Hello Everyone!
Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk has won the 45th edition of the Capablanca Memorial Tournament organized in Havana, Cuba. The tournament commemorates José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (1888–1942), who was World Champion from 1921 to 1927.
The tournament had three groups - Elite, Premier and Open. The Elite Group was category 18 event with an average rating of 2700 with double-round robin format. Ivanchuk has already won it three times in a row from 2005 to 2007.
In the 45th edition, 19-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi, the reigning European champion, was the runners-up.
Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk won his first round with black against Nigel Short. He continued with three more wins and no losses. Ivanchuk is the first player to win the tournament for the fourth time in the history of this auspicious event.
In second places is newcomer, 19-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi, with three wins and one loss. Local player and second strongest GM in the Americas (after Hikaru Nakamura) Leinier Dominguez scored nine draws and one win to share 3-4th place with former World Championship challenger Nigel Short, who won three, lost two and drew five games. You can check the official website here for more details.
Here is a nice game by Ivanchuk from the 9th round. You can run it in our pgnplayer or see the flashplayer below.
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 b5 5. O-O c5 6. c3 Nbd7 7. a4 b4 8. cxb4 cxb4 9. Ne5 Ba6 10. Bg5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 h6 12. Be3 Nd7 13. Bd4 Bc5 14. Re1 Bxd4 15. Qxd4 Qb6 16. Qxb6 Nxb6 17. Nd2 Rc8 18. Nf3 Ke7 19. b3 Nd7 20. e4 d4 21. Nxd4 Nxe5 22. Nb5 g5 23. Red1 Rc5 24. Nxa7 Ra8 25. Nb5 Bxb5 26. axb5 Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Rxb5 28. Ra7+ Kf6 29. f4 gxf4 30. gxf4 Ng6 31. e5+ Kg7 32. f5 Nf4 33. fxe6 Nxe6 34. Bf1 Rxe5 35. Bc4 Rg5+ 36. Kh1 Kf6 37. Rb7 Nd4 38. Rxf7+ Ke5 39. h4 Rg4 40. Kh2 h5 41. Kh3 Nf5 42. Rb7 Rxh4+ 43. Kg2 Ne3+ 44. Kf2 Nc2 45. Bd3 Rf4+ 46. Kg1 Na3 47. Kg2 h4 48. Be2 Nc2 49. Kh3 Kd4 50. Bd1 Kd3 51. Rc7 Ne3 52. Bh5 Kd2 53. Bg6 Nd1 54. Bh5 Nf2+ 55. Kh2 Nd3 56. Bg6 Rf2+ 57. Kh1 Ne5 58. Be4 Nf3 59. Rc2+ Ke3 60. Rxf2 Kxf2 61. Bd5 h3 62. Be6 h2 63. Bg4 Kg3 0-1
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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