Nikita Vitiugov won the traditional Gibraltar Chess Festival that took place on 21-31 January, 2013, after defeating Nigel Short in a dramatic tiebreak in the last round.
Seven players from the 2700 club were the headliners in this year’s event, but only three players got to the final round in the shared first place with 7.5/9 points. Nikita Vitiugov was paired against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. They played a very tactical line, where probably most of the moves where part of their preparation; the game ended in a 36 moves draw when the Russian started to give perpetual check to the Black king.
In the second board, the other leader Nigel Short, played against the Czech star David Navara. They played a quite interesting game that, however, was never far from equality. They signed the peace treaty at move 39. So, until this point, we already knew that there would be a tie-break, because nobody was able to make more than 8 points, and three players already had gotten this score.
The third player to get to 8 points was the Indian Chanda Sandipan, who took advantage of Le Quang Liem‘s suspicious handling of the opening. The Indian already had a big advantage by move 20 due to the weak position of the White king in the center. The Vietnamese surrendered at move 37 when his opponent threatened to give mate or take his queen.
The English GM Michael Adams tried to squeeze a victory in his game against Kiril Georgiev in order to get to the tie-break, but the Bulgarian defended correctly. The draw was achieved by move 68.
Replay the games with computer analysis
The tie-breaks
In the knockout matches for the title, Vitiugov was paired against Sandipan and Short against Vachier-Lagrave. Both Vitiugov and Short won their first games with black and could advance to the final encounter without much trouble.
The final match between Nigel Short and Nikita Vitiugov started around 18:45 local time. These games would decide who takes home the first prize of £20,000 and who keeps the shared 2nd-4th place, so the stakes were quite high. In the first game, the Russian GM managed to win impressively, showing great technique with almost no time on his clock. The second game was very tense, but Nikita managed to keep cool and draw to get the sole first place in this strong event.
This very tough open left a lot of strong players just a half point behind the opportunity to go for the very coveted first prize. No less than 9 players finished the 10 rounds with 7.5 points. Some of them probably finished the tournament disappointed, given their status in the world of chess. Among them we can mention Vassily Ivanchuk, who arrived as the first seed; Gata Kamsky, who is used to getting good results in open tournaments in the US; David Navara, who arrived in the last minute with high expectations; and Michael Adams, who seemed to be in good form after his performance in the London Chess Classic.
Others were probably happy with their result, despite the fact that they didn’t get to the very top. Ivan Salgado Lopez showed stable chess and had a lot of fans cheering for him from neighbor Spain. Ruben Felgaer from Argentina played solidly and managed to avoid losing a single game, while at the same time gaining 13 rating points. The Dutch IM Stefan Kuipers also achieved a good result, he got 7 points after beating the legend Jaan Ehlvest in the last round.
The Women’s Prize
The Chinese GM Zhao Xue won the top female prize of £12,000. She drew her game after nearly five hours of play against Vassily Ivanchuk and achieved a score of 7½/10. The 2nd-4th places were shared by the runner-up of the World Cup 2012 Antoaneta Stefanova, the Russian Valentina Gunina and the Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk, who all got 7/10 points.
Photos by Zeljka Malobabic
Final Standings
Rk. | Name | FED | Pts. | ||
1 | GM | Vitiugov Nikita | RUS | 8 | |
2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 8 | |
3 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | IND | 8 | |
4 | GM | Short Nigel D | ENG | 8 | |
5 | GM | Georgiev Kiril | BUL | 7.5 | |
6 | GM | Adams Michael | ENG | 7.5 | |
7 | GM | Navara David | CZE | 7.5 | |
8 | GM | Kamsky Gata | USA | 7.5 | |
9 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | UKR | 7.5 | |
10 | GM | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 7.5 | |
11 | GM | Salgado Lopez Ivan | ESP | 7.5 | |
12 | GM | Fridman Daniel | GER | 7.5 | |
13 | GM | Zhao Xue | CHN | 7.5 | |
14 | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 7 | |
15 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | ENG | 7 | |
16 | GM | Felgaer Ruben | ARG | 7 | |
17 | GM | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | POL | 7 | |
18 | GM | Shirov Alexei | LAT | 7 | |
19 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | BUL | 7 | |
20 | IM | Gunina Valentina | RUS | 7 | |
21 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | SLO | 7 | |
22 | GM | Sutovsky Emil | ISR | 7 | |
23 | GM | Gallagher Joseph G. | SUI | 7 | |
24 | GM | Bartel Mateusz | POL | 7 | |
25 | IM | Kuipers Stefan | NED | 7 | |
26 | GM | Iturrizaga Eduardo | VEN | 6.5 | |
27 | IM | Oparin Grigoriy | RUS | 6.5 | |
28 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | GEO | 6.5 | |
29 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | POL | 6.5 | |
30 | IM | Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos | ESP | 6.5 | |
31 | IM | Larino Nieto David | ESP | 6.5 | |
32 | IM | Docx Stefan | BEL | 6.5 | |
33 | GM | Jakubiec Artur | POL | 6.5 | |
34 | GM | Kulaots Kaido | EST | 6.5 | |
35 | GM | Kanep Meelis | EST | 6.5 | |
36 | GM | Gordon Stephen J | ENG | 6.5 | |
37 | IM | Muzychuk Mariya | UKR | 6.5 | |
38 | GM | Hoang Thanh Trang | HUN | 6.5 | |
39 | GM | Cramling Pia | SWE | 6.5 | |
40 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | GER | 6.5 | |
41 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | IND | 6.5 | |
42 | GM | Vazquez Igarza Renier | ESP | 6.5 | |
43 | IM | Tania Sachdev | IND | 6.5 | |
44 | Janev Pavel | BUL | 6.5 | ||
45 | GM | Maze Sebastien | FRA | 6.5 | |
46 | FM | Gromovs Sergejs | ITA | 6.5 | |
47 | IM | Omar Noaman | UAE | 6.5 | |
48 | IM | Houska Jovanka | ENG | 6.5 | |
49 | GM | Tkachiev Vladislav | FRA | 6 | |
50 | GM | Ehlvest Jaan | USA | 6 | |
51 | GM | Al-Sayed Mohammed | QAT | 6 | |
52 | IM | Teran Alvarez Ismael | ESP | 6 | |
53 | IM | Aloma Vidal Robert | ESP | 6 | |
54 | IM | Melia Salome | GEO | 6 | |
55 | GM | Cmilyte Viktorija | LTU | 6 | |
56 | WGM | Ju Wenjun | CHN | 6 | |
57 | IM | Kjartansson Gudmundur | ISL | 6 | |
58 | FM | Fenollar Jorda Manuel | ESP | 6 | |
59 | GM | Womacka Mathias | GER | 6 | |
60 | GM | Akesson Ralf | SWE | 6 | |
61 | GM | David Alberto | ITA | 6 | |
62 | GM | Mastrovasilis Athanasios | GRE | 6 | |
63 | IM | Nezad Husein Aziz | QAT | 6 | |
64 | IM | Cernousek Lukas | CZE | 6 | |
65 | FM | Kvisvik Brede | NOR | 6 | |
66 | IM | Jones Richard S. | WLS | 6 | |
67 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 6 | |
68 | IM | Poetsch Hagen | GER | 6 | |
69 | GM | Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel | ESP | 6 | |
70 | IM | Godard Maxence | FRA | 6 | |
71 | FM | Ortega Ruiz Jose Miguel | ESP | 6 | |
72 | IM | Milliet Sophie | FRA | 6 | |
73 | GM | Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan | SCO | 6 | |
74 | IM | Palencia Wilson | COL | 6 | |
75 | FM | Sanchez Ibern Marc | ESP | 6 | |
76 | WGM | Vojinovic Jovana | MNE | 6 | |
77 | FM | Moreno Tejera Emilio | ESP | 6 | |
78 | GM | Jussupow Artur | GER | 5.5 | |
79 | Pinho Paulo | POR | 5.5 | ||
80 | FM | Georgiadis Nico | SUI | 5.5 | |
81 | IM | Trent Lawrence | ENG | 5.5 | |
82 | FM | Arvola Benjamin | NOR | 5.5 | |
83 | IM | Zhou Yang-Fan | ENG | 5.5 | |
84 | IM | Kantorik Marian | SVK | 5.5 | |
85 | WGM | Dolzhikova Olga | NOR | 5.5 | |
86 | IM | Karavade Eesha | IND | 5.5 | |
87 | IM | Zatonskih Anna | USA | 5.5 | |
88 | FM | Montero Melendez Rafael | ESP | 5.5 | |
89 | IM | Roser Kevin | FRA | 5.5 | |
90 | Tari Aryan | NOR | 5.5 | ||
91 | Gaehwiler Gabriel | SUI | 5.5 | ||
92 | Kvisla Johannes Luangtep | NOR | 5.5 | ||
93 | IM | Telljohann Sven | GER | 5.5 | |
94 | Lind Jan-Olof | SWE | 5.5 | ||
95 | IM | Kurmann Oliver | SUI | 5.5 | |
96 | FM | Storey Charles H | ENG | 5.5 | |
97 | WGM | Rudolf Anna | HUN | 5.5 | |
98 | IM | Adrian Claude | FRA | 5.5 | |
99 | FM | Bergstrom Rolf | SWE | 5.5 | |
100 | IM | Dukaczewski Piotr | POL | 5.5 | |
Spence David J | ENG | 5.5 | |||
102 | Dasaolu Rotimi | NGR | 5.5 | ||
103 | GM | Tischbierek Raj | GER | 5 | |
104 | FM | De Haan Eric | NED | 5 | |
105 | Sanchez Botella Luis Javier | ESP | 5 | ||
106 | FM | Vyparina Matej | SVK | 5 | |
Tscharotschkin Michael | GER | 5 | |||
108 | Zygouris Hristos | GRE | 5 | ||
109 | O`toole George E | ENG | 5 | ||
110 | Novoa Fernando | ARG | 5 | ||
111 | FM | Villuendas Valero Adrian | ESP | 5 | |
112 | Amato Andrea | ITA | 5 | ||
113 | Valgmae Toomas | EST | 5 | ||
114 | Hommerson Paul | NED | 5 | ||
115 | FM | Nuri Kambez | SUI | 5 | |
116 | IM | Lederman Leon | ISR | 5 | |
117 | IM | Wemmers Xander | NED | 5 | |
118 | FM | Kriebel Tadeas | CZE | 5 | |
119 | Nafri Khalil | MAR | 5 | ||
120 | Veltkamp Gerben | NED | 5 | ||
121 | Seyfried Claus | GER | 5 | ||
122 | CM | Osuna Vega Enrique | ESP | 5 | |
123 | Allor Chukwuka | NGR | 5 | ||
124 | Onabogun Kolade | NGR | 5 | ||
125 | Bird Andrew | AUS | 5 | ||
FM | Pena Riasco Alexander | COL | 5 | ||
127 | IM | Quillan Gary | ENG | 5 | |
128 | Nazarenus Moritz | GER | 5 | ||
129 | FM | Scharrer Patrick | ITA | 5 | |
130 | Linhart Wolfgang | GER | 5 | ||
131 | Ferrante Marco | ITA | 5 | ||
132 | IM | Piasetski Leon | CAN | 5 | |
133 | Rujan Rodel-Marinel | ROU | 5 | ||
134 | Olhovik Andrei | BLR | 5 | ||
135 | Mckenna Jason P | ENG | 5 | ||
136 | FM | Lyell Mark | ENG | 5 | |
137 | Chapman Terry P D | ENG | 4.5 | ||
138 | Semprun Martinez Fernando | ESP | 4.5 | ||
139 | Diaz Velandia Jose Manuel | VEN | 4.5 | ||
140 | Byron Alan M | ENG | 4.5 | ||
141 | Lindsoe Fredrik Aunan | NOR | 4.5 | ||
142 | FM | Tate Alan | SCO | 4.5 | |
143 | Lipecki Alexander | SUI | 4.5 | ||
144 | Fairbairn Stephen | CAN | 4.5 | ||
145 | Becham Khalid | MAR | 4.5 | ||
146 | Uran Bermudez Oliver Kevin | VEN | 4.5 | ||
147 | FM | Garcia Jimenez Francisco Javi | ESP | 4.5 | |
148 | FM | Smith Andrew Philip | IRL | 4.5 | |
149 | IM | Sanchez Castillo Sarai | VEN | 4.5 | |
150 | Lee Kai Jie Edward | SIN | 4.5 | ||
151 | Suez-Panama Gilles | FRA | 4.5 | ||
152 | FM | Loew Gerald | GER | 4.5 | |
153 | WFM | Grigoryan Meri | ENG | 4.5 | |
154 | Valhondo Morales Ruben | ESP | 4.5 | ||
155 | Jameson David | WLS | 4.5 | ||
156 | FM | Stockmann Michael | GER | 4.5 | |
Ungureanu Sandu | ROU | 4.5 | |||
158 | CM | Walton Alan J | ENG | 4.5 | |
Weber Francois | ESP | 4.5 | |||
160 | Marttala Thomas | SWE | 4.5 | ||
161 | Bryn Askild | NOR | 4.5 | ||
162 | Karlsson Jorgen | SWE | 4.5 | ||
163 | Burrows Martin P | ENG | 4.5 | ||
Hackner Oskar A | ENG | 4.5 | |||
165 | Samu Sorin-Mihai | ROU | 4.5 | ||
166 | Thornton John D | WLS | 4.5 | ||
167 | Gieritz Dietmar | GER | 4.5 | ||
168 | Hutton Jack | USA | 4.5 | ||
169 | Christiansmeier Sven | GER | 4.5 | ||
170 | Tuchtfeld Juergen | GER | 4.5 | ||
171 | Ramdewar Ishan | ENG | 4.5 | ||
172 | Herbold Manfred | GER | 4.5 | ||
173 | FM | Dittmar Peter | GER | 4 | |
174 | FM | Forsaa Espen | NOR | 4 | |
175 | Vinas Guerrero Carlos A. | ESP | 4 | ||
176 | Jaunooby Ali R | ENG | 4 | ||
177 | Meyer Kai-Christian | GER | 4 | ||
178 | Spanton Tim R | ENG | 4 | ||
179 | Pribyl Jaroslav | CZE | 4 | ||
180 | Obiamiwe Paul | NGR | 4 | ||
181 | Compton Alistair | NZL | 4 | ||
182 | Wiedersich Jens | GER | 4 | ||
183 | Havik Victor | NOR | 4 | ||
184 | Baeza Escudero Javier | ESP | 4 | ||
185 | Kozarcanin Sead | CRO | 4 | ||
186 | CM | Reuben Stewart | ENG | 4 | |
187 | FM | Kandic Milan | SRB | 4 | |
188 | Cawley Paul F | ENG | 4 | ||
189 | Hamer Martyn | ENG | 4 | ||
190 | Denisik Sergei | BLR | 4 | ||
191 | Campos Calvo-Sotelo Juan | ESP | 4 | ||
192 | Freuler Roman | SUI | 4 | ||
193 | FM | Baert Andy | BEL | 3.5 | |
194 | Van Kemenade Rudy | WLS | 3.5 | ||
195 | CM | Mueller Hans-Dieter | GER | 3.5 | |
196 | Skutta Bernd Dr. | GER | 3.5 | ||
197 | Nwachukwu Chino | NGR | 3.5 | ||
198 | Canonne Antoine | FRA | 3.5 | ||
199 | Iasman Inna | FRA | 3.5 | ||
200 | Stewart Ashley | ENG | 3.5 | ||
201 | Kang Leo J | USA | 3.5 | ||
202 | Byrn Carsten | DEN | 3.5 | ||
203 | Agbabishvili Lali | CAN | 3.5 | ||
204 | Zanetti Bruno | SUI | 3.5 | ||
Boesch Heinz | GER | 3.5 | |||
Dimitrijevic Dragan | ITA | 3.5 | |||
207 | Georgieva Emilia | BUL | 3.5 | ||
208 | Reppen Ellisiv | NOR | 3.5 | ||
209 | Rios Gonzalez Jose Antonio | ESP | 3.5 | ||
210 | WFM | Reid Vaness | AUS | 3.5 | |
211 | Othman Mustapha | NGR | 3.5 | ||
212 | Viana Eduardo Escudeiro | POR | 3.5 | ||
213 | Openshaw David K | ENG | 3.5 | ||
214 | Skrabakova Katarina | SVK | 3.5 | ||
215 | Cebada Benitez Fernando | ESP | 3.5 | ||
216 | CM | Urbina Perez Juan Antonio | ESP | 3 | |
217 | Tranter Stephen | ENG | 3 | ||
218 | Guerrero Romero Antonio | ESP | 3 | ||
219 | Whatley Stephen A J | ENG | 3 | ||
220 | Lochte Szilvia | HUN | 3 | ||
221 | Sielicki Tomasz | POL | 3 | ||
222 | Neumanova Monika | CZE | 3 | ||
223 | Diaz Montenegro Ignacio | ESP | 3 | ||
224 | George Lolomari Erekosima | NGR | 3 | ||
225 | Sevillano Leal Julio | ESP | 3 | ||
226 | Iglesias Fernandez Luis | ESP | 3 | ||
227 | Henrichsen Jens | DEN | 3 | ||
228 | Dennis Nigel W | ENG | 3 | ||
229 | Piovar Jaroslav | SVK | 3 | ||
230 | Chidi Lovinia Sylvia | GER | 2.5 | ||
231 | Candano Gonzalez Alvaro | ESP | 2.5 | ||
232 | Villa Armenta Enrique | ESP | 2.5 | ||
233 | Berggren Klas | SWE | 2.5 | ||
234 | Kazmierczak Ewa | POL | 2.5 | ||
235 | Wilson Matthew R | ENG | 2.5 | ||
236 | Collins Andrew | ENG | 2.5 | ||
237 | Taus Martin | CZE | 2 | ||
238 | Savage Neil | RSA | 2 | ||
239 | Diaz Gallego Saul | ESP | 2 | ||
240 | Williamson Ian | ENG | 2 | ||
241 | Colompar Ladislau-Alexandru | ROU | 2 | ||
242 | Aerni Andreas | SUI | 1.5 | ||
243 | Rydell Marten | SWE | 1.5 | ||
244 | Scholl Alois | GER | 1.5 | ||
245 | Garcia Lechugo Francisco | ESP | 1 | ||
246 | Kuenitz Klaus | GER | 1 | ||
247 | Tveten Per | NOR | 1 |
