The 33rd Benasque International Open is being played over 10 rounds of Swiss system from 4th to 13th July at the Sport Pavilion in Benasque, Spain.
After five rounds, the only player that managed to keep a perfect score in the huge field is Israeli grandmaster Maxim Rodshtein. To get this impressive score, he had to defeat two strong GMs in the last two rounds.
His last win over experienced Ukrainian GM Viktor Moskalenko is worth studying. Rodshtein, playing with black, reacted actively to his opponent’s aggressive intentions in the opening; the result was a very sharp struggle where black’s passed b-pawn was the key factor in the result.
A large group of ten players is close behind the leader on 4.5/5. Among them is first seed Julio Granda, Venezuelan Eduardo Iturrizaga, Chinese Ni Hua and young American IM Daniel Naroditsky.
Spaniard Renier Vasquez is also half a point behind, and will have the chance to play the leader in the sixth round.
Some strong grandmasters must be quite disappointed with their performance, as they were not able to defeat the apparently weak opposition.
Standings after 5 rounds (leaders):
1 GM RODSHTEIN Maxim ISR 2641 5
2 GM ITURRIZAGA Eduardo VEN 2642 4.5
3 GM GRANDA ZUNIGA Julio E PER 2679 4.5
4 GM VAZQUEZ IGARZA Renier ESP 2571 4.5
5 GM VOCATURO Daniele ITA 2536 4.5
6 GM NI Hua CHN 2661 4.5
7 GM KHARITONOV Alexandr RUS 2538 4.5
8 GM NAUMKIN Igor RUS 2443 4.5
9 IM NARODITSKY Daniel USA 2486 4.5
10 GM DELCHEV Aleksander BUL 2614 4.5
11 IM FORCEN ESTEBAN Daniel ESP 2493 4.5
12 GM ZOLER Dan ISR 2538 4
13 GM GEORGIEV Kiril BUL 2636 4
14 GM MOSKALENKO Viktor ESP 2529 4
15 IM CASTELLANOS RODRIGUEZ Renier ESP 2504 4
16 FM FENOLLAR JORDA Manuel ESP 2397 4
17 GM GORDON Stephen J ENG 2521 4
18 GM ILLESCAS CORDOBA Miguel ESP 2613 4
19 DIAZ HERRERO Alvaro ESP 2153 4
20 GM GOLOD Vitali ISR 2578 4
21 GM DE LA VILLA GARCIA Jesus Mari ESP 2472 4
22 IM KJARTANSSON Gudmundur ISL 2444 4
23 WGM ARRIBAS ROBAINA Maritza CUB 2331 4
24 GM CORI Jorge PER 2543 4
25 IM BURG Twan NED 2479 4
26 IM BARRIA ZUNIGA Daniel CHI 2428 4
27 GM GOMEZ ESTEBAN Juan Mario ESP 2462 4
28 IM ARRIBAS LOPEZ Angel ESP 2494 4
29 GM STEINGRIMSSON Hedinn ISL 2557 4
30 IM PARDO SIMON David ESP 2445 4
31 IM ROEDER Matthias GER 2408 4
32 IM MILLIET Sophie FRA 2396 4
33 WGM CORI T. Deysi PER 2439 4
34 GM BURMAKIN Vladimir RUS 2559 4
35 IM BIOLEK Richard Jr. CZE 2399 4
36 GM LALIC Bogdan CRO 2489 4
37 IM KOVACEVIC Slobodan SRB 2332 4
38 GM CIFUENTES PARADA Roberto ESP 2464 4
39 IM TAN Matthew NED 2435 4
40 IM GUERRA MENDEZ Jose Angel CUB 2505 4
This kid is talented.