Grischuk Masters Ponomariov for Title
Alexander Grischuk won his match with Ruslan Ponomariov 1.5-0.5 to win the Young Masters tournament Sunday.
Final Round Results:
Ponomariov 0-1 Grischuk
Grischuk wins match 1.5-0.5
Galkin 0-1 Malakhov
Match tied 1-1
1st playoff game: ½-½
2nd playoff game: ½-½
3rd playoff game: ½-½
4th playoff game: Malakhov wins
Malakhov wins match
De Vreugt 1-0 Bu
De Vreugt wins match 2-0
Jenny ½-½ Fressinet
Match tied 1-1
Tiebreaks:
1st playoff game: ½-½
2nd playoff game: ½-½
3rd playoff game: Fressinet wins
4th playoff game: ½-½
Fressinet wins match
Games in PGN
Tournament website: www.lausanneyoungmasters.com.
3 June 2000
Final Game 1: Ponomariov Draws Grischuk
Ponomariov fought Grischuk to a draw in the first game of their title match. Grischuk answered Ponomariov's Pirc with the Austrian Attack.
The action was on the queenside, with Ponomariov taking the a-file, but a draw was agreed after only 28 moves.
Malakhov's Adance variation wasn't enough against Galkin's Caro-Kann. Galkin dissipated the kingside attack and accepted Malakhov's resignation after only 25 moves.
De Vreugt wound up with 3 extra pawns in the endgame against Bu, forcing the Chinese prodigy's resignation in 52 moves. Jenny and Fressinet drew a Sicilian English attack after 37 moves, by which time most of the pieces had retired from the board.
Title Match:
Grischuk ½-½ Ponomariov
3rd-4th Place Match:
Malakhov 0-1 Galkin
5th-6th Place Match:
Bu 0-1 De Vreugt
7th-8th Place Match:
Jenny ½-½ Fressinet
2 June 2000
Ponomariov, Grischuk Advance to Final
Malakhov played the Scandinavian against Grischuk and sacrificed a knight for 2 pawns, wrecking the Russian's castled position. Grischuk sacked a rook for the knight, stifling the attack, then went on the offensive himself, placing a pawn on d6 and a bishop on e7. Malakhov resigned after 34 moves. Grischuk wins the match 1.5-0.5
Galkin was apparently impressed with Ponomariov's Pirc and agreed to a draw after only 19 moves. Ponomariov wins the match 1.5-0.5.
Ponomariov plays Grischuk for the title. Galkin and Malakhov will contest 3rd and 4th place. Bu and De Vreugt play for 5th and 6th. Jenny and Fressinet play for 7th and 8th.
Round 4 Results:
Galkin ½-½ Ponomariov
Grischuk 1-0 Malakhov
Bu ½-½ Jenny
Fressinet ½-½ De Vreugt
Tiebreak games:
De Vreugt 1-0 Fressinet
Fressinet 0-1 De Vreugt
1 June 2000
Ponomariov Smites Galkin
Galkin and Ponomariov castled on opposite wings from a Caro-Kann, but Galkin's kingside attack never materialized, and Ponomariov's queenside assault won the game for him in 32 moves.
Grischuk obtained some central pressure against Malakhov's English Opening, and pushed his passed d-pawn to the sixth rank, but Malakhov sacrificed a rook for perpetual check and the game ended after 28 moves.
In the other bracket, Bu and his Sicilian were all over Jenny from the very start. The Chinese whiz kid posted his queen-knight in white's territory, stopped Jenny from castling, and the pressure never stopped until Jenny resigned after 57 moves. Fressinet wound up with an extra pawn in a rook-and-pawn endgame against De Vreugt, but his 2 pawns were rook-pawns, and he agreed to a benevolent handshake after 42 moves.
Round 3 Results:
Ponomariov 1-0 Galkin
Malakhov ½-½ Grischuk
De Vreugt ½-½ Fressinet
Jenny 0-1 Bu
31 May 2000
Galkin Bounces Bu
Galkin won his match with Bu 1.5-0.5. In the second and deciding game, Bu, playing white, sacrificed his knight on e6 early and managed to chase Galkin's king over to the queenside. But the young Chinese prodigy missed his opportunity and didn't play the necessary moves. Galkin didn't give him another chance, defended accurately, and won the game in 37 moves.
Grischuk needed only a draw against Fressinet, and he got it on the black side of a Ruy Lopez Exchange in 48 moves. Ponomariov secured the draw he needed against Jenny in 57 moves.
"Ironman" Malakhov finally outlasted the Dutchman De Vreugt in the tiebreak games. They were tied 1-1 after 2 rounds, then both 25-minute games were drawn. The first 5-minute game ended with a tie and Malakhov won the second to advance.
Advancing in the winners' bracket: Ponomariov, Grischuk, Galkin, Malakhov. In Round 3, Ponomariov plays Galkin, and Malakhov plays Grischuk.
In the other bracket, Bu plays Jenny and De Vreugt plays Fressinet.
Round 2 Results:
Bu 0-1 Galkin
Fressinet ½-½ Grischuk
Jenny ½-½ Ponomariov
Malakhov 0-1 De Vreugt (tiebreak needed)
Galkin defeats Bu 1.5-0.5
Grischuk defeats Fressinet 1.5-0.5
Ponomariov defeats Jenny 1.5-0.5
Malakov-De Vreugt finished 1-1 so tiebreak games were played:
Malakhov 1-0 De Vreugt (25 minutes)
De Vreugt 1-0 Malakhov (25 minutes)
Malakhov ½-½ De Vreugt (5 minutes)
De Vreugt 0-1 Malakhov (5 minutes)
Grischuk Impressive in Round 1
The Olympic Capital Young Masters 2000 tournament runs from May 30 to June 4 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 8 competitors will play in a knock-out system starting with quarter-finals, semi-finals, then finals.
The 8 competitors:
1 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2621 11.10.83
2 Malakhov Vladimir g RUS 2593 27.11.80
3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2581 31.10.83
4 Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2565 10.12.85
5 Galkin Alexander g RUS 2563 01.02.79
6 Fressinet Laurent m FRA 2501 01.11.81
7 de Vreugt Dennis m NED 2498 04.11.80
8 Jenni Florian m SUI 2446 24.03.80
Round 1 Results:
Ponomariov 1-0 (time) Jenny
De Vreugt 0-1 Malakhov
Grischuk 1-0 Fressinet
Galkin ½-½ Bu
Ponomariov played the Scotch and had pushed his two kingside passed pawns forward in the endgame when he won on time in 39 moves. Malakhov won a long queen-and-pawn endgame from De Vreugt. Grischuk impressively smashed Fressinet's Najdorf in 33 moves. Galkin and Bu drew peacefully after only 16 moves.
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