RTU Open Final: Shirov Victorious, Aryan Shines!

A victory over GM Baron Tal in the final round of the Riga Technical University Open 2015 enabled GM Alexei Shirov to join GM Robert Hovhannisyan at the top of the table. However, Shirov edged out Hovhannisyan on the tie-break score to clinch the title in this 9 round open.

Meanwhile, the 3rd, 4th and 5th places went to GMs Jumbayev, Kovalenko and Melkumyan respectively.

Amongst Indians, untitled Aryan Chopra performed brilliantly by remaining unbeaten throughout the course of the tournament to finish a creditable 6th in the final rankings. The 14 year old not only increased an impressive 28 rating points but also made a Grandmaster Norm with a rating performance of 2634.

Final Standings: Here

French Chess Championship 08: Three Decisive Games

The 8th round of the French Championship 2015 saw 3 of the total 6 games ending decisively. From the point of view of current standings, GM Gozzoli’s victory over GM Istratescu proved to be a crucial one as it enabled the former to move on to the joint-second spot along with GM Gharamian. In the other decisive games, GMs Edouard and Maze overcame GMs Cornette and Schekachev respectively.

After 8 rounds, GMs Bauer and Degraeve are leading the pack with 5.5 points each. The duo drew their 8th round games against Lagarde and Bacrot respectively.

Round 8 Results:

Degraeve

 Bacrot ½-½
Edouard Cornette

1-0

Gozzoli

 Istratescu 1-0
Lagarde Bauer

½-½

Maze

 Shchekachev 1-0

Moussard

 Gharamian

½-½

French Chess Championship 06: A Fighting Round!

The sixth round of the French Chess Championship 2015 proved to be an exciting one with 4 of the 6 games ending decisively. The only games to end in peace were Degraeve – Gharamian and Lagarde – Bacrot.

From the standings point of view, GM Bauer’s 61-move victory over GM Gozzoli proved to be an important one. This victory helped Bauer secure the sole second spot after Round 6, just half a point behind the leader GM Jean-Marc Degraeve. Meanwhile, GMs Gharamian, Maze and Edouard are ranked joint 3rd and are trailing Bauer by half a point.

Round 6 Results:

Degraeve

 Gharamian ½-½
Edouard Shchekachev

1-0

Gozzoli

 Bauer 0-1
Istratescu Cornette

1-0

Lagarde

 Bacrot ½-½
Maze Moussard

1-0

RTU Open 08: Hovhannisyan in sole lead

A miniature victory over GM Baron Tal enabled GM Robert Hovhannisyan to take up the sole lead going into the final round of the Riga Technical University Open 2015. The Hovhannisyan – Baron encounter, which took off with the Four Knights Opening, saw Baron get overly ambitious with his 13th move. Hovhannisyan took perfect advantage of his opponent’s blunder and as such, Baron had to resign on move 17.

In other games, the all-Latvian encounter on Board 2 between GMs Shirov and Kovalenko resulted in a fighting draw while Untitled Indian player Aryan Chopra successfully held GM Bartosz Socko on Board 3.

With only one round to go, Hovhannisyan is being closely followed by Shirov on 6.5 points. Meanwhile, as many as 9 players, including Aryan Chopra, are ranked 3rd with 6 points each.

Round 8 Results: Here

French Chess Championship 05: GM Degraeve in sole lead

The fifth round of the French Championship 2015 witnessed a couple of crucial results as GM Degraeve won against IM Moussard while GM Cornette overcame GM Bauer. These results enabled GM Degraeve to take up the sole lead after Round 5 win a 1-point margin over his nearest rivals.

Meanwhile, GM Yannick Gozzoli scored a convincing victory over GM Maze. The rest of the games ended in peace.

Round 5 Results:

Gharamian

 ½-½  Edouard
Cornette 1-0

Bauer

Bacrot

 ½-½ Istratescu
Moussard 0-1

Degraeve

Schekachev

 ½-½ Lagarde
Maze 0-1

Gozzoli

RTU Open 06: Shirov, Hovhannisyan on top

After 6 rounds of the Riga Technical University Open 2015, GMs Alexei Shirov and Robert Hovhannisyan are in joint lead with 5.5 points each. The duo overcame IM Chiagev and GM Naroditsky respectively in the 6th round of this 9-round event.

Amongst Indians, IM Prasanna Rao and untitled Aryan Chopra have notched up 4.5 points each. The former notably defeated GM Jure Skoberne in Round 6.

The 7th round is expected to be a crucial one with the two leaders – Shirov and Hovhannisyan – paired against each other. A win for either of the two will take the winner a step closer to winning this tournament.

Round 6 Results: Here

French Chess Championship 04: Bauer, Degraeve in lead

The 4th round of the French Championship 2015 witnessed two decisive games as GMs Gharamian and Edouard overcame GM Lagarde and IM Moussard respectively. Both the games proved to be pretty one-sided affairs for the two winners.

Meanwhile, GMs Bauer and Degraeve maintained their lead at the top of the table with draws against GMs Bacrot and Maze respectively. The two leaders, who are on 3/4, are being closely trailed by GMs Maze and Gharamian with a tally of 2.5 points each.

Round 4 Results:

Bauer, Christian

 Bacrot, Etienne ½-½

Degraeve, Jean-Marc

 Maze, Sebastien ½-½
Edouard, Romain Moussard, Jules

1-0
Gozzoli, Yannick Cornette, Matthieu

½-½

Istratescu, Andrei

 Shchekachev, Andrei ½-½
Lagarde, Maxime Gharamian, Tigran

0-1

Russian Chess Superfinals 04: Artemiev and Tomashevsky lead

GM Vladislav Artemiev (2671) and GM Evgeney Tomashevsky (2747) lead the Russian Chess Superfinals with 3.0/4. Both have won two games apiece and drawn the remaining two.

Following them close by are GM Nikita Vitiugov (2719) and GM Sergey Karjakin (2753) at 2.5/4.

Check the cross-table after Round 4 here.

Asian Continental Chess Final: GM Salem crowned Asian champion!

The final round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship 2015 saw the top-board game between GMs Salem A. R. Saleh and Vidit Gujrathi end in a quick draw while on the second board, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly overcame GM Zhang Zhong in an inspired fashion. As a result, Salem and Ganguly both ended up with 7 points each. However, Salem was crowned the new Asian Continental Champion, thanks to his better tie-break score.

Meanwhile, the third place was secured by GM Sethuraman, who pipped GMs Vidit and Zhou Jianchao on the tie-breaks.

The surprise factor of this tournament turned out to be Maghsoodloo Parham, an untitled player from Iran who notched up a total of 6 points. He secured the 6th position in the final rankings and finished ahead of several strong Grandmasters.

Final Rankings: Here