Svetushkin wins International Chess Tournament Isthmia 2012

Svetushkin wins International Chess Tournament Isthmia 2012

The 2nd International Chess Tournament Isthmia 2012 was held from 18th to 25th August at the beautiful Alkyon Resort Hotel in Vrachati Korinthias, Greece.

In the thrilling finale Moldavian GM Dmitry Svetushkin defeated the earlier leader IM Shyam Sundar from India to finish with 7/9 points and claim the winner’s trophy on superior tie-break.

The key game for Svetushkin was probably the 8th round encounter when he managed to escape from the grim position against the Dutch talent GM Robin Van Kampen.

Canadian IM Eric Hansen continued the string of excellent results after recently sharing the 5th place in the World Junior Championship in Athens. Possibly encouraged with the presence of his trainer IM Miodrag Perunovic, Eric performed splendidly, beating the strong GM Ioannis Nikolaidis in the last round with black pieces, to finish equal first (2nd on tie-break) and claim his first GM norm.

IM Shyam Sundar was in fantastic shape throughout the tournament, entering the final round a full point ahead of the rest of the field, but the late defeat against Svetushkin pushed him to 3rd place on tie-break (equal first with 7/9).

IM Miroslav Miljkovic from Serbia earned his 2nd GM norm, while Sebastian Filippas from Greece scored an IM norm. Standings bellow.

Photos courtesy of the official website

Round 9 top results (Group A):
GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2569 – IM Shyam Sundar M. 2486 1 – 0
GM Adhiban B. 2553 – GM Fedorchuk Sergey A. 2639 ½ – ½
GM Firman Nazar 2535 – GM Van Kampen Robin 2565 ½ – ½
GM Nikolaidis Ioannis 2562 – IM Hansen Eric 2472 0 – 1
GM Iordachescu Viorel 2645 – IM Perunovic Miodrag 2461 1 – 0
IM Miljkovic Miroslav D 2449 – GM Sethuraman S.P. 2546 ½ – ½
IM Maghalashvili Davit 2482 – IM Debashis Das 2446 1 – 0
IM Akshayraj Kore 2483 – IM Vishnu Prasanna. V 2435 1 – 0
IM Grover Sahaj 2516 – Galopoulos Nikolaos 2402 ½ – ½

Final standings (Group A):

1-3. GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2569, IM Hansen Eric CAN 2472 and IM Shyam Sundar M. IND 2486 – 7.0

4-9. GM Fedorchuk Sergey A. UKR 2639, GM Van Kampen Robin NED 2565, GM Firman Nazar UKR 2535, GM Adhiban B. IND 2553, GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2645 and IM Maghalashvili Davit GEO 2482 – 6.5

10-14. IM Miljkovic Miroslav D SRB 2449, IM Georgiadis Ioannis GRE 2445, IM Akshayraj Kore IND 2483, GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2546 and Filippas Sebastian GRE 2268 – 6.0

15-25. GM Nikolaidis Ioannis GRE 2562, IM Debashis Das IND 2446, IM Grover Sahaj IND 2516, GM Antic Dejan SRB 2506, IM Vishnu Prasanna V IND 2435, IM Perunovic Miodrag SRB 2461, IM Azaladze Shota GEO 2466, Nikolaou Georgios GRE 2224, Markidis Konstantinos GRE 2351, Vafiadis Kleanthis GRE 2317 and Galopoulos Nikolaos GRE 2402 – 5.5 etc