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Levon Aronian won the Alekhine Memorial
The games of the last round of the Alekhine Memorial were played on May 1st in St. Petersburg. Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand shared the first place with 5.5 points out of 9. The Armenian grandmaster had a better tie-break score and was awarded the first prize. The Israeli grandmaster took the second place. The reigning World Champion Vishy Anand finished third with 5 points.
Today Boris Gelfand had White against Vishy Anand. Last year these players competed for the chess crown in a World Chess Championship match. Their today's game was quiet and ended in a draw on the 40th move.
Levon Aronian played a very aggressive opening against the recent leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The French grandmaster ended up in a severe time trouble and soon committed the decisive error. Thanks to this victory, Levon Aronian, who considers Alexander Alekhine his favorite player, won the Alekhine Memorial.
At the closing ceremony Aronian thanked the sponsors of the event, its organizers and spectators, who showed genuine interest to the tournament and inspired its participants to demonstrate their creative talent. The longest game of the round was Adams-Kramnik. The Russian grandmaster managed to score his second victory, and finished at 50%.
The main prizes and special prizes were awarded during the closing ceremony. The prize for a game in Alekhine's style was given to Laurent Fressinet, who defeated Vladimir Kramnik in Paris. The best combination prize went to Ding Liren for his victory against the future tournament winner. Boris Gelfand received the best technique prize, and Nikita Vitiugov got the last special prize for the best play during the St. Petersburg half of the tournament.
Resuts of the round 9: Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave 1-0, Adams – Kramnik 0-1, Gelfand – Anand, Vitiugov – Ding Liren, Svidler – Fressinet draws.
The final standings. 1-2. Aronian and Gelfand – both 5.5; 3. Anand – 5; 4-8. Adams, Vitiugov, Fressinet, Kramnik, and Vachier-Lagrave – all 4.5; 9. Ding Liren – 3.5; 10. Svidler – 3.
Official website of the event www.alekhine-memorial.com
Round 8
Boris Gelfand leads the Alekhine Memorial with only one round to go
The penultimate, 8th round of the Alekhine Memorial was played in St. Petersburg on April 30th.
The young St. Petersburg grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov celebrated his first victory today. With Black pieces he outplayed the French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who was undefeated and shared the first place before the start of the round. St. Petersburg spectators applauded the local player after the game.
Another St. Petersburg grandmaster, the World Cup winner Peter Svidler made a relatively easy draw as Black against the World Champion Vishy Anand. Soon after that another draw occurred in Fressinet-Aronian. Ding Liren from China and Michael Adams from England played a very complicated and hard-fought game, which ended peacefully.
The longest game of the round was played between Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand. It was also very important for the tournament situation. Kramnik demonstrated a strong novelty and obtained a big advantage. Gelfand defended very tenaciously, as drawing the game would make his a sole leader of the tournament. After seven hours of play, following the series of mutual errors, the game was finally drawn.
The last round of the Alekhine Memorial is played on May, 1st.
Results of the round 8: Vachier-Lagrave – Vitiugov 0-1, Kramnik – Gelfand, Fressinet – Aronian, Dong Liren – Adams, Anand – Svidler – all draws.
The standings after eight rounds: 1. Gelfand – 5; 2-5. Adams, Anand, Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave – all 4.5; 6-7. Vitiugov, and Fressinet – both 4; 8. Kramnik – 3.5; 9. Ding Liren – 3; 10. Svidler – 2.5.
The 9th round games: Gelfand – Anand, Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave, Adams – Kramnik, Vitiugov – Ding Liren, Svidler – Fressinet.
Official website of the event www.alekhine-memorial.com
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