Potkin still on top in Aix les Bains

Normally Vladimir Potkin's name reaches our reports when he works as a second of a better known grandmaster. In January he joined Ian Nepomniachtchi in Wijk aan Zee, but at the moment Potkin is doing very well himself, at the European Championship in Aix les Bains, France. He scored 6/7 and is half a point ahead of 19 GMs.

Vladimir Potkin in sole lead after 7 rounds | Photo © official website, more here

General info

The 12th European Individual Chess Championship is being held from March 21 till April 3rd, 2011 in Aix les Bain, France. It's an 11-round Swiss system with a total of 407 participants (172 GMs). There are 23 qualification spots for the World Cup 2011 in August-September in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). The games start every day at 15:00 CET (live here). More info here.

Report rounds 5-7

After seven rounds Vladimir Potkin leads with an impressive 6/7 score. The Russian can enjoy his star status for at least one more day, as Tuesday, March 29th is the one and only rest day in Aix les Bains. In the fifth round Potkin crushed co-leader Boris Savchenko to reach 5/5.

Potkin-Savchenko Aix les Bains 2011

In a Budapest Gambit Savchenko has played too many pawn moves. Potkin refuted Black's setup as follows: 19. f4! fxg5 20. fxe5 Qg7 Protecting g6. 21. Rf6! Bxe5 22. Rxg6 Qe7



23. Bxh5! Bh2+ (23... Rxh5 24. Rg8+ Kf7 25. Qg6#) 24. Kh1 1-0

Potkin continued with two quick draws, against Nisipeanu and Volokitin - not a bad idea when you're leading with a 100% score and the goal of finishing among the first 23 players is getting closer and closer.

Also belonging to the club of 'seconds who can play some damn strong chess themselves' are Viorel Iordachescu (who worked for e.g. Nisipeanu), Cheparinov (Topalov), Khismatullin (Jakovenko) and Moiseenko (Ponomariov) - they are all on 5.5/7 too together with e.g. Nisipeanu and Vallejo.

The many hours of hard labour that the Topalov team has invested in the Anti-Moscow over the years, paid off for Cheparinov in the fifth round.

Cheparinov - Ter-Sahakyan Aix les Bains 2011 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. a4 b4



15. d5!? This move currently doesn't have a very good reputation. 15. Bxb4 Qb6 16. Ba3 Qxd4 17. Qc2 was played in a number of games, including the (very) recent examples Sargissian-Cheparinov, Villafranca 2010, Anand-Gelfand, Monaco 2011 and Topalov-Gelfand, Monaco 2011. 15... bxc3 16. dxe6 Ne5 17. Bh5



17... cxb2N 17... Bc8 18. e7 Qd7 19. f4 gxf4 20. Rxf4 Qa7+ 21. Kh1 Be6 22. Qf1 cxb2 23. Rb1 Kd7 24. Bxe5 Bxe5 25. Rxf7 Rhe8 26. Rd1+ Kc7 27. Rh7 c3 28. Bxe8 Rxe8 29. Rd8 Qf2 0-1 l'Ami-Henrichs, Vlissingen NED 2010. 18. Rb1 Bc8 19. exf7+ Nxf7 20. e5



20... Bf8? We suspect that 20... Be6 21. Rxb2 Bf8 is critical here. 21. Qf3 Ra7 22. Qxc6+ Qd7 23. Qxc4 Black won't be able to survive this. The game lasted only a few more moves: 23... Qe6 24. Qc6+ Qd7 25. Qc3 Bxd6 26. e6 Qxe6 27. Qxh8+ Kd7 28. Qd4 1-0

Judit Polgar has been showing some inspiring chess. At first her creativity backfired in round 5.

Polgar-Ragger Aix les Bains 2011 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. fxe4 e5 6. dxe5 Be6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. Bd3 Ne7 9. Qe2 Ng6 10. Bd2 Ndxe5



Here Polgar goes for exciting stuff, but also incorrect stuff, as Ragger demonstrates. 11. Nd5!? Nxd3+ A computer would defend with 11... cxd5 12. Nxe5 (12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bxd7+ Nxd7 14. exd5+ Be7) 12... Nxe5 13. exd5 Qxb2 14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. O-O Bg4 -+. 12. cxd3 cxd5 13. exd5



13...Qxb2! Often wrong, but strong here. 14. O-O Nf4! That's the point; perhaps missed by Polgar!? 15. Qe4 Nxd5 16. Rab1 Qa3 17. Rxb7 Nf6 18. Qc6+ Nd7 19. d4 Qd6 and White didn't have enough for the piece.

This game didn't stop Polgar from sacrificing more material in the next round:

Pantsulaia-Polgar Aix les Bains 2011 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. Qc2 c5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 e5 7. Nb3 Nc6 8. Bg2 Nb4 9. Qd1 dxc4 10. N3d2 Bf5 11. Na3



White's opening has been suspicious, but if he can win back the c4 pawn it might be not so bad... 11...b5! No way! 12. Bxa8 Qxa8 13. Nf3



13... Nd3+!? The simple 13... Qc6 14. O-O Bh3 15. Re1 Ng4 is horrible for White too, but Polgar goes for the real fireworks! 14. exd3 Bxd3 The white king will stay in the center for the rest of the game. 15. Nxb5 Bb4+ 16. Nc3 Not 16. Bd2?? Qe4+. 16... O-O 17. Rg1 What else? 17... Ne4 18. Bd2 Rd8



Players like Anderssen of Morphy wouldn't have done it differently. 19. Rc1 Nxc3 20. bxc3 Ba3 Winning back some material. 21. Be3 Bxc1 22. Bxc1 Rb8 23. Nd2 Qd5 24. Qa4 a5 25. Qd1 White can't do a thing... 25... h6 ...so Black even has time for this. 26. Qf3?!



26... Rb1! 27. Kd1 e4 Not bad, but 27... Qd7! would have decided the game immediately. 28. Qf4 Ra1! 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. g4 Qd7 31. Qe5 e3 This is just to cover the b1-h7 diagonal with the bishop, avoiding any perpetual by White starting with Qf5+. 32. fxe3 Qa4+ 33. Ke1 Rxc1+ 34. Kf2 Rxg1 0-1

Sebastien Feller, who appealed against his suspension by the Disciplinary Commission of the French Chess Federation, is doing quite well on home ground. The Frenchman is one of the 19 GMs on 5.5/7, with draws against GMs Romanishin, Kabanov and Parligras and wins against FM Fejzullahu and GMs Jansa, Kozul and Papin. We recommend Chess in Translation's first and second post with Sergey Shipov's "letters from France" - the third letter addresses the question 'How can you play against Feller?'

A strong player like Feller (because he certainly is, whether he really cheated or not) doesn't need computer assistance to find the following tactics.

Feller-Papin Aix les Bains 2011

18. Nxf7! Bxh2+ (18... Kxf7 19.Qf3+ and 20. Bxb7) 19. Kxh2 Qc7+ 20. Kg1 Bxe4



21. Nxh6+! Kh7 22. Nf7 Kg6 23. Nd6 Qxd6 24. Qg4+ Kh7 25. dxc5 Qe7 26. Qxe4+ 1-0

Selection of games rounds 5-7

Game viewer by ChessTempo


European Individual Championship 2011 | Aix les Bains | Round 7 Standings (Top 100)

Rk	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Potkin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2653	6.0	2964	24.0	32.5
2	Vallejo Pons Francisco	GM	ESP	2707	5.5	2936	21.5	31.0
3	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	GM	ROU	2673	5.5	2829	23.0	32.5
4	Volokitin Andrei	GM	UKR	2677	5.5	2816	22.5	31.5
5	Ragger Markus	GM	AUT	2614	5.5	2808	21.0	29.0
6	Khismatullin Denis	GM	RUS	2662	5.5	2806	21.0	30.0
7	Cheparinov Ivan	GM	BUL	2664	5.5	2794	20.5	29.5
8	Zhigalko Sergei	GM	BLR	2680	5.5	2785	20.0	28.5
9	Feller Sebastien	GM	FRA	2657	5.5	2781	20.0	29.0
10	Khairullin Ildar	GM	RUS	2634	5.5	2780	21.0	29.0
11	Iordachescu Viorel	GM	MDA	2626	5.5	2771	21.0	30.0
12	Vitiugov Nikita	GM	RUS	2720	5.5	2762	21.5	30.0
13	Lupulescu Constantin	GM	ROU	2626	5.5	2751	20.5	29.0
14	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	GM	ROU	2598	5.5	2738	24.0	33.0
15	Moiseenko Alexander	GM	UKR	2673	5.5	2729	22.0	31.0
16	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	GM	POL	2711	5.5	2722	20.5	29.0
17	Kobalia Mikhail	GM	RUS	2672	5.5	2718	22.5	30.5
18	Mamedov Rauf	GM	AZE	2667	5.5	2701	21.5	29.5
19	Hammer Jon Ludvig	GM	NOR	2606	5.5	2695	20.5	28.5
20	Korobov Anton	GM	UKR	2647	5.5	2673	21.0	29.0
21	Polgar Judit	GM	HUN	2686	5.0	2792	19.0	27.5
22	Wirig Anthony	IM	FRA	2480	5.0	2790	24.5	31.5
23	Inarkiev Ernesto	GM	RUS	2674	5.0	2781	21.5	29.5
24	Guseinov Gadir	GM	AZE	2584	5.0	2771	24.0	32.0
25	Smeets Jan	GM	NED	2660	5.0	2769	20.0	28.5
26	Navara David	GM	CZE	2722	5.0	2745	21.0	29.5
27	Savchenko Boris	GM	RUS	2616	5.0	2741	20.5	29.0
28	Sutovsky Emil	GM	ISR	2692	5.0	2734	22.5	31.5
29	Naiditsch Arkadij	GM	GER	2684	5.0	2728	19.0	26.5
30	Romanov Evgeny	GM	RUS	2624	5.0	2724	18.5	26.5
31	Zvjaginsev Vadim	GM	RUS	2663	5.0	2719	18.0	26.0
32	Nepomniachtchi Ian	GM	RUS	2729	5.0	2710	21.0	30.0
33	Dreev Aleksey	GM	RUS	2697	5.0	2708	22.0	31.0
34	Anisimov Pavel	IM	RUS	2532	5.0	2687	20.0	27.0
35	Svidler Peter	GM	RUS	2730	5.0	2686	21.5	30.0
36	Lenic Luka	GM	SLO	2623	5.0	2686	19.0	26.0
37	Fridman Daniel	GM	GER	2661	5.0	2678	19.5	27.0
38	Ivanisevic Ivan	GM	SRB	2617	5.0	2665	20.0	28.0
39	Gabrielian Artur	GM	RUS	2532	5.0	2662	20.5	29.0
40	Gharamian Tigran	GM	FRA	2650	5.0	2660	20.5	28.5
41	Safarli Eltaj	GM	AZE	2628	5.0	2645	20.0	28.0
42	L'ami Erwin	GM	NED	2623	5.0	2640	19.0	27.0
43	Jobava Baadur	GM	GEO	2707	5.0	2624	21.0	28.0
44	Mcshane Luke J	GM	ENG	2683	5.0	2606	21.0	29.0
45	Jakovenko Dmitry	GM	RUS	2718	5.0	2570	19.5	26.5
46	Terrieux Kevin	IM	FRA	2422	4.5	2775	21.5	29.5
47	Riazantsev Alexander	GM	RUS	2679	4.5	2769	19.5	28.0
48	Grachev Boris	GM	RUS	2675	4.5	2728	21.5	31.0
49	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	GM	GRE	2584	4.5	2691	22.5	31.0
50	Bologan Viktor	GM	MDA	2671	4.5	2690	19.5	27.0
51	Fressinet Laurent	GM	FRA	2693	4.5	2686	19.0	26.5
52	Hracek Zbynek	GM	CZE	2631	4.5	2675	20.5	29.5
53	Mikhalevski Victor	GM	ISR	2584	4.5	2675	20.5	28.5
54	Doros Radu-Marian		ROU	2278	4.5	2669	18.0	24.0
55	Caruana Fabiano	GM	ITA	2716	4.5	2661	19.5	27.5
56	Motylev Alexander	GM	RUS	2677	4.5	2653	21.0	29.0
57	Cornette Matthieu	GM	FRA	2548	4.5	2653	21.0	28.5
58	Zhigalko Andrey	GM	BLR	2571	4.5	2652	24.5	33.0
59	Zherebukh Yaroslav	GM	UKR	2560	4.5	2652	22.0	29.5
60	Palac Mladen	GM	CRO	2586	4.5	2652	20.5	29.0
61	Kovchan Alexander	GM	UKR	2563	4.5	2646	23.5	31.0
62	Maze Sebastien	GM	FRA	2559	4.5	2641	22.0	30.5
63	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	GM	ARM	2575	4.5	2637	23.0	31.5
64	Rogozenco Dorian	GM	ROU	2553	4.5	2637	20.5	28.0
65	Nielsen Peter Heine	GM	DEN	2670	4.5	2634	21.0	29.5
66	Halkias Stelios	GM	GRE	2579	4.5	2634	20.5	28.5
67	Pridorozhni Aleksei	GM	RUS	2542	4.5	2633	22.5	30.5
68	Sargissian Gabriel	GM	ARM	2676	4.5	2630	19.5	27.5
69	Papin Vasily	GM	RUS	2569	4.5	2625	22.0	30.0
70	Beliavsky Alexander G	GM	SLO	2619	4.5	2624	20.5	29.5
71	Esen Baris	GM	TUR	2528	4.5	2623	21.5	29.0
72	Gustafsson Jan	GM	GER	2647	4.5	2619	21.0	28.0
73	Tregubov Pavel V	GM	RUS	2598	4.5	2614	20.0	28.5
74	Sanikidze Tornike	GM	GEO	2542	4.5	2609	19.5	28.0
75	Saric Ivan	GM	CRO	2626	4.5	2604	20.0	28.5
76	Kulaots Kaido	GM	EST	2601	4.5	2604	17.5	25.5
77	Zakhartsov Viacheslav V	GM	RUS	2608	4.5	2601	18.5	25.5
78	Georgiev Kiril	GM	BUL	2666	4.5	2592	18.5	26.0
79	Sedlak Nikola	GM	SRB	2556	4.5	2590	17.5	25.5
80	Smirnov Artem	IM	RUS	2425	4.5	2589	22.0	30.0
81	Raznikov Danny	FM	ISR	2384	4.5	2586	18.5	26.5
82	Shimanov Aleksandr	GM	RUS	2550	4.5	2585	18.0	25.5
83	Pashikian Arman	GM	ARM	2642	4.5	2583	19.0	26.5
84	Smirin Ilia	GM	ISR	2658	4.5	2582	18.5	26.0
85	Akopian Vladimir	GM	ARM	2675	4.5	2578	20.0	28.0
86	Manea Alexandru	IM	ROU	2392	4.5	2572	18.5	25.5
87	Nevednichy Vladislav	GM	ROU	2534	4.5	2571	19.0	27.0
88	Vuckovic Bojan	GM	SRB	2626	4.5	2566	20.0	28.5
89	Laznicka Viktor	GM	CZE	2688	4.5	2566	20.0	28.5
90	Markos Jan	GM	SVK	2546	4.5	2564	18.5	26.0
91	Brkic Ante	GM	CRO	2592	4.5	2562	21.0	29.5
92	Pelletier Yannick	GM	SUI	2593	4.5	2562	21.0	28.5
93	Manolache Marius	GM	ROU	2546	4.5	2562	18.0	25.0
94	Mamedov Nidjat	GM	AZE	2583	4.5	2555	18.0	26.0
95	Papaioannou Ioannis	GM	GRE	2605	4.5	2552	17.0	25.5
96	Salgado Lopez Ivan	GM	ESP	2630	4.5	2551	18.0	26.0
97	Macieja Bartlomiej	GM	POL	2619	4.5	2529	20.0	28.0
98	Matlakov Maxim	GM	RUS	2625	4.5	2524	18.0	25.5
99	Alsina Leal Daniel	GM	ESP	2538	4.5	2518	20.5	28.0
100	Jones Gawain C B	GM	ENG	2578	4.5	2517	23.0	31.5

Links

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