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Twelve GMs on 7/9 at European Championship

PeterDoggers
| 0 | Chess Event Coverage
Twelve GMs on 7/9 at European ChampionshipWith 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

Cheparinov-Parligras

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

Cheparinov-Parligras

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

Cheparinov-Parligras

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

Nepomniachtchi-Fridman

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

Nepomniachtchi-Fridman

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

Nepomniachtchi-Fridman

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

Polgar-Guseinov

Polgar shared first at European ChampionshipWe 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

Svidler-Hracek

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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PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

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.”

In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!


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