2nd International Chess Tournament Isthmia 2012
The 2nd International Chess Tournament Isthmia 2012 is taking place from 18th to 25th August at the beautiful Alkyon Resort Hotel in Vrachati Korinthias, Greece.
The 7th round was extremely exciting as the positions on the top boards were turning about and it was difficult to predict the final outcomes.
Winner of the Paris Championship GM Sergey Fedorchuk (UKR 2639) completely outplayed his compatriot GM Nazar Firman (2535) with black, but then he started mishandling his pieces and Firman used a tactical motif to win a piece and later convert the advantage.
The talented Dutch Grandmaster Robin Van Kampen patiently probed IM Miroslav Miljkovic’s position to achieve a nearly decisive advantage, but Black’s persistent defence posed many challenges and eventually Miljkovic escaped with a draw.
IM Shyam Sundar from India traded two pieces for a Rook and two pawns early in the opening against GM Ioannis Nikolaidis and then continued to press in positional style against black’s poorly placed pieces. After a long struggle Sundar eventually converted the material into the full point.
Round 7 standings:
1-2. GM Firman Nazar UKR 2535 and IM Shyam Sundar M. IND 2486 – 6.0
3-5. GM Van Kampen Robin NED 2565, IM Miljkovic Miroslav D SRB 2449 and GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2569 – 5.5
6-15. GM Fedorchuk Sergey A. UKR 2639, GM Nikolaidis Ioannis GRE 2562, IM Hansen Eric CAN 2472, IM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2435, GM Adhiban B. IND 2553, GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2645, IM Maghalashvili Davit GEO 2482, IM Debashis Das IND 2446, IM Akshayraj Kore IND 2483 and IM Georgiadis Ioannis GRE 2445 – 5.0
16-22. GM Antic Dejan SRB 2506, IM Perunovic Miodrag SRB 2461, Goumas Georgios GRE 2409, Nikolaou Georgios GRE 2224, GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2546, Stamos Filippos GRE 1971 and Urosevic Goran SRB 2239 – 4.5
93 players from 14 countries compete, including 14 Grandmasters and 14 International Masters. The tournament also serves as the Women’s Open Greek Championship. Follow the live games from 17:30 local time, the official website also features a live video from the playing hall.
The B Group, reserved only for players rated under 1900, has 67 participants from France, Chile, China and Greece. Five blind players also compete in this section.
The tournament is ongoing under the exceptional conditions in the terms of accommodation and the playing hall.
The organizers are Pnevmatiki Stegi Peristeriou and Korinthia Chess Academy “Argonaftis” with the support of the Prefecture of Peloponnisos, Municipality of Velo Vocha.
Round 8 top pairings:
IM Shyam Sundar M. 2486 – GM Firman Nazar 2535
GM Van Kampen Robin 2565 – GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2569
GM Fedorchuk Sergey A. 2639 – IM Miljkovic Miroslav D 2449
IM Debashis Das 2446 – GM Iordachescu Viorel 2645
GM Nikolaidis Ioannis 2562 – IM Maghalashvili Davit 2482
IM Georgiadis Ioannis 2445 – GM Adhiban B. 2553
IM Hansen Eric 2472 – IM Akshayraj Kore 2483
IM Vishnu Prasanna. V 2435 – Goumas Georgios 2409
GM Sethuraman S.P. 2546 – Nikolaou Georgios 2224
GM Antic Dejan 2506 – Stamos Filippos 1971
IM Perunovic Miodrag 2461 – GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios 2539
Strong tournament.