Ivanchuk dominated the ACP Masters in Ashdod

By Yochanan Afek

Vassily Ivanchuk from Ukraine is the winner of the ACP Masters rapid super tournament that ended on Thursday in the Israeli city of Ashdod. The Ukraine No.1 beat Frenchman Etienne Bacrot in the final match 2.5 : 0.5 to take home the title and the 10.000 $ first prize. The match, initially set for 4 games, ended already after game 3 following a vigorous start 2:0 and a comfortable draw. The first game saw a quiet line in the Spanish where after multiple piece exchanges Bacrot, as black, found himself with 2 pawns down in a hopeless rook ending. The second game saw a sharp line in the Grűnfeld Defence with roughly equal chances when Bacrot, as white, sent his queen to a dubious pawn hunt on the queenside which allowed Ivanchuk the time for a strong counter attack in the centre. In an attempt to stop Black’s strong initiative white managed to exchange q however the resulting ending was still better for Ivanchuk owing to an unpleasant pin along the “d” file. The Ukrainian converted his edge to lead 2:0 and needed just a draw out of the remaining two games. As a matter of fact he obtained a winning position also in the third game but settled for a draw to secure his convincing overall victory. The highest rated participant Ivanchuk was a natural favourite yet he achieved the goal without losing a single game. All games may be seen here: http://www.acpmasters.com/pgn/ 

At the prize giving incoming chairman of the Israeli chess federation Danny Porath praised the participants for demonstrating great fighting spirit and sportsmanship and thanked the town hall of Ashdod for its continuous and massive support. Emil Sutovsky brought the greetings of the ACP and awarded the tournament winner with a big trophy. Vassily Ivanchuk, in a short victor’s speech praised the pleasant hospitality and the friendly atmosphere that with a little bit of luck were instrumental for his success.

ACP Masters in Ashdod: Ivanchuk and Bacrot to the final

By Yochanan Afek

Two semi-final matches of the ACP Masters were held on Wednesday in the Israeli city of Ashdod. The winner of the preliminary group B, Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk met the runner-up in the preliminary group A, Russian Ian Nepomnianchtchi. In the first game the Russian, as black, sacrificed a knight for attacking chances but eventually had to settle for a draw by perpetual check.

In the second game Nepomniachtchi missed a nice forced win in the middle game and then was tempted again to a knight sacrifice for what looked like a strong attack. Nevertheless his attack came pretty soon to a dead end and he lost the game and the match 0.5: 1.5.

The other match, between the winner of the preliminary group A, Israeli Boris Gelfand and the runner-up in group B, Frenchman Etienne Bacrot was way more dramatic. In the first game Gelfand overlooked simple tactics which cost him a whole Rook and consequently the game. In the second game Gelfand won a pawn in the early middle game and patiently converted it to a winning ending and equalized to 1:1. The tie break was consisted of two blitz games with time control of 3 minutes and 2 seconds increment added to each move.

In the first game Bacrot won on time in an equal queen ending but was trapped in a mate net in the second one. The decisive game was a tragic Armageddon where Gelfand lost on time with an advantage of a Rook and a Knight. All games may be found here: http://www.acpmasters.com/pgn/  

The final will be played between Ivanchuk and Bacrot on Thursday, December 10th at 15.00 in Kivoonim centre, 4 Hatzionut st. Ashdod and will be consisted of 4 games of 15 minutes per player plus an increment of 10 second added tom each move.

On Wednesday various accompanying events took place in Ashdod. 118 kids challenged five of the grandmasters in a simultaneous display held in the town hall square. Grandmasters Dimitry Jakovenko, Gadir Guseinov, Pavel Eljanov, Emil Sutovsky and Richard Rapport did not have too hard time to demolish the opposition allowing just a single draw. The world’s current youngest grandmaster, American Sam Sevian, played a clock simultan against 6 talented youngsters to win 5:1, drawing with Yair Parkhov and Lior Musyuk. Bulgarian GM Kiril Georgiev gave an instructive lecture in the local chess club.

ACP Semifinals: Ivanchuk - Nepomniachtchi and Bacrot – Gelfand!

Following two days of short, fierce and close battles the preliminary groups of the ACP Masters in Ashdod has finally reached a clear conclusion with no need for further tie-breakers.

Here are the results in group A:
Round 1: Jakovenko- Gelfand 0.5: 0.5; Guseinov- Georgiev 1:0; Sevian- Nepomniachtchi 0:1;
Round 2: Jakovenko- Guseinov 1:0; Georgiev-Sevian 0:1; Gelfand- Nepomniachtchi 0.5: 0.5.
Round 3: Sevian- Jakovenko 1:0; Guseinov-Gelfand 0:1; Nepomniachtchi- Georgiev 1:0
Round 4: Jakovenko-Nepomniachtchi 0.5: 0.5; Guseinov-Sevian 1:0; Gelfand- Georgiev 0.5: 0.5
Round 5: Georgiev-Jakovenko 0.5:0.5; Nepomniachtchi-Guseinov 0.5:0.5; Sevian-Gelfand 0:1.

Final standings: Gelfand & Nepomniachtchi 3.5 each; Jakovenko& Guseinov 2.5 each; Sevian 2; Georgiev 1

And here are the results in group B:
Round 1: Smirin- Rapport 0:1; Sutovsky- Bacrot 0.5: 0.5; Ivanchuk- Eljanov 0.5: 0.5;
Round 2: Smirin- Sutovsky 1:0; Bacrot- Ivanchuk 0:1; Rapport- Eljanov 0: 1
Round 3: Ivanchuk- Smirin 0.5: 0:5 ; Sutovsky- Rapport 0.5: 0.5 ; Eljanov-Bacrot 0:1
Round 4: Smirin-Eljanov 1:0; Sutovsky- Ivanchuk 0:1; Rapport- Bacrot 0.5: 0.5
Round 5: Bacrot-Smirin 1:0; Eljanov- Sutovsky 1:0; Ivanchuk- Rapport 0.5:0.5.

Final standings: Ivanchuk 3.5; Bacrot 3; Smirin,Eljanov &Rapport 2.5 each; Sutovsky1.

The pairs for the semi-finals are: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Etienne Bacrot (France) - Boris Gelfand (Israel). Ivanchuk and Bacrot play white in the first game.

The semi final matches will be played on Wednesday, December 9th at Kivunim centre starting from15.00 local time. Each match will be consisted of two rapid games of 15 minutes each with 10 seconds increment from move 1. Watch the games live!

The cross tables as well as all games may be found in PGN format at the games department of the tournament’s official website: http://www.acpmasters.com/

ACP Masters: The first day

The ACP Masters was opened on Monday, December 7th, in Kivoonim cultural Centre in the city of Ashdod. The players were welcomed by Moshe Slav, chairman of the Israeli chess federation and chief organizer, who said that it is in fact the strongest invitational tournament ever to be held in Israel to be transmitted to the entire world with the the modern Israeli technology of Chess Vision. He thanked the mayor, Dr. Yechiel Lasri, for the town hall continuous support, mentioning that no less than 3500 kids are having chess tuition in 30 chess centres around the city. He awarded the special stamp that had been issued for the 80th anniversary of Israeli chess to the next two distinguished speakers: Oded Forer, member of the Israeli parliament (Israel Beitenu party), said that Israel is a chess power and the government should have done a lot more for developing chess and support Israeli participation in official events worldwide. Mayor Yechiel Lasri stressed the importance of sports in general and chess in particular for the city, praising the remarkable achievements of the municipal chess club since its foundation in 2003, especially the top team that has won five national championship titles and five times the cup games and the ladies team that has won nine national titles to date.

Following the speeches and the refreshments the qualification games started in both preliminary groups. Three rounds were held in each yet not at the same time.

Here are the results of the first day in group A:

Round 1: Jakovenko- Gelfand 0.5: 0.5; Guseinov- Georgiev 1:0; Sevian- Nepomniachtchi 0:1;
Round 2: Jakovenko- Guseinov 1:0; Georgiev-Sevian 0:1; Gelfand- Nepomniachtchi 0.5: 0.5.
Round 3: Sevian- Jakovenko 1:0; Guseinov-Gelfand 0:1; Nepomniachtchi- Georgiev 1:0
Ian Nepomniachtchi, the runner-up in the early tournament rankings is the early leader with 2.5 points ahead of Boris Gelfand and Sam Sevian 2 each; Dimitry Jakovenko 1.5; Gadir Guseinov 1; Kiril Georgiev 0.

Results of the first day in group B:

Round 1: Smirin- Rapport 0:1; Sutovsky- Bacrot 0.5: 0.5; Ivanchuk- Eljanov 0.5: 0.5;
Round 2: Smirin- Sutovsky 1:0; Bacrot- Ivanchuk 0:1; Rapport- Eljanov 0: 1
Round 3: Ivanchuk- Smirin 0.5: 0:5 ; Sutovsky- Rapport 0.5: 0.5 ; Eljanov-Bacrot 0:1
Vassily Ivanchuk, the leader of the early rankings is also th3e leader of the first day with 2 points, ahead of Smirin, Rapport, Bacrot and Eljanov 1.5 each, Sutovsky 1.

All games may be found in PGN format at the games department of the tournament’s official website and photos in the gallery.

The second day of the preliminary games as well as the tie break blitz matches if needed will be played on Tuesday, December 8th in Kivunim centre. The last two rounds in group A will be played at 13:00-16:00 and in group B at 16.00-19.00.

The ACP Masters was opened on Monday, December 7th, in Kivoonim Cultural Centre in the city of Ashdod.

The players were welcomed by Moshe Slav, chairman of the Israeli chess federation and chief organizer, who said that it is in fact the strongest invitational tournament ever to be held in Israel to be transmitted to the entire world with the the modern Israeli technology of Chess Vision.

He thanked the mayor, Dr. Yechiel Lasri, for the town hall continuous support, mentioning that no less than 3500 kids are having chess tuition in 30 chess centres around the city. He awarded the special stamp that had been issued for the 80th anniversary of Israeli chess to the next two distinguished speakers: Oded Forer, member of the Israeli parliament (Israel Beitenu party), said that Israel is a chess power and the government should have done a lot more for developing chess and support Israeli participation in official events worldwide.

Mayor Yechiel Lasri stressed the importance of sports in general and chess in particular for the city, praising the remarkable achievements of the municipal chess club since its foundation in 2003, especially the top team that has won five national championship titles and five times the cup games and the ladies team that has won nine national titles to date.





Following the speeches and the refreshments the qualification games started in both preliminary groups. Three rounds were held in each yet not at the same time. Here are the results of the first day in group A:

Round 1: Jakovenko- Gelfand 0.5: 0.5; Guseinov- Georgiev 1:0; Sevian- Nepomniachtchi 0:1;
Round 2: Jakovenko- Guseinov 1:0; Georgiev-Sevian 0:1; Gelfand- Nepomniachtchi 0.5: 0.5.
Round 3: Sevian- Jakovenko 1:0; Guseinov-Gelfand 0:1; Nepomniachtchi-Georgiev 1:0

Ian Nepomniachtchi, the runner-up in the early tournament rankings is the early leader with 2.5 points ahead of Boris Gelfand and Sam Sevian 2 each; Dimitry Jakovenko 1.5; Gadir Guseinov 1; Kiril Georgiev 0.

Results of the first day in group B:
Round 1: Smirin- Rapport 0:1; Sutovsky- Bacrot 0.5: 0.5; Ivanchuk- Eljanov 0.5: 0.5;
Round 2: Smirin- Sutovsky 1:0; Bacrot- Ivanchuk 0:1; Rapport- Eljanov 0: 1
Round 3: Ivanchuk- Smirin 0.5: 0:5 ; Sutovsky- Rapport 0.5: 0.5; Eljanov-Bacrot 0:1

Vassily Ivanchuk, the leader of the early rankings is also the leader of the first day with 2 points, ahead of Smirin, Rapport, Bacrot and Eljanov 1.5 each , Sutovsky 1.

All games may be found in PGN format at the games department of the tournament’s official website and photos in the gallery.

The second day of the preliminary games as well as the tie break blitz matches if needed will be played on Tuesday, December 8th in Kivunim centre. The last two rounds in group A will be played at 13:00-16:00 and in group B at 16.00-19.00.