2015-01-21



Gibraltar Chess 2015
(click on the image for full view of the poster)

The Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 is going to take place 26 January – 5 February in the Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar. The long traditions of the festival, the fantastic organization, and the hefty 175 000 pounds prize fund have attracted many of the top world grandmasters.

Veselin Topalov, whose current ELO is exactly 2800 (making him world number 3 on FIDE’s January list), will be the highest rated player ever to take part in Gibraltar. His main opponents from the 2700 club include Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Pentala Harikrishna, Yu Yangyi, and Richard Rapport.

Official website / Live games / Live games with statistics / Play online chess

Last year’s winner Ivan Cheparinov is 10th seeded, right after Maxim Matlakov and ahead of Maxim Rodshtein.

Hou Yifan, the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, is seeded 13th in Gibraltar. She will be joined by several compatriots including Wey Yi (currently playing Tata Challengers), Ju Wenjun, Guo Qi, and Xu Jun.

England will be represented by Gawain Jones, David Howell, Nigel Short, Jovanka Houska, Robert Bellin, Lawrence Trent, andNigel Povah among many others in the Challengers and Amateur sections.

USA will be aiming for the top positions with a mix of young and experienced players. Besides the second seeded Nakamura, Gribraltar 2015 will have Varuzhan Akobian, Daniel Naroditsky, Alexandr Lenderman, Kayden Troff, Irina Krush, James Tarjan, and John Watson.

Here is the full list of participants

Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 – participants Masters

Title

Country

Rating

1

Topalov, Veselin

g

BUL

2800

2

Nakamura, Hikaru

g

USA

2776

3

Svidler, Peter

g

RUS

2739

4

Vitiugov, Nikita

g

RUS

2735

5

Jakovenko, Dmitry

g

RUS

2733

6

Harikrishna, Pentala

g

IND

2727

7

Yu, Yangyi

g

CHN

2724

8

Rapport, Richard

g

HUN

2716

9

Matlakov, Maxim

g

RUS

2695

10

Cheparinov, Ivan

g

BUL

2681

11

Rodshtein, Maxim

g

ISR

2680

12

Wei, Yi

g

CHN

2675

13

Hou, Yifan

g

CHN

2673

14

Jones, Gawain C B

g

ENG

2671

15

Howell, David W L

g

ENG

2670

16

Motylev, Alexander

g

RUS

2665

17

Short, Nigel D

g

ENG

2660

18

Iturrizaga, Eduardo

g

VEN

2649

19

Edouard, Romain

g

FRA

2638

20

Akobian, Varuzhan

g

USA

2637

21

Sutovsky, Emil

g

ISR

2637

22

Bartel, Mateusz

g

POL

2631

23

Adhiban, B

g

IND

2630

24

Bachmann, Axel

g

PAR

2629

25

Salgado Lopez, Ivan

g

ESP

2628

26

Agdestein, Simen

g

NOR

2626

27

Sethuraman, S.P.

g

IND

2624

28

Naroditsky, Daniel

g

USA

2622

29

Anton Guijarro, David

g

ESP

2617

30

Lenderman, Aleksandr

g

USA

2614

31

Bologan, Viktor

g

MDA

2608

32

Salem, A.R. Saleh

g

UAE

2603

33

Grandelius, Nils

g

SWE

2602

34

Ganguly, Surya Shekhar

g

IND

2595

35

Roiz, Michael

g

ISR

2592

36

Vazquez Igarza, Renier

g

ESP

2592

37

Mareco, Sandro

g

ARG

2583

38

Nabaty, Tamir

g

ISR

2579

39

Felgaer, Ruben

g

ARG

2575

40

Hansen, Eric

g

CAN

2574

41

Sandipan, Chanda

g

IND

2574

42

Stefansson, Hannes

g

ISL

2573

43

Bok, Benjamin

g

NED

2572

44

Mikhalevski, Victor

g

ISR

2571

45

Sengupta, Deep

g

IND

2569

46

Bogner, Sebastian

g

SUI

2565

47

Oparin, Grigoriy

g

RUS

2551

48

Chirila, Ioan-Cristian

g

ROU

2548

49

Ju, Wenjun

g

CHN

2547

50

Muzychuk, Anna

g

UKR

2544

51

Troff, Kayden W

g

USA

2541

52

Spraggett, Kevin

g

CAN

2538

53

Arribas Lopez, Angel

g

ESP

2537

54

Lalith, Babu M.R.

g

IND

2537

55

Khotenashvili, Bela

g

GEO

2526

56

Rasmussen, Allan Stig

g

DEN

2526

57

Xu, Jun

g

CHN

2523

58

Popilski, Gil

g

ISR

2522

59

Blomqvist, Erik

g

SWE

2520

60

Muzychuk, Mariya

m

UKR

2520

61

Cramling, Pia

g

SWE

2518

62

Tarjan, James E

g

USA

2518

63

Boruchovsky, Avital

g

ISR

2517

64

Al-Sayed, Mohammed

g

QAT

2516

65

Stefanova, Antoaneta

g

BUL

2515

66

Donchenko, Alexander

m

GER

2511

67

Debashis, Das

g

IND

2503

68

Wagner, Dennis

m

GER

2501

69

Oral, Tomas

g

CZE

2498

70

Harika, Dronavalli

g

IND

2496

71

Svane, Rasmus

m

GER

2496

72

Raznikov, Danny

m

ISR

2494

73

Georgiadis, Nico

m

SUI

2490

74

Shyam, Sundar M.

g

IND

2489

75

Ducarmon, Quinten

m

NED

2488

76

Tari, Aryan

m

NOR

2487

77

Javakhishvili, Lela

m

GEO

2486

78

Smith, Axel

m

SWE

2483

79

Zhukova, Natalia

g

UKR

2482

80

Pichot, Alan

m

ARG

2480

81

Das, Arghyadip

m

IND

2476

82

Melia, Salome

m

GEO

2473

83

Trent, Lawrence

m

ENG

2470

84

Adla, Diego

m

ARG

2469

85

Almagro Llamas, Pablo

m

ESP

2469

86

Kjartansson, Gudmundur

m

ISL

2468

87

Krush, Irina

g

USA

2467

88

Carlsson, Pontus

g

SWE

2465

89

Vishnu Prasanna, V

g

IND

2463

90

Venkatesh, M.R.

g

IND

2460

91

Khurtsidze, Nino

m

GEO

2455

92

Docx, Stefan

m

BEL

2450

93

Mkrtchian, Lilit

m

ARM

2449

94

Guo, Qi

m

CHN

2439

95

Neelotpal, Das

g

IND

2437

96

Teran Alvarez, Ismael

m

ESP

2430

97

Nakar, Eylon

m

ISR

2419

98

Nagy, Gabor

m

HUN

2410

99

Martinez Martin, David

m

ESP

2407

100

Santiago, Yago De Moura

m

BRA

2406

101

Nezad, Husein

m

QAT

2404

102

Solomon, Kenny

m

RSA

2399

103

Karavade, Eesha

m

IND

2398

104

El Adnani, Mokliss

f

MAR

2394

105

Foisor, Cristina-Adela

m

ROU

2390

106

Kuipers, Stefan

m

NED

2390

107

Houska, Jovanka

m

ENG

2388

108

Padmini, Rout

wg

IND

2388

109

Zude, Arno

m

GER

2377

110

Codenotti, Marco

m

ITA

2374

111

Khademalsharieh, S

wg

IRI

2372

112

Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel

g

ESP

2370

113

Ladron De Guevara, P

f

ESP

2367

114

Paehtz, Thomas

g

GER

2365

115

Christiansen, Johan

f

NOR

2354

116

Lejlic, Samir

m

SWE

2354

117

Zwahr, Paul

f

GER

2354

118

Wemmers, Xander

m

NED

2353

119

Bartel, Marta

wg

POL

2347

120

Soumya, Swaminathan

wg

IND

2346

121

Dragnev, Valentin

f

AUT

2344

122

Bellin, Robert

m

ENG

2338

123

Vuilleumier, Alexandre

m

SUI

2336

124

Holm, Kristian Stuvik

f

NOR

2330

125

Morchiashvili, Bachana

m

GEO

2326

126

Povah, Nigel E

m

ENG

2324

127

Guerrero Vargas, Andres

f

VEN

2320

128

Sorm, Daniel

f

CZE

2319

129

Watson, John L

m

USA

2319

130

Santos Ruiz, Miguel

f

ESP

2310

131

Plotkin, Victor

f

CAN

2306

132

Nuri, Kambez

f

SUI

2305

133

Vojinovic, Jovana

wg

SRB

2301

134

De Haan, Eric

f

NED

2299

135

Tate, Alan

f

SCO

2297

136

Rydstrom, Tom

f

SWE

2292

137

Lombaers, Peter

NED

2291

138

Olsarova, Tereza

wm

CZE

2288

139

Sanchez Jerez, Emilio

f

ESP

2282

140

Buchal, Stephan

f

GER

2273

141

Viana, Dirceu

f

BRA

2268

142

Frisk, Ellinor

wm

SWE

2266

143

Cordes, Hans-Joerg

f

GER

2262

144

Prosviriakov, Vladimir

m

USA

2257

145

Semprun Martinez, F

ESP

2253

146

Galmandakh, Badrakh

MGL

2240

147

Spence, David

ENG

2231

148

Hommerson, Paul

NED

2229

149

Barrenechea, Gustavo

ESP

2223

150

Urbina Perez, Juan

c

ESP

2221

151

Terron Elena, Francisco M.

f

ESP

2218

152

Al-Tamimi, Hamad

QAT

2214

153

Perez Garcia, Alejandro

ESP

2207

154

Hoffmann, Hendrik

f

GER

2206

155

Fawole, John Oyeyemi

c

NGR

2200

156

Dolzhikova, Olga

wg

NOR

2194

157

Balogun, Oluwafemi

c

NGR

2193

158

Byron, Alan M

ENG

2188

159

Veltkamp, Gerben

NED

2175

160

Hellwig, Tobias

GER

2172

161

Zimmermann, Rene

GER

2172

162

Heinemann, Josefine

GER

2160

163

Heer, Stephan

SUI

2157

164

Krockenberger, Martin

f

GER

2152

165

Schneider, German

GER

2150

166

Herman, Diego

ARG

2148

167

Seyfried, Claus

GER

2147

168

Tscharotschkin, Michael

GER

2144

169

Bar, Aviv

ISR

2142

170

Havik, Victor

NOR

2137

171

Burrows, Martin P

ENG

2136

172

Leite, Catarina

wm

POR

2136

173

Jurdao Perez, Marcos

ESP

2131

174

Kuhne, Detlev

GER

2131

175

Beltz, Franziska

wf

GER

2130

176

Walton, Alan J

c

ENG

2129

177

Weeramantry, Sunil

f

SRI

2127

178

Wiedersich, Jens

GER

2125

179

Daneri, Martin

c

ARG

2123

180

Rodriguez Alvarez, Vidal

VEN

2122

181

Danielsson, Robert

SWE

2121

182

Mehlhorn, Uwe

GER

2121

183

Amgalanbaatar, R

MGL

2117

184

Holleland, Sigve

NOR

2116

185

Baert, Andy

f

BEL

2114

186

Osuna Vega, Enrique

c

ESP

2108

187

Schaefer, Reyk

GER

2104

188

Mareckova, Martina

wf

CZE

2102

189

De Rosa, Mariagrazia

wf

ITA

2101

190

Amos, Frank

GER

2097

191

Verneuil, Pascal

FRA

2093

192

Hewson, Brian Wr

ENG

2084

193

Yu, Jonathan

CAN

2081

194

Freuler, Roman

SUI

2071

195

Cawley, Paul F

ENG

2070

196

Jameson, David

WLS

2068

197

Becham, Khalid

MAR

2059

198

Skutta, Bernd

GER

2059

199

Dasaolu, Rotimi

NGR

2053

200

Gieritz, Dietmar

GER

2048

201

Byrn, Carsten

DEN

2044

202

Fomani, Medhi

ESP

2033

203

Jacobsen, Fredrik Beer

NOR

2031

204

Henrichsen, Jens

DEN

2030

205

Suez-Panama, Gilles

FRA

2030

206

Michalowski, Peter

GER

2024

207

Lien, Kjell Hakon

NOR

2020

208

Nwoye, Nnamdi

NGR

2015

209

Hamer, Martyn

ENG

2014

210

Nilsen, Martin

NOR

2011

211

Tranter, Stephen

ENG

1997

212

Green, Per

SWE

1996

213

Moradi, Kimia

IRI

1984

214

Ferreira, Oscar Luiz

BRA

1980

215

Agbabishvili, Lali

CAN

1978

216

Klyszcz, Michael

GER

1975

217

Othman, Mustapha

NGR

1968

218

Spanton, Tim R

ENG

1963

219

Adebajo, Olufemi

ENG

1962

220

Boyer Censore, Giuseppe

VEN

1960

221

Lobersli, Henrik Oie

NOR

1957

222

Godinho Marques, Pedro

POR

1950

223

Whatley, Stephen A J

ENG

1949

224

Tortolero, Cesar

VEN

1937

225

Lochte, Szilvia

HUN

1934

226

Morais, Vitor

POR

1934

227

Machlik, Jon

NOR

1929

228

Burke, Mitchell R

ENG

1928

229

Downey, Keith

WLS

1919

230

Rygg, Snorre

NOR

1909

231

Weishaeutel, Moritz

GER

1905

232

Kim, Yongjoo

KOR

1903

233

Klug, Christian

GER

1884

234

Gravett, Alan D

ENG

1877

235

Curado, Manuel J

POR

1860

236

George, Lolomari

NGR

1857

237

Mahoney, Ian

CAN

1838

238

Nordstrom, Hakon N

NOR

1820

239

Bohman, Leif

SWE

1803

240

Kristinsson, Magnus

ISL

1744

241

Opasiak, Dustin

POL

1729

242

Bauer, Dieter

GER

1728

243

Homer, Neil S

ENG

1716

244

Bouxo, Luis

POR

1711

245

Lerider, Anny-Laure

FRA

1668

246

Tveten, Per

NOR

1601

247

Magnusdottir, Veronika

ISL

1566

News from Gibraltar 2015

Veselin Topalov to play on the Rock!

.



We are delighted to announce that Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov will be joining us for the 2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters! Veselin, whose current elo is exactly 2800 (making him world number 3 on FIDE’s November list), will be the highest rated player ever to take part in Gibraltar.



Veselin became the FIDE World Chess Champion in 2005, cruising to victory in the 8-player double round event in San Luis, Argentina, after a blistering start of 6,5/7. He went on to contest two world title matches: versus Kramnik, in Elista, 2006, and versus Anand, in Sofia, 2010. The latter match was tied 5,5-5,5 before Anand won the 12th game.

As a young talent Veselin was especially fond of playing in Spain, winning many Opens there. His long tenure amongst the world’s elite is documented by many impressive tournament victories, such as the first three editions of the M-Tel Masters (2005-7); Tata Steel (Wijk aan Zee) 2006 and 2007 (both 1st=); Linares 2005 (1st= with Kasparov) and 2010; and Nanjing, China, 2008, this last a Category XXI event, won by Topalov with 7/10. More recently Veselin won the 2012-13 FIDE Grand Prix, which included two first places: 1st= in London 2012, and 1st in Zug, 2013. In this way he qualified for the 2014 Candidates tournament. At the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø Veselin won the gold medal on board one, his tournament performance of 2872 the second best overall.

Veselin has been number one on the FIDE rating list a total of 27 months, which when compared to all others who have been so ranked, places Topalov in fifth place after Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer and Carlsen. He was ranked number one in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his peak Elo rating was 2813, a level which until then had only been surpassed by Garry Kasparov.

Veselin regained the world No. 1 ranking in October 2008, and officially remained No. 1 until January 2010.

Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria, and was taught chess by his father at the age of eight. In 1989 Veselin won the World Under-14 Championship in Puerto Rico, and in 1990 he won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore.

Veselin became a Grandmaster in 1992 and has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. It’s interesting that his friend and long-time training partner, Ivan Cheparinov, won the 2014 Tradewise Masters. Can Veselin make it two years running for Bulgaria?

Hikaru Nakamura and Hou Yifan return to the Rock!

We are delighted to announce that two of the World’s top players, GM Hikaru Nakamura and current Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan have joined the stellar 2015 Masters line-up.

Hikaru is ranked No. 9 in the world by FIDE on the October 2014 list and is a three-time United States Chess Champion. Resident in St Louis, the American number one is currently our top seed at 2764. In January 2014 he reached his peak FIDE rating of 2789, which ranked him 3rd in the world. In May 2014 when FIDE began publishing official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Hikaru was ranked number one in the world on both lists. .

Hikaru is a busy player and is taking part in the FIDE Grand Prix event in Baku, Azerbaijan.

He has also recently competed in the European Club Cup for Obiettivo Risarcimento in Bilbao, a tournament which took place alongside the Bilbao Masters.

Soon after Gibraltar next year, Hikaru will be playing in the Zürich Chess Challenge (February 13-19), with the World’s elite including Caruana, Aronian, Anand, Karjakin, and Kramnik.

In 2008 Hikaru won the 6th Gibtelecom Gibraltar Chess Festival, beating Bu Xiangzhi 2-0 in a play-off match, after both scored 8/10 in the Masters. It’s worth noting that after five rounds Hikaru only had 3/5, but then won five games in a row, to tie for first place.

In 2009, Hikaru returned to defend his title. He nearly repeated his earlier performance, since after nine rounds he was in a five-way tie for first on 7/9, but his last round game, against Vugar Gashimov, ended a draw. We give the game here. Vugar died in January of this year, aged only 27. In April a Gashimov Memorial was held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, Hikaru Nakamura being one of the invited players.

Gibraltar champion in 2009 was Peter Svidler, who overcame Vadim Milov in a tiebreak match.

Hou Yifan is the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.

Like Hikaru, she has recently been playing in the European Club Cup, in Bilbao. Although her team, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, only finished second, Yifan’s 2749 performance was the best on top board.

At the age of 12, Yifan became the youngest player ever to take part in the FIDE Women’s World Championship (2006). In 2010, she became the youngest Women’s World Chess Champion in history by winning the World Championship in Hatay, Turkey at age 16. .

In her only previous visit to Gibraltar (2012) Yifan scored a sensational result, finishing equal first with England’s Nigel Short. Although Nigel won the blitz play-off 1½–½, Yifan’s score of 8/10 (+7 -1 =2) gave her a tournament performance of 2872.

In what some have called the greatest tournament result ever by a woman, Yifan scored 5/7 against the 7 GMs she played rated 2700 or higher. This included 4 wins against Zoltan Almasi (2717), Judit Polgar (2710), Le Quang Liem (2714) and Alexei Shirov (2710), 2 draws against Mickey Adams (2724) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2747), whilst her only loss came against Krishnan Sasikiran (2700).

The big story of the Gibraltar 2012 Masters was her victory over Judit Polgar (see right). On the new October rating list, Yifan is just two points behind Polgar. However, to put that into perspective, at her peak rating (July, 2005) Judit was 2735 and ranked #8 in the world.

As reigning Women’s World Champion, and according to the regulations of the current FIDE cycle, Yifan was expected to have to defend her title in a Knock-Out format in October. However, FIDE has recently announced that the Women’s World Championship is postponed by “a few months”.

About Gibraltar

Enjoy the sights of Gibraltar by day and the entertainment at night! The destination is packed with history and natural heritage, but in addition it boasts all the modern amenities that you would expect in a bustling European City.

Despite its compact size, Gibraltar surprises thousands of visitors each year with its range of activities and attractions that appeal to all age groups. Situated at the point where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet, it is no surprise that Gibraltarian life thrives on an abundance of water sports. These range from dolphin safaris in the bay to jet skiing, pleasure sailing and scuba diving.

If you are looking to maximise your time and experience a flavour of what’s on offer, why not book an official rock tour which takes about an hour and half. The sights visited are a fundamental part of the Gibraltar’s rich heritage and will give you a genuine insight into the city’s past and present. Attractions on the tour include the Nature Reserve, St. Michael’s Cave, the last resting place of Neanderthal man, the Medieval Castle, the world famous Barbary ape den, the Great Siege Tunnels which were dug out by the forerunners of the Royal Engineers to defend Gibraltar from attack, and The City Under Siege Exhibition.

Rock tours are available by taxi or coach at all points of entry. To experience some of the sights on foot, there are also a number of official walking tours, which will take you on historical and architectural trails through the main city centre.

A broad choice of restaurants, bars and cafes can be found along Main Street and in Casemates Square, along with high street shops and boutiques selling an excellent range of VAT free goods, including jewellery and time pieces, perfumery, electrical goods, alcohol and tobaccos.

Show more