Month: May 2015

Italian Team Chess Final: ‘O. R. Padova’ and ‘Circolo Scacchi’ triumph!

Open Section:

With an overwhelming 3.5-0.5 win over 3rd seeds ‘A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi’, top seeds ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’ clinched the CIS Master Italian Team Championship 2015 ahead of ‘WorldTradingLab Club 64 Modena’, thanks to their superior Board Points.

In the A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi vs Padova encounter, only GM Axel Rombaldoni managed to salvage half a point for the former team, while Padova rocked the remaining boards with GM Nakamura, GM Dvirnyy and GM Mogranzini winning their respective games. However, for ‘WorldTradingLab Club 64 Modena’, the win didn’t come as easily, with the ‘Banca Nuova Palermo’ players putting up a great fight. It was IM D’Amore’s victory against FM Ramondino that clinched the match for ‘WorldTradingLab’ with a 2.5-1.5 scoreline.

Final Standings: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166264.aspx?lan=1&art=0&rd=7&wi=821


Women’s Section:

In the women’s section, ‘A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi’ won all their matches and clinched the title with a perfect score of 8 Match-Points. ‘A.S.D. Cielo D’Alcamo Scacchi’ secured the second place with a crucial 2.5-0.5 victory against ‘S.S. Lazio Scacchi’ in the last round while ‘S.S. Lazio Scacchi’ could only finish third despite having a great start to the tournament.

Final Standings: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166271.aspx?lan=1&art=0&wi=821

Russian Team Chess Round 3: Close Battles!

Open Section:

The third round of the Russian Team Chess Championship 2015 proved to be a close affair with as many as 3 matches ending with a 3.5-2.5 scoreline and the ‘Yamal’ vs ‘Rook’ match finishing in a 3-3 draw.

The match between ‘Lada’ and ‘Siberia’ turned out to be closer than expected with Lada going down with the narrowest of margins. Untitled Alexander Predke (2533) of ‘Lada’ made a real feast of this match with a nice victory over 2700+ GM Anton Korobov. However, with Jakovenko and Bocharov winning their respective games for Siberia and the rest of the games ending in draws, Siberia overcame Lada 3.5-2.5.

In the remaining ‘heavyweight’ matches, ‘University’ defeated ‘Malachite’ 3.5-2.5 while ‘Bronze Horsemen’ came out on top against ‘SHSM – Our Heritage’ with the same scores.

After 3 rounds, ‘University’ and ‘Siberia’ lead the pack with a total of 6 match-points each.


Women’s Section:

The central battle of Round 3 in the Women’s Section – ‘Boavista’ vs ‘SDYUSSHOR SHSH’ – finished in a fighting 2-2 draw with all the games turning out to be decisive. The ‘University’ team took full advantage of this draw as they overcame ‘Grozny’ and joined Boavista and SDYUSSHOR at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, the clash of the titans ‘Ugra’ vs ‘SHSM – Our Heritage’ ended in a comfortable 3-1 victory for the latter. GM Gunina and IM Kovalevskaya scored two important points for ‘SHSM’ with wins over WGM Pogonina and IM Guseva respectively.

Nakhchivan Chess 02: Adhiban and Gupta in fray

The city of Nakchivan in Azerbaijan is playing host to a very strong international tournament with two Indians participating – GM B. Adhiban (2636) and GM Abhijeet Gupta (2603).

At the end of two rounds of play, five player lead the table with 2.0/2. GM Adhiban is having a tough time with only 0.5/2 meanwhile, GM Gupta stands at 1.5/2.

You may check the pairings for round 3 here:

http://chess-results.com/tnr168125.aspx?lan=11&art=2&rd=3&wi=821

Russian Team Chess 02: University and Siberia in early lead

Open Section

After 2 rounds of the Russian Team Chess Championship 2015, 2 teams – University and Siberia – lead the rest with 4 match-points each.

The Siberian Team, spearheaded by GM Kramnik, scored an important 3.5-2.5 victory over the strong Bronze Horseman team. With rest of the games ending in draws, GM Kramnik’s win over GM Svidler proved to be decisive. The team ‘University’, on the other hand, had a relatively easy sailing as they beat ‘Rook’ with a 4-2 scoreline.

Meanwhile, the ‘Yamal’ team, with only 1 GM in their line-up, impressed one and all with their performance despite going down 2.5-3.5 against ‘SHSM – Our Heritage’. Although Yamal were hugely out-rated on each of the boards, they only lost by the narrowest of margins. In the remaining match, ‘Malachite’ routed ‘Lada’ 4-2.

Complete Round 2 Results (Team names in Russian) : http://chess-results.com/tnr171712.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=2&wi=821


Women’s Section: 

With a surprise victory over ‘SHSM – Our Heritage’ in the second round, ‘SDYUSSHOR SHSH’ took up the early joint-lead along with ‘Boavista’. SDYUSSHOR won their match 2.5-1.5, courtesy of important victories by IM Bodnaruk and WIM Balain over GM Kosteniuk and IM Kashlinskaya respectively.

Complete Round 2 Results (Team names in Russian) : http://chess-results.com/tnr171723.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=2&wi=821

Italian Team Chess 06: O. R. Padova shocked

The sixth round of the Italian Team Chess Championship 2015 witnessed a major surprise as 8th seeds ‘Banca Nuova Palermo’ shockingly overcame the top seeds ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’. Untitled Ferro Mario starred for Palermo as he scored a crucial victory over GM Dvirnyy. With GM Palac holding Top GM Vachier-Lagrave to a draw and FMs Mazzali and Amato drawing their Grandmaster opponents, Palermo clinched the match 2.5-1.5.

After 6 rounds, 4 teams are tied for the top spot with 9 points each. However, owing to their better board points, A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi are ahead of the rest.

Complete Round 6 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166264.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=6&wi=821

Italian Team Chess 05: MVL stunned as A.S.D. Arrocco holds Padova

Open Section

In a surprising turn of events, young Italian FM Altini Nicola stunned Super GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and starred in A.S.D. Arrocco Chess Club’s surprise draw against top-seeds ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’. The third and fouth board players for Arrocco – FM Boscolo and untitled Cappai – also came to the party as they drew GMs Vocaturo and Mogranzini respectively.

Despite this setback, O.R. Padova comfortably lead the pack with 9 match-points, followed by four teams on 7 points.

Complete Round 5 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166264.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=5&wi=821


Women’s Section:

After 3 rounds, A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi and S.S. Lazio Scacchi lead the table with 6 match-points each. The teams will clash today in a crucial last round encounter.

Complete Round 3 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166271.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=3&wi=821

Russian Team Chess championship from May 1 – 7

The super-strong Russian Team Chess championship takes places from May 1 – 7 (at 15:00 Moscow time, 17:30 IST on all days)!

8 teams are participating in this championship. Each team fields 6 players plus 2 reserves.

The championship boasts of many 2700+ rated players like Kramnik, Aronian, Jakovenko, Wang Yue, Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek and others!

Official site: http://online.ruchess.ru/

Pairings & Results : http://www.chess-results.com/tnr171712.aspx

Italian Team Chess 2015: O.R.Padova in sole lead

GM Sabino Brunello held World #5 GM Nakamura (not in the picture) to a draw.
GM Sabino Brunello held World #5 GM Nakamura (not in the picture) to a draw, albeit in a losing cause. (Pic Source: http://www.chess.com/)

After 3 rounds of the CIS Master Italian Team Championship 2015, top seeds ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’, boasting of such players as Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave and Bacrot, took the sole lead with a perfect score of 6 match-points. This became possible courtesy of a comfortable 3-1 victory over 2nd seeds ‘WorldTradingLab Club 64 Modena’ in Round 3. Although Padova’s star-player GM Nakamura could only manage a draw against GM Brunello, their young Italian GMs Vocaturo and Dvirnyy came to the party with wins over IM D’Amore and IM Caprio respectively.

The battle between the 3rd and the 4th seeds – A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi vs P.W. Napoli – ended in a well-fought 2-2 draw with FM Bonafede scoring for A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi and IM Collutiis equalizing for Napoli. The other two games finished in draws, thus ensuring 1 match-point each for both the teams.

Rankings after 3 Rounds:

1) Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova – 6 Points

2) Il Grifone d’Arzignano – 4 Points

3)  WorldTradingLab Club 64 Modena – 4 Points … (18 Teams)

Complete Round 3 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166264.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=3&wi=821


Women’s Section:

In the Women’s Section, A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi and S.S. Lazio Scacchi won their respective matches 3-0, and as such, have taken up the joint lead after Round 1 in this 5 round tournament.

Complete Round 1 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr166271.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=1&wi=821