2015 European Senior Chess Championship

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Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Sun May 03, 2015 4:28 pm

John McKenna wrote:Keith deserves a rest after his exertions in the previous round and the Doctor is probably still recuperating from his birthday bash. I predict a solid draw for Terry today as he is playing a patently patient opening strategy.
Unfortunately not; Terry just lost (sacrificed?) a piece. Fernandes used a lot of time but will win if he makes the time control.

Houdini says Black should have played 16...Nxc3 which wins a pawn though it does look risky. His 16...Nb6 looked awfully timid though might have been OK if he had played the N back to d5 immediately,

A few minutes later: Terry has resigned.
Tim Harding
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Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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John McKenna

Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by John McKenna » Sun May 03, 2015 9:40 pm

Sorry to hear that Terry Chapman lost, but thanks for the explanation of how it happened, Tim.

Chris Rice
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Chris Rice » Mon May 04, 2015 3:26 am

Round 6 pairings:

50+

1 IM Berkovich Mark A 2362 4 4½ GM Sturua Zurab 2536
2 GM Arkell Keith C 2493 4 4 GM Fernandes Antonio 2369
3 GM Nunn John D M 2601 4 3½ IM Petran Peter 2362
4 IM Bellia Fabrizio 2433 3½ 3½ IM Barle Janez 2347
5 FM Chapman Terry P D 2258 3 3½ FM Nikolaidis Konstantinos 2187


65+

1 IM Rooze Jan 2281 4½ 4½ GM Vasiukov Evgeni 2416
2 GM Kupreichik Viktor D 2373 4 4 GM Pushkov Nikolai 2313
3 Muratoglu Salih 1960 3½ 3½ GM Gaprindashvili Nona 2302
4 Pedersen Jan Rode 2208 3 3 FM Valenti Giuseppe 2052
5 IM Schouten Nico 2197 3 3 Stokes Michael 2135

Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Mon May 04, 2015 4:35 pm

John Nunn's game seems to have been drawn but not after only 7 moves as Chessdom is now showing.
I think it went as follows.


Meanwhile Keith won a piece by a neat tactic against Fernandes, who is also in time trouble.

This should put Keith in a tie for the lead with Sturua, who drew with Berkovich.
That would mean round 7: Sturua & Arkell 5/6, to play tomorrow, and on 4.5 Nunn, Berkovich plus anyone on 3.5/5 who manages to win today.

Terry has another exciting game today and he seems to be better; a win would put him on 4/6.

In the 65+ Rooze drew with Vasiukov while Kupreichik beat Pushkov. Nona drew.
So Rooze remains my favourite to win as he has played both the other leaders and Nona already. Vasiukov and Kupreichik meet tomorrow.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Chris Rice
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Chris Rice » Mon May 04, 2015 9:35 pm

Round 7 pairings:

50+ (quick draw on 1?)

1 GM Sturua Zurab 2536 5 5 GM Arkell Keith C 2493
2 IM Berkovich Mark A 2362 4½ 4½ GM Nunn John D M 2601
3 Ilandzis Spyridon 2151 4 4 IM Bellia Fabrizio 2433
4 WIM Kasoshvili Tsiala 2179 4 4 GM Fernandes Antonio 2369
5 IM Petran Peter 2362 4 4 FM Chapman Terry P D 2258
6 IM Barle Janez 2347 4 4 WGM Mednikova Svetlana 2170

65+

1 GM Vasiukov Evgeni 2416 5 5 GM Kupreichik Viktor D 2373
2 GM Pushkov Nikolai 2313 4 5 IM Rooze Jan 2281
3 GM Gaprindashvili Nona 2302 4 4 Pedersen Jan Rode 2208
4 Stokes Michael 2135 4 4 Muratoglu Salih 1960

Mick Norris
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Mick Norris » Tue May 05, 2015 7:48 am

Chris Rice wrote:Round 7 pairings:

50+ (quick draw on 1?) 1 GM Sturua Zurab 2536 5 5 GM Arkell Keith C 2493
I'm not sure whether Keith can afford a quick draw, given he is behind on tiebreak - depends how he feels, of course, and the position on the board
Rank after Round 6
Rk. SNo Name sex Gr FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 2 GM Sturua Zurab O50 GEO 2536 5.0 2406 20.0 23.0
2 3 GM Arkell Keith C O50 ENG 2493 5.0 2387 19.5 22.5
3 1 GM Nunn John D M O50 ENG 2601 4.5 2406 22.0 25.5
4 9 IM Berkovich Mark A O50 ISR 2362 4.5 2267 20.0 22.5
5 10 IM Petran Peter O50 SVK 2362 4.0 2378 20.5 21.0
6 8 GM Fernandes Antonio O50 POR 2369 4.0 2320 18.5 20.0
7 5 IM Bellia Fabrizio O50 ITA 2433 4.0 2315 20.5 23.0
8 23 Ilandzis Spyridon O50 GRE 2151 4.0 2264 17.0 19.5
9 18 WIM Kasoshvili Tsiala w O50 GEO 2179 4.0 2221 14.5 16.5
10 13 FM Chapman Terry P D O50 ENG 2258 4.0 2208 17.5 19.5

Annotation:
Tie Break1: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break2: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break3: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Tue May 05, 2015 9:58 am

Mick Norris wrote: I'm not sure whether Keith can afford a quick draw, given he is behind on tiebreak - depends how he feels, of course, and the position on the board
I wonder if a draw for Keith Arkell and a win for John Nunn would put Nunn ahead of the other two on tie-break?

Mick Norris
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Mick Norris » Tue May 05, 2015 11:18 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:I wonder if a draw for Keith Arkell and a win for John Nunn would put Nunn ahead of the other two on tie-break?
John's opponent is lower rated than Keith, so Sturua would be ahead of John on tiebreak - I'm not sure if Keith would pass John on tiebreak i.e. average rating of opponents

It strikes me that if Keith wins today, he will be in the box seat, but if he loses it may be that he can't catch Sturua on tiebreak even if he manges to haul back the point lead - in game theory terms, Keith may be wise not to risk losing to pursue a win at all costs

It might be the title on tiebreak comes down to to who the players have been lucky or unlucky to draw in the last 2 rounds

I prefer to think that Keith starts today knowing 3 wins makes him champion :D
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Chris Rice
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Chris Rice » Tue May 05, 2015 11:52 am

Tricky. A draw as Black against the world champion can't be a bad result for Keith. Based on past experience a draw should occur somewhere between move 18 and 25! Sturua seems fortunate to keep getting White against Keith who I suspect will play with a draw in hand and won't risk an all out assault. Whatever Keith does its guaranteed to be well thought out so the very best of luck to him and of course to John Nunn who clearly is still in the mix but he definitely needs to win I'm guessing.

Sturua, Zurab (2523) - Arkell, Keith C (2450) - World Senior 50+ 2014 (4.2), Katerini GRE, 2014 D15 ½-½



Sturua, Zurab (2524) - Arkell, Keith C (2448) - 14th ch-Euro Seniors over 50 2014 (5.1), Porto POR, 2014 A40 ½-½


Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Tue May 05, 2015 2:40 pm

Chris Rice wrote:Tricky. A draw as Black against the world champion can't be a bad result for Keith. Based on past experience a draw should occur somewhere between move 18 and 25! Sturua seems fortunate to keep getting White against Keith who I suspect will play with a draw in hand and won't risk an all out assault.
Actually not! Keith has varied from the Porto game with the much sharper 5...f5!? and after 6 e4 he has played 6...cxd4 (N, instead of 6...d6 with which he lost to Palliser at the 2013 British) 7 exf5 Qa5 "playing for three results..."

Recall that Keith is the defending European 50+ champion and only lost to out to Sturua in the Worlds due to a very flaky tiebreak decided in the last game to finish. He has certainly been unlucky to get three successive Blacks against Sturua in these championships.

Meanwhile John seems to have come more or less OK out of the opening against Berkovich while Terry has already grabbed the initiative with sharp play against Petran; he's well ahead on the clock and position after about 13 moves.
Tim Harding
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Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Tue May 05, 2015 5:59 pm

John has won but Terry missed his opportunity at move 20 after which he maybe made further slips and lost. Keith has been fighting hard in an endgame down N+P v R but I suspect he will lose.

As I predicted, Rooze is now in pole position to win the "real" Seniors as he won against Pushkov while the other two Russians GMs drew (not without a fight).
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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John McKenna

Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by John McKenna » Tue May 05, 2015 7:15 pm

As predicted - Keith's been ground down :shock:

Chris Rice
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Chris Rice » Wed May 06, 2015 3:54 am

Last two rounds coming up and these are European titles so Sturua and Rooze will feel the pressure. So its not all over yet but undoubtedly the fat lady is clearing her throat.

Round 8 pairings:

50+

1 IM Petran Peter 2362 5 6 GM Sturua Zurab 2536
2 GM Nunn John D M 2601 5½ 5 IM Bellia Fabrizio 2433
3 GM Arkell Keith C 2493 5 4½ IM Barle Janez 2347

65+

1 Muratoglu Salih 1960 5 6 IM Rooze Jan 2281
2 GM Gaprindashvili Nona 2302 5 5½ GM Vasiukov Evgeni 2416
3 GM Kupreichik Viktor D 2373 5½ 4½ FM Zhelesny Stanislav 2118
4 Pedersen Jan Rode 2208 4 4½ FM Gruzmann Boris 2200

Barry Sandercock
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Barry Sandercock » Wed May 06, 2015 5:04 pm

John Nunn has drawn in a position where he seems to be slightly better.

Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Wed May 06, 2015 5:48 pm

Barry Sandercock wrote:John Nunn has drawn in a position where he seems to be slightly better.
I don''t think his piece sac worked out as intended, no attack just a tricky ending coming up with three pawns (only one passed) against a knight.
Houdini reckons after 32 Rxa1 if the game continued: 32...exd2 33 Qxd2 Qd8 34 Qh6 Qf6 35 Qxf6 Nxf6 36 Nxd6 and then Nxg7 only marginally in White's favour.

Keith has a tricky R ending, probably drawn but he's trying. At least Petran held Sturua to a draw so the tournament isn't decided yet.

LATER: Keith has drawn.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

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