Plans & Resolutions

     Dear readers,

     The New Year is already here and I have new tournaments coming up, new plans.

(photo by David Llada)  

     I must say that time flies so quickly for me in the last few years... It seems to me that it was only yesterday when I was still competing under 20 yo and here I am, at 25 already. I am not very sure how this 5 years have passed so quickly. I guess that travelling from a chess tournament to another, from one country to another, one just gets sucked in by a kind of routine- make plans, prepare, travel, play, repeat... I am curios, will the next 5 years pass in the same manner?

     I have decided that I will play less this year and try to make time for things other than chess as well. In the end, playing 14 classical tournaments a year has proven to be quite ineffective. That doesn't mean I am becoming less of a professional chess player. It is actually the other way around- I will participate in less tournaments, but in stronger ones.

     My first classical tournament of the year will be in Gibraltar. This will be my first time there and I am quite excited about it- it has bean on my to do list for many years already. I hope to play against many strong opponents and also have a good time.

     Afterwards, I am thinking of participating in the HD Bank Open in Vietnam, in March. The tournament meets my requirements, having a very strong field and attractive prizes. I am not yet 100% sure that I will go there, as it clashes with the Romanian Women's Championship, but given the bad conditions and prizes from the previous years, I have reasonable doubts to believe anything might change this year. The hope never dies, so I am waiting for the regulations to be published and that will be the moment of my final decision.

     The European Individual Women Championship is going be the highlight of the season for me, as usually. It will take place in Antalya, Turkey in April. I don't have many plans afterwards, I just hope to be pleased by my playing by that moment.

     These being said, a little throwback is in place. I was very happy to finish the year on a high note, winning the "Sharjah Cup for Women". It was a strong women's event where inspired decisions and lucky moments met so I could become 1st. Here are a few photos from the event:

With Sopiko Khukhashvili

Karina Szczepkowska, me and Sopiko Khukhashvili- the first 3 places

Despite some double rounds, there was time for relaxing as well

Happy Winner!

 
    I wish you all a New Year full of accomplishments and don't forget to make time for the things and people whom you love!

Vitiugov takes it all

    The Gibraltar Tradewise Chess Festival ended yesterday. It was an exciting last round, followed by an even more exciting play-off.

1	9	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	2694	7½	½ - ½	7½	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2711	5
2	6	GM	Navara David	2710	7	½ - ½	7½	GM	Short Nigel D	2690	10
3	30	GM	Zhao Xue	2554	7	½ - ½	7	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2758	1
4	16	GM	Georgiev Kiril	2643	7	½ - ½	7	GM	Adams Michael	2725	3
5	8	GM	Le Quang Liem	2705	7	0 - 1	7	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2590	24

Here's the Vitiugov-Vachier-Lagrave draw:

The Regulations of the tournament said that if there was to be a tie for the 1st place, the players must play a blitz play-off (10m +5s each). So, Nigel Short, Sandipan Chanda, Vitiugov Nikita and Vachier-Lagrave Maxime ( all scoring 8p out of 10) played a mini-ko. Short won against Sandipan and Vitiugov against Vachier-Lagrave. Once more, Short had to play a play-off for the 1st place- like the lat year- when he beated Hou Yifan and took the 1st prize. The luck wasn't on his side this time and he lost against Vitiugov with a 1,5-0,5 score.

Nikita Vitiugov-The winner of Gibraltar

    Zhao Xue took the 1st women's prize, scoring an impressive 7,5p out of 10, making a draw against Ivanchuk in the last round.

    Congratulations to the winners and I hope I'll manage to play in Gibraltar next year too! ;)

A refuel?

     Here are 2 games from the 9th round in Gibraltar that ended unexpectedly quick. We all know that tiredness is an important factor in chess and one should save his energy during a tournament, it must be the main explanation of the mistakes that have been done. You can see the games below:


     In order to avoid such moments, I think that one should have a good physical preparation, one that should be developed between the tournaments. Some players use to have snacks during the games- chocolate bars, cereals, fruits, energizing drinks in order to refuel their energy...

Taking shortcuts

     It's been a very interesting round in Gibraltar yesterday, with many decisive results, as you can see below:

1	2	GM	Kamsky Gata	2740	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	2694	9
2	8	GM	Le Quang Liem	2705	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Short Nigel D	2690	10
3	16	GM	Georgiev Kiril	2643	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2758	1
4	21	GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	2606	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Adams Michael	2725	3
5	15	GM	Tkachiev Vladislav	2650	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2711	5
6	6	GM	Navara David	2710	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2590	24
7	7	GM	Shirov Alexei	2708	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Oparin Grigoriy	2478	49
8	17	GM	Jones Gawain C B	2632	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Yu Yangyi	2688	11
9	30	GM	Zhao Xue	2554	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Fridman Daniel	2667	13
10	35	GM	Cramling Pia	2518	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	2723	4
11	41	GM	Al-Sayed Mohammed	2507	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	2650	14
12	22	GM	Ehlvest Jaan	2603	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Larino Nieto David	2497	45
13	26	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2582	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Gunina Valentina	2490	47
14	51	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2471	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Vazquez Igarza Renier	2565	27
15	28	GM	Felgaer Ruben	2557	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Tania Sachdev	2403	71

     The draw on the 1st board was a fighting one, with Vitiugov trying for a win. Kamsky found a way out in an endgame, with a pawn down-but it was never enough for a decisive advantage.
     It seemed that it would be a draw on the 2nd board too, after the opening, but white failed to see the dangers of the position and Nigel outplayed Le Quang Liem. You can see the game here:

Nigel Short and Jovanka Houska enjoying the dinner

     Another encounter that I wanted to watch was the Muzychuk Anna-Gunina Valentina one, but there was unfortunately no live cover of the game. It was particularly interesting because Anna lost in the last round of the Women's European Championship against Gunina last year and with it, she lost the gold medal. She managed to take revenge this time and I can't wait to see the game.

     There are 2 more rounds to be played and the 2 players who are leading so far are Nikita Vitiugov and Nigel Short,with 7p out of 8.They will play against each other today. 

On whom would you bet your money-on the Russian youth or on the English experience?
    

Spider's style

     The Gibraltar Tradewise Chess Festival has come to it's decisive last 3 rounds. There are three players leading the tournament with 5,5p out of 6: Vitiugov Nikita,Georgiev Kiril and Le Quang Liem.
     Today's round should be a very interesting one, here are the pairings of the top10 boards:

1	9	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	2694	5½		5½	GM	Georgiev Kiril	2643	16
2	1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2758	5		5½	GM	Le Quang Liem	2705	8
3	14	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	2650	5		5	GM	Kamsky Gata	2740	2
4	3	GM	Adams Michael	2725	5		5	GM	Tkachiev Vladislav	2650	15
5	21	GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	2606	5		5	GM	Navara David	2710	6
6	17	GM	Jones Gawain C B	2632	5		5	GM	Shirov Alexei	2708	7
7	10	GM	Short Nigel D	2690	5		5	IM	Larino Nieto David	2497	45
8	5	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2711	4½		4½	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2516	37
9	11	GM	Yu Yangyi	2688	4½		4½	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	2515	38
10	13	GM	Fridman Daniel	2667	4½		4½	WGM	Ju Wenjun	2505	42

     Adams (who's called by chess players "the spider" because of his playing style) played a very nice game yesterday, against Dzagnidze. Here are some mementos from the game:

Black to move

21...Nfxd5!! 22.exd5- Re2! 23. Rxe2- Rxe2 24. Rd1- Bd4 25.Be1

Black to move

25...Qe8! 26.Nf3- Qe3 27. Qb1- Rxb2 28. Qc1-Qxc1 29. Rxc1-Be3 30. Rd1-c4

Black has a decisive advantage that Adams managed to convert into a full point

     There seems to be a very nice and friendly atmosphere in Gibraltar. There are many other events being organized besides the tournaments. For example, there's been a game played on a huge chess board- 5 Top women vs 5 Top men!

Nana Dzagnindze, Tania Sachdev, Valentina Gunina, Viktoria Cmylite and Stuart Conquest holding the microphone (the main organizer of the event)- from left to right

Le Quang Liem, Gawain Jones, Maxim Vachier-Lagrave and Gata Kamsky (from left to right)

     The men's team turned to be a bit stronger and won the game :)

Gibraltar's famous Rock

     I am very curious to see who's going to be the winner this year!

Playing with monkeys

     The traditional "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival" has started on the 21st of January. It's one of the strongest Chess Opens in the World and it usually gathers such renown names as Ivanchuk, Kamsky, Adams, Short. This year's edition hasn't been an exception.

Top seed of the tournament- Vassily Ivanchuk- 2758

1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	UKR	2758
2	GM	Kamsky Gata	USA	2740
3	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2725
4	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	POL	2723
5	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	FRA	2711
6	GM	Navara David	CZE	2710
7	GM	Shirov Alexei	LAT	2708
8	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2705
9	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	RUS	2694
10	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2690

     Here are the Top 10 players from the starting rating list. You can find the full one here: http://chess-results.com/tnr89507.aspx?lan=11

     Though there have been played only 2 rounds, there are already several surprises. The biggest upset of the 2nd round was the loss of Nigel Short (2690) against Teran Alvarez Ismael (2399). Here you can see the game:

Nigel Short

     There's also a nice photo gallery on the official site of the event: https://picasaweb.google.com/MonRoi.Inc/2013TradewiseGibraltarChessFestivalRound1And2?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite#5836460269774758722

     The main attraction of Gibraltar are the very friendly monkeys that one can see almost everywhere.

The former Women's World Champion and the heroine of the last year's edition of Gibraltar

    Hope to see some interesting fighting :)