Basel Chess Festival 2013: Title Goes to GM Boris Grachev

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Boris Grachev with Levente Vajda (left) and Robin Van Kampen (right)

The Russian Grandmaster Boris Grachev is the winner of the Basel Chess Festival 2013. Grachev scored 5,5/7, the same points as GM Levente Vajda, GM Robin Van Kampen, and GM Andrej Istratescu, but had better tiebreak score. Grachev started with quality 4,0/4, which allowed him to secure the title with three straight draws to the end, according to the latest chess news via Chessdom. Places 5-12 were shared by some of the top competitors of the Basel Schachfestival – GM Vachier-Lagrave, GM Alexandr Fier, GM Hrant Meklumyan, GM Romain Edouard, GM Ghaem Maghami, GM Yannik Pelletier, GM Vorotnikov, and GM Mateusz Bartel, all with 5,0/7.

Half a point behind them is the Tata Steel B 2013participant GM Maxim Turov, and the top untitled player of the championship Svetlin Mladenov.

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Igor Kurnosov, Boris Grachev win 35th Zurich Christmas Chess Open

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Igor Kurnosov

Here is the latest chess news from Switzerland. The 35th Zurich Christmas Chess Open was held on December 26-30, 2011, at the “Crowne Plaza Zürich”, Badenerstr, according to www.chessdom.com. The Chess Open ran in two groups - Master tournament and Under-2050 - with seven rounds each. Russian Grandmasters Igor Kurnosov and Boris Grachev shared the first place with 5.5 points each.

Boris Grachev

Master tournament final standings:

1-2. Kurnosov Igor 2648 RUS and Grachev Boris 2693 RUS – 5.5
3-16. Alekseev Evgeny 2670 RUS, Prohaszka Peter 2564 HUN, Vorobiov Evgeny 2589 RUS, Turov Maxim 2645 RUS, Baramidze David 2597 GER, David Alberto 2597 LUX, Sanikidze Tornike 2531 GEO, Bartel Mateusz 2653 POL, Halkias Stelios 2593 GRE, Pelletier Yannick 2581 SUI, Héra Imre 2542 HUN, Miezis Normunds 2547 LAT,Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2580 IRI and Heimann Andreas IM 2459 GER – 5.0 etc (113 players)

Thomas Künzli (1966) from Winterthur, Switzerland, is the sole winner in the Under-2050 section with 6.5/7 points. 180 players competed.

A Blitz tournament was played on Wednesday 28th December with CHF 300 in prizes. GM Tornike Sanikidzewon convincingly with 8.0/9. You can access the official website for more information.

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