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FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk has started
10.08.2009 – The fifth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament is being held from August 9 to
23, 2009, in the Armenian health resort of Jermuk and is dedicated to World
Champion Tigran Petrosian, who would have turned eighty this year. You can watch
the games on the excellent official web site or on Playchess.com.
In the first round of the event Peter Leko and Ivan Cheparinov scored wins.
Round one report. |
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Jermuk R2: Aronian and Jakovenko win
11.08.2009 – In the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Armenia local hero Levon Aronian
scored a win over Russian GM Evgeny Alekseev, while Dmitry Jakovenko, who had
lost his game in round one, defeated US GM Gata Kamsky. The other games were
drawn. You can watch the event live on Playchess.com
or the FIDE Grand Prix web site. Full illustrated report. |
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Jermuk R3: Alekseev beats Inarkiev, six draws
12.08.2009 – The fifth FIDE Grand Prix in Armenia has not yet moved into third gear. Today's round saw six draws in seven games: two in less than 30 moves, a 52-move exploration of the Queen's Gambit Declined and a 70-move struggle in a Queen's Indian. Evgeny Alekseev managed to bring the point home against Ernesto Inarkiev, without affecting the leaderboard. Illustrated report. |
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Jermuk R4: Leko and Aronian win and lead
13.08.2009 – "The first to draw blood today was Peter Leko who celebrated the arrival of his wife Sophie in Jermuk by beating Sergey Karjakin," the official tournament bulletin tells us. Armenia's top GM Levon Aronian did it without the his Australian girlfriend turning up in Jermuk, to stay in the lead with Leko. Vassily Ivanchuk also won to join Cheparinov half a point behind the leaders. Round four report. |
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Jermuk R5: five decisive games, Ivanchuk and Leko lead
14.08.2009 – What a day, what a round! Ivanchuk beat Cheparinov with the black pieces and joined Peter Leko in the lead; Kamsky scored his first win, defeating Inarkiev; Kasimdzhanov beat leader Aronian; Gelfand produced
his first victory, against Akopian; and Karjakin took a full point, his first,
against Bacrot. Full report with great photos by Arman Karakhanyan. |
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Jermuk Grand Prix: a rest from the chessboard battles
16.08.2009 – After five rounds of fairly tumultuous play – very few unfought draws – the players in the Fifth FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia had earned a well-deserved rest day and outing. This took them to a famous monastery which documents the origins of Christianity in Europe, and a wildlife sanctuary, where the more intrepid of them risked life and limb in a rock climbing adventure. Well, sort of... |
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Jermuk R6: four players lead after killer instinct day
16.08.2009 – Coming out of a free day two players, Aronian and Kasimdzhanov, showed gritty determination and took full points (the latter with black) to join the leaders Leko and Ivanchuk at the top of the table. Vassily Ivanchuk was in a tough position against US GM Gata Kamsky, but saved the day in an unusual ending in a unique way. Big illustrated round six report. |
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Jermuk R7+8: Ivanchuk and Leko lead
17.08.2009 – Round seven was a slugfest, with six decisive games to one draw. Round eight was the other way around: six draws to one decisive game. The outcome: Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko are in the lead with 5.5/8 points, followed by Rustam Kasimdzhanov half a point behind. We bring you a report of both rounds and once again some very insightful pictures by Arman Karakhanyan. |
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Jermuk R9: Kasimdzhanov catches the leaders
19.08.2009 – Six draws from seven games – but happily there was quite a bit of excitement in at least two games. One was of course Rustam Kasimdzhanov's victory over Ivan Cheparinov, which brought the former FIDE World Champion into the lead group of Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk, a full point ahead of the field. We bring you a big illustrated report with impressions by Arman Karakhanyan. |
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Jermuk R10: four wins, seven exciting games
20.08.2009 – The three leaders drew their games – 82, 73 and 65-move battles – while Aronian, Inarkiev, Alexseev and Gelfand won theirs, providing more excitement and potentially ranking this tournament amongst the best for entertainment value in the recent past. Those who suffered withdrawal: yesterday was a free day that took many of the players to an outing in the wild Jermuk landscape. Big pictorial report. |
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Jermuk R12: Gelfand beats Kasimdzhanov, six players in contention
22.08.2009 – Another exciting round: Israeli GM Boris Gelfand beat former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov with the black pieces, knocking the Uzbek from the lead trio and into the chasing pack. Gelfand joined him, Alekseev and Aronian, a half-point behind the leaders. The thrilling conclusion comes on Sunday, with the games starting at 13:30 (instead of 15:00) local time = GMT+4. R12 report. |
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Jermuk R11: Eljanov, Inarkiev win, lead unchanged
22.08.2009 – The Fifth FIDE Grand Prix continues to produce fighting chess. A relatively low 61% of the games so far were drawn, but only two of 47 draws were in less than 25 moves. In round eleven there was one 31-mover, the rest 40 moves or more. And two decisive games, which however left the top of the table unchanged. Full report with more beautiful
pictures by Arman Karakhanyan. |
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Jermuk R13: Ivanchuk wins fifth FIDE Grand Prix
23.08.2009 – Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk won his final game in Jermuk with the black pieces against Vladimir Akopian to take overall victory with 8.5/13 points and a performance of 2830. Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand won their games to take equal 2nd-3rd. Gelfand beat Peter Leko, who had been leading for most of the tournament, and was relegated to 4-6th place. Final report. |
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Serge 'n Kath: interviews with the youngest Super-GM couple
25.08.2009 – Recently Sergey Karjakin, once the youngest GM in chess history, and WIM Kateryana Dolzhikova, student of English linguistics, were married. After a brief honeymoon in the Crimea the two rushed to Jermuk, where Sergey played in the Fifth FIDE Grand Prix. Press officer Lilit Mkrtchian spoke to the pair about marriage, plans, chess and general interests. Interviews. |
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FIDE Grand Prix 2008/2009 standings – Aronian wins
26.08.2009 – With one tournament still left Levon Aronian is already the winner of the 2008/2009 FIDE Grand Prix. The Armenian GM has collected a total of 500 points from two GP victories and his second place in Jermuk. Since nobody else can catch him – the best three of four tournaments are used – the final Grand Prix, still to be announced, will not change the status of the winner. Rules, points and tables. |
