Other Events: British Knockout Championship, ACP Masters
The London Chess Classic may be the biggest show in town, but it isn't the only show in town. Literally - it's not even the only chess show in town. (Or rather, it wasn't until late Wednesday, local time.) The British K.O. Championship just concluded with David Howell defeating surprise finalist Nicholas Pert 4-2. Howell won games 2 and 6, lost none, and took home the 20 thousand pound first prize; Pert won a tidy 10k for his troubles.
While he didn't win, Pert had an almost fairy-tale run to the final. For starters, he hadn't been invited, but when Nigel Short took ill Pert came in as a replacement. In the quarterfinal he lost game 1 (of 2) to "real"/"normal" British Champion Jonathan Hawkins - with White, but won game 2 with Black and then won the Armageddon game to reach the semis. There he defeated Luke McShane in a significant upset. They drew the first games before Pert won both games in a rapid playoff.
Howell's quarterfinal match wasn't particularly dramatic, as he defeated the heavy underdog Yang-Fan Zhou 1.5-.5 to advance. The semis were tougher, though. He beat Gawain Jones with White in game 1, but lost the rematch. They drew both rapid games to go to Armageddon, and there Howell triumphed, winning with Black.
The other event is still ongoing, and will finish today (Thursday). It is the ACP Masters in Ashdod, Israel, and this multi-stage rapid event comprises only 2700 players (past or present) except for American prodigy Sam Sevian. The 12 players were divided into two preliminary groups, with the top two from each moving on to a semi-final round and a final.
In Group A the winners were Boris Gelfand and Ian Nepomniachtchi, both of whom finished with an undefeated 3.5/5. In the last round of their round robin Sevian had White against Gelfand, and if he had won he would have been the second qualifier with 3/5. It didn't happen - he lost - but it's impressive that he was in the running until the end of the stage. In Group B it was Vasil Ivanchuk and Etienne Bacrot who took first and second, respectively. Ivanchuk scored 3.5 to Bacrot's 3, defeating him in their individual game.
In the semis, the pairings were Gelfand-Bacrot and Ivanchuk-Nepomniachtchi. The latter match finished quickly, with a draw in the first game and Ivanchuk winning the second to secure his place in the final. The other match was far more challenging. Bacrot won game one with White, but Gelfand repaid the favor in game two to force a second pair of games. That followed the same pattern, which led to an Armageddon game with Bacrot having White. In the final position Bacrot had three pawns to his name while Gelfand had a rook, knight and four pawns...but triple zeros on his clock. So it will be Ivanchuk and Bacrot fighting for first in a few hours.
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