Twelve GMs on 7/9 at European Championship

With a third consecutive draw, Vladimir Potkin allowed five GMs to join him in the lead in round 8 of the European Championship. In the 9th round the first five boards split the point, and so with two rounds to go 12 players are sharing the lead with 7/9 in Aix les Bains, including Judit Polgar.

General info

The 12th European Individual Chess Championship is being held from March 21 till April 3rd, 2011 in Aix les Bain, France. It's an 11-round Swiss system with a total of 407 participants (172 GMs). There are 23 qualification spots for the World Cup 2011 in August-September in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). The games start every day at 15:00 CET (live here). More info here.

Report rounds 8-9

On Wednesday tournament leader Vladimir Potkin drew with Black after a tough fight with Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Logically, the winners who followed on half a point joined him in the lead: Markus Ragger (who beat Mikhail Kobalia), Viorel Iordachescu (who beat Alexander Moiseenko), Mircea-Emilian Parligras (who beat Ivan Cheparinov), Rauf Mamedov (who beat Jon Ludvig Hammer) and Nikita Vitiugov (who beat Denis Khismatullin).

Cheparinov played, as always, uncompromising chess. It looks like the Bulgarian fell into some preparation by his opponent, for a change.

Cheparinov-Parligras Aix les Bains 2011 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 e5 8. Nf5



8...h5 For years the main line of the Perenyi Attack used to be 8...g6 9.g5. 9.g5 Nxe4 10. Nxg7+ Bxg7 11. Nxe4 d5 12. Ng3



12...e4!? The latest of the latest - usually 12...d4 is played. 13. c3 Nc6N 13... Bg4 14. Be2 Nc6 15. Bxg4 hxg4 16. Nf5 Rh7 17. Bf4 Be5 18. Qxg4 Qc7 19. Be3 Rxh2 20. Rxh2 Bxh2 21. O-O-O Nb4 22. g6 O-O-O 23. Ng3+ f5 24. Qxf5+ 1-0 Bobras-Gumula, Warsaw 2010 14. Nxh5 Be5 15. f4 exf3 16. Qxf3 d4 17. Bc4 Qe7



18. O-O-O dxe3 19. Rhf1 Be6 20. Nf6+ Kf8 21. Bxe6 Qxe6 22. Qxe3 Bxf6 23. Qxe6 fxe6 24. Rxf6+ Ke7 0-1

Against Daniel Fridman, reigning Russian Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi reached the following, remarkable position.

Nepomniachtchi-Fridman Aix les Bains 2011



First, by giving a lot of checks, White managed to win the a6 pawn with tempo. 45. Qc5+ Kf6 46. Qf8+ Ke6 47. Qg8+ Kd7 48. Qg7+ Kc8 49. Qh6 f4 50. Qxa6+ Kd7 51. Qb5+ Kd6 52. Qb4+ Kd7 53. Qd4+ Ke8 54. Qe5+ Kd7 55. Qd5+ Ke7 56. Qc5+ Kd7



Now, as was probably the best practical chance, White liquidated to a queen ending: 57. Ke4 f3 58. gxf3 g2 59. Qxf2 c1Q 60. Qxg2 Qc4+ 61. Kf5 Qf7+ 62. Ke5 Qe7+ 63. Kf4 Qxh4+ 64. Kf5 Qd4 65. Qh3 Ke7 66. Qxh5



Although this position is a draw according to the tablebases, White won at move 84.

To continue the theme of endings, Judit Polgar showed magnificent technique in a typical Accelarated Dragon ending against Gadir Guseinov.

Polgar-Guseinov Aix les Bains 2011



We refer to the game viewer below for the full game. For now we'll just note that the way Polgar squeezed a full point out of this position was quite impressive. In fact by now we might as well add that the Hungarian lady seems to be playing her best chess in years in Aix les Bains. On Thursday she beat Lupulescu with Black, defending a sharp position, to reach shared first in the standings.

Top seed Peter Svidler is half a point behind the group of leaders. In the 9th round he won a tough ending when his opponent allowed a petite combinaison.

Svidler-Hracek Aix les Bains 2011



66...Kxh6? 66... Nf6 might still hold the game. 67. Rxd5! cxd5 68. Bxf4+ Kg6 69. Bxc7 Kf6 70. Kxd5 Ke7 71. Kc6 Ke6 72. Bb6 Rc8+ 73. Kb7 Rg8 74. c6 Kd6 75. c7 1-0

Selection of games rounds 8-9

Game viewer by ChessTempo


European Individual Championship 2011 | Aix les Bains | Round 9 Standings (Top 100)

Rk.	Ti	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2707	7.0	2898	41.5	54.0
2	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2653	7.0	2839	42.0	53.0
3	GM	Ragger Markus	AUT	2614	7.0	2827	40.0	51.0
4	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2626	7.0	2806	39.5	51.0
5	GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2667	7.0	2794	38.0	49.5
6	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	BLR	2680	7.0	2785	37.0	47.0
7	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	ROU	2598	7.0	2767	41.5	52.5
8	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	POL	2711	7.0	2751	40.5	52.5
9	GM	Khairullin Ildar	RUS	2634	7.0	2736	40.0	50.0
10	GM	Polgar Judit	HUN	2686	7.0	2723	38.5	49.5
11	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	RUS	2720	7.0	2708	40.5	52.0
12	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2707	7.0	2675	37.5	47.5
13	GM	Zherebukh Yaroslav	UKR	2560	6.5	2760	39.5	49.5
14	GM	Volokitin Andrei	UKR	2677	6.5	2753	40.5	51.5
15	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	RUS	2729	6.5	2741	38.0	50.0
16	GM	Feller Sebastien	FRA	2657	6.5	2731	39.0	50.0
17	GM	Ivanisevic Ivan	SRB	2617	6.5	2722	37.0	47.5
18	GM	Svidler Peter	RUS	2730	6.5	2720	40.0	50.0
19	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2674	6.5	2715	37.0	47.0
20	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	ROU	2534	6.5	2712	34.0	43.5
21	GM	Mcshane Luke J	ENG	2683	6.5	2700	37.5	47.5
22	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	UKR	2673	6.5	2694	39.0	50.0
23	GM	Jakovenko Dmitry	RUS	2718	6.5	2690	36.5	46.5
24	GM	Motylev Alexander	RUS	2677	6.5	2684	37.0	46.5
25	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	RUS	2672	6.5	2682	39.0	51.0
26	GM	Nielsen Peter Heine	DEN	2670	6.5	2669	37.0	47.0
27	GM	Smirin Ilia	ISR	2658	6.5	2627	34.0	44.5
28	GM	Beliavsky Alexander G	SLO	2619	6.5	2614	36.5	47.5
29	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2673	6.0	2762	42.0	54.0
30	GM	Azarov Sergei	BLR	2615	6.0	2754	41.0	51.5
31	GM	Sutovsky Emil	ISR	2692	6.0	2752	39.5	51.0
32	IM	Wirig Anthony	FRA	2480	6.0	2749	42.5	51.0
33	GM	Khismatullin Denis	RUS	2662	6.0	2717	39.0	50.5
34	GM	Reinderman Dimitri	NED	2601	6.0	2717	38.0	49.0
35	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	ROU	2626	6.0	2716	39.0	50.0
36	GM	Guliyev Namig	AZE	2522	6.0	2713	35.5	45.5
37	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2647	6.0	2712	38.5	49.5
38	GM	Riazantsev Alexander	RUS	2679	6.0	2705	34.5	44.5
39	GM	Kovchan Alexander	UKR	2563	6.0	2701	40.5	51.5
40	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	RUS	2678	6.0	2686	34.5	45.0
41	GM	Dreev Aleksey	RUS	2697	6.0	2680	40.0	50.5
42	GM	Esen Baris	TUR	2528	6.0	2669	38.5	49.0
43	GM	Navara David	CZE	2722	6.0	2667	38.0	48.0
44	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2664	6.0	2663	39.0	50.5
45	GM	Gabrielian Artur	RUS	2532	6.0	2662	38.0	48.5
46	GM	Gustafsson Jan	GER	2647	6.0	2653	35.5	45.5
47	GM	Fressinet Laurent	FRA	2693	6.0	2643	36.5	46.5
48	GM	Saric Ivan	CRO	2626	6.0	2639	37.0	48.0
49	IM	Vedmediuc Serghei	MDA	2422	6.0	2624	35.5	46.0
50	GM	Pashikian Arman	ARM	2642	6.0	2624	35.0	45.0
51	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	GRE	2583	6.0	2623	36.0	47.0
52	GM	Lenic Luka	SLO	2623	6.0	2622	34.0	44.0
53	GM	Kulaots Kaido	EST	2601	6.0	2614	34.0	45.0
54	GM	Gharamian Tigran	FRA	2650	6.0	2599	36.5	47.5
55	GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	ESP	2630	6.0	2597	34.0	44.5
56	GM	Papaioannou Ioannis	GRE	2605	6.0	2594	32.0	42.0
57	GM	Popov Ivan	RUS	2613	6.0	2586	35.0	45.5
58	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2625	6.0	2575	34.5	44.5
59	GM	Volkov Sergey	RUS	2621	6.0	2568	33.0	42.5
60	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	RUS	2643	6.0	2553	32.5	42.0
61	GM	Khalifman Alexander	RUS	2637	6.0	2530	32.0	41.0
62	GM	Postny Evgeny	ISR	2585	6.0	2510	32.0	42.5
63	GM	Guseinov Gadir	AZE	2584	5.5	2740	41.0	51.5
64	GM	Grachev Boris	RUS	2675	5.5	2680	37.0	49.0
65	GM	Papin Vasily	RUS	2569	5.5	2662	38.0	49.0
66	GM	Hracek Zbynek	CZE	2631	5.5	2657	37.5	49.0
67	GM	Savchenko Boris	RUS	2616	5.5	2652	40.0	51.0
68	GM	Zhigalko Andrey	BLR	2571	5.5	2651	40.0	51.0
69	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	ARM	2575	5.5	2645	38.0	48.5
70	GM	Halkias Stelios	GRE	2579	5.5	2644	38.5	49.5
71	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	GEO	2595	5.5	2644	38.5	48.0
72	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2661	5.5	2643	37.5	48.0
73	IM	Ziska Helgi Dam	FAI	2432	5.5	2643	32.0	42.0
74	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2671	5.5	2640	36.0	46.5
75	GM	Maze Sebastien	FRA	2559	5.5	2639	40.5	50.5
76	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2578	5.5	2639	38.5	49.0
77	GM	Stevic Hrvoje	CRO	2611	5.5	2636	37.5	48.5
78	GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2628	5.5	2636	35.5	46.5
79	GM	Pridorozhni Aleksei	RUS	2542	5.5	2630	40.0	50.5
80	GM	Romanov Evgeny	RUS	2624	5.5	2626	35.0	46.0
81	GM	Laznicka Viktor	CZE	2688	5.5	2624	36.0	46.5
82	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2676	5.5	2615	36.0	46.0
83	GM	Nyback Tomi	FIN	2656	5.5	2614	34.0	44.0
84	GM	Sanikidze Tornike	GEO	2542	5.5	2609	36.0	46.0
85	GM	Andriasian Zaven	ARM	2645	5.5	2598	33.0	43.5
86	GM	Tregubov Pavel V	RUS	2598	5.5	2593	37.5	47.5
87	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	RUS	2663	5.5	2593	34.0	44.5
88	GM	L'ami Erwin	NED	2623	5.5	2592	35.5	46.0
89	GM	Bartel Mateusz	POL	2638	5.5	2587	34.5	44.5
90	GM	Smeets Jan	NED	2660	5.5	2585	36.5	47.0
91	IM	Manea Alexandru	ROU	2392	5.5	2585	32.0	41.0
92	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	NOR	2606	5.5	2582	38.5	49.0
93	GM	Jaracz Pawel	POL	2565	5.5	2581	34.5	44.0
94	GM	Georgiev Kiril	BUL	2666	5.5	2575	33.5	43.5
95	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2675	5.5	2574	35.5	45.5
96	IM	Goganov Aleksey	RUS	2469	5.5	2566	34.5	42.0
97	IM	Michalik Peter	SVK	2471	5.5	2560	33.5	41.5
98	GM	Vuckovic Bojan	SRB	2626	5.5	2557	35.5	45.5
99	GM	Edouard Romain	FRA	2600	5.5	2557	33.5	43.5
100	GM	Sedlak Nikola	SRB	2556	5.5	2557	33.0	43.5

The French cheating case continues to be the talk of the town in Aix les Bains. At Chess in Translation we read that in Sergey Shipov’s latest report from Aix les Bains (where he's not playing, but coaching) he returned to the issue of cheating, after discussing it with the President of the ECU, Silvio Danailov, over breakfast. As Colin notes, by now the whole situation appears to have led to the European Championship taking place under a cloud of suspicion and even, perhaps, paranoia.

In the mean time the official website published a brief video interview with Garry Kasparov, who visited the Championship this week. It was conducted by Leo Battesti, Vice President of the French Chess Federation (apparently the one holding the camera) and Jean-Michel Pechine of Europe-Echecs, who asks the questions. The 13th World Champion also reacts to the cheating saga.

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