GM Drozdovskij and GM Ponomariov lead Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup

Happy birthday to GM Mikhail Golubev!

The 4th Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup started today in Odessa, Ukraine. Boris Gelfand (2723, Israel), Ruslan Ponomariov (2719, Ukraine), Anatoly Karpov (2655, Russia), Pavel Tregubov (2629, Russia), Viktor Korchnoi (2598, Switzerland), Yuri Drozdovskij (2581, Ukraine), Valery Beim (2523, Austria), and Mikhail Golubev (2474, Ukraine) sat behind the chess board in series of exciting duels.

Five rounds were played in the first day of the competition. Provisional leaders are GM Yuri Drozdovskij and GM Ponomariov with 4,0/5. GM Drozdovskij won his games against GM Beim, GM Gelfand, and GM Korchnoi, and was held to a draw by one of the best chess journalists and author of fantastic books GM Golubev, and by the world chess champion GM Anatoly Karpov. GM Ponomariov had a similar performance, managing to win against GM Korchnoi, GM Beim, and GM Golubev, but was held to a draw by GM Karpov and GM Tregubov.

The tournament is a double round robin and the second series of games will be played tomorrow. Here are the first day results, standings, and pgn. For more information visit the official website

Round 1

Korchnoi - Beim 0-1
Ponomariov - Karpov 1/2-1/2
Tregubov - Gelfand 0-1
Golubev - Drozdovskij 1/2-1/2

Round 2

Beim - Drozdovskij 0-1
Karpov - Tregubov 0-1
Gelfand - Golubev 1-0
Korchnoi - Ponomariov 0-1

Round 3

Ponomariov - Beim 1-0
Tregubov - Korchnoi 1/2-1/2
Golubev - Karpov 1/2-1/2
Drozdovskij - Gelfand 1-0

Round 4

Beim - Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Korchnoi - Golubev 1-0
Ponomariov - Tregubov 1/2-1/2
Karpov - Drozdovskij 1/2-1/2

Round 5

Tregubov - Beim 1-0
Drozdovskij - Korchnoi 1-0
Golubev - Ponomariov 0-1
Gelfand - Karpov 1-0

PGN round 1-5

Download pgn round 1-5 courtesy of the official site.

Standings

1-2. Drozdovskij 4,0/5
1-2. Ponomariov 4,0/5
3. Gelfand 3,5/5
4. Tregubov 3,0/5
5-7. Korchnoi 1,5/5
5-7. Beim 1,5/5
5-7. Karpov 1,5/5
8. Golubev 1,0/5

Happy birthday to GM Mikhail Golubev!

Happy birthday to GM Mikhail Golubev! The Chessdom team wishes him all the best!

GM Golubev is born May 30, 1970, in Odessa. He is a Grandmaster since 1996 and is a winner of numerous competitions and a champion of Ukraine in 1996. Currently, he is also chess journalist. GM Golubev is the author of Easy Guide to the Dragon (1999), The Sicilian Sozin (2001), and Understanding the King's Indian (2006).

Happy birthday!

Karpov and Korchnoi

The games between the veterans Karpov and Korchnoi will be of special interest in the next rounds. In 1978 they played the first of their world championship matches in Baguio, Philippines. The official website has an open vote on who is going to win the match and until now Korchnoi is leading with 38%, Karpov has 35%, and draw result is 26%.