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Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015

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Gibraltar Chess 2015

Gibraltar Chess 2015
(click on the image for full view of the poster)

The Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 is going to take place 26 January – 5 February in the Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar. The long traditions of the festival, the fantastic organization, and the hefty 175 000 pounds prize fund have attracted many of the top world grandmasters.

Veselin Topalov, whose current ELO is exactly 2800 (making him world number 3 on FIDE’s January list), will be the highest rated player ever to take part in Gibraltar. His main opponents from the 2700 club include Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Pentala Harikrishna, Yu Yangyi, and Richard Rapport.

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Last year’s winner Ivan Cheparinov is 10th seeded, right after Maxim Matlakov and ahead of Maxim Rodshtein.

Hou Yifan, the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, is seeded 13th in Gibraltar. She will be joined by several compatriots including Wey Yi (currently playing Tata Challengers), Ju Wenjun, Guo Qi, and Xu Jun.

England will be represented by Gawain Jones, David Howell, Nigel Short, Jovanka Houska, Robert Bellin, Lawrence Trent, andNigel Povah among many others in the Challengers and Amateur sections.

USA will be aiming for the top positions with a mix of young and experienced players. Besides the second seeded Nakamura, Gribraltar 2015 will have Varuzhan Akobian, Daniel Naroditsky, Alexandr Lenderman, Kayden Troff, Irina Krush, James Tarjan, and John Watson.

Here is the full list of participants

Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 – participants Masters

Title Country Rating
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2800
2 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2776
3 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2739
4 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2735
5 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2733
6 Harikrishna, Pentala g IND 2727
7 Yu, Yangyi g CHN 2724
8 Rapport, Richard g HUN 2716
9 Matlakov, Maxim g RUS 2695
10 Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2681
11 Rodshtein, Maxim g ISR 2680
12 Wei, Yi g CHN 2675
13 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2673
14 Jones, Gawain C B g ENG 2671
15 Howell, David W L g ENG 2670
16 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2665
17 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2660
18 Iturrizaga, Eduardo g VEN 2649
19 Edouard, Romain g FRA 2638
20 Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2637
21 Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2637
22 Bartel, Mateusz g POL 2631
23 Adhiban, B g IND 2630
24 Bachmann, Axel g PAR 2629
25 Salgado Lopez, Ivan g ESP 2628
26 Agdestein, Simen g NOR 2626
27 Sethuraman, S.P. g IND 2624
28 Naroditsky, Daniel g USA 2622
29 Anton Guijarro, David g ESP 2617
30 Lenderman, Aleksandr g USA 2614
31 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2608
32 Salem, A.R. Saleh g UAE 2603
33 Grandelius, Nils g SWE 2602
34 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2595
35 Roiz, Michael g ISR 2592
36 Vazquez Igarza, Renier g ESP 2592
37 Mareco, Sandro g ARG 2583
38 Nabaty, Tamir g ISR 2579
39 Felgaer, Ruben g ARG 2575
40 Hansen, Eric g CAN 2574
41 Sandipan, Chanda g IND 2574
42 Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2573
43 Bok, Benjamin g NED 2572
44 Mikhalevski, Victor g ISR 2571
45 Sengupta, Deep g IND 2569
46 Bogner, Sebastian g SUI 2565
47 Oparin, Grigoriy g RUS 2551
48 Chirila, Ioan-Cristian g ROU 2548
49 Ju, Wenjun g CHN 2547
50 Muzychuk, Anna g UKR 2544
51 Troff, Kayden W g USA 2541
52 Spraggett, Kevin g CAN 2538
53 Arribas Lopez, Angel g ESP 2537
54 Lalith, Babu M.R. g IND 2537
55 Khotenashvili, Bela g GEO 2526
56 Rasmussen, Allan Stig g DEN 2526
57 Xu, Jun g CHN 2523
58 Popilski, Gil g ISR 2522
59 Blomqvist, Erik g SWE 2520
60 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2520
61 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2518
62 Tarjan, James E g USA 2518
63 Boruchovsky, Avital g ISR 2517
64 Al-Sayed, Mohammed g QAT 2516
65 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2515
66 Donchenko, Alexander m GER 2511
67 Debashis, Das g IND 2503
68 Wagner, Dennis m GER 2501
69 Oral, Tomas g CZE 2498
70 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2496
71 Svane, Rasmus m GER 2496
72 Raznikov, Danny m ISR 2494
73 Georgiadis, Nico m SUI 2490
74 Shyam, Sundar M. g IND 2489
75 Ducarmon, Quinten m NED 2488
76 Tari, Aryan m NOR 2487
77 Javakhishvili, Lela m GEO 2486
78 Smith, Axel m SWE 2483
79 Zhukova, Natalia g UKR 2482
80 Pichot, Alan m ARG 2480
81 Das, Arghyadip m IND 2476
82 Melia, Salome m GEO 2473
83 Trent, Lawrence m ENG 2470
84 Adla, Diego m ARG 2469
85 Almagro Llamas, Pablo m ESP 2469
86 Kjartansson, Gudmundur m ISL 2468
87 Krush, Irina g USA 2467
88 Carlsson, Pontus g SWE 2465
89 Vishnu Prasanna, V g IND 2463
90 Venkatesh, M.R. g IND 2460
91 Khurtsidze, Nino m GEO 2455
92 Docx, Stefan m BEL 2450
93 Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2449
94 Guo, Qi m CHN 2439
95 Neelotpal, Das g IND 2437
96 Teran Alvarez, Ismael m ESP 2430
97 Nakar, Eylon m ISR 2419
98 Nagy, Gabor m HUN 2410
99 Martinez Martin, David m ESP 2407
100 Santiago, Yago De Moura m BRA 2406
101 Nezad, Husein m QAT 2404
102 Solomon, Kenny m RSA 2399
103 Karavade, Eesha m IND 2398
104 El Adnani, Mokliss f MAR 2394
105 Foisor, Cristina-Adela m ROU 2390
106 Kuipers, Stefan m NED 2390
107 Houska, Jovanka m ENG 2388
108 Padmini, Rout wg IND 2388
109 Zude, Arno m GER 2377
110 Codenotti, Marco m ITA 2374
111 Khademalsharieh, S wg IRI 2372
112 Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel g ESP 2370
113 Ladron De Guevara, P f ESP 2367
114 Paehtz, Thomas g GER 2365
115 Christiansen, Johan f NOR 2354
116 Lejlic, Samir m SWE 2354
117 Zwahr, Paul f GER 2354
118 Wemmers, Xander m NED 2353
119 Bartel, Marta wg POL 2347
120 Soumya, Swaminathan wg IND 2346
121 Dragnev, Valentin f AUT 2344
122 Bellin, Robert m ENG 2338
123 Vuilleumier, Alexandre m SUI 2336
124 Holm, Kristian Stuvik f NOR 2330
125 Morchiashvili, Bachana m GEO 2326
126 Povah, Nigel E m ENG 2324
127 Guerrero Vargas, Andres f VEN 2320
128 Sorm, Daniel f CZE 2319
129 Watson, John L m USA 2319
130 Santos Ruiz, Miguel f ESP 2310
131 Plotkin, Victor f CAN 2306
132 Nuri, Kambez f SUI 2305
133 Vojinovic, Jovana wg SRB 2301
134 De Haan, Eric f NED 2299
135 Tate, Alan f SCO 2297
136 Rydstrom, Tom f SWE 2292
137 Lombaers, Peter NED 2291
138 Olsarova, Tereza wm CZE 2288
139 Sanchez Jerez, Emilio f ESP 2282
140 Buchal, Stephan f GER 2273
141 Viana, Dirceu f BRA 2268
142 Frisk, Ellinor wm SWE 2266
143 Cordes, Hans-Joerg f GER 2262
144 Prosviriakov, Vladimir m USA 2257
145 Semprun Martinez, F ESP 2253
146 Galmandakh, Badrakh MGL 2240
147 Spence, David ENG 2231
148 Hommerson, Paul NED 2229
149 Barrenechea, Gustavo ESP 2223
150 Urbina Perez, Juan c ESP 2221
151 Terron Elena, Francisco M. f ESP 2218
152 Al-Tamimi, Hamad QAT 2214
153 Perez Garcia, Alejandro ESP 2207
154 Hoffmann, Hendrik f GER 2206
155 Fawole, John Oyeyemi c NGR 2200
156 Dolzhikova, Olga wg NOR 2194
157 Balogun, Oluwafemi c NGR 2193
158 Byron, Alan M ENG 2188
159 Veltkamp, Gerben NED 2175
160 Hellwig, Tobias GER 2172
161 Zimmermann, Rene GER 2172
162 Heinemann, Josefine GER 2160
163 Heer, Stephan SUI 2157
164 Krockenberger, Martin f GER 2152
165 Schneider, German GER 2150
166 Herman, Diego ARG 2148
167 Seyfried, Claus GER 2147
168 Tscharotschkin, Michael GER 2144
169 Bar, Aviv ISR 2142
170 Havik, Victor NOR 2137
171 Burrows, Martin P ENG 2136
172 Leite, Catarina wm POR 2136
173 Jurdao Perez, Marcos ESP 2131
174 Kuhne, Detlev GER 2131
175 Beltz, Franziska wf GER 2130
176 Walton, Alan J c ENG 2129
177 Weeramantry, Sunil f SRI 2127
178 Wiedersich, Jens GER 2125
179 Daneri, Martin c ARG 2123
180 Rodriguez Alvarez, Vidal VEN 2122
181 Danielsson, Robert SWE 2121
182 Mehlhorn, Uwe GER 2121
183 Amgalanbaatar, R MGL 2117
184 Holleland, Sigve NOR 2116
185 Baert, Andy f BEL 2114
186 Osuna Vega, Enrique c ESP 2108
187 Schaefer, Reyk GER 2104
188 Mareckova, Martina wf CZE 2102
189 De Rosa, Mariagrazia wf ITA 2101
190 Amos, Frank GER 2097
191 Verneuil, Pascal FRA 2093
192 Hewson, Brian Wr ENG 2084
193 Yu, Jonathan CAN 2081
194 Freuler, Roman SUI 2071
195 Cawley, Paul F ENG 2070
196 Jameson, David WLS 2068
197 Becham, Khalid MAR 2059
198 Skutta, Bernd GER 2059
199 Dasaolu, Rotimi NGR 2053
200 Gieritz, Dietmar GER 2048
201 Byrn, Carsten DEN 2044
202 Fomani, Medhi ESP 2033
203 Jacobsen, Fredrik Beer NOR 2031
204 Henrichsen, Jens DEN 2030
205 Suez-Panama, Gilles FRA 2030
206 Michalowski, Peter GER 2024
207 Lien, Kjell Hakon NOR 2020
208 Nwoye, Nnamdi NGR 2015
209 Hamer, Martyn ENG 2014
210 Nilsen, Martin NOR 2011
211 Tranter, Stephen ENG 1997
212 Green, Per SWE 1996
213 Moradi, Kimia IRI 1984
214 Ferreira, Oscar Luiz BRA 1980
215 Agbabishvili, Lali CAN 1978
216 Klyszcz, Michael GER 1975
217 Othman, Mustapha NGR 1968
218 Spanton, Tim R ENG 1963
219 Adebajo, Olufemi ENG 1962
220 Boyer Censore, Giuseppe VEN 1960
221 Lobersli, Henrik Oie NOR 1957
222 Godinho Marques, Pedro POR 1950
223 Whatley, Stephen A J ENG 1949
224 Tortolero, Cesar VEN 1937
225 Lochte, Szilvia HUN 1934
226 Morais, Vitor POR 1934
227 Machlik, Jon NOR 1929
228 Burke, Mitchell R ENG 1928
229 Downey, Keith WLS 1919
230 Rygg, Snorre NOR 1909
231 Weishaeutel, Moritz GER 1905
232 Kim, Yongjoo KOR 1903
233 Klug, Christian GER 1884
234 Gravett, Alan D ENG 1877
235 Curado, Manuel J POR 1860
236 George, Lolomari NGR 1857
237 Mahoney, Ian CAN 1838
238 Nordstrom, Hakon N NOR 1820
239 Bohman, Leif SWE 1803
240 Kristinsson, Magnus ISL 1744
241 Opasiak, Dustin POL 1729
242 Bauer, Dieter GER 1728
243 Homer, Neil S ENG 1716
244 Bouxo, Luis POR 1711
245 Lerider, Anny-Laure FRA 1668
246 Tveten, Per NOR 1601
247 Magnusdottir, Veronika ISL 1566

 

News from Gibraltar 2015

 

Veselin Topalov to play on the Rock!

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We are delighted to announce that Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov will be joining us for the 2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters! Veselin, whose current elo is exactly 2800 (making him world number 3 on FIDE’s November list), will be the highest rated player ever to take part in Gibraltar.

 

Veselin became the FIDE World Chess Champion in 2005, cruising to victory in the 8-player double round event in San Luis, Argentina, after a blistering start of 6,5/7. He went on to contest two world title matches: versus Kramnik, in Elista, 2006, and versus Anand, in Sofia, 2010. The latter match was tied 5,5-5,5 before Anand won the 12th game.

As a young talent Veselin was especially fond of playing in Spain, winning many Opens there. His long tenure amongst the world’s elite is documented by many impressive tournament victories, such as the first three editions of the M-Tel Masters (2005-7); Tata Steel (Wijk aan Zee) 2006 and 2007 (both 1st=); Linares 2005 (1st= with Kasparov) and 2010; and Nanjing, China, 2008, this last a Category XXI event, won by Topalov with 7/10. More recently Veselin won the 2012-13 FIDE Grand Prix, which included two first places: 1st= in London 2012, and 1st in Zug, 2013. In this way he qualified for the 2014 Candidates tournament. At the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø Veselin won the gold medal on board one, his tournament performance of 2872 the second best overall.

Veselin has been number one on the FIDE rating list a total of 27 months, which when compared to all others who have been so ranked, places Topalov in fifth place after Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer and Carlsen. He was ranked number one in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his peak Elo rating was 2813, a level which until then had only been surpassed by Garry Kasparov.

Veselin regained the world No. 1 ranking in October 2008, and officially remained No. 1 until January 2010.

Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria, and was taught chess by his father at the age of eight. In 1989 Veselin won the World Under-14 Championship in Puerto Rico, and in 1990 he won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore.

Veselin became a Grandmaster in 1992 and has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. It’s interesting that his friend and long-time training partner, Ivan Cheparinov, won the 2014 Tradewise Masters. Can Veselin make it two years running for Bulgaria?

 

Hikaru Nakamura and Hou Yifan return to the Rock!

We are delighted to announce that two of the World’s top players, GM Hikaru Nakamura and current Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan have joined the stellar 2015 Masters line-up.

 

Hikaru is ranked No. 9 in the world by FIDE on the October 2014 list and is a three-time United States Chess Champion. Resident in St Louis, the American number one is currently our top seed at 2764. In January 2014 he reached his peak FIDE rating of 2789, which ranked him 3rd in the world. In May 2014 when FIDE began publishing official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Hikaru was ranked number one in the world on both lists. .

Hikaru is a busy player and is taking part in the FIDE Grand Prix event in Baku, Azerbaijan.

He has also recently competed in the European Club Cup for Obiettivo Risarcimento in Bilbao, a tournament which took place alongside the Bilbao Masters.

Soon after Gibraltar next year, Hikaru will be playing in the Zürich Chess Challenge (February 13-19), with the World’s elite including Caruana, Aronian, Anand, Karjakin, and Kramnik.

In 2008 Hikaru won the 6th Gibtelecom Gibraltar Chess Festival, beating Bu Xiangzhi 2-0 in a play-off match, after both scored 8/10 in the Masters. It’s worth noting that after five rounds Hikaru only had 3/5, but then won five games in a row, to tie for first place.

In 2009, Hikaru returned to defend his title. He nearly repeated his earlier performance, since after nine rounds he was in a five-way tie for first on 7/9, but his last round game, against Vugar Gashimov, ended a draw. We give the game here. Vugar died in January of this year, aged only 27. In April a Gashimov Memorial was held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, Hikaru Nakamura being one of the invited players.

Gibraltar champion in 2009 was Peter Svidler, who overcame Vadim Milov in a tiebreak match.

 

 

Hou Yifan is the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.

Like Hikaru, she has recently been playing in the European Club Cup, in Bilbao. Although her team, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, only finished second, Yifan’s 2749 performance was the best on top board.

At the age of 12, Yifan became the youngest player ever to take part in the FIDE Women’s World Championship (2006). In 2010, she became the youngest Women’s World Chess Champion in history by winning the World Championship in Hatay, Turkey at age 16. .

In her only previous visit to Gibraltar (2012) Yifan scored a sensational result, finishing equal first with England’s Nigel Short. Although Nigel won the blitz play-off 1½–½, Yifan’s score of 8/10 (+7 -1 =2) gave her a tournament performance of 2872.

In what some have called the greatest tournament result ever by a woman, Yifan scored 5/7 against the 7 GMs she played rated 2700 or higher. This included 4 wins against Zoltan Almasi (2717), Judit Polgar (2710), Le Quang Liem (2714) and Alexei Shirov (2710), 2 draws against Mickey Adams (2724) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2747), whilst her only loss came against Krishnan Sasikiran (2700).

The big story of the Gibraltar 2012 Masters was her victory over Judit Polgar (see right). On the new October rating list, Yifan is just two points behind Polgar. However, to put that into perspective, at her peak rating (July, 2005) Judit was 2735 and ranked #8 in the world.

As reigning Women’s World Champion, and according to the regulations of the current FIDE cycle, Yifan was expected to have to defend her title in a Knock-Out format in October. However, FIDE has recently announced that the Women’s World Championship is postponed by “a few months”.

About Gibraltar

Enjoy the sights of Gibraltar by day and the entertainment at night! The destination is packed with history and natural heritage, but in addition it boasts all the modern amenities that you would expect in a bustling European City.

Despite its compact size, Gibraltar surprises thousands of visitors each year with its range of activities and attractions that appeal to all age groups. Situated at the point where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet, it is no surprise that Gibraltarian life thrives on an abundance of water sports. These range from dolphin safaris in the bay to jet skiing, pleasure sailing and scuba diving.

If you are looking to maximise your time and experience a flavour of what’s on offer, why not book an official rock tour which takes about an hour and half. The sights visited are a fundamental part of the Gibraltar’s rich heritage and will give you a genuine insight into the city’s past and present. Attractions on the tour include the Nature Reserve, St. Michael’s Cave, the last resting place of Neanderthal man, the Medieval Castle, the world famous Barbary ape den, the Great Siege Tunnels which were dug out by the forerunners of the Royal Engineers to defend Gibraltar from attack, and The City Under Siege Exhibition.

Rock tours are available by taxi or coach at all points of entry. To experience some of the sights on foot, there are also a number of official walking tours, which will take you on historical and architectural trails through the main city centre.

A broad choice of restaurants, bars and cafes can be found along Main Street and in Casemates Square, along with high street shops and boutiques selling an excellent range of VAT free goods, including jewellery and time pieces, perfumery, electrical goods, alcohol and tobaccos.

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