 36,25 | 2675 |
| 6 | 1 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | HUN | 2650 | 6,5 | 36 | 2677 |
| 7 | 15 | IM | Sarkar Justin | USA | 2407 | 6,5 | 32,75 | 2605 |
| 8 | 13 | IM | Bagi Mate | HUN | 2440 | 6 | 32,25 | 2603 |
| 9 | 12 | GM | Flear Glenn C | ENG | 2459 | 6 | 30 | 2485 |
| 10 | 18 | IM | Krishna C R G | IND | 2367 | 6 | 29 | 2533 |
| 11 | 23 | FM | Batchelor Peter J | ENG | 2307 | 6 | 26,25 | 2420 |
| 12 | 17 | IM | Eggleston David J | ENG | 2396 | 6 | 26 | 2438 |
| 13 | 4 | GM | Pap Gyula | HUN | 2551 | 5,5 | 30,25 | 2526 |
| 14 | 11 | GM | Romanishin Oleg M | UKR | 2462 | 5,5 | 29 | 2531 |
| 15 | 10 | GM | Hebden Mark L | ENG | 2469 | 5,5 | 27,5 | 2439 |
| 16 | 16 | IM | Nagy Gabor | HUN | 2403 | 5,5 | 27,25 | 2482 |
| 17 | 14 | GM | Williams Simon K | ENG | 2439 | 5,5 | 27 | 2437 |
| 18 | 7 | GM | Gormally Daniel W | ENG | 2506 | 5,5 | 26,5 | 2417 |
| 19 | 9 | GM | Arkell Keith C | ENG | 2490 | 5,5 | 25,75 | 2406 |
| 20 | 19 | IM | Bates Richard A | ENG | 2331 | 5,5 | 24,5 | 2350 |
(Full final standings here.)
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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