Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I wish you dreams come true for the coming 2009!

Curious Game

The traditional Groningen open is in progress at the moment. Many interesting games are played already. Here is a curious miniature from Round 1:
Biedekoepper,Robert - Van Oosterom,Chiel [A65]
Schaakfestival Groningen 2008 (1.20)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nge2 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 Nbd7 11.g4 Re8 12.Ng3

12...Nxe4! 13.Bxd8 Nxc3+ 14.Qe2 Nxe2 15.Bxe2 Bxb2 0–1

Test Yourself 11

Unexpected Stalemate

1.b7 Rf8 [1...Bf5+ 2.Kc3!] 2.b8Q Bf5+ 3.Be4 Bxe4+ 4.Kc1 Rxb8 Stalemate
Zakhodiakin

GM Kiril Georgiev to break a Guinness Record

Former Juniour World Champion and many-time Bulgarian national player GM Kiril Georgiev will ty to break the world´s record in a simultaneous exhibition against 450 players! The freshly founded chess club Levski ìs organizing the event, and already received an official registration from the Guinness official center in London.The event will take place in Sofia, on 21 February 2009 when another important event- the semi-final match for the WCC between Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky will be on his most interesting part.

Olympic Beauties

As usual on such a prestigious chess forum many bright games were produced. Although many of them were anything but flawless, they still deserve a closer investigation for the beauty in them.
Barsov,A (2513) - Flores,Di (2569)
38th Olympiad Dresden GER (7), 20.11.2008

Probably the following part of the game was played in severe time trouble from both opponents, which explains the tactical errors. 29...Qb6+? The position is anything but usual. White has great material advantage, but almost all black pieces are full of energy. His only non-active piece had to join the battle now- [29...Bc5+! 30.Kh1 Re1+ This is even better than the line advocated by GM Mikhail Golubev- (30...Qxd5+!? 31.Rxd5 Nf3 White is a whole queen ahead, but his only defense is to give it for free- 32.Qe8+ only moveRxe8 33.Kg2 only move 33...Bd4 and Black should be objectively winning.) 31.Kg2 Rg1+ 32.Kh3 (32.Rxg1 Qxd5+ 33.Kh3 Ng4!! is equally hopeless.) 32...Qc8+ 33.Qad7 Nxd7–+ Black has now both material advantage and decisive attack.] 30.Rd4 Rd2 31.Qxe5?! [31.Kf1 Rxd4 32.Qdb5 Qe6 33.Qxe5 Qh3+ 34.Ke1 Rd7 Although White has a queen for a bishop black's pieces ar very active, and now the best practical solution for him is to part ith some of the superfluous material. 35.Rd1! Re7 36.Qxe7 Bxe7 37.Qe8+ Bf8 38.Rd8 Qh6 39.Rc8+- and black's pieces are completely tied up.] 31...Rxd4 32.Qaa5 Rd1+ 33.Kg2 Rd2+?? Another proof of the mutual time-trouble. After the normal: [33...Qxa5 34.Qxa5 Rxa1 35.Qxa7 c3 36.Qa4 Rb1 would have been still unclear.] 34.Qxd2 1–0

Tough Engame Decides the Match

Iotov,Valentin (2531) - Papaioannou,Ioanis (2566) [E58]
Greece team Cup, 15.06.2008
[Notes by GM Valentin Iotov]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 10.Bb2 Na5 11.cxd5 c4 12.Bc2 exd5 13.Ne5 b6?! 14.a4 Nc6

15.Ba3 Probably better is: [15.Nxc6 Qxc6 16.f3 Bb7 17.Ba3 Rfe8 18.Qd2± with advantage for White.] 15...Re8 16.f4 Ne4 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.Qh5 I also considered the immediate capture of the pawn, but after: [18.Nxc4 Ba6 19.Nd6 Bxf1 20.Nxe8 Rxe8 21.Qxf1 Na5 22.Qb5 Rc8 23.Bb4 Nc4 Black has sufficient compensation, for example: 24.Re1 a5 25.Bc5 bxc5 26.Qxc4 cxd4 27.Qxc7 Rxc7 28.cxd4 Rc4 29.Ra1 f5 with the idea Kg8-f7-e6-d5.] 18...Rd8? Better is: [18...Ba6 19.Bd6 (19.a5!? is also an interesting option, when I will enjoy nice initiative after: 19...Nxa5 20.d5) 19...Qb7 (19...Qxd6 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Nf7+ Kg8 23.Nxd6 Re6 24.Nb5 wins ) 20.f5 f6 (20...Rad8 21.f6 Rxd6 22.Qg5 g6 23.Qh6 Rxf6 24.Rxf6) 21.Nxc6 Qxc6 22.Bb4І] 19.Rfd1
[19.Be7!! I immediately saw this study-like shot, but unfortunately, after: 19...Nxe7 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.f5+- the move 21...Nd5 worried me. But of course, this is not a defense due to the simple fork- 22.Qxc7 Nxc7 23.Nf7+ My condition during the game was very poor, although this is not an excuse. Now the game starts again.] 19...f6 [19...Rd5 is simplier and safer.] 20.Nxc4 Ba6 [20...Be6 21.Nd2 Na5 22.Nxe4 Qc6 23.Nf2 Nb3 24.Rab1 Qxa4 25.Bb2 leaves White on top.] 21.Nd2 Bd3 22.Qf5 [22.c4 Na5 23.c5 is the alternative. White plays without risk in all the lines, the question is if his advantage will be sufficient for a full point.] 22...Qc8 Liquidating to an endgame should be his best chance. After: [22...Re8 23.c4 Rad8 24.Rdc1 the pawns may start rolling.] 23.Qxc8 Raxc8 24.c4 Na5 25.c5
25...Kf7 He had in his disposal a very interesting exchange sacrifice: [25...bxc5 26.Bxc5 Rxc5!? (26...Bc2 27.Rdc1 Rxc5 28.dxc5) 27.dxc5 Bc2 and after: 28.Rdc1! (28.Kf2 Bxd1 29.Rxd1 Nb3 30.c6 Nxd2 31.Ke2 Rc8 32.Rxd2 Rxc6 33.Rd8+ Kf7 34.Rd7+ Kg6 35.Rxa7 Rc2+ 36.Kf1 Rc1+ 37.Kf2 Rc2+= is only equal 38.Kg3? Re2) 28...Rxd2 29.Ra2 Rd1+ 30.Rxd1 Bxd1 31.Rd2 Bb3 32.Rd6 Nb7 33.Rc6 White is close to winning. The rook is too good for the light pieces.] 26.Rdc1 Ke6 27.Rc3 bxc5 28.Bxc5 Rd7 29.Rac1 Rb7 The best plan. He needs to exchange the rooks, and then the knights.Worse is: [29...Kd5 30.Nb3 (30.Ba3 Rxc3 31.Rxc3 Nc4 32.Nxc4 Bxc4 is a draw) 30...Nc4 31.Ba3 Rdc7 32.Kf2 (32.Nc5 gives nothing 32...Nxe3 33.Nxe4 Rc4 34.Nc5 Nc2 35.Rxd3 Nxa3 36.Rxc4 Nxc4) 32...Rb8 33.f5 and I keep good winning chances.] 30.Ba3 Rxc3 31.Rxc3 Kd7 32.f5 Rc7 33.Rxc7+ Kxc7
Our opinions about the position were diametrically different. He thought that it is a dead draw, while I was considering my position winning. Unfortunately, analyses proved me wrong. 34.g4 Nc4 [34...Kd7 35.Bf8 g6 36.fxg6 hxg6 37.h4 Nc4 (37...Ke8 38.Bc5) 38.Nxc4 Bxc4 39.h5 gxh5 40.gxh5 Ke8 41.Bc5 a5 42.Bb6 Bb3 43.Bxa5 Bxa4 44.Bc7 Bd1 45.h6 Kf7 46.Kf2 with these two passers I should be winning.] 35.Nxc4 Bxc4 36.Bf8 g6 37.Be7 better than: [37.fxg6 hxg6 38.Be7 Be6 39.h3 f5 40.g5 f4=] 37...gxf5 38.gxf5 a5 39.Bxf6 Bb3 40.Be5+ Kd7? [40...Kd8 does not solve the problems after 41.Kf2 Bxa4 42.d5 Bd7 43.f6 Bc8 44.Kg3 (44.Bc7+!? Ke8 45.Bxa5 Kf7 46.Bc3) 44...Bb7 45.d6 Ke8 46.Kf4 Bc6 47.Kg5 But:; 40...Kc6!
gives a draw. In all lines Black manages to block the pawns. 41.f6 Kd7 42.Kf2 Bxa4 43.d5 (43.Kg3 Bc6 44.Kf4 Bd5 45.f7 Ke7 46.Bd6+ Kxf7 47.Ke5 Bb3 48.Kxe4 Ke6 49.Ba3 Bc2+ 50.Kf4 Kd5=) 43...Bb3 44.d6 a4 45.Kg3 a3 46.Kf4 a2 47.Kxe4 a1Q 48.Bxa1 Kxd6 49.Kf5 Bc2+ 50.e4 Kd7 51.h4 Bb1 52.Bc3 Bc2 53.Ke5 Ke8 54.Ke6 Bb3+ 55.Kf5 Bc2=] 41.Kf2 Bxa4 42.d5 [42.Kg3 Bc6 43.Bg7 Kd6 44.Bf8+ Kd5 45.Kf4 a4 46.Kg5 Bd7 47.Be7 is another road to the victory.] 42...Bb3 43.d6 a4 44.Kg3 Ke8 Or: [44...h6 45.Kf4 Bd5 46.Bg7 Kxd6 47.Bxh6 Ke7 48.Bg7 a3 49.h4 Kf7 50.Bd4 Bc6 51.Ke5 Bb7 52.h5 a2 53.h6 Kg8 54.Kd6 Ba8 55.Ke7 Bd5 56.f6 nets the bishop.] 45.Kf4 Bd5 46.Bb2 Bb7 47.Ke5 Bc6 48.Ba3 [48.Kf6 Bd7 49.Ba3] 48...Bb7 [48...Kf7 49.Bb2 Bb7 50.h4] 49.h4 This is an important resourse. I need the pawn advanced before going for the h pawn. 49...Bc6 50.Kf6 Bd7 51.h5 Bc8 Probably here Papaioannou missed his last chance to draw: [51...Kd8!?

52.Ke5 Bc6 Here I though that I am winning with: 53.d7 (53.h6 of course saves the pawn, but Black can defend himself thanks to the fortress-see the next note.) 53...Bxd7 (53...Kxd7 54.Kf6) 54.Kxe4 Be8 55.Kf4 Bxh5 56.e4 since Black lacks time to build his best construction Kd7, Bf7, h6. But then we saw (with Dejan Bojkov) that Black blocks the pawns thanks to his h one: 56...h6 57.e5 Bf7 58.e6 Bg8 and Black blocks the pawns. 59.Kg4 Ke8 60.Kh5 Bh7 61.f6 Bg8 and draws.] 52.Ke5 Bb7 53.d7+! [53.h6 Bc6 54.Kf6 (54.Bb2 Looks as winning, but Black has a fortress here: 54...Kf7 55.d7 Bxd7 56.Kxe4 Bc8 57.Ke5 Bd7 The perfect diagonal for the bishop! 58.e4 Bc8 59.Kf4 Bd7 60.e5 a3 61.Bxa3 Bc8 62.Bc5 Bd7 63.e6+ Bxe6 64.fxe6+ Kxe6 65.Kg5 Kf7 66.Kf5 Kg8

and draw) 54...Bd7 55.Bb4 Bc8 56.Ke5 Bb7 57.d7+! Kxd7 58.Kf6 and wins.] 53...Kxd7 54.Kf6 Ke8 55.Kg7 Bc8 [55...h6 56.f6 Bd5 57.f7+! Bxf7 58.Kxh6 Kd7 59.Kg5 Ke6 60.h6 Bg8 61.Kg6] 56.f6 Be6 57.h6 That is why it was important that my pawn is here. Bad is: [57.Kxh7 Kf7=] 57...Bc4 58.f7+ The point. I promote a queen. Thanks to this win we drew the match against "Kavala" but qualified for the finals of the Greek cup due to our top boards wins. Funnily in the team competition I played against Papaioannou again as White, and again opposite-coloured bishop endgame with a pawn more for me arised. But this time it was a complete draw. 1–0

Central Serbian League

1 st Central Serbian League took place in Golubac- a small and beautiful town on the Danube shore. We played some twenty meters away from the river, and at approximately seven kilometers was Romania. From 20-27 September twelve teams competed for going in Serbian Major League (only the first one could enjoy it). The match points were counted, and the football system was applied (3 points for a team win, one point for a draw, and 0 for lose).

(Our Captain Dragan Stankovic is receiving the silver medals)

After beating the higher-rated team Premijer in fourth round it looked like that my team Jasenica will qualify easily. Unfortunately, we could not stand the burden of leaders and later lost two matches, which was enough for Premijer to deservedly overtake us.

(The Champions from Premijer)

My result was normal- plus two on first board.

Bojkov,Dejan (2498) - Misojcic,Miroslav (2221)
Prva liga Centralne Srbije Golubac (5.6), 22.09.2008
Black is trying to coordinate his pieces, but the trouble comes unexpectedly: 23.d4! cxd4 [23...exd4 24.Rxf7+ Kxf7 25.Qxd6] 24.Rxd4 Qc5 25.Rxf7+ Kxf7 26.Rd7+ 1–0

To be or not to be (for chessvibes)

Bulgarian Team Championships took place in Borovetz (1-7 October), and in the third round a casus have arised. One of the games in round three was decided 0-0 due to breaking the tournament regulations.
The point is that this year’s championship is experimentally played by the “Sofia Rules.” In accordance with them both players cannot offer draw until the finish of move 30, unless a theoretically drawn position arises, with the permission of the chief arbiter.What actually happened? In the game Bratanov (Lokomotiv 2000)- Stojanov (Bulmex) White offered a draw on move 22, which was accepted by the second player. The rest you can find here, as well as some interesting opinions:http://www.chessvibes.com/league/a-0-0-result-in-the-bulgarian-league/

Bulgarian Team Championships

58-th Bulgarian Team Championship took place in Borovets 1-7 October. Sofia rules were applied in the tournament, and captain’s negotiations were forbidden. Eight teams were playing round-robin tournaments.
Lokomotiv Sofia (GM Chatalbashev, IM N. Ninov, GM Kr. Georgiev, GM Velikov, IM J. Ivanov and IM Andonov) won the male final scoring five consecutive wins and drewing the last two matches.
There was more intrigue in the women part when both leading teams had to face each other in the final round. Lokomotiv 2000 Plovdiv (WIM R. Genova, WFM A. Nikolova, WFM I. Videnova, WIM S.Savova) won the match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2.5-0.5 and the title.
Here is a curious game:
Badev,Kiril (2324) - Marholev,Dimitar (2421) [C22]
58th Team Ch (m) 1st Division R3 Borovets BUL (3.1), 03.10.2008
[Dejan Bojkov]
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qd3?! Nf6 5.Nc3

5...d5!?N 6.Bg5 d4 7.Nd5 Be6 8.Nxf6+? [8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Qb3 should also be much better for Black, but is still playable.] 8...gxf6 9.Bd2 Nb4 Black is winning now. 10.Bxb4 Bxb4+ 11.c3 dxc3 12.0–0–0 [12.Qb5+ c6 13.Qxb4 Qd2#] 12...Qxd3 13.Rxd3 Bc4 14.b3 Bxd3 15.Bxd3 0–0–0 16.Kc2

16...Rxd3 17.Kxd3 Rd8+ 18.Ke3 c2 0–1

Pentala Harikrishna Annotates

Harikrishna,P - Ivanesevic,I [E90]
14.07.2008
[Pentala Harikrishna]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 g6 6.h3 Bg7 7.e4 0–0 8.Bd3 Na6 9.0–0 e5 10.Rb1 Kh8 11.a3 Ng8 12.Nh2! White can go to e1 as well but i wanted to keep it on h2 so that the king will will be safe. 12...f5 Another way to play would be: [12...Bh6 13.Bxh6 Nxh6 14.Qd2 Kg7 15.f4 f6] 13.f4 exf4 14.Bxf4 g5 Other options for Black here were: [14...Nf6 after which I would play 15.e5 or:; 14...Bd4+ 15.Kh1 Nf6 16.exf5 Nh5 17.Ne2 Nxf4 18.Nxf4 gxf5 19.Qh5±] 15.Bd2 f4

Till here my opponent made all his moves very quickly. I was under the impression that he had prepared all this probably, and he probably had, but I think this position is quite dubious for black.16.Qh5! I could also play h4 which is more safer and probably easier. I saw both the moves however i decided to go for Qh5 by the simple fact that not everyday you get a chance to sacrifice your queen:) [16.h4 gxh4 17.Bxf4 h3 (17...Rxf4 18.Rxf4 Be5) ] 16...h6 17.h4 Nf6 [17...Bd7 18.hxg5 Qxg5 19.Qxg5 hxg5 20.Nb5 (20.g3; 20.Nf3) 20...Bxb5 21.cxb5 Nc7 22.Nf3 Bf6 23.g3 (23.Bc3 g4) 23...fxg3 24.Nxg5; 17...Bd7] 18.Qg6 18.Qe8 was possible here. However, I think the position is better for White. I must thank my opponent for letting me sacrifice the queen:) 18...Bd7 19.hxg5 Be8
20.Qxg7+!! This was what I was aiming for, although even after: [20.Qf5 Nh5 21.Qh3 Bd4+ 22.Rf2 Qxg5 (22...hxg5) 23.Ne2 I think even this White is better since Black's pieces are not developed and his king is very weak.] 20...Kxg7 21.gxf6+ Rxf6 22.Ne2 I have seen this far when i was playing Nh2 and I thought that this position is better for White already. 22...Nb8 [22...Kg8 23.Nxf4 Rf7 24.Rf3±] 23.Nxf4

After playing 23.Nf4 i felt that 23.Ng4 is better during the game and was much simpler. After checking with the engine however, I think that what I had played in the game-23. Nf4 is better. Nevertheless, after:[23.Ng4 Nd7 24.Bc3 Ne5 25.Nxe5 dxe5 26.Bxe5 Kg8 27.Nxf4 Rf7 28.Ne6 (28.Rf3 Qg5 29.Bd6 Bd7 30.Rbf1 Bg4) 28...Qh4 29.Rbe1± (29.Bd6) ] 23...Nd7 24.Ng4 Rxf4 25.Rxf4 Ne5 26.Nxe5 dxe5 27.Rf5 Bg6 28.Rxe5 Qh4 29.Bc3 Although this doesnt spoil anything 29.Rf1 was better and doesn't give Black any counterplay- [29.Rf1
29...Rf8 30.Rxf8 Kxf8 31.d6 Be8 (31...Qg3) 32.Be2+-] 29...Kg8 30.Rf1 Rf8 31.d6?! [31.Rxf8+ was better and after 31...Kf8 32.Be2 followed by Bf3 is what the engine suggest. 31...Kxf8] 31...Qg3 32.Re6? [32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 33.Be2] 32...Rxf1+ 33.Bxf1 Qe3+ 34.Kh2 Bxe4 35.Re8+ It was important to include Re8 to gain an important tempo, as you can later see in the game. [35.Be5 Bc6 (35...Qf2) 36.b4 Qe1] 35...Kf7 36.Re7+ Kf8 37.Bg7+ Kg8 38.Be5 Bc6 39.b4 Qe1 40.b5 Bd7 41.Bg3 Qxf1 42.Rxd7
My opponent defended extremely well after my mistake on 32nd move. I didn't had much choice other than this endgame. Although White keeps some winning chances with the help of engine black can draw. However in a practical game it is not very easy to make a draw here for Black. 42...Qf5 43.Re7 Qh5+ 44.Kg1 Qd1+ 45.Re1 Qd4+ I think 45...Qg4 is more stubborn. 46.Kh2 Qg4 47.Re5 b6 48.Rd5 [48.a4 This idea was mentioned by Mr Skembris. The idea is to put the pawn on a6 and play as i did in the game. Probably this is better than what I did in the game.] 48...Qd7 [48...Qxc4 49.Rd2 Qc3 50.Bf4 Qf6 51.g3+-] 49.Bf4 Qg4 50.Bg3

50...Qd7 There are no concrete plans for White here. I thought it is very important for me to force him push the pawn to h5 and then try to queen the d6 pawn. 51.Rd3 Qf5 52.Rf3 Qg4 53.Rf4 Qd1 54.Rh4 Kh7 55.Bf4 h5 56.Bg3 Kg6 57.Re4 Kf5 58.Rf4+ [58.Re5+ Kg4 59.Re7] 58...Kg5 59.a4 Kg6 60.Re4 Kf5 I was in time pressure and had made few moves to find the right plan and to calculate the variation. 61.Rh4 Kg5 62.Rh3 Kf5 63.Rh4 Kg5 64.Rf4 Kg6 65.Re4 Kf5 66.Re5+ [66.Re7 Qd3] 66...Kg4 67.Re7 It may seem funny that I only played this now, as I had the chance to play it a move few moves back with the pawn on a3 and I had to make all these moves in order not to get into some kind of threefold repition:) It took quite sometime to find this idea and even after this he could have given the h-pawn and defended more stubbornly. 67...Qd3

[67...h4 Blacks last chance.] 68.Be5! The engine suggests 68.Rg7 followed by d7 which is also winning. 68...Kf5 69.d7 Qxc4 70.Bg3 Qd3 71.Bc7 Qc4 72.d8Q Black resigned.

I would like to mention that the atmosphere in our team was very nice and friendly. The interesting thing is that the juniors took me out and showed me the city after my game against Miroshnichenko. This had helped me to get into good mood and play a nice game:) The juniors of our club played extremely well and played a crucial role in our winning the championship.

Where Ne Means Yes (for NIC)

“Ne, ne” was Hristos Banikas saying, nodding with his head. “Yes, yes”, I was shaking my head from left to the right. This was the first time when I spoke with a Greek and we both look very astonished from our reactions. The point is that the Bulgarians usually nod their heads when denying something (I have heard that Indians are the only other people in the world who do the same, but have no proof on the matter), while Greeks use the word “ne” for confirmation (“ne” is yes).
The first time that I took part in the Greek team competition was back in 2005. I was the lowest rated player with 2522 on board one, and the average rating of my opponents was 2615. Among the coryphaeuses were Navara, Volokitin, Izoria, Gustafsson, Avrukh, Inarkiev and many others. Coryphaeus (the top of the head) is a typical Greek word that we use constantly nowadays for someone very experienced, leading person. I remember the worm and nice team atmosphere which helped me get over the shock, and I made a good result. Since then Greece has become one of my favourite places.

Harikrishna Relaxing

In 2006 the incredible David Navara scored “plus five” on board one, and passed the 2700 elo barrier. I may never forget the astonished Vasilios Kotronias analyzing again and again their game. “Usually I get very angry when losing a game, but this time I felt that everything was logical. Navara used a new plan, got slightly better position out of the opening and never made a mistake. I checked it out with a computer later-flawless! Unbelievable! This guy is a genious!”
Greek team competitions are made on 12 boards. It is probably one of the very few places where people take care about their youngsters, giving them chance to decide the overall result of the matches. There are four boys (under 12, 14, 16 and 18) and two girls (under 16 and 18). Attention is paid to the women too-one female board is a must. Some eight years ago Vassilis Theodoridis, vice-president of Greece Chess Federation and Vassilis Liogkas, president of the strongest chess club “Kavala” suggested the idea and it was never changed after. Still, the fact that the children can play in the event does not really mean that they are taught in the best way. This year we witnessed a curious game in which eighteen-year old girl did not know how to mate with a bishop and knight against a sole king. Strange, but happens.
Greece had always enjoyed huge popularity as a touristic destination. The climate is hot, even for Pentala Harikrishna it was too much, despite the fact that he comes from India. The usual Greek regime includes jolly time in the taverns, discotheques and bars until 4-5 in the morning when the weather is fresh, and sleep in the hot hours of the day. But note that you can no longer break plates in the taverns, now you can throw pink blossoms instead. Greeks are very proud nation, and they have opinion on most of the things in life. Their ancient culture and language are good reasons for this (I cannot help recalling the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father of the future bride was explaining to everyone that all the words in the world have Greek roots). It is hard to change their mind if they think they are right (they still call Istanbul Constantinopoli), and always take the chance to show the positive parts of their life and country. Usually they conduct the Leagues in luxury resorts on the beach, where you can enjoy almost every attraction you may think of. Every inch of the ground is a fine piece of work-no matter if it a flower, bush, garden, or palm tree.
My roommate is a good friend of mine Atanas Dimitrov, semi- Bulgarian, semi- Greek, who introduces me in the life of the locals. I see him chatting with one of the referees once, and he tells me an old story of his grown prestige: “We were sharing a room with that arbiter in a tournament where he was a player as well. One night while I was sleeping they were analyzing with his friends his daily game. I woke up for a second, had a glance at the boards, said the best move, and felt asleep again. Ever since my prestige grew enormously.”
Stelios Halkias

Greeks are very religious people; you can see Orthodox churches and chapels practically everywhere. Theology is a compulsory subject at schools.
Their top player at the moment is Ioannis Papaioannou, who recently qualified for the World cup from the Plovdiv EICC. I congratulate him with this achievement on which he modestly replies that he does not feel like a chess professional, had a lot of luck for the qualifying, and that the World cup will be great experience for him.
A strange coincidence it is but almost all top Greek players are born in Thessaloniki. This includes their current champion-Ioannis Papadopoulos. He is only twenty, and is already expecting his GM title. Very modest and obviously hard-working his chess prospects look nice.
Being chess professional in Greece is not an easy task. As most countries with good living standard it is much more reliable for the chess player to start a casual job (probably this is the reason why Papaioannou does not call himself profi). Some years ago Stelios Halkias, another prominent Greek player with exquisite sense of humor was dropping in to Bulgaria for some rapid tournaments, complaining that there are not enough in Greece. But obviously things change, and now I can think of at least dozen of good tournaments in this worm country.
Two days before the team championships the finals of the Greek cup were conducted in the same fine resort-Kallithea. SA “Thessaloniki” (A. Mastrovasilis, D. Mastrovasilis, V. Iotov, and D. Zakarian) triumphed with the title after four hard matches. The point is that in case of equality in the final four the match is replayed until one of the teams win (while in the preliminary matches in case of a match draw the team who won on top boards advances).
From 6-th till 10-th of July the Greek team finals started with twenty teams to compete in a seven-round Swiss tournament. The fact that no team was dropping out of the league did not prevent a strong field of participants. “The usual suspects” from SO “Kavalas” led by Harikrishna, and having in their disposal most of the Greek Olympic players (Kotronias, Papaioannou, Halkias, Skembris, Botsari), and excellent children boards claimed the title convincingly with six consecutive wins, and one final draw. Silver ran for the cup winner “Thessaloniki”, bronze for “Kidon”-Chania.
Next year 34 teams will participate in Greek highest league, and the expectancies are for harder fight.

Blitzkrieg

Atalik,Suat (2585) - Harikrishna,Pentala (2668) [D10]
36th Teams Ch-GR Kallithea Halkidiki (7.1), 10.07.2008
[Dejan Bojkov]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.h3 Bh5 9.Nf4 Bg6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Be2 e6 12.0–0 Rc8

13.c5N [13.Rd1 Bd6 14.Bf3 Nh7 15.e4 Ng5 16.Qe2 Bb4 17.Nb1 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 bxc4 19.bxc4 Nb6 20.exd5 cxd5 21.c5 Nc4 22.Bd2 Ba5 23.Bc3 Ѕ–Ѕ Savchenko,S (2585)-Belikov,V (2470)/Russia 1995/CBM 048] 13...e5 Probably: [13...Be7 should be preferred, although after: 14.b4 Qc7 15.a4 0–0+/=
White has a stable advantage due to the space that he owes, and the fact that he can double his rooks on the "a" file before opening it.] 14.b4 e4 15.a4 Be7 16.axb5 axb5 17.Ra6 Nf8?
Black decides to postpone the castling again, and seeks better prospects for his knight. His position is not picnic either after: [17...0–0 18.Bb2 Qc7 19.Rfa1± but at least he had chances to organize his defense. Now his position collapses.] 18.Rxc6!! Rxc6 19.Bxb5 Qc8 [19...Qa8 does not change anything- 20.Qa2 Qb7 21.Qa4] 20.Qa4 Kd7 21.Bxc6+ Qxc6 22.b5
22...Qc8 [22...Qc7 23.Qa8 Rg8 24.Nxd5 Nxd5 25.Qxd5+ Ke8 26.b6+-] 23.b6+ Also good enough is: [23.c6+ Kd8 (23...Ke6 24.f3 exf3 25.e4 Nxe4 26.Nxe4 dxe4 27.d5+ is mate in ten :)) 24.b6 Ne6 25.c7+ Nxc7 26.bxc7+ Qxc7 27.Nxd5 Nxd5 28.Qa8+ Qc8 29.Qxd5+ Ke8 30.Qxe4+-] 23...Ke6 [23...Qc6 24.Nb5! with the idea Qa6-Na7-c6 and the pawns will decide. 24...Ne6 25.Qa7+ Ke8 26.b7 wins.] 24.f3 exf3 25.e4 Atalik energetically wraps up the game. The rest is silense... 25...Bxc5 [25...Nxe4 26.Nxe4 dxe4 27.Qb3+ Kd7 28.b7 Qb8 29.Bf4 and White queens.] 26.exd5+ Ke7 [26...Kd6 27.Rxf3 Nxd5 28.b7 Qxb7 29.dxc5+ Kxc5 30.Ne4+ Kb6 31.Rb3+] 27.Re1+ [27.dxc5 Qxc5+ 28.Rf2 Qxb6 29.Ba3+ Kd8 30.Qa8+ Kd7 31.Na4 Qb1+ 32.Rf1 f2+ 33.Kxf2 Qc2+ 34.Kg1 is convenient enough.] 27...Ne6 28.dxc5 Qxc5+ 29.Re3 Qxb6
30.Qa3+ Qd6 31.dxe6 fxe6 32.Qa7+ Qd7 33.Ba3+ Kf7 34.Qxd7+ Nxd7 35.Rxf3+ Nf6 36.Ne4 Rb8 37.g4 Kg8 38.Nxf6+ gxf6 39.Rxf6 Rb3 40.Bf8 Rxh3 41.Kg2 Rc3 42.Bh6 Kh7 43.g5 e5 44.Rf7+ Kh8 45.Re7 1–0

For the Sake of the Books

Movsesian,Sergei (2723) - Papadopoulos,Ioannis K (2490) [B33]
36th Teams Ch-GR Kallithea Halkidiki (4.4), 08.07.2008
[Dejan Bojkov]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 a5 13.Qf3 Be6 I have heard recently lots of sceptical opinions about the use of the chess books, and have never agreed to the idea. I am delighted to present you this game. 14.Rd1

14...a4!?N This move is a novelty, but a one that was already suggested in the fresh book "The Easiest Sicilian" by A. Kolev and T. Nedev. "Kolev's idea is to anticipate the enemy's activity and radically disturb his plans."-"The Easiest Sicilian". Previously other moves were met: [14...Bxd5 15.Rxd5 Ne7 16.Rd1 Qb6 17.Be2 0–0 18.0–0 Bg5 19.g3 Rad8 20.Qd3 g6 now after: 21.Kg2 draw was agreed Ѕ–Ѕ Watzka,H (2325)-Horvath,T (2440)/Austria 1993/EXT 1998

'(21.Ne3 was a new move by Kobalia, but unsuccessful- 21...Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Qc7 23.f4 exf4 24.gxf4 f5 and Black eventually won, 0–1 Kobalia,M (2627)-Krasenkow,M (2624)/Dagomys RUS 2008 (45)) ; 14...Be7 15.c5 0–0 16.Bb5 Na7 17.Ba4 is the original fresh idea for White in the line, 1–0 Nepomniachtchi,I (2600)-Andriasian,Z (2532)/Moscow RUS 2008 (45)] 15.Be2 Let me quote the book again: [15.c5?! Qa5!; 15.Nxf6+ gxf6!?
Take care about this line-you will see it in the game, too. (15...Qxf6!?) 16.Be2 b3 17.axb3 Rb8 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Na3 Nc6 20.Nb5 Qa5+ 21.Rd2 Ke7 22.Qd3 Nd4 23.Nxd4 exd4 24.Qxd4 Qc5 with compensation 25.Qxc5 dxc5 26.0–0 Rb4 27.Rc1 Rhb8 28.Rcc2 f5 29.f3 fxe4 30.fxe4 Kf6 31.Kf2

31...Ke5 and Black is doing fine.] 15...b3 16.axb3 Rb8 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Na3 Nc6 20.Nb5 Qa5+ 21.Rd2 Ke7 22.Qe3
22...Nd4! 23.Nxd4 exd4 24.Qxd4 Qc5 25.Qxc5 Despite of the fact that chess engines gives huge advantage for White here the position is about equal. Papadopoulos did not spend much time on this game. Draw.

Grandmaster Duel in Charming Luzern

Probably Luzern is one of the most beautiful towns in Switzerland, and Europe. Situated picturesquely between four mountains, and possessing the Luzern Lake gives the town an incredible charm. Ships and boats are ruling the lake all the way round, but the water is clean and there are even brave people willing to take a bath. Swans and ducks are crossing the waters in search for food and attention. There are benches all over the lake boulevard and one can take a rest viewing the wonderful mountains Rigi, Mount Pilatus, and Swiss Alps from the distance. Another unique atmosphere can be felt in the old part of the town. There are old churches, and buildings, all of their facades being painted in original pictures. There is also a famous bridge-Kapellbruecke that crosses the Reuss River. It is also the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, and was constructed back in 1333. You can see paintings inside it that represent part of the Luzern history, and were painted in 17-th century. Unfortunately, about only 1/3 of these pictures survived the fire in 1993 caused by incautious smokers. Just a few meters away from the lake boulevard is situated the Luzern Grand Casino-a place where chess tournaments took part. There were three events at the same time-Master tournament, Main Tournament, and the match of the Grandmasters-the cherry in the pie. The events broke the records in the number of participants.
In honour of the legendary German grandmaster Robert Huebner the club of Luzern organized a match for him against the best Swiss player (if we exclude another legend-Viktor Korchnoi) - Yannick Pelletier. It was a four-game match with the first two games to be played in classical modus, and the next two in rapid chess (thirty minutes for each player). The games were life-transmitted at the Swiss Chess server. All games saw semi-closed openings, which I think was in favour of the more experienced player. After three seemingly uneventful but fightful draws in the first games, Pelletier playing as white in the fourth sacrificed an exchange, but failed to prove compensation and eventually lost. Thus Robert Huebner made a nice present for his coming 60-th anniversary winning the match with 2.5-1.5. Without any doubt this result speaks a lot for the German Grandmaster who is almost twice the age of his opponent. For the pleasure of the ordinary chess lovers both grandmasters continued to analyze their game long after it had finished, and the audience could observe their analyses on the monitors. Later they both visited the analyze room and shared some of their experience and knowledge with other players. Huebner is a member of Luzern Schachklub. This year the team ended only eight in the Swiss team championship, but has ambitions for the coming season.
Yannik Pelletier seemed to recover after his poor result in Biel, and looked in good mood. His next tournament will be the ECC in Kallithea, Greece at the end of October. There he will represent his French club-Clichy which won the French Team Championship for a second consecutive year. “It was very tough this time”, recalled Pelletier “since the last match had to decide everything. We had poor positions on two of our white boards straight from the opening, but eventually drew the match 1-1 and this was enough for the title”. Yannik now prefers to live more in Montpellier with his girlfriend rather than in Switzerland.
The main tournament was a triumph for the Latvian GM Vijesturs Meijers. His willingness to earn the maximum of every position served him well at the end. Excellently physically prepared the Latvian was the last one to finish his final three games! Even the closing ceremony had to be postponed for an hour thanks to his last game. First he won an endgame rook and bishop against a rook in the fifth round, and in the final one managed to defend a rook and a knight versus rook endgame. His opponent from the final round Stefan Loetscher was actually winning before that drawish construction occurred, but missed to claim the first price. Marcus Raeber from Switzerland quite unexpectedly, but fully deservedly won the second price. I was very disappointed with my finish-only half a point in the last two games which had thrown me from leading position to tenth place.
The Main tournament group was won by a player who did not have any rating. Simon Abächerli scored 6.5 points from seven games.

Interview Vladimir Georgiev (for chessbase)

Vladimir Georgiev was born in 1975 in Dobrich, Bulgaria. Many times Bulgarian champion in various ages, he won the men title at 1995. Since 2001 he represents FYROM. Among his best achievements are the tournament wins in Reggio Emilia 2001, Corus C-2005, silver medal at the Olympiad in Torino 2006 and others. At the season 2000-2001 he scores the phenomenal 12/13 in the German Bundesliga. In 2003 he lives for one year in Chicago (USA) and works as a children trainer, but becomes bored and return to active chess life. The result is the world crown of Antoaneta Stefanova in Elista 2004. His best rating so far is 2596. Vladimir is known as a positive and lucky person in the chess society.

Hello, Vladko, where are you now?
Hello, we are currently in Sunny Beach, a nice resort on the Black Sea near Bourgas (Bulgaria). We are getting prepared for the World Women Championship in Nalchik with Antoaneta Stefanova.
What is the subject of your preparation?
Mainly we look at some important theoretical lines. This is a sort of a general preparation.
Are not you having some special preparation for the matches?
Yes, we also take a look at Ety’s most probable opponents.
And what about the physical preparation?
We take care of that, too. I am going to wake up Ety earlier this morning, and we go straight to the swimming pool. There is an excellent indoor pool, which is not as crowded as those outside the hotel. And you know swimming is one of the best sports for the chess players.
What else do you do there?
Nothing special, we try to relax as well after the tournament in Krasnoturinsk.
This was a tough competition really and the highest-rated tournament in the history of the women chess. How was there?
Ety played the tournament for the sixth time. She is the only player who took part in all the editions.
Until this one without big success…
True. She did not show everything she is capable of until this year. But now she managed to claim the win in the hardest one. She always needs new challenges.
Were you always with her at these tournaments?
Only once- in 2004 after she became a World Champion. She was very close to the overall win then, and pushed hard in the final game, but eventually lost it thus finishing on “plus one”.
This year Eti started well with two wins.
That looked quite convincing to most of the audience.
Actually the first game against Koneru was a bluff at one moment. The line that we chose was not the best one. Against Nata (Natalia Pogonina) we predicted the line that she will play and everything went well until Ety won a pawn. Unfortunately she gave to her teammate (they both play for the team of Krasnoturinsk) too many chances later, but to our luck Natalia lost on time.
The decisive game without any doubt was against Marie Sebag. Ety managed to confuse her opponent and to turn the tables in seemingly lost position.
But then came untypical lost against Pia Cramling in a three against four rook endgame?
This can happen to anyone, especially if he or she has to defend a poor position for a long time. In that particular game Ety was defending well for a long time but finally when a drawing position was reached she erred badly.
How do you feel with so many girls around?
I must confess- it is an enormous pleasure. They are always smiling, and friendly outside the board. It is nothing like Topalov-Kramnik way of not-standing each other or in sports like tennis for example.
True, when they get over-the-board for the game it is a different story. But I do not need to face them there :)
I saw that you had a party in the free day.
Yes, there was a karaoke and dances.
Did you sing?
Nooo, neither me, nor Ety. But we danced a lot. By the way the organizers in Krasnoturinsk do always try their best to entertain the players. Last year it was sports shooting, this year dances, and every year is something different. Despite the fact that they lost one of the sponsors they received additional support from the government and managed to raise the status of the tournament even higher. The town is very nice, there is a picturesque river. People recognize Antoaneta and she has a lot of supporters.
You were commenting the games for the audience?
Yes, and this was also nice, since the people here have excellent chess education.
Why do skip the press-conferences after the games?
We realized that they are not only time-consuming, but that they also are very bad for the concentration. Ety took my advice at the WWC in Elista when she became a champion and we both skipped the press-conferences. It cost us some money, but it was worth. The best is to give one final press-conference :)
Imagine that we finish our game after two-three hours. Then we need to wait for some more hours until the others finish their games, instead of having some sleep for example.
In Krasnoturinsk the organizers understood our motives, and permitted me to speak instead of Antoaneta at the conferences without penalties.
Tell us something from the kitchen of your team. What is your preferable way of relaxation after the games?
As most of the girls Ety likes shopping, and I do not mind joining her. I realized that she always fills the batteries after a nice long shopping. (By the way Ety says that it is also a pleasure shopping with Vladimir-he is never complaining, and usually supports her choice, without being stingy in his compliments.)
You are also an active player. How do you feel after working with Stefanova?
We are bringing benefits to each other. Since I need to be up-to-date with her openings I need to learn them well, and of course I can use them too. This was best shown last year in Drezden at the EICC where Ety took the silver, and I managed to qualify for the World Cup.
Will you have some acclimatization before Nalchik?
Our preparation ends a week before this important event. Then we shall have some rest in Sofia, and shall travel a couple of days earlier before the start of the championship.
Thanks a lot, and good luck there! Bulgaria wishes you another crown!

For the Sake of Knowledge

We learn chess all our lives. The game is inexhaustible (at least so far) and we usually try to memorize typical plans and ideas that will help us to orientate better for the fixed time we have for a certain game. Memorizing separated moves usually is not that effective since the chance that they appear over the board is very low. But not always…
While preparing for my game against Steven Geinaert at the Atlantis Master tournament in Groningen I discovered this game:
Korneev,Oleg (2611) - Fierro Baquero,Martha Lorena (2353) [B01]
Huila Centenary op Neiva (2), 11.05.2005
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd2 Bf5 7.Ne4 Qc7 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.g3 e6 10.Bg2 Nd7 11.0–0 Be4 12.Re1 f5 13.Ng5 Bxg2

14.Rxe6+ Be7 15.Qh5 0–0–0 16.Rxe7 1–0
Nice idea, I thought for myself, but not very likely to happen. It really did not in that particular game (although Steven went in another home-prepared line), but a few days later:

Bojkov,Dejan (2498) - Festas,Georgios (2172) [B01]
36th Teams Ch-GR Kallithea Halkidiki (4.8), 08.07.2008

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd2 Bf5 7.Ne4 Qc7 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.g3 e6 10.Bg2 Nd7 11.0–0 Bd6 12.c4 Be4 13.Re1 f5 14.Ng5 Bxg2

15.Rxe6+ (The only insignificant difference is the inclusion of the moves c2-c4 for White and Bf8-d6 for Black) Kf8 16.Qh5 1–0

Funny, is not it? Thanks to the very few moves that I have memorized (and some luck, sure but we always need it) I managed to win easily and have some time for a beach. Chess can be fun!

My First ChessVibes Story

It is again concerning the tournament in Ferrol, and starts like this:
At the Atlantic coast of north-west Spain, from 15-20 July the 23rd edition of open tournament “Ciudad de Ferrol” took place. Besides the regular ones, “accidental prizes” were given during the closing ceremony. The rest you can find here: http://www.chessvibes.com/tournaments/accidental-prizes-at-ciudad-de-ferrol/#more-2234

For the Third Time

(Park Reina Sofia)
Galicia is the west-north part of Spain. For the XXI time the “CIRCUITO GALEGO DE XADREZ” takes part here. Total of six tournaments constitute it- in Burgas, “V Maestro Rodrigo in memoriam” in Ferrol, “II Memorial Arximiro Penide Cedeira “MIRO” in Arteixo, Cambados (Pontevedra), Ortiguera (La Coruna) and “Virxe Peregrina” in Ponteverda. Galicia’s main cities host the tournaments, and in addition the biggest part of the events take place during the famous fiestas, players may never be bored.
For the overall placement in the circuit a player should take part in at least three tournaments and the points that he collected in them are counted. If he takes part in more events he may use his best results. In case that there is equality in points one looks for better placement in the separated competitions. There are additional prices for the circuit, and there are players who participate here from a very long time-one example is GM Vladimir Dimitrov from Bulgaria (fifteen times), as well as GM M. Manolache from Romania, IM Jordan Ivanov, etc. Even top player like Ivan Cheparinov formed themselves as fighters in Galicia.
The tournament that I would like to tell you now is second from the circuit-the one in Ferrol.

(Easy to guess where is he coming from-IM Kidambi Sundararajan (IND))

This nice little town was the birthplace of general Francisco Franco and Pablo Iglesias (fonder of the Spanish socialist party), and has been a major naval shipbuilding centre for most of its history, as well as the capital of the Spanish Navy's Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early Bourbons. Before that, in the 17th century, Ferrol was the most important arsenal in Europe. It is still an important harbour and is famous for it’s’ sea food, surf-beaches and glass-houses. On Saturday as one of the local fiestas “de Pulpo” (for Octopuses) was taking place 3000 portions of this delicious food were presented to the people in a village nearby.
It was my third tournament here, and usually the field is very strong. For the price fund of about 15 000 euros were competing 160 people from 20 countries. Among them were 12 GMs and 23 IMs, or 53 titled players in total. As usual the tournament started with some of the players forfeit. It is a long way, and with many tournaments held in Spain in the summer some of them simply can not come, and others prefer to choose another tournament.
(My Wife in front of Enormous Aloe Vera)

Two things are interesting about the competition-one is the possibility to take “bye” and earn half a point without play. One player has the right to take 2 byes during the tournament but they can not be in rounds 1, 8, or 9. Of course, they have to be announced before the start of the event. It is a good idea for those who can not play early morning rounds (although I do not consider 10 o’clock too early, but some do), or players who does not like double rounds. The tradition here is that there are at least two double rounds (on Saturday and Sunday-to let people work), and this year they were even three. Chess life is speeding up, but if I have to be honest this is for no good. At least for me.
Another interesting thing is the presence of ten “lucky” prices each of them at the cost of 100 euro. The organizer of the tournament Juan Rodriguez explains me the idea: “1000 euro is not a big amount of money, and at the same time these prices make the tournament interesting for ordinary chess lovers. At the closing ceremony we make a lottery for the non-awarded players and anyone can be winner if he is lucky, no matter which place he took in the event.” Funnily enough at least three players missed their luck for no presenting at the closing ceremony and lost their prices. Among the rewarded were two IMs-Tadej Sakalsek from Slovenia and Larino Nieto who was the unlucky 21-st in the tournament, but his destiny was to take a price!
(Lucky Prices)

Three years ago the monument of General Franco was destroyed, and as we already joke a new one going to be build soon. For the player who won convincingly Ciudad de Ferrol for third time in a row-GM Julian Radulski from Bulgaria. This is a lucky place for him, he never lost a game for all three years, and always achieves at least “plus five” score. Last year he was ready to accept a draw in the final round (and claim the second price) but then someone congratulated his main rival with the overall win, Julian got angry, played, and won convincingly. He came here after two excellent tournaments (first place in Montcada, and second in Torredembara, in Cataluna) and despite the tiredness managed to achieve his ordinary plus five. Five more players shared the win with him, but since his start was better and his cumulative score overwhelming he collected yet another silver plaque.
Co-winner became one young and strong Cuban player-Isam Ortiz Suarez. A week ago he won the first tournament in the circuit- Ciudad de Burgas and earned a GM norm there. His result in Ferrol was also worth the norm, but he lacked the GMs.
There were four more players to tie for the first place-Nanko Dobrev from Bulgaria, Kidambi Sundararajan and Ponnuswamy Konguvel from India and Robin Swinkels from Netherlands.
One funny case happened in a game of Alexei Barsov. Uzbek’s Spanish opponent lost on time, but claimed that the clock is not working properly, and that he still had 9 seconds left on his clock (although it showed -0.00). “OK, then I am going to give you 39 seconds-nine that you had plus thirty for the move that you made”, decided the arbiter. Barsov protested and offered that they count the moves and compare them to the time spend, but the decision of the arbiter was final, and he had to continue the game. Still he managed to outplay his opponent and later joked with his typical sense of humour: “Good that he did not claim that he had ten minutes, since the position was anything but clear.”
On Monday the tournament in Arteixo starts and the circuit goes on…
(Winner-GM Julian Radulski from Bulgaria)