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Monday, April 22, 2013

Thailand Chess Open 2013: Aussie No. 1 Zhao Zong-Yuan wins Title

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 


With a half point lead going into the last round of the Thailand Open 2013 – 13th BCC Open – Australia No. 1 Zhao Zong-Yuan (7) took no chances despite having the White pieces and made a quick draw against IM Wang Yungao (6.5) who as a result obtained a GM norm, according to a Fide news report.

The pressure was now on former BCC Open champions Sune Berg Hansen (6.5) and Jan Gustafsson (6.5) who were playing each other as a win for either would catch Zhao and likely even take the title on tie-breaks! Gerhard Schebler (6.5) was the other player in with a chance but had the Black pieces against second seeded Romanian GM Levente Vajda (6).

In the end, 7.5/9 proved to be the winning score for Zhao as Hansen and Gustafsson also quickly drew and despite his best efforts, Schebler fell to a determined Vajda. All three, Vajda, Gustafsson, and Hansen, finished with 7/9 and shared second to seventh places with Wan, Oliver Barbosa who beat GM norm winner Saptarshi Roy, and Darwin Laylo who beat Susanto Megaranto. With just 6.5/9, top seeded Nigel Short drops to a share of eighth place, his worst place finish in five years and he is joined by fourth seed Koneru Humpy, one time leader Rogelio Antonio, Gerhard Schebler, M.R. Vekatesh, and Wang Chen among others.



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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Sparkassen Chess Meeting: Vladimir Kramnik Top Seed in Dortmund

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

Hi everyone,

The 2012 Sparkassen Chess Meeting begins on July 13 and runs until July 22, 2012 in Dortmund, Germany. Ten players are competing in the round-robin event. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia is the top seed. The just-crowned World Rapid Chess Champion, also from Russia, Sergey Karjakin, is the second seed. Four of the five members of the German national chess team that won the gold medal at the recent European Team Chess Championship are also taking part, according to the official website.


Players:
1. Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2799 (Dortmund 2011 winner)
2. Karjakin Sergey RUS 2779 (World Rapid Chess Champion 2012)
3. Caruana Fabiano ITA 2775
4. Leko Peter HUN 2730
5. Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2726
6. Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2700
7. Bartel Mateusz POL 2674 (winner of the 2012 Aeroflot Open)
8. Fridman Daniel GER 2655 (Reigning German champion)
9. Meier Georg GER 2644
10. Gustafsson Jan GER 2629

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