Donostia Chess Festival in San Sebastian
Report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich
After six rounds US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura leads in the main tournament,
with 5.0 out of 6 points. Winning two games in a row Peter Svidler is on the
second place, together with Maxime Vachier Lagrave. Loek Wan Wely is a leader
in “Gran
Premio Kutxa” tournament. The leader of the Gran
Premio Euskal Xake Eskola tournament English GM Glenn Flear. The German
player Christian Michna shares the 3-5 places. In the woman
tournament the leaders are Sophie Millet from France and Yana Melnikova
from Russia with 4 points out 5.
The event is a Category 18 with an average Elo of 2682. The draw quotient
is exactly 50% (15 out of 30 games played so far). White has won 11 games (=
37%) and Black four games (= 13%). Good fighting chess.
Picture Gallery
The leader of the tournament, GM Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru has scored 5.0/6 points, and is a point ahead of his nearest rivals.
His performance is a stunning 2958. In the July FIDE list he was the second
highest ranked GM in the United States, seven points behind Gata Kamsky. No
prizes if you can guess who will top the next US list.
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France
Women's section, start of the game Yana Melnikova, Russia, and Regina Pokorna,
Slovakia
Adina Hamduchi from Romania
Marta Michna from Germany
Changing the oil?? Fixing the breaks? No, just attaching the cables of the
sensor board
On the way to the playing hall you pass beaches full of sun-bathing people
During the free day chess players had a chance to climb up Mount Urgull, where
after 30 minutes of walking you can enjoy a magnificent view over the city.
A figure of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the top of Mount Urgull
The cannons which were used against enemy troops nowadays simply a tourist
attraction
The History House, located on the summit of the Mount Urgull, in the La Mota
Castle, draws a pictures of life of people in San Sebastian throughout more
than 800 years of this lively city.
The Hotel de Londres has become home for chess players during the tournament
Sunset in San Sebastian
Before the free days the participants of the tournament were invited to
the party organized
by Felix Izeta. Here we see Ruslan Ponomariov and his girlfriend Inesa on the
terrace.
Chess tournament? What chess tournament? This is where the real action is
Grandmasters of foosball:
Francisco Vallejo and Inesa
Former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov watches with Heineken
Armenian/Slovak GM Sergey Movsesian prefers red wine
Chess player Inigo Martin is a.magician and shows his skills with cards
About the author: WGM Anastasiya (Nastja) Karlovich
was Ukrainian champion and vice-champion among girls under 16, 18 and
20. She was European Champion with the Ukrainian team in the Youth Team Championships.
She is also a candidate officer in the National Law Academy “Yaroslav the Wise”;
a member of the chess club “Law Academy”; a member of the German club Grosslehna;
the organiser of the WGM and GM closed tournaments “Cup of Rector”; a Woman
Grandmaster since 2003.
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download
the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access.
You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. |
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