Akopian Takes Gibtelecom Masters

The 5th Gibraltar Chess Festival has just concluded. Congratulations to Vladimir Akopian of Armenia! The 35 year-old Grandmaster rebounded fantastically from a first round loss to Irina Krush to take clear first in this very strong tournament with 7.5/9. In the last round he decimated 16 year-old GM Yuri Kuzubov in 23 moves:



Black looks pretty solid here, right? Two bishops, a better pawn structure... 18.Nxc6! Boom shakalaka! 18.Nd5 also wins, but is much less fun. 18...Kxc6 19.Nd5! The point! The knight is immune from capture and the black king is starting to feel exposed. 19...Qe8 If 19...Qc5, then 20.b4! is decisive 20.Qa6 Bf8 21.Qxa7 Bc5 22.b4 Qd7 23.Qa6 1-0


The winner: GM Vladimir Akopian

The complete crosstable can be found here.