Saturday, May 11, 2013

Fifth International Alexander the Great Open Tournament

The Alexander the Great International Open is part of the Games Festival and takes place May 7 -12, 2013 (website):

Standings after Round 6 -- check this out -- four chess femmes in the top 10:

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1WGMSukandar Irine KharismaINA23705.50.022.020.00
2 IM Erdogdu Mert TUR 2422 5.0 0.0 20.0 16.00
3 IM Sapar Emelbek KGZ 2339 4.5 0.5 23.0 15.25
4 IM Miljkovic Miroslav D SRB 2471 4.5 0.5 20.0 14.50
5IMKlinova MashaISR23164.00.024.515.00
6 IM Itkis Boris ROU 2395 4.0 0.0 22.0 13.25
7 GM Tadic Branko SRB 2517 4.0 0.0 20.5 12.00
8 IM Arsovic Zoran SRB 2434 4.0 0.0 20.5 11.50
9WGMStojanovic AndjelijaSRB22824.00.018.511.25
10WIMDjukic SandraSRB21994.00.018.511.00
11 GM Antic Dejan SRB 2473 4.0 0.0 18.0 11.75
12 Asgarov Mushfig AZE 2226 3.5 0.0 20.5 9.75
13 Husseinov Shahin AZE 2193 3.5 0.0 20.0 8.75
14 FM Nina Miguel Angel PER 2284 3.5 0.0 19.5 9.00
15WIMDrljevic LjiljaSRB21743.50.017.58.25
16 Tsarouhas Vasilios GRE 2173 3.5 0.0 17.0 7.75
17 Katapodis Gerasimos GRE 1849 3.5 0.0 17.0 6.00
18 Lekatis Ioannis GRE 1687 3.5 0.0 15.5 7.75
19 Dorfanis Ilarion GRE 2184 3.0 0.0 22.5 9.00
20 Avagianos Simeon GRE 2027 3.0 0.0 21.5 10.25
21 Ladopoulos Dimitrios GRE 2100 3.0 0.0 17.0 6.00
22 Yepez Duran Julio Abrahan VEN 1762 3.0 0.0 16.0 6.50
23 Altaher Tarek Ali UAE 1883 3.0 0.0 16.0 6.00
24 Tuzhba Konstantin RUS 1932 3.0 0.0 15.5 4.00
25 Mitrou Vasiliki GRE 1707 2.5 0.0 19.0 6.25
26 Tserendorj Batsaikhan USA 2074 2.5 0.0 17.5 5.25
27 Grapsa Georgia GRE 1997 2.5 0.0 17.5 5.25
28 Kakushadze Ilia GRE 2046 2.5 0.0 17.0 4.50
29 Shadykul Darkhan KAZ 0 2.5 0.0 14.5 5.00
30WGMStrutinskaya Galina NRUS23162.00.018.55.50
31 Davaademberel Purevdorj MGL 0 2.0 0.0 17.0 4.50
32 David Dorian-Ciprian ROU 1721 2.0 0.0 16.5 3.50
Kourtesis Dimos GRE 1569 2.0 0.0 16.5 3.50
34 Stavropoulos Aris GRE 0 2.0 0.0 15.5 4.00
35 Zygourakis Themistoklis GRE 1616 2.0 0.0 15.0 3.00
36 Tepelidis Savvas GRE 0 2.0 0.0 14.5 2.50
37 Tsakouridis Georgios GRE 1425 1.0 0.0 16.5 1.50
38Mohammadi Matin NedaIRI01.00.014.51.50
39Mendez-Gasarjian JacquelinVEN01.00.014.50.50
40 Mohammadi Matin Hossein IRI 0 0.5 0.0 12.0 1.00
41 Hernandez Bermudez Ulises VEN 2038 0.0 0.0 14.0 0.00
42 FM Rios Parra Mauricio COL 2297 0.0 0.0 13.5 0.00
WCMAl-Maghbali ShamaUAE15990.00.013.50.00
Al Dhaffari SalmaUAE15730.00.013.50.00
Al- Meghbali Ahmed UAE 0 0.0 0.0 13.5 0.00
Mahalati Rayeni Nahid IRI 0 0.0 0.0 13.5 0.00

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Direct Encounter (The results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break2: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break3: Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break variable

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championships: Round 8

5:10 p.m.

Been watching and listening to live coverage of R8.  The U.S. Championship is going to be fireworks tomorrow, for sure.  And for the chess femmes, are are results thus far:

Sabina Foisor - Viktorija Ni (...Rg8 41. Qxe6) 1 - 0
Iryna Zenyuk - Anna Zatonskih (39. Rxg2 Qxe1) 0 -1

As expected, Zatonskih took a full point from Zenyuk, and now must wait for the outcome of the Abrahamyan - Krush game to see where she stands going into Round 9!

Yet to be finished for the ladies:

Tatev Abrahamyan - Irina Krush (through move 49))
Camilla Baginskaite - Sarah Chiang (white through move 46)
Alena Kats - Anjelina Belakovskaia (white through move 43)

Stay tuned!  Something tells me my hair is going to go several shades of grey while I wait for the denoument of R8!

Updated 5:23 p.m.

Holy Hathor!  Update - Krush has defeated Abrahamyan.  Abrahamyan evidently resigned before making her 51st move.

Updated 6:11 p.m.

Camilla Baginskaite - Sarah Chiang (...Ka1 69. f6) 1 -0
Alena Kata 0 Anjelina Belakovskaia (...Kh8 68. f7) 1 -0

Updated 6:17 p.m.

Hola darlings!  Here are the official results for R8:

TableWhiteScoreRatingBlackScoreRatingResult
1WGM Foisor, Sabina2.52300WIM Ni, Viktorija2.022621-0
2WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.52280IM Krush, Irina6.524700-1
3WGM Baginskaite, Camilla3.02278WFM Chiang, Sarah1.520981-0
4WFM Kats, Alena2.02144WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.522631-0
5WIM Zenyuk, Iryna4.02243IM Zatonskih, Anna5.524660-1

Here are the women's standings after R8:

RankNameScoreM/FRatingTPRW-We12345678
1IM Krush, Irina7.5F24702704+1.4311111½11
2IM Zatonskih, Anna6.5F24662508+0.471101½111
3WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.5F22802424+1.5311½1½1½0
4WGM Baginskaite, Camilla4.0F22782257-0.24½01½½0½1
5WIM Zenyuk, Iryna4.0F22432287+0.451010½½10
6WGM Foisor, Sabina3.5F23002212-0.9900011½01
7WFM Kats, Alena3.0F21442233+0.770½½½0½01
8WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.5F22632146-1.26011000½0
9WIM Ni, Viktorija2.0F22622090-1.81½½001000
10WFM Chiang, Sarah1.5F20982064-0.35000001½0

And the pairings for the final round of regulation play tomorrow:

TableWhiteScoreRatingBlackScoreRatingResult
1IM Zatonskih, Anna6.52466WGM Foisor, Sabina3.52300
2WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.52263WIM Zenyuk, Iryna4.02243
3WFM Chiang, Sarah1.52098WFM Kats, Alena3.02144
4IM Krush, Irina7.52470WGM Baginskaite, Camilla4.02278
5WIM Ni, Viktorija2.02262WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.52280

Krush needs only a draw against Baginskaite tomorrow to secure first place because she will have 8.0.  Baginskaite would have to defeat Krush  and Zatonskih would have to win her game against Sabine Foisor in order to force a play-off.  All of this gets too complicated for me!  I'm content to just wait and see what develops tomorrow. I will say this:  barring some unforeseen horrible collapse, I just do not see Krush losing her R9 game, and no offense intended against Camilla Baginskaite.

I will once again have both laptops going tomorrow: one tuned into the live coverage at USchesschamps.com and one where I can be doing other things.

Predictions:

Oh hell, I'm so lousy at this, but I'm going to do it anyway:

Zatonskih over Foisor
Belakovskaia draws with Zenyuk
Chiang draws with Kats
Krush over Baginskaite
Ni loses to Abrahamyan

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva Rounds 7 and 8

Results of yesterday's matches:

Round 7 on 2013/05/10 at 14:00
SNo.NameRtgRes.NameRtgSNo.
4WGMTuvshintugs Batchimeg22980 - 1GMAlexandra Kosteniuk249112
5GMViktorija Cmilyte25220 - 1IMBela Khotenashvili25053
6GMAnna Muzychuk25851 - 0GMTatiana Kosintseva25172
7WGMOlga Girya24630 - 1GMNana Dzagnidze25451
8GMKateryna Lagno25480 - 1GMYifan Hou261711
9GMAnna Ushenina24910 - 1WGMWenjun Ju254410

Results of today's matches:

Round 8 on 2013/05/11 at 14:00
SNo.NameRtgRes.NameRtgSNo.
12GMAlexandra Kosteniuk24911 - 0WGMWenjun Ju254410
11GMYifan Hou26170 - 1GMAnna Ushenina24919
1GMNana Dzagnidze25450 - 1GMKateryna Lagno25488
2GMTatiana Kosintseva25171 - 0WGMOlga Girya24637
3IMBela Khotenashvili2505½ - ½GMAnna Muzychuk25856
4WGMTuvshintugs Batchimeg2298½ - ½GMViktorija Cmilyte25225

Holy Hathor!  Kosteniuk making a late move, winning her second game in a row!  Hou Yifan losing to Ushenina (?)!  Other than in events where primarily male players were participating, when has Hou ever lost 3 games in an event?  Lahno defeating Dzagnidze with the black pieces!  What's going on in Geneva?  More importantly, what's in the water - and can I get some of that here in Milwaukee?

Standings after Round 8:

RankSNo.NameRtgFED123456789101112PtsRes.vict
13IMBela Khotenashvili2505GEO*½0101111½5
26GMAnna Muzychuk2585SLO½*½1½½1½1½3
38GMKateryna Lagno2548UKR½*½½011½1503
42GMTatiana Kosintseva2517RUS10*½½½½11503
510WGMWenjun Ju2544CHN0½½*101½113
69GMAnna Ushenina2491UKR½½0*11½½½02
711GMYifan Hou2617CHN101½0*01½403
81GMNana Dzagnidze2545GEO0½0½*½1½1402
912GMAlexandra Kosteniuk2491RUS00½10½*1½02
104WGMTuvshintugs Batchimeg2298MGL0½0½100*½½1
115GMViktorija Cmilyte2522LTU0½0½½0½½*½0
127WGMOlga Girya2463RUS0000½½0½*00

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix Geneva: Round 8 Hou Yivan v. Anna Ushenina.

May 12th is a much needed rest day before the final two rounds. 

The only player left who has not suffered a loss thus far is Anna Muzychuk.  This is a gem of a tournament, to my way of thinking.  No one is running away with it (although, in the tradition of other fabulous Georgian chessplayers, Khotenashvili is looking more and more solid as the tournament goes on), and several "upsets."  Wish I could play a tenth as well, but darlings, I'm hopeless.  Last night I resigned a game before move 12 (with the black pieces) when I was checked with a knight on the back row and would lose a rook next move.  Hopeless.  I'm hopeless. 

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Round 7

It was ladies' night out last night, so I'm catching up today by listening to a recording of yesterday's live action.  Here are the results R7 and standings after R7:

TableWhiteScoreRatingBlackScoreRatingResult
1WIM Zenyuk, Iryna3.02243WGM Foisor, Sabina2.523001-0
2IM Zatonskih, Anna4.52466WFM Kats, Alena2.021441-0
3WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.02263WGM Baginskaite, Camilla2.52278½-½
4WFM Chiang, Sarah1.02098WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.02280½-½
5IM Krush, Irina5.52470WIM Ni, Viktorija2.022621-0

RankNameScoreM/FRatingTPRW-We1234567
1IM Krush, Irina6.5F24702679+1.1811111½1
2IM Zatonskih, Anna5.5F24662489+0.251101½11
3WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.5F22802486+1.7811½1½1½
4WIM Zenyuk, Iryna4.0F22432312+0.671010½½1
5WGM Baginskaite, Camilla3.0F22782230-0.50½01½½0½
6WGM Foisor, Sabina2.5F23002152-1.4400011½0
7WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.5F22632206-0.60011000½
8WIM Ni, Viktorija2.0F22622122-1.36½½00100
9WFM Kats, Alena2.0F21442170+0.110½½½0½0
10WFM Chiang, Sarah1.5F20982091-0.09000001½

Krush back to form with a win, Zatonskih had to work hard for her victory over Alena Kats but won the point with white in the end, to move 1 point back of the lead and moved into second place over Abrahamyan, who dropped to third after drawing her game with Sarah Chiang (according to the live commentary at one point GM Yasser Seirawan really liked Abrahamyan's chances of winning the game, so -- something happened -- but perhaps after her win yesterday Chiang has got over a big psychological barrier and is now playing up to her full potential).  Belakovskaia and Baginskaite drew their game in 31 moves. 

I didn't expect to see a draw in Krush's game (which I didn't), and I didn't expect to see a draw in Abrahamyan's game, either; I was surprised there!  Obviously this has big implications for today's R8 where Krush and Abrahamyan will face off against each other.

Let's take a look at R8 match-ups:

TableWhiteScoreRatingBlackScoreRatingResult
1WGM Foisor, Sabina2.52300WIM Ni, Viktorija2.02262
2WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev5.52280IM Krush, Irina6.52470
3WGM Baginskaite, Camilla3.02278WFM Chiang, Sarah1.52098
4WFM Kats, Alena2.02144WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina2.52263
5WIM Zenyuk, Iryna4.02243IM Zatonskih, Anna5.52466

The games I'll be following are Abrahamyan v. Krush and Zenyuk v. Zatonskih.  Realistically, one would expect both Krush and Zatonskih to win their respective games despite playing with the black pieces. Both championships, however, have thrown up interesting surprises (like Kamsky's and Onischuk's draws yesterday), and my score as a prognosticator isn't very good, darlings :)  So I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the action on live coverage for R8 while continuing my house-cleaning blitz.

I will also be paying attention to the women's lower boards as the ladies on the bottom half of the scoreboard will be fighing for every increment of prize money.

And the Goddesschess Fighting Spirit (Fighting Chess) Prize of $500 is up for grabs.  The women are NOT making it easy to select a winner, let me tell you!
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