European Individual Chess Championship

Ivan Sokolov joins Inarkiev and Jobava on the top

The 9th round of the European Individual Chess Championship brought lots of draws on the top boards, but not without fight. Actually, Ernesto Inarkiev sacrificed a piece against the co-leader Baadur Jobava, but was later forced to agree to a draw by moves repetition. The second table also featured a very interesting game, where Vladimir Malakhov and Dmitry Bocharov exchanged numerous tactical shots, producing a draw in the B vs N endgame.

Former Dutch champion Ivan Sokolov jumped on the opportunity to join the leading pack by beating young German GM Georg Meier. Sokolov is set to play to play Inarkiev with Black in tomorrow's penultimate round. Arkadij Naiditsch also had a good day, beating GM Viktor Mikhalevski, while further bellow on board 11 Ivan Cheparinov won against his trainer Erwin L'Ami. FM Vugar Rasulov takes another valuable scalp, this time from Loek Van Wely, and is already 65(!) rating points in plus. (Games bellow)

Round 8 report

Round 9 top results:

GM Jobava Baadur 2669 6½ ½ - ½ 6½ GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2656
GM Malakhov Vladimir 2692 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Bocharov Dmitry 2647
GM Nyback Tomi 2644 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Volokitin Andrei 2671
GM Mamedov Rauf 2638 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2664
GM Sjugirov Sanan 2562 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Guseinov Gadir 2661
GM Sokolov Ivan 2657 6 1 - 0 6 GM Meier Georg 2608
GM Grachev Boris 2655 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Navara David 2638
GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2693 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Mikhalevski Victor 2608
GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2609 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Dreev Alexey 2688
GM Lupulescu Constantin 2608 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Bologan Viktor 2687
GM Cheparinov Ivan 2679 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM L'Ami Erwin 2603
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2608 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Motylev Alexander 2676
GM Kurnosov Igor 2602 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Areshchenko Alexander 2673
GM Stevic Hrvoje 2592 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Timofeev Artyom 2671
GM Bartel Mateusz 2594 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Fressinet Laurent 2666

Round 10 top pairings:

GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2656 7 - 7 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2657
GM Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2693 6½ - 7 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2669
GM Navara David CZE 2638 6½ - 6½ GM Malakhov Vladimir RUS 2692
GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2679 6½ - 6½ GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2638
GM Volokitin Andrei UKR 2671 6½ - 6½ GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2634
GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2664 6½ - 6½ GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2562
GM Guseinov Gadir AZE 2661 6½ - 6½ GM Savic Miodrag R SRB 2525
GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2636 6½ - 6½ GM Grachev Boris RUS 2655
GM Fedorchuk Sergey A UKR 2633 6½ - 6½ GM Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2647
GM Nyback Tomi FIN 2644 6½ - 6½ FM Rasulov Vugar AZE 2391
GM Meier Georg GER 2608 6 - 6 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2700
GM Dreev Alexey RUS 2688 6 - 6 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2608
GM Bologan Viktor MDA 2687 6 - 6 GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2602
GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2687 6 - 6 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2602

More information on the official website

Tomi Nyback set to play against the fabulous Vugar Rasulov

Legendary Jan Timman

Jovana Vojinovic already earned WGM norm

Miodrag Savic breaking into top 20

Chess can be exhausting