R4 Impressions

GM Yuriy Kuzubov

     Four rounds are already behind in the EICC in Minsk. Only one player is on 100%- GM Yuriy
Kuzubov of Ukraine, with many players following with 3,5p/4. There were some very interesting games yesterday. I will show some fragments of the games which have impressed me the most.

     Russian GM- Maxim Matlakov showed a really impressive level of preparation vs Pavel Ponkratov. I have the feeling that it was a very well placed opening trap. My engine is going nuts in the following position, giving a big advantage for black. After I play it's first line- it says it's already equality, to finally give an advantage for white after some good minutes of thinking:

Black to move

     The last move was 11.h4. Black answered with 11...gxh4 12. Qg4- Be5 13. Ne4- all first line moves, after which white has a big advantage. What can I say? This is the risk of playing sidelines nowadays- you never know where a novelty is hidden, one that will simply end the life of your sideline. The game continued a few moves, but the fight was basically over already here.
   
     Another really surprising game was the one won by the Greek GM- Mastrovasilis Dimitrios vs GM Andrei Volokitin- a well known Ukrainian GM who is known to have a deep knowledge in all kind of Sicilians along with a very sharp style of playing. It seems that he either forgot or was unaware of a nice opening trick:

White to move

     At the first glance- it seems that white is in trouble, his knight on "c3" being pinned and the bishop on "b5" seemingly unstable as well. The move that followed solves all white's issues and even puts black in some serious trouble. 7.Rb1! - there are already a few games played in this position with white having an almost 100% score. This "mysterious" move is meant to protect the bishop on "b5" after an eventual capture on "c3". A really aesthetic move! 7...a6 8. Bxd7- Bxd7 9. 0-0 - Nxc3 10. bxc3- e6 11. d5!

Black to move

     White has a decisive attack, which the Greek GM successfully converted into a full point a few moves later.

     I guess it is enough with illustrating opening disasters... My point is that even at the top boards of the ECC, which implies top GMs such things are possible. Remembering some of my recent upsets from the EIWCC, I feel it's not only "women who make these kind of mistakes".

     As about the Romanian players, GM Constantin Lupulescu played a book-like game until the very last moves where, being in time trouble he missed some nice tactics which would win the game immediately, giving away the whole advantage some moves later and having to settle with a draw...

White to move

          White could play  57. Nc6! here, the point is that after 57... bxc6 58. dxc6- black's bishop can not go away because of 59. Rxh7 followed by 60.c7 +-

          Instead, white played 57. Ke2- fxe4 53. Qxe4? (it was important to give an inttermediate check- 54.Rg1+! first, only after that capturing on "e4" with a winning position) 53...Rg7!. Objectively, black is still worse, but being in time trouble, white's king already feels endangered and it's not that easy to understand how is the position after 54. Nxb7, which is engine's first choice.

          White played 54. Kd2? instead- giving away the whole advantage. A draw was agreed because after 54... Qg5+, followed by 55...Qxh5 black is already not worse.

           A big miss for our player who could have made it to +3 if winning this game.

      If we can say he was unlucky, the Romanian IM Mihnea Costachi definitely had Caissa on his side, with his opponent- GM Daniele Vocaturo- blundering a whole exchange in a better position.

Black to play

IM Mihnea Costachi

      The opening stage did not go that well for white, thus black has a pawn up on "c7". After an eventual 22...Re7, protecting it, black is still better, white would have some compensation for the pawn, but it would have to be proved if that was enough. Instead, black played 22...c5, blundering  23. Nb6 which left him an exchange down. Our player played precisely to convert his material advantage into a full point.

     GM Bogdan Deac  won in nice style vs his lower rated opponent, climbing to a solid +2 as well. GM Mircea Parligras has had a slow start, drawing all his games.

     IM Vladimir Hamitevici of Moldova won a nice game with black vs the Russian GM Boris Savchenko. It was a very intstructive game played in the Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence:

Black to move

     In this double-edged position, it seems to me that black is faster in his attack 12...f6! 13. exf6- Ng6 14. c4- Nxf6 15. Rc1- g4, with a dangerous attack with which white was unable to cope.

     GM Dmitry Svetushkin blundered in a totally winning position, having to settle for a draw and remaining on +1.

     Concluding, R IV of the EICC in Minsk was a very interesting one to follow, with many things to learn. 

     I wish all our players the best of luck for the 5th round and to give their best before tomorrow's free day!

EICC in Minsk

     The European Individual Chess Championship is in progress these days in Minsk.

GM Constantin Lupulescu

     At some point, I considered participating myself, but my schedule will be very tight this summer and I thought such a serious tournament would take too much energy and preparation. Otherwise, this has been my favorite tournament to play for some years in a row, as it is the strongest Open in Europe and a player like me never gets to play vs such strong opponents in every round.
     Romania is represented by GM Constantin Lupulescu (2/2p), GM Bogdan Deac (1,5/2p) , GM Mircea Parligras (1p/2) and IM Mihnea Costachi (1p/2).
     The toughest battles are still ahead....
   
     I liked yesterday's game of GM Lupulescu vs IM Moskalenko, as it was a perfect demonstration of  how the pair of bishops dominates the board! You can see it yourself in the diagrams below:

Black to move

     Black decided to take 18...Bxc3, giving  white the advantage of having the pair of bishops. While I can understand that something went wrong for black in the opening stage and the positions is already unpleasant, I believe that this move is definitely not the way to continue the fight.
   

White to move

      White is clearly better and goes on in creating another weakness in black's position 33.h5, followed by 34. h6. While it's not engine's first choice, for the human understanding it looks like the most logical way to make the advantage decisive.

GM Dmitry Svetushkin

     GM Dimtry Svetushkin of Moldova also played a high quality game to make a draw with black vs the N.3 favorite of the tournament- GM Dmitry Jakovenko. It was a Spanish, Anti-Marshall System, where black solved all his opening problems and I think was even somewhat better in the final position, where the draw was agreed. You can judge yourself:

White to move

     Black has just played 11... Nd8!- following his idea which began with his 10th move - Qd7, to play "c5" and then to prepare slowly "d5", taking control in the center. He illustrated it perfectly in the game:

Black to move

     This is the position where the draw was agreed. Black has achieved all of his goals, taking control in the center, getting some space advantage and placing all of his pieces harmoniously. I guess that the endgame after the queen exchange should be more pleasant for black to play.

Here are the pairings for today's round: R3 

   
     I wish all the Romanian and Moldavian players participating good luck in today's 3rd Round and I hope to see some interesting fights!

Interview with GM Constantin Lupulescu aka "The Wolf"

1. Hi, Constantin! First of all, let me congratulate you with sharing the 1^st place at the European Individual Chess Championship in Legnica! How do you feel about it, do you think you could have achieved more?

     

     Hi, Irina, thank you! Well, I think if I could achieve  more- it had to be in my game against Moiseenko. I played quite uninspired and I was slightly worse for some time but right after the time trouble I had a powerful  41.g5 that would have given me a big advantage. I totally missed the idea which the engine shows immediately.  Of course everyone can hit space and become an expert after the game so I guess I cannot complain with my +5 finish.

2. Which were the critical moments of the tournament, the ones where you felt confident in your chess and the ones which made you worry the most?

         

      Actually the first time when I really worried was right in the first round against a 2400 player. I got a bad position and it was enough for him just to play normal moves to get a big advantage. Luckily, he went for a “winning” combination and eventually the game ended in a draw. After that I started playing really well with nice attacking games. I think I felt most confident in my game against Fedorchuk, it was that game when I started to think that I could achieve more than just qualification.

3. Your best Elo was 2657, in November 2011, since then you dropped it to 2603 in May 2012 and you’re raising it again this year, with a live Elo of 2655 now.  Do you see yourself as a 2700+ player in the near future?

     As you said it was really not difficult to lose more than 50 points so I try not to be bothered by rating anymore. I will just try to play good chess.

4. Which qualities should a chess player have in order to become a strong  Grand Master?

         

     It's not so easy to give a clear recipe but basically I think you need a lot of hard work and determination and this is of course possible only if you really like chess. :)

5. When was the moment when you’ve decided that chess is the thing that you want to do for  your whole life?

         Since I was quite young I enjoyed playing chess much more than the subjects I had in school. I started to go in a lot of tournaments and I began having good results. After a while playing chess for a career was just the natural thing to do.

Constantin playing vs Dieter

6. You played on the 1^st board in the last team events, leading the team to a great result -8^th place at the last Olympiad in Istanbul, 2012. What do you think about the absence of Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in the last team events?

     We also got 9^th place on the European Team Championship in 2011 in Greece. Well I didn't play particularly well but somehow the team managed to get very good results. But of course, having again in the team someone like Dieter Nisipeanu, with a 2700+ level understanding and also with good leadership skills surely would be very nice.

7. What is your opinion on the latest cheating “trend”? Do you have any ideas of how to fight against it?

     I think nowadays it became easier and easier to cheat as even a smart-phone can play at a very high level. Of course I am not an anti-cheating expert but I think there should be taken the minimum measures to at least discourage the most primitive cheaters (like the jamming devices they already use against students cheating in some universities).

8. The match Carlsen-Anand, on whom would you bet your money and why?

      

     I think that if Anand gets back some of his motivation it will not be as easy for Carlsen as most people expect. Nevertheless, I think that the odds would still tip in Carlsen's favour.

9. What are your goals for the future?

        

     Even after a good tournament like the one I had you still discover a lot of faults. So I would really like to improve my play in the areas I feel it's lacking.

10. Which things do you like besides chess?

         

     Whenever I get the chance I like to spend some time with my family and friends. Although I am not really an expert- I like playing some table tennis and some pool from time to time. However, I would like to have more time to visit the places where I travel to play chess.

11. What are the things that motivate you to be better or who are the persons who inspire you for greatness?

           

     A strong tournament like the Europeans always motivates me a lot. Although usually I had the starting rank around 80 and more I was very close to qualify in 2007, 2008 while I qualified in 2009, 2011 and 2013. I don't have someone particularly in mind but I usually try to be around optimist and honest people. It always lifts my mood to be among persons like that.

12. Why have you chosen living a life of a chess player- always travelling-never home, do you ever regret making this choice?

       I like that in chess compared to a regular job you get an immediate feedback of your abilities and skills. If you miss-evaluate yourself, your opponent brings you down on earth immediately. I also like that I can travel to a lot of places and meet a lot of interesting people. Of course sometimes I cannot be at home on Christmas or Easter (like it was last year when I played Al Ain in late December and now the European Championship) but I think these troubles are outweighed by the opportunities I am offered.

13. You’ve become Romanian Champion earlier this year, now this great result at the EICC, what is the recipe of your success ?

    2012 was really not a good year for me as a chess player but I learned a lot from my mistakes and after some hard work I started to have good results again.

14. How do you recover after a painful loss during an important tournament?

  I think it's important to try to relax somehow in order to forget a little bit about the tournament after such games. But what I think that is the most important it's having a good sleep after such losses; which as the most chess players know, is much easier said than done. Always when you're half asleep a position comes back to haunt you. However, a bad sleep after a painful loss is like a time trouble in a bad position – hard to give a good advice anymore.

15. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

    I will probably be at the peak of my chess career. I will also, most likely, be already teaching chess for some time. And of course with a nice family. :)

Closing Ceremony

     The tournament is over and the most of us already got home.
     My finish wasn't very successful, as I lost the last 2 rounds... Well, the most important thing- getting over 2400 has been achieved anyways, but still- it left me with a bitter taste.
     The new European Champion is Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine, with 8p/11. He lost against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the last round, but it made no difference. Nine other players got the same number of points, but they were worse on coeffcient:

1		GM	MOISEENKO Alexander	UKR	2698	8.0	2643	71.5	72.0	6	2714	10	13.4
2		GM	ALEKSEEV Evgeny	RUS	2700	8.0	2639	72.0	76.0	5	2800	10	13.9
3		GM	ROMANOV Evgeny	RUS	2640	8.0	2637	73.0	78.5	6	2789	10	21.8
4		GM	BELIAVSKY Alexander G	SLO	2628	8.0	2629	68.5	73.5	5	2783	10	22.5
5		GM	LUPULESCU Constantin	ROU	2634	8.0	2624	69.5	74.5	5	2778	10	21.0
6		GM	VALLEJO PONS Francisco	ESP	2695	8.0	2613	68.0	73.5	5	2776	10	11.0
7		GM	MOVSESIAN Sergei	ARM	2693	8.0	2606	66.0	71.0	5	2769	10	10.3
8		GM	NEPOMNIACHTCHI Ian	RUS	2710	8.0	2596	65.0	70.0	5	2763	10	6.8
9		GM	DREEV Aleksey	RUS	2654	8.0	2594	68.0	73.0	5	2754	10	13.9
10		GM	MELKUMYAN Hrant	ARM	2622	8.0	2551	64.5	69.0	6	2709	10	12.5

     Constantin Lupulescu had a very good performance- sharing the 1st place, but being a bit unlucky and taking the 5th place. It is the best result which he has achieved so far and I wish him a lot of luck in the World Cup, which will take place in Norway, in August.

     Here are some photos from the closing ceremony:

While listening to the anthem of Ukraine- Alexander had some tears in his eyes

Taking photos during the closing ceremony

Katerina Pavlidou, Anna Iwanow and me (from right to left)

A very interesting dancing performance by some local artists

The trophees waiting for their winners

Katerina and Anna

Alexander Moiseenko, Evgeny Alekseev and Evgeny Romanov-getting their medals and checks

Anna Iwanow receiving a Performance prize 

Bogdan Deac- getting the 4th prize in the Performance category

      Here you can find the final results of all the Romanians:

21	GM	NISIPEANU Liviu-Dieter	2679	ROU	0	1	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	1	6.5	83	2574	10	-14.40
54	GM	LUPULESCU Constantin	2634	ROU	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	½	8.0	5	2778	10	21.00
102	GM	PARLIGRAS Mircea-Emilian	2570	ROU	½	1	0	1	1	½	½	½	0	0	1	6.0	110	2531	10	-4.60
112	GM	JIANU Vlad-Cristian	2555	ROU	1	½	0	1	½	½	0	1	½	½	½	6.0	98	2588	10	5.30
142	IM	ARDELEAN George-Catalin	2510	ROU	1	0	1	½	0	½	1	0	1	0	½	5.5	154	2465	10	-5.40
175	IM	ANTON Teodor	2441	ROU	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	½	5.5	160	2418	10	-3.10
199	WGM	BULMAGA Irina	2393	ROU	0	1	0	1	½	1	0	½	1	0	0	5.0	174	2432	15	10.05
201	IM	MANEA Alexandru	2389	ROU	½	0	1	½	½	0	½	0	½	1	0	4.5	203	2394	10	0.10
211	IM	PETRISOR Adrian-Marian	2378	ROU	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	½	0	4.5	212	2337	10	-3.90
219	FM	POSEDARU Bogdan	2339	ROU	½	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	1	0	1	4.0	249	2143	15	-42.00
220		STANCIU Alexandru-Ovidiu	2335	ROU	1	0	0	0	½	1	½	1	0	0	1	5.0	185	2385	15	10.80
259		DEAC Bogdan-Daniel	2183	ROU	0	0	½	½	1	½	1	1	0	0	½	5.0	186	2403	15	43.35

     I enjoyed the tournament a lot and I wish I would have the possibility to play only these kind of strong tournaments. I think that this is the best way to get a stronger player and this is the thing I want the most- to become a really strong GM!

xoxo from Romania ;)

International Master!

Here's a caricature of Duda Jan-Krysztof and me :D

     There are only 2 more rounds to go.
     Yesterday was a very good day for me- I won unexpectedly with black against Maiorov Nikita (2535). I went for a forced line-sacrificing a pawn. I got some compensation and a very unclear position. He had a nice rescource which the both of us missed even when analyzing. If he would have found it I would have had a very,very dubious position... I guess that the fate was on my side. You can see the game here:


     This way- I made another IM double norm, so I already have 6 IM norms! I have also assured getting over 2400, no matter of how the last 2 rounds will go. So, I am officially International Master!

Name	BULMAGA Irina
Title	WGM
Starting rank	199
Rating	2393
Rating national	0
Rating international	2393
Ratingperformance	2497
FIDE rtg +/-	19.6
Points	5
Rank	116
Federation	ROU
Ident-Number	0
Fide-ID	13903063

1	56	57	GM	HRACEK Zbynek	2628	CZE	6.5	s 0	15	-3.15
2	131	276		PAVLICEK Miroslav	2014	CZE	2.5	w 1	15	1.35
3	85	125	GM	PAP Gyula	2539	HUN	4.5	s 0	15	-4.50
4	116	254		LEIBER Bernard	2209	GER	3.0	w 1	15	3.90
5	74	115	GM	GRITSAK Orest	2549	UKR	5.0	s ½	15	3.15
6	81	127	IM	PRIZANT Jaroslav	2537	RUS	4.0	w 1	15	10.35
7	61	103	GM	RUCK Robert	2570	HUN	5.0	s 0	15	-4.05
8	81	144	IM	DUDA Jan-Krzysztof	2506	POL	4.5	w ½	15	2.25
9	76	128	GM	MAIOROV Nikita	2535	BLR	4.0	s 1	15	10.35
10	56	95	GM	GRIGORIANTS Sergey	2579	RUS	5.0	w

     I play against Grigoriants Sergey today (2579) with white. I hope to play well!
     Alexander Moiseenko is still leading the tournament with 7,5p/9. He made a draw against Constantin Lupulescu yesterday and will face Anton Korobov with white today.
     Here is the ranking list after the 9th round:

1		GM	MOISEENKO Alexander	UKR	2698	7.5	2627	47.0	47.5	6	2775	10	18.1
2		GM	ALEKSEEV Evgeny	RUS	2700	7.0	2631	48.0	52.0	5	2835	10	14.7
3		GM	LUPULESCU Constantin	ROU	2634	7.0	2605	46.0	50.5	5	2801	10	19.1
4		GM	KOROBOV Anton	UKR	2705	6.5	2620	45.5	48.5	5	2772	10	8.0
5		GM	LYSYJ Igor	RUS	2641	6.5	2617	45.5	49.5	4	2761	10	14.5
6		GM	BELIAVSKY Alexander G	SLO	2628	6.5	2613	45.5	49.5	4	2755	10	15.7
7		GM	VALLEJO PONS Francisco	ESP	2695	6.5	2607	46.0	50.5	4	2758	10	7.6
8		GM	MOVSESIAN Sergei	ARM	2693	6.5	2604	42.5	45.5	4	2756	10	7.4
9		GM	ARESHCHENKO Alexander	UKR	2709	6.5	2603	47.0	51.0	5	2757	10	5.9
10		GM	DREEV Aleksey	RUS	2654	6.5	2599	45.0	49.5	4	2747	10	11.1
11		GM	BALOGH Csaba	HUN	2644	6.5	2577	43.0	47.0	4	2718	10	7.6
12		GM	NAVARA David	CZE	2697	6.5	2577	41.5	45.0	4	2733	10	4.6
13		IM	KOVALEV Vladislav	BLR	2523	6.5	2571	42.5	45.0	5	2673	10	21.1
14		GM	HRACEK Zbynek	CZE	2628	6.5	2569	43.0	47.5	4	2714	10	10.9
15		GM	LAZNICKA Viktor	CZE	2679	6.5	2559	42.5	46.5	4	2715	10	4.6
16		GM	ZHIGALKO Andrey	BLR	2603	6.5	2557	40.0	43.0	5	2699	10	12.3
17		GM	ISTRATESCU Andrei	FRA	2651	6.5	2541	40.5	44.5	4	2694	10	5.4
18		GM	MELKUMYAN Hrant	ARM	2622	6.5	2527	40.5	44.5	5	2675	10	6.8
19		GM	MAMEDOV Nidjat	AZE	2602	6.5	2470	37.5	41.5	6	2620	10	3.1
20		GM	TKACHIEV Vladislav	FRA	2632	6.0	2646	46.0	50.0	3	2741	10	11.7

     Constantin Lupulescu has doubled white again and will play against Evgeny Alekseev. You can follow the live games here: http://www.eicc2013.pl/index.php/live
     Here are the pairings of all the Romanians:

10	2	54		GM	LUPULESCU Constantin	2634	7		7	GM	ALEKSEEV Evgeny	2700		11
10	46	130		GM	GABUZYAN Hovhannes	2532	5		5	GM	NISIPEANU Liviu-Dieter	2679		21
10	52	142		IM	ARDELEAN George-Catalin	2510	5		5	GM	HOVHANNISYAN Robert	2607		75
10	56	199		WGM	BULMAGA Irina	2393	5		5	GM	GRIGORIANTS Sergey	2579		95
10	57	102		GM	PARLIGRAS Mircea-Emilian	2570	5		5	GM	ZOLER Dan	2533		129
10	61	112		GM	JIANU Vlad-Cristian	2555	5		5	GM	GALLAGHER Joseph G.	2507		143
10	79	259			DEAC Bogdan-Daniel	2183	4½		4½	IM	DUDA Jan-Krzysztof	2506		144
10	90	211		IM	PETRISOR Adrian-Marian	2378	4		4	GM	FODOR Tamas Jr.	2475		160
10	91	167		IM	PETENYI Tamas	2455	4		4		STANCIU Alexandru-Ovidiu	2335		220
10	93	175		IM	ANTON Teodor	2441	4		4	FM	IZZAT Kanan	2322		223
10	114	201		IM	MANEA Alexandru	2389	3½		3½		MUSIALKIEWICZ Pawel	2160		264
10	120	219		FM	POSEDARU Bogdan	2339	3		3	WIM	IWANOW Anna	2195		257

     Will keep you posted!

xoxo from Legnica ;)