The 10th Karpov tournament took place from June 3rd to 12th 2008 in Poikovsky. Here is a Google map of the Russian town, which lies to the east of Khanty-Mansyk, where a number of major tournaments were held (e.g. the FIDE World Cup 2007 and 2008). In the map below you can use the buttons on the top left to zoom in or out and move around (you can also grab the map and drag the map round with your mouse cursor), and you can change the map style – try the Satellite view.
The Khanty-Mansyk Autonomous Area is located on the West-Siberian plain, in the basins of the rivers Ob and Irtysh. the climate is continental, with long severe winter, dropping down to below minus 20 degrees Celsius in January. The region contains huge oil and gas deposits. Poikovsky itself lies in the Nefteyugansky region, which is rich in natural resourses. The name of the town comes from the Poika river. In 1998 Poikovsky became a winner of region's competition as the "most comfortable municipal urban and settlement center". The population is around 20,000.
The event was a category 18 with an average rating of 2694. It was won by Alexander Motylev, who was a full point ahead of Vugar Gashimov, with Emil Sutovsky and Ernesto Inarkiev following a point behind. Motylev scored 7.0/9 and his performance rating was 2914.
The winner: Alexander Motylev of Russia [photo Fred
Lucas]
The negative sensation of this tournament was Alexei Shirov: fresh from his superb win in the Sofia Super GM three weeks ago, where he had performed at a 2864 level, Shirov started in Poikovsky with four straight losses. In the remaining five rounds he lost one more game and drew the rest. His performance of 2472 would not be enough for a GM norm. Perhaps he has (like Ivanchuk) been playing too much in the recent past. But Shirov has another problem: where any other top GM would settle down to a few safe consolidating draws after such a bad start, Alexei Shirov seems unable to abandon his super-sharp tactical style, and comes out fighting in every round. It is great for the spectators and for chess fans all over the world, but tiring and nerve-wracking for the player himself.
Between Sofia and Poikovsky the indefatigable Alexei Shirov stopped over
in
Hamburg to record some new ChessBast training DVDs
We look with anticipation and anxiety towards Alexei's performance Bazna, where he will be playing from June 14th to 25th 2009. That's just enough time to get from Siberia to Romania, with perhaps a coffee break between these two very strong events.
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