Gibraltar 2017

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

January 31, 2017

Standing after Round Eight

Rk. Name Pts.

1 Anton David 6.5
2 MVL 6.5
3 Nakamura H 6.5
4 Yu Yangyi 6.5
5 Topalov Veselin 6.5
6 Adams Michael 6
7 Short Nigel D 6
8 Ju Wenjun 6
9 Howell David 6
10 Cheparinov Ivan 6
11 Caruana Fabi 6
12 Matlakov Maxim 6
13 Stefanova A 6
14 Akobian V 6
15 Fridman Daniel 6
16 Gelfand Boris 6
17 Fressinet L 6
18 Sethuraman S.P. 6
19 Edouard Romain 6
20 Sutovsky Emil 5.5
21 Lagarde Maxime 5.5
22 Naiditsch Aj 5.5
23 Carlstedt Jon 5.5
24 Vitiugov Nikita 5.5
25 Svidler Peter 5.5
26 Piorun Kacper 5.5
27 Steinberg N 5.5
28 Muzychuk Anna 5.5
29 Deac B-Daniel 5.5
30 Maze Sebastien 5.5
31 Shankland S 5.5
32 Krysa Leandro 5.5
33 Kovalenko Igor 5.5
34 Lalith Babu M R 5.5
35 Donchenko Alex 5.5
52 Ivanchuk Vassily 5
84 Spraggett Kevin 4.5
103 Thavandiran S 4.5
135 Plotkin Victor 4
161 Piasetski Leon 3.5
194 Agbabishvili Lali 3
225 Day Christopher 2.5

Round Nine Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 Vachier-Lagrave M 2796 6½ 6½ Yu Yangyi 2738
2 Topalov Veselin 2739 6½ 6½ Anton David 2650
3 Nakamura Hikaru 2785 6½ 6 Caruana Fabi 2827
4 Adams Michael 2751 6 6 Sethuraman S.P. 2637
5 Gelfand Boris 2721 6 6 Stefanova A 2512
6 Howell David 2655 6 6 Matlakov M 2701
7 Cheparinov Ivan 2689 6 6 Fridman Daniel 2594
8 Edouard Romain 2613 6 6 Short Nigel 2675
9 Akobian V 2633 6 6 Fressinet L 2660
10 Ju Wenjun 2583 6 5½ Maze Sebastien 2613
11 Svidler Peter 2748 5½ 5½ Donchenko Alex 2559
12 Vitiugov Nikita 2724 5½ 5½ Deac B-Daniel 2572
13 Lalith Babu M R 2587 5½ 5½ Naiditsch A 2702
14 Kovalenko Igor 2684 5½ 5½ Muzychuk Anna 2558
15 Shankland S 2674 5½ 5½ Libiszewski F 2545
16 Piorun Kacper 2651 5½ 5½ Krysa Leandro 2491
17 Del Rio Salva 2527 5½ 5½ Sutovsky E 2628
18 Lagarde Maxime 2594 5½ 5½ Steinberg N 2486
19 Mikhalevski V 2504 5½ 5½ Gledura Ben 2589
20 Ivanchuk Vassily 2752 5 5½ Carlstedt Jon 2413
21 Lemos Damian 2516 5 5 Ganguly Shek 2657
22 Iturrizaga Ed 2652 5 5 Cramling Pia 2454
23 Batsiashvili Nino 2492 5 5 Hou Yifan 2651
24 Dragnev V 2492 5 5 Oparin G 2625
25 Vocaturo Dan 2606 5 5 Santos Miguel 2484
37 Spraggett Kevin 2542 4½ 4½ Vega G Sabrina 2406
45 Thavandiran S 2367 4½ 4½ Riff Jean-Noel 2468
68 Plotkin Victor 2253 4 4 Mihajlov Seb 2384
76 Piasetski Leon 2327 3½ 3½ Bopp Thomas 2157
95 Vea Odin Blikra 2234 3 3 Agbabishvili L 2095
113 Day Christopher 1760 2½ 2½ Skutta Bernd 1957

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

February 1, 2017

Round Nine

Simon and Jovanka are the commentators. Lawrence Trent has flown in from The Netherlands and joins them for a bit. He does confirm that he is no longer Fabiano Caruana’s manager but they had a friendly parting of the ways. Asked by Simon if he would consider managing someone else, he says, “Only someone with a long ginger beard” – which seems to be Simon and ZZ Top.

He played at Gibraltar before and was on the brink of getting his GM title when he met Eric Hansen and was lost within twenty moves. The chat room comes alive with comments about Eric:

- eric u crushed Lawrence’s dream
- eric no heart
- Eric…. You cruel man

The game from 2015 can be seen at:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1783997

Lawrence is interested in Nakamura-Caruana because Fabi is on 6 with Black and Nakamura has 6.5 and a draw or loss puts him down the list going into the money round tomorrow.

When Jovanka is back in the chair, they start to analyze Esserman-Gopal, which is a Smith-Morra Gambit.

Ivanchuk is using a lot of time up for his opening moves but he is ahead of Jonathan Carlstedt. The latter is a German IM, unbeaten so far in the tournament – going for his grandmaster norm. He is the author of a book Die Englische Eroffnung 1.c4, published in 2010, which has an amusing photo on the cover of a grenadier guard wearing a black bearskin hat, giving the thumbs up to the opening.
_______

Ju Wenjun is having a great competition and has just beaten Sebastien Maze of France:

Gibraltar Masters 2017
Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Ju Wejun – Maze, Sebastien
E67 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.f3 a5 11.b3 Bd7 12.Be3 Re8 13.Qd2 h5 14.Rad1 Qc8 15.Ndb5 Bc6 16.Rfe1 b6 17.Qc2 Bd7 18.a3 Na6 19.Bd4 Nb8 20.e5 dxe5 21.Bxe5 Nc6 22.f4 Bf5 23.Qb2 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Ng4 25.Bxa8 Qxa8 26.Nxc7 Qc6 27.Nxe8 Qc5+ 28.Kg2 Bxe5 29.Rd8 Qc6+ 30.Rd5 1-0

- Ju Wenjun strikes again! She's now the leading female in the tournament and could take the £15,000 women's prize tomorrow!

Nakamura and Caruana agree to a draw:

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Caruana, Fabiano
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nbd2 Ke7 10.b3 b6 11.Be2 a5 12.Ne5 Ba6 13.Ndc4 Nfd7 14.Nxd7 Nxd7 15.Bb2 f6 16.Rfd1 Rhd8 17.a3 Rac8 18.Rdc1 Bb7 19.Bc3 Bd5 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Bxc4 22.Bxc4 Bd6 23.Be1 f5 24.h3 Nf6 25.Kf1 Rc7 26.Bb3 Rxc1 27.Rxc1 Ra8 28.Rc6 Nd7 29.Rc1 Ra3 30.Bc4 Nf6 31.Ke2 g5 32.Rc2 h5 33.f3 b5 34.Ra2 Rxa2+ 35.Bxa2 Nd5 36.Bxd5 exd5 37.g4 hxg4 38.hxg4 fxg4 39.fxg4 Ke6 40.Kd3 Be7 41.e4 dxe4+ 42.Kxe4 Bd6 43.Bd2 Be7 44.Be1 Bd6 45.Bd2 Be7 1/2-1/2

Hikaru did not expect the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. He will be Black tomorrow and would rather not play MVL.

The young Spaniard David Anton beats Topalov and has also beaten Gelfand and tied with MVL and Nakamura and leads the tournament with 7.5. In second are Nakamura, Adams, MVL, Ju and Yu and Gelfand. The round starts four hours earlier than today, i.e. 5 a.m. in Toronto/Montreal.

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – Anton Guijarro, David
C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Keres

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.d5 Nce5 15.a4 Bb7 16.Qe2 Rb8 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.axb5 axb5 19.Nf1 Re8 20.Ne3 Bf6 21.Bd2 Bc8 22.Ba5 Qe7 23.Bc3 Ng6 24.Qf3 Bxc3 25.bxc3 Qg5 26.Kh2 h5 27.Ra7 Re7 28.Rxe7 Nxe7 29.Ra1 Ng6 30.Qg3 Qf6 31.Nf5 Bxf5 32.exf5 Ne5 33.Rb1 h4 34.Qf4 g5 35.Qe3 Nc4 36.Qc1 Kg7 37.Bd3 Ne5 38.Be4 g4 39.hxg4 Nxg4+ 40.Kg1 Qh6 41.Qxh6+ Kxh6 42.Kf1 Kg5 0-1

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Adams, Michael – Sethuraman, S.P.
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.d4 e4 4.Nc3 d5 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Bg5 Nbd7 8.Qb3 Bd6 9.Nh3 h6 10.Bf4 Nb6 11.Be5 Ng4 12.Bxg7 Rg8 13.Be5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Bxe5 15.Rd1 Be6 16.Nxe4 Qc8 17.Nf4 dxe4 18.Qb5+ Nd7 19.Rxd7 Qxd7 20.Qxe5 O-O-O 21.O-O Qc7 22.Qxe4 Kb8 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Qxe6 h5 25.Qf6 Rdf8 26.Qh4 Rf5 27.Bf3 Rd8 28.Kg2 Rc5 29.b4 Rc4 30.Qxh5 Rxb4 31.Qg5 Qd6 32.Rc1 a6 33.h4 Rb5 34.Qg7 Rd7 35.Qh8+ Rd8 36.Qc3 a5 37.h5 a4 38.h6 Qxh6 39.Qc7+ Ka7 40.Rc4 Rd6 41.Rxa4+ Ra6 42.Rh4 Qf8 43.a4 Rb4 44.Rf4 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Gelfand, Boris – Stefanova, Antoaneta
A41 Robatsch Defence, Rossolimo variation

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.e4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.d5 Nb8 8.Qc2 Na6 9.h3 Bd7 10.Nb1 c6 11.Nc3 cxd5 12.exd5 O-O 13.Be3 Nc5 14.Nd4 e5 15.dxe6 fxe6 16.O-O Qe7 17.Rad1 b6 18.Bf3 Rad8 19.b4 Na6 20.a3 Nb8 21.Rfe1 Nh5 22.Qd2 Rc8 23.Bg5 Qf7 24.Nxe6 Bxe6 25.Rxe6 Rxc4 26.Re7 Bxc3 27.Qxd6 Qf5 28.Qd5+ Qxd5 29.Bxd5+ Kh8 30.Bxc4 Nc6 31.Rf7 1-0

- Boris has defeated Stefanova on board 5, making Ju Wenjun the leading female entering the final round tomorrow!

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Carlstedt, Jonathan
C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defence, Berger variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 Nf6 6.Qe2 Be7 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.Nxf6+ Bxf6 9.d4 O-O 10.dxe5 Re8 11.Qc4+ d5 12.Qxc6 Bxe5 13.O-O Rb8 14.Nxe5 Rxe5 15.Bf4 Re6 16.Qc3 Qe8 17.b3 Rbb6 18.Be3 Rbc6 19.Qd2 Re5 20.Bxa7 Re2 21.Qxd5+ Be6 22.Qb5 Rexc2 23.Rfe1 h6 24.Qd3 Qf7 25.Be3 R6c3 26.Qd4 Qg6 27.Qe5 Rd3 28.Qg3 Qf6 29.h4 Re2 30.Qf4 Qc3 31.Rxe2 Qxa1+ 32.Kh2 Rd1 33.f3 Rh1+ 34.Kg3 Qf1 35.Rd2 Kh8 36.Rd8+ Bg8 37.Bf2 Qe2 38.Qxc7 Qe6 39.Qd6 Qf5 40.Bd4 Qh5 41.Qf4 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Edouard, Romain – Short, Nigel
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Qb3 Ba5 6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2 d6 8.O-O O-O 9.Rd1 h6 10.a3 Re8 11.Na2 a6 12.Bf4 b5 13.c5 g5 14.Nxg5 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 hxg5 16.Bxg5 Nbd7 17.Qf3 c6 18.b4 Bc7 19.e4 e5 20.d5 cxd5 21.c6 dxe4 22.Qf5 Qc8 23.cxd7 Nxd7 24.Rac1 Nb6 25.Qxe4 f5 26.Qh4 Nc4 27.Nc3 Bd8 28.Nd5 Re6 29.Qh5 Ra7 30.Bxd8 Qxd8 31.Qxf5 Rh6 32.Qe4 Rg7 33.Ne3 Nxe3+ 34.fxe3 Qd7 35.Qa8+ Kh7 36.Qe4+ Kh8 37.Kg1 Qh3 38.Qg2 Qg4 39.Rf1 Rg8 40.Qf3 Qg5 41.Rc6 Qg6 42.Qf5 Qg7 43.Rc8 Rg6 44.Qh3+ Qh7 45.Rxg8+ Rxg8 46.Qe6 Qg6 47.Rf6 Qg5 48.Kf2 e4 49.Qxd6 Kh7 50.Qe6 1-0

Simon called this a Smith-Morra Gambit, my engine calls it a Reti:

Round 9, Feb. 1, 2017
Esserman, Marc – Gopal, G.N.
A04 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 d3 4.e4 g6 5.Bxd3 Bg7 6.c4 d6 7.h3 Nf6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qd2 Nbd7 12.Rfe1 Rc8 13.Bh6 a6 14.Rad1 Re8 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.b4 Qc7 17.Rc1 e6 18.Qe3 Red8 19.Bf1 Qb8 20.Nd2 a5 21.a3 axb4 22.axb4 d5 23.cxd5 exd5 24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Nxd5 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Nxd5 27.Qb3 N7f6 28.Qb2 Kg8 29.Nf3 Rc8 30.Rxc8+ Qxc8 1/2-1/2

Marc is a fairly well-known American player (b. 1983). This from his Wikipedia bio:

In February 2016 Esserman competed in the Gibraltar Masters chess festival. There he defeated former World Championship Challenger Nigel Short. Later in the tournament, he had the opportunity to face 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand. As White, Esserman played his favorite Morra gambit. The game ended in a draw when the players agreed to a repetition of moves, but many commentators felt that Esserman could have won. A few weeks later in the Capelle-La-Grande international, Esserman defeated Grandmaster Yuri Vovk, again with the Morra Gambit, and drew World Champion Candidate Arthur Yusupov. In March 2016, during the Reykjavik Open, Esserman drew vs. world class Grandmasters Richard Rapport and Alexander Beliavsky.

(Standing and final round pairings to follow)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

February 1, 2017

Canadian Games from Round Eight

Gibraltar Masters 2017
Round 8, Jan. 31, 2017
Szabo, Bence – Spraggett, Kevin
E38 Nimzo-Indian, Classical

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Qc7 6.a3 Bxc5 7.b4 Be7 8.Nb5 Qc6 9.Nf3 d6 10.e4 a6 11.Nxd6+ Qxd6 12.e5 Qc7 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Bb2 Nd7 15.Rc1 a5 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Be2 axb4 18.axb4 b6 19.O-O Bb7 20.Rfd1 O-O 21.h3 h6 22.Qb3 Rfd8 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 Bxf3 26.Bxf3 Nd7 27.Be2 Kf8 28.Qd4 Ne5 29.Qc3 Nd7 30.Qd4 Ne5 31.Qc3 Nd7 32.Qd4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Jan. 31, 2017
Riff, Jean-Noel – Piasetski, Leon
B19 Caro-Kann, Classical, Spassky variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.O-O-O a5 13.Kb1 Bb4 14.c3 Be7 15.Qe2 Qb6 16.Rhe1 Qa6 17.c4 Bb4 18.Ne5 O-O 19.f4 c5 20.Ne4 cxd4 21.Nxf6+ Nxf6 22.g4 Rfd8 23.g5 hxg5 24.fxg5 Nd7 25.h6 Bxd2 26.hxg7 Bxe1 27.Qh5 Kxg7 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Rxe1 1-0

Round 8, Jan. 31, 2017
Weisbuch, Udi – Thavandiran, Shiyam
C09 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nb3 Be7 10.Bg5 O-O 11.h3 Be6 12.c3 Ne4 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Bd3 Rfe8 15.Re1 Rad8 16.Qe2 Bc8 17.Rad1 Qf6 18.Nbd4 Bd7 19.Qc2 Ng5 20.Nxg5 Qxg5 21.Nf3 Qh5 22.Be2 Bc8 23.Rd2 Rd6 24.Red1 Bxh3 25.gxh3 Rh6 26.Bf1 Qxf3 27.Bg2 Qf4 28.Rxd5 Rf6 29.Rd7 g6 30.Rxb7 Qh4 31.Rbd7 Re5 32.R7d5 Rff5 33.Rd6 Rg5 34.f4 Qxf4 35.Rxc6 Rxg2+ 36.Qxg2 Rg5 37.Rcd6 Qe3+ 38.Kh1 Rxg2 39.Kxg2 Qe2+ 40.Kg3 Qxb2 41.R1d3 Qxa2 42.R6d4 a5 43.c4 Qe2 44.Kf4 a4 45.Ra3 g5+ 46.Kf5 Qe6+ 0-1

Round 8, Jan. 31, 2017
Agbabishvili, Lali – Plotkin, Victor
D46 QGD, Semi-Slav, Bogolyubov variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e3 Be7 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.a3 a6 12.b4 Bd6 13.Bb2 b5 14.Be2 Bb7 15.h3 Rc8 16.Rfd1 Qe7 17.Qd2 Bb8 18.a4 bxa4 19.Nxa4 Rfd8 20.Qe1 Bd6 21.Nc5 Nxc5 22.bxc5 Bxc5 23.Bxa6 Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qe2 Bd5 26.Bc4 h6 27.Bxd5 Nxd5 28.Bd4 Bxd4 29.Nxd4 Qf6 30.Qf3 Qxf3 31.Nxf3 Nc3 32.g3 f6 33.Kg2 Ne4 34.Ra4 Nc5 35.Rc4 Nd3 36.Rd4 Rxd4 37.Nxd4 Kf7 38.h4 e5 39.Nf5 h5 40.f3 g6 41.Nd6+ Ke6 42.Ne4 f5 43.Ng5+ Ke7 44.Kf1 Nc5 45.Ke2 Ne6 46.Nh3 Kd6 47.Nf2 Kd5 48.g4 Nc5 49.gxh5 gxh5 50.Nh3 Ne6 51.Kf2 Nf8 52.Ng5 Ng6 53.e4+ fxe4 54.Nxe4 Kd4 55.Nf6 Nf4 56.Kg3 Ke3 57.Nd7 Ne2+ 58.Kg2 Kd4 59.Nf6 Nf4+ 60.Kf2 Kc5 61.Kg3 Kd6 62.Ne4+ Ke6 63.Ng5+ Kf5 64.Ne4 Nd5 65.Nd6+ Kg6 66.Ne4 Ne3 67.Ng5 Nf5+ 68.Kh3 Kf6 69.Ne4+ Ke7 70.Ng5 Kd6 71.Ne4+ Ke6 72.Ng5+ Kd5 73.Ne4 Kd4 74.Nf6 Ng7 75.Nd7 Ne8 76.Kg3 Kd5 77.Nb6+ Ke6 78.Kh3 Nd6 79.Kg3 Nf5+ 80.Kh3 Ne3 81.Kg3 Kd6 82.Na4 Kd5 83.Nc3+ Kd4 84.Ne4 Nf5+ 85.Kh3 Ke3 86.Ng5 Kf4 87.Nf7 Nd4 0-1

Round 8, Jan. 31, 2017
Press, Shaun – Day, Christopher
B18 Caro-Kann, Classical variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Bd3 Ngf6 8.O-O e6 9.b3 Be7 10.Bb2 O-O 11.Re1 c5 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.Qe2 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Qb6 15.Rad1 Rfd8 16.h3 Rac8 17.a3 a6 18.Rd2 Rc7 19.Red1 Rdc8 20.Kh1 Nb8 21.Nf3 Nc6 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.Qxe4 Bf6 24.Bxf6 gxf6 25.Qf4 Kg7 26.Kg1 Ne7 27.Ne1 Nd5 28.Qf3 Nc3 29.Ra1 Qc5 30.Qd3 Qe5 31.Rc1 Qa5 32.a4 Qb4 33.Ra1 Rc5 34.Qe3 Re5 35.Nd3 Rxe3 36.Nxb4 Re4 37.Nd3 Rd4 38.f3 e5 39.Re1 Rcd8 40.Kf1 a5 41.Rf2 b6 42.Kg1 Kh6 43.g3 R8d5 44.Kg2 Kg7 45.Nb2 Rd6 46.Nc4 Re6 47.Kf1 Kf8 48.Rd2 Rxd2 1/2-1/2

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

February 1, 2017

Round Nine

Standing after Round Nine

Rk. Name Pts.

1 Anton David 7.5
2 Nakamura H 7
3 MVL 7
4 Adams Michael 7
5 Yu Yangyi 7
6 Ju Wenjun 7
7 Cheparinov Ivan 7
8 Gelfand Boris 7
9 Edouard R 7
10 Howell David 6.5
11 Sutovsky Emil 6.5
12 Caruana Fabi 6.5
13 Topalov Veselin 6.5
14 Matlakov Maxim 6.5
15 Akobian V 6.5
16 Steinberg N 6.5
17 Fressinet L 6.5
18 Kovalenko Igor 6.5
19 Gledura Ben 6.5
20 Short Nigel D 6
21 Naiditsch Ark 6
22 Stefanova A 6
23 Vitiugov Nikita 6
24 Iturrizaga Ed 6
25 Sethuraman S.P. 6
26 Deac B-Daniel 6
27 Svidler Peter 6
28 Fridman Daniel 6
29 Hou Yifan 6
30 Piorun Kacper 6
31 Lagno Kateryna 6
32 Huzman Alex 6
33 Shankland S 6
34 Krysa Leandro 6
35 Lalith Babu M R 6
36 Donchenko Alex 6
37 Schroeder Ja 6
38 Ivanchuk Vassily 6
39 Libiszewski F 6
40 Istratescu A 6
41 Muzychuk M 6
42 Zatonskih Anna 6
85 Spraggett Kevin 5
128 Thavandiran S 4.5
133 Plotkin Victor 4.5
135 Piasetski Leon 4.5
189 Agbabishvili L 3.5
234 Day C 2.5


Final Round Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 Anton David 2650 7½ 7 Adams Michael 2751
2 Gelfand Boris 2721 7 7 MVL 2796
3 Edouard Romain 2613 7 7 Nakamura H 2785
4 Yu Yangyi 2738 7 7 Ju Wenjun 2583
5 Matlakov Maxim 2701 6½ 7 Cheparinov Ivan 2689
6 Caruana Fabi 2827 6½ 6½ Akobian V 2633
7 Gledura Ben 2589 6½ 6½ Topalov Veselin 2739
8 Sutovsky Emil 2628 6½ 6½ Kovalenko Igor 2684
9 Fressinet L 2660 6½ 6½ Howell David 2655
10 Short Nigel 2675 6 6½ Steinberg N 2486
11 Deac Daniel 2572 6 6 Ivanchuk Vassily 2752
12 Huzman Alex 2557 6 6 Svidler Peter 2748
13 Muzychuk M 2546 6 6 Vitiugov N 2724
14 Donchenko Alex 2559 6 6 Naiditsch Ar 2702
15 Lagno Kateryna 2530 6 6 Shankland Sam 2674
16 Libiszewski F 2545 6 6 Iturrizaga Ed 2652
17 Hou Yifan 2651 6 6 Lalith Babu 2587
18 Stefanova A 2512 6 6 Piorun Kacper 2651
19 Sethuraman S.P. 2637 6 6 Schroeder C 2550
20 Fridman Daniel 2594 6 6 Zatonskih Anna 2443
21 Krysa Leandro 2491 6 6 Istratescu A 2593
22 Santos Miguel 2484 5½ 5½ Zvjaginsev V 2679
23 Ganguly S 2657 5½ 5½ Salomon J 2470
24 Oparin Grigoriy 2625 5½ 5½ Esserman Marc 2468
25 Maze Sebastien 2613 5½ 5½ Ider Borya 2463
26 Debashis Das 2472 5½ 5½ Vocaturo D 2606
27 Riff Jean-Noel 2468 5½ 5½ Lagarde Maxime 2594
28 Gopal G.N. 2579 5½ 5½ Kantans Toms 2456
29 Javakhishvili L 2455 5½ 5½ Grigoriants S 2564
30 Muzychuk Anna 2558 5½ 5½ Zhukova Natalia 2447
31 Kantor Gergely 2448 5½ 5½ Del Rio Salvador 2527
32 Gunina Val 2524 5½ 5½ Sodoma Jan 2344
33 Sundararajan K 2420 5½ 5½ Lemos Damian 2516
34 Carlstedt Jon 2413 5½ 5½ Mikhalevski V 2504
35 Godart Francois 2381 5½ 5½ Cuenca F 2492
36 Dragnev Val 2492 5½ 5½ Henderson L 2380
37 Gupta Abhijeet 2645 5 5 Perez Garcia A 2398
38 Antipov Mikhail 2580 5 5 Batchimeg T 2390
39 Blomqvist Erik 2574 5 5 Tsolakidou S 2387
41 Paehtz Thomas 2365 5 5 Spraggett Kevin 2542
57 Kollars Dmitrij 2500 4½ 4½ Piasetski Leon 2327
65 Derakhshani D 2370 4½ 4½ Plotkin Victor 2253
66 Thavandiran S 2367 4½ 4½ Chan Kim Yew 2152
91 Cordes Joerg 2242 3½ 3½ Agbabishvili Lali 2095
111 Gamboa Leticia 1913 2½ 2½ Day Christopher 1760

The final round starts at 5 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time.

There may be playoffs after the conclusion of the round.

[Rene Preotu]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsV4...ature=youtu.be

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Hou Yifan gave away a point in her last game, arguing that she's been paired wrongly all the way through the tournament. Does she have any ground there? I don't follow the details of pairings enough.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsV4...ature=youtu.be

Very interesting. I have always thought Yifan (is that her first name??) is a classy lady and very intelligent. I admire her conviction to have the women's world championship format changed... I guess I missed the memo: what exactly happened to cause the kerfuffle that the video is talking about? I gather that she was paired with a seemingly astonishing number of women during the tournament and it seems that she simply blew off that game - did she just play like a child and lose deliberately or ?

I tend to agree with the view of the organizer that the pairings are made by the computer and surely the gender of the players is not one of the factors that would be considered. [we used to hear this sort of complaint about pairings between players from the same club or the same family etc and even when pairings were done by hand/human it was very difficult to take any of that into consideration...]

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

February 2, 2017

Round Ten

This was Hou Yifan’s last round game:

Gibraltar Masters 2017
Round 10, Feb. 2, 2017
Hou Yifan – Lalith, Babu
A00 Grob’s Attack

1.g4 d5 2.f3 e5 3.d3 Qh4+ 4.Kd2 h5 5.h3 hxg4 0-1

Hou Yifan felt that pairings were unfair and that this was the only way to protest. She had a 30-minute closed door meeting with the organizers and they let the tournament proceed to its end.

There are still games being played and then there will be a playoff at 17:00 CET which I make to be 11:00 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time.

At the moment the three leaders in the standings with 8 points each are David Anton Guijarro, Hikaru Nakamura and Yu Yangyi.
__________

Have the pairings been odd? This from chess.com

Among the "interesting" pairings for the final round is that the leader will take White, giving him six Whites and four Blacks despite opening with Black in the first round. Also, IM Anna Zatonskih, still in contention for a top women's prize, has to face her husband, GM Daniel Fridman.

The pairings are so interesting that FM Sunil Weeremantry, stepfather of Nakamura, filed an appeal. Appeals Committee Chairman Stewart Reuben said the appeal was denied. He explained that nearly every player on 7/9 was due Black, but Anton was due White. Reuben said the pairings maximize the number of correct colors, and the fact that Anton is the sole leader is immaterial to this maximization.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/anto...gibraltar-9809
________

From the English Chess Forum:

- Does anyone know the pairing rules being used? Casual observation suggests that in earlier rounds there have been more all female pairings than would otherwise have been expected.

- How long would it take to check the pairings for the whole tournament: (a) manually; and (b) using a computer paring program (not necessarily the one used, but if they are programmed the same way it shouldn't make a difference, should it)?

- Even if it was biased pairings why is Hou Yifan so upset she had to play so many women? There was a massive prize for the leading woman so she had a big say in who would win that prize. Her arguments make no sense at all, the claim that she threw the last round game for all women players is pathetic.

- Why do we need to make up reasons for her? Why not take her grievance at face value? You're not obliged to agree with her, but dismissing her sincerity out of hand is a bit much.
________

From: The Washington Post
Feb. 2, 2017
Marissa Payne

“What’s going on. What. Is. Going. On?” British grandmaster Simon Williams stammered out while watching China’s Hou Yifan’s effectively throw the game against a lower-ranked male competitor. “This is the first time I’ve been speechless in eight years.”

Williams, who quickly regained his voice, wondered if the 22-year-old Hou Yifan had “gone mental” or was “still drunk.”

“What the hell’s going on?” Williams added, narrating the five-time world champion’s opening moves. “It goes G4 — okay, that’s mental already — D5, F3! What the hell is that?!”

“I’ve done this kind of bet when I’ve been extremely drunk with some friends,” he continued. “I reckon Hou Yifan’s heard about this bet. . . . This is the kind of thing you’d see in primary school or from a very drunk person.”

Williams’s broadcast partner Jovanka Houska, a chess international master, luckily had a clue about what was actually happening.

“She must be upset with something,” Houska said. “I was discussing with her at dinnertime and she thought the pairings were very unfair towards her. She was a bit upset that she was playing seven women (in the 10-round mixed-sex tournament).”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7a063c3c8deb

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

- Why do we need to make up reasons for her? Why not take her grievance at face value? You're not obliged to agree with her, but dismissing her sincerity out of hand is a bit much.

Yeah, the way she threw away the game is telling a lot. But I'm waiting on more informed calls on the pairings issue.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

- Does anyone know the pairing rules being used?

and the last round has own rules...

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Yeah, the way she threw away the game is telling a lot. But I'm waiting on more informed calls on the pairings issue.

If to believe a comment on youtube:
"There are already news about an arbiter that re-ran the pairings for the four last rounds and got the exact same results as in the tournament. I don't know about somebody re-running the pairings of all rounds, but it's an easy (but time-consuming) task."

The interview word-version:http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.co...20FESTIVAL.pdf

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Thanks for the background info. I am not sure whether this information changes my view of Hou Yifan ... I still find her charming and intelligent :)
I can understand her annoyance but I am not sure it is as significant as she believes it is/was. Perhaps it depends on whether or not one is directly involved.
I would be interested in an analysis of the pairings to see if there is some bizarre computer tendency that was not known... although I doubt the computer would be aware of the gender of the player (perhaps WGM versus GM etc?) lol

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

Gibraltar 2017

February 2, 2017

Playoff

There has been a playoff between Hikaru Nakamura and Yu Yangyi. Yu was very equally matched with Hikaru. There were two draws. Hikaru won the third and then, having to win the fourth, Yu lost. That meant an extra four thousand pounds for Nakamura and proceeding to the final match against David Anton.

David was sitting in the lobby with Veselin Topalov and Fabiano Caruana waiting to see whom he would play.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

I would be interested in an analysis of the pairings to see if there is some bizarre computer tendency that was not known... although I doubt the computer would be aware of the gender of the player (perhaps WGM versus GM etc?) lol

you can download the SwissManager tournament file from http://www.chess-results.com/Downloa...:53&tnr=257693
and make your own pairings.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2017

75 ... Reuben Stewart *)
*) This player is assigned to a fixed board.

Is a reason known?