Sarkhan Gashimov with the trophy
The Donostia Chess Festival, the main event of which was won by Andrei Volokitin, continued this weekend with a blitz event. It counted with strong participation, including 3 GMs over 2700 ELO – Arkadij Naiditsch, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Moiseenko.
At the beginning all participants were divided into 4 groups (10-11 players each) and played in round-robin tournaments. Four players from each group could get to the final event with 16 players and knock-out system. Each match in knockout tournament consisted of two blitz games and Armageddon game in case of draw.
The surprise in the group stage was the qualification of Sarkhan Gashimov, the older brother and manager of GM Vugar Gashimov. He qualified for the finals, having lost only to GM Naiditsch. Despite having a relatively modest rating of 2351, Sarhan Gashimov went on to win the final stage by defeating Alexander Moiseenko (1.5-0.5), Aleksa Strikovic (2-0), Loek Van Wely (2-1 in Armageddon), and Julio Granda Zuniga (1.5-0.5) in final match.
All photos from Donostia in the photo gallery
Main section games and results
Group stage A
| Rank | SNo. | Nombre | EloInt | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | Res. | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Moiseenko Alexander | 2706 | UKR | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | 2640 | PER | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ½ |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Komljenovic Davorin | 2457 | CRO | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ½ |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Fedorchuk Sergey A | 2634 | UKR | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | IM | Franco Alonso Alejandro | 2449 | ESP | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | FM | Aabling-Thomsen Jakob | 2324 | DEN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | 8 | Martinez Pelaez David | 1987 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 0 | |
| 8 | 7 | Rodriguez Boado Martin | 2164 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 9 | 9 | Montolio Benedicto Cesar | 1967 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 2½ | 0 | |
| 10 | 10 | Parron Luceno David | 1828 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 11 | 11 | Irulegi Garmendia Jose Antonio | 1527 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
Group stage B
| 1 | 1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2702 | GER | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9½ | 0 |
| 2 | 6 | Gashimov Sarkhan | 2351 | AZE | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Strikovic Aleksa | 2559 | SRB | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ½ |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Hoffman Alejandro | 2444 | ARG | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ½ |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Landa Konstantin | 2645 | RUS | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ | 0 |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo Reynaldo | 2482 | CUB | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | 7 | Guijarro Galan Jose Luis | 2142 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 8 | 8 | Sanz Rodero Mikel | 2045 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9 | 10 | Zubia Aranburu Mikel | 1828 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 10 | 11 | Rodriguez Ferreiro Jose Camilo | 0 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 11 | 9 | ——— —- | 0 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
Group stage C
| 1 | 1 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2699 | FRA | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | 7 | GM | Feller Sebastien | 2658 | FRA | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Khamrakulov Ibragim S | 2519 | ESP | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ | 0 |
| 4 | 2 | IM | Huerga Leache Mikel | 2436 | ESP | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | IM | Argandona Riveiro Inigo | 2387 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 0 |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Kunin Vitaly | 2537 | GER | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | 9 | Alcaide Luque Aitor | 2135 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 0 | |
| 8 | 4 | Urbieta Gabancho Koldo | 1949 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 9 | 6 | Izagirre Alsua Aritz | 1828 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | 10 | Andersen Soren Mikkel | 2064 | DEN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
Group stage D
| 1 | 8 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2659 | BUL | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2523 | BUL | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 9 | IM | Barria Zuniga Daniel | 2432 | CHI | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ | 1½ |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Van Wely Loek | 2692 | NED | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ | 1 |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Shchekachev Andrei | 2524 | FRA | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ | ½ |
| 6 | 10 | IM | Valdes Leonardo | 2393 | CRC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 0 |
| 7 | 7 | WIM | Zepeda Lorena | 2127 | ESA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | 5 | Diaz Herrero Alvaro | 2132 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 0 | |
| 9 | 2 | Tung Siu Hung | 1908 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | 4 | Olabe Odriozola Eduardo | 1932 | ESP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
