Thursday, August 23, 2007
Bassem and Anastasian share lead in Masters
By Our Sports Reporter, Khaleej Times, 21 August 2007
ABU DHABI - Young Egyptian Grand Master Amin Bassem clawed back to share the lead with Armenian GM Ashot Anastasian in the penultimate round of the 17th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation on Sunday night.
Bassem, the reigning Arab Under 20 champion, defeated IM Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh to enter the final round tied on 6-1/2 points with the 2005 champion, who was held to a draw by Ukrainian GM Valeriy Neverov in the top of the table clash in the Masters division.
Neverov shared third place with Armenian GM Karen Asrian, who tamed bottom seeded GM Baadur Jobava of Georgia, to stay in the race on six points apiece.
The next chasing pack on 5-1/2 is Ehsan Maghami of Iran, Vasif Durarbevil and Rasul Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan, top seed Evgenij Miroshichenko of Ukraine, third seed Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia and WGM Humpy Koneru of India.
Maghami and Durarbevil split points on table four while compatriot Ibrahimov took full points from Iranian Elsan Moradiabadi. Miroshichenko got the better of Iranian Morteza Mahjoob, Pantsulaia outclassed Sarhan Guliev of Azerbaijan and Koneru overcame Liem Le Quang of Vietnam to emerge as the leading women player in the competition. However, the highlight of the penultimate evening was the splendid performance of Iranian Hasan Kolyaie, who clinched a fantastic win over Filipino Virgilio Javier, to win the Open title. Kolyaie’s pipped Mamatkya Khaylayev of Uzbekistan for the title in the rating system of the tournament after the two ended on eight points each. Khaylayev got the better of Syrian A. Raes in the final round.
Sadegh Mamoody of Iran (7.5) finished third ahead of Javier and compatriot Abdulla Tato, Raes, top seeded Ali Mahmoud of the UAE, Filipinos Danny Baltazar and Gardy Sorita.Ulvi Badjarani of Azerbaijan took the junior crown with 6.5 points. Amna Nouman Mohammed (6) took second spot from UAE team-mates Ibrahim Sultan (6), Abdulla Ali (5.5) and Abdulla Abdul Aziz (5).
By Our Sports Reporter, Khaleej Times, 21 August 2007
ABU DHABI - Young Egyptian Grand Master Amin Bassem clawed back to share the lead with Armenian GM Ashot Anastasian in the penultimate round of the 17th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation on Sunday night.
Bassem, the reigning Arab Under 20 champion, defeated IM Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh to enter the final round tied on 6-1/2 points with the 2005 champion, who was held to a draw by Ukrainian GM Valeriy Neverov in the top of the table clash in the Masters division.
Neverov shared third place with Armenian GM Karen Asrian, who tamed bottom seeded GM Baadur Jobava of Georgia, to stay in the race on six points apiece.
The next chasing pack on 5-1/2 is Ehsan Maghami of Iran, Vasif Durarbevil and Rasul Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan, top seed Evgenij Miroshichenko of Ukraine, third seed Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia and WGM Humpy Koneru of India.
Maghami and Durarbevil split points on table four while compatriot Ibrahimov took full points from Iranian Elsan Moradiabadi. Miroshichenko got the better of Iranian Morteza Mahjoob, Pantsulaia outclassed Sarhan Guliev of Azerbaijan and Koneru overcame Liem Le Quang of Vietnam to emerge as the leading women player in the competition. However, the highlight of the penultimate evening was the splendid performance of Iranian Hasan Kolyaie, who clinched a fantastic win over Filipino Virgilio Javier, to win the Open title. Kolyaie’s pipped Mamatkya Khaylayev of Uzbekistan for the title in the rating system of the tournament after the two ended on eight points each. Khaylayev got the better of Syrian A. Raes in the final round.
Sadegh Mamoody of Iran (7.5) finished third ahead of Javier and compatriot Abdulla Tato, Raes, top seeded Ali Mahmoud of the UAE, Filipinos Danny Baltazar and Gardy Sorita.Ulvi Badjarani of Azerbaijan took the junior crown with 6.5 points. Amna Nouman Mohammed (6) took second spot from UAE team-mates Ibrahim Sultan (6), Abdulla Ali (5.5) and Abdulla Abdul Aziz (5).
