Vugar Gashimov came second full point behind the winner
The 10th International Poikovsky chess tournament finished today with local Grandmaster Alexander Motylev claiming the first place with 7 points from nine rounds, a full point ahead of Vugar Gashimov, his main challenger throughout the event. Despite needing only a half point in the last round to cement the trophy, Motylev went on to complicate matters from the Black side of a usually quiet Petroff defence. His opponent Viktor Bologan held an extra exchange, but after a mutual pawn race which yielded a new pair of Queens, a draw was soon agreed.
After a wonderful start which gave him 3.5 points from the first five rounds, German GM Arkadij Naiditsch scored four straight losses in the final rounds to slip down and finish on 8th place. His last game versus Sergei Rublevsky was another Rook ending (see also our round 8 report), in which Russian player was up to the task to convert a positional advantage into full point.
Mtel Masters champion Alexei Shirov was surprisingly last with only 2 points on his scoreboard.
Alexei Shirov and Alexander Motylev
Round 9 results:
GM Sergei Rublevsky (RUS 2702) – GM Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2700) 1-0
GM Alexander Onischuk (USA 2684) – GM Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS 2676) draw
GM Viktor Bologan (MDA 2690) – GM Alexander Motylev (RUS 2677) draw
GM Vugar Gashimov (AZE 2730) – GM Zahar Efimenko (UKR 2682) draw
GM Alexei Shirov (ESP 2745) – GM Emil Sutovsky (ISR 2660) draw
Final standings:
1. GM Alexander Motylev (RUS 2677) – 7.0
2. GM Vugar Gashimov (AZE 2730) – 6.0
3-4. GM Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS 2676) and GM Emil Sutovsky (ISR 2660) – 5.0
5-7. GM Sergei Rublevsky (RUS 2702), GM Alexander Onischuk (USA 2684) and GM Viktor Bologan (MDA 2690) – 4.5
8. GM Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2700) – 3.5
9. GM Zahar Efimenko (UKR 2682) – 3.0
10. GM Alexei Shirov (ESP 2745) – 2.0
