On Sunday the international tournament of the Association of Chess Professionals Cup in Riga was completed. The winner of the competition of the internationally acknowledged grandmasters was the Russian Champion and the World Blitz Champion Alexander Grishchuk.
The international tournament of the Association of Chess Professionals Cup, which was held in Riga for the first time, took place with the support of Rietumu Bank in the gallery of the bank’s headquarters – Rietumu Capital Centre. The organisers of the tournament were the Association of Chess Professionals and the Latvian Chess Federation.
Sixteen outstanding grandmasters from Russia, France, Poland, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Latvia took part in the competitions. The average rating of the participants exceeded 2730. Three participants had a rapid chess rating of above 2800 and were among the six strongest in the world.
The tournament was held according to the Olympic system. The starting number of the players was determined in accordance with the FIDE rating as of 1 September. The opponents were determined as a result of a draw prior to the start of the tournament.
The winner of the competitions – Alexander Grishchuk from Russia – was first in the finals with a score of 3-2 over his compatriot Yan Nepomnyashchy, World Rapid Chess Vice-Champion 2013.
In the semi-finals, Grishchuk beat the three-time Chess960 World Champion Peter Svidler (Russia) with the result of 1.5-0.5. The second finalist Yan Nepomnyashchy got into the finals having won by a score of 3-1 over the World Champion 2002 Ruslan Ponomaryov from Ukraine.
Alexander Grishchuk The total prize fund of the tournament was USD 75 thousand. The winner received USD 14 thousand, the finalist – USD 9 thousand, the two semi-finalists – USD 6 thousand, quarter-finalists – USD 4 thousand, and those who left in the first round – USD 3 thousand.
As the President of the Association of Chess Professionals Emil Sutovsky said at the award ceremony, “I am very satisfied with the tournament. There were many interesting games and, as the competitions were broadcasted live, they could be followed by chess professionals and amateurs worldwide. The environment was most comfortable – we received a warm welcome in Riga and I hope that also further on, world tournaments will be arranged here regularly. I would like to express my special gratitude to Rietumu Bank, which has supported us greatly.”
Participants of the tournament were: the prize winner of many of the biggest international tournaments and a contender for the title of World Chess Champion Alexei Shirov, the current Latvian Champion Igor Kovalenko, the World Champion 2002 Ruslan Ponomaryov (Ukraine), the Russian Champion and the World Blitz Champion Alexander Grishchuk (Russia), the World Rapid Chess Champion 2013 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), the three-time Chess960 World Champion Peter Svidler (Russia), the semi-finalist of the World Championship 2004 Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), the winner of the World Team Championship 2010 in Team Russia Vladimir Malakhov (Russia), the two-time winner of the world championships in Team Russia Alexander Morozevich, the European Rapid Chess Champion 2008 Polish grandmaster Radosław Wojtaszek, the two-time winners of the World Chess Olympics in Team Ukraine Vasily Ivanchuk and Pavel Elyanov, the French grandmaster Laurent Fressinet, the European Champion 2012 Dmitry Yakovenko (Russia), the European Champion 2013 Alexander Moiseyenko (Ukraine), the World Rapid Chess Vice-Champion 2013 Yan Nepomnyashchy (Russia). Prior to the draw, games with students of the Riga Chess School took place – 3 out of 11 games ended in a tie, the rest were won by the grandmasters.
Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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