Another edition of the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament, and another title at this historic event for the ever-creative Vassily Ivanchuk. The 47-year-old Ukrainian super-GM remained unbeaten throughout the course of this double round-robin event, notching up an impressive 7/10 and finishing a point ahead of his compatriot GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko.
Ivanchuk’s performance was all about dominance. Chucky, as he is often called, took an early lead by winning games 2 and 3. From that point on, there was no looking back. Ivanchuk never let his top position slip, remained unbeaten and in the end, won the tournament in the most comprehensive of ways. Courtesy of this scintillating performance, Ivanchuk gained an impressive 18 ELO points.
While Kryvoruchko finished second with 6/10, GMs Zoltan Almasi and Ivan Cheparinov tied for the third place, scoring 5 points each. The latter’s superior tie-break score helped him finish third, while Almasi had to settle for the fourth spot.