Chessville News - Kavala 2005

Chessville
...by Chessplayers, for Chessplayers!

Today is

Site Map

If you have disabled Java for your browser, use the Site Map (linked in the header and footer).

Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints

Advertise
with
Chessville!!

Advertise to
thousands
of chess
fans for
as little
as $25.

Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

Kavala 2005
4th open rapid (20'+10") tournament

by International Master Jovan Petronic
FIDE Senior Trainer
ASEAN Chess Academy consultant
Chairman, FIDE Computer & Internet Chess Committee
Federal Trainer, Greece Chess Federation
http://www.jovanpetronic.com

On September 10-11, 2005, the traditional 4th open rapid (20'+10") tournament "Kavala 2005" was held in Kavala, Greece. The winner, Ilias Kazantzidis, scored a 100% result, outplaying much stronger ranked opponents!

Ilias Kazantzidis in action in round 1:

Ilias is 12 years old, a member of the 1st team of the Kavala Chess Club (which is coached and captained by myself, I am only proud to add), with whom we recently won this years professional 1st Division Team Championship and also won the prize for the best junior board result. His result has more value, having in mind that in the final round 7, he managed to win the reigning Greece BU12 champion Antonios Pavlidis, another chess jewel from Kavala and probably the biggest talent in Greece in this decade. Ilias had never defeated Antonios before, in tournaments with rapid and normal time controls! This time he did it convincingly. Both of these juniors are among the 25 selected ones in the newest 4-year Greece Chess Federation Junior Program, which ambitiously aims to produce new grandmasters by the age of 15, a target for which five experienced local and foreign trainers have been engaged. The past (too) many years of junior chess stagnation has turned the local Federation radically towards junior chess. Greece chess has been improving tremendously lately, breaking all historical records, both in men's and women's team and individual senior international competitions, results that certainly deserve respect. The most recent successes were sharing 3rd place at the European Chess Championships in Sweden 2005 (men's team) and qualification of Grandmaster Vasilios Kotronias and Woman Grandmaster Yelena Dembo for the respective final World Chess Championships! Now, it is time for the juniors to have their say as well!? Continuous professional support from the Greece Chess Federation towards its trainees aims to overcome the popularity of last years national football team winning the European Championship!?

Back to Kavala, The complete final standings are in the original Greek language (which still resembles Chinese to me...) Here is the decisive 7th-round game played on the 1st board:

Kazantzidis,I - Pavlidis,A
Kavala rapid, 11.09.2005
["rapid" annotations by IM Jovan Petronic]

1.d4! Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3!?

Favorite move of Ilias's brothers former trainer, GM Igor Miladinovic. Ilais adopted most of his older brothers opening repertoire.

4...c5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Ne4 7.Bd2 Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 e5! 12.e3 Qc7?!

Not the best place for the Black Queen.

13.Rfd1 Na5?!

Too early, Black should continue to develop his pieces.

14.dxe5! dxe5 15.Qd5! Bg4 16.h3 Rad8 17.Qe4 Bxf3! 18.Bxf3 f5! 19.Qc2 e4! 20.Be2 Rxd1+

20...Nc6 = is the obvious move, improving the position of the Knight, which, as we shall see, stayed on the edge of the board until his end.

21.Rxd1 Rd8 22.Rd5 Rxd5! 23.cxd5 c4? 24.Qa4!

A very energetic move, best on the board. White is threatening mate in one, while preparing small, but efficient tactics along the way.

24...Kf8

24...Qd8 25.Bxc4+/-

25.d6! Qd8 26.Bxc4

White is a Pawn up, Black has more weaknesses to worry about.

26...Nc6 27.Qb5! Qxd6 28.Qxf5+! Qf6

28...Ke7 29.Qxe4+ +-

29.Qxf6+! gxf6 30.Bd5! f5 31.Bxc6!

Excellent. White plays the best moves for long while now. The Pawn endgame is an easy win.

31...bxc6 32.Kf1

32.f3!? should have won the game a bit faster. But, having in mind we are recreating a rapid junior game, such imprecise moves can be common, especially in the endgame, when the time is scarce.

32...Ke7 33.Ke2 Ke6 34.c4 Kd6 35.Kd2 Kc5 36.Kc3 h5 37.h4 a5 38.a4 Kd6 39.Kd4 c5+ 40.Kc3 Ke5 41.Kd2

White returns to the correct plan of materializing his decisive advantage and transfers the King to the Kingside, where the extra Pawn is waiting to be promoted.

41...Kf6 42.Ke2 Kg7 43.f3! Kg6 44.Kf2 Kf6 45.fxe4 fxe4 46.Kg2! Kg6 47.Kh3! Kf5 48.g4+! Ke5

48...hxg4+ 49.Kg3 +-

49.gxh5 1-0

Opening ceremony held by Mr. Vasilis Theodoridis, Vice-President of the Greece Chess Federation:

The happy winners at the Closing Ceremony:
2nd place- Savvas Manelidis, 1st place- Ilias Kazantzidis, 3rd place- Panagiotis Dagakis:

Oh, yes, it is certainly worth mentioning that the 15-year old Savvas Manelidis comes from the maybe largest chess family around. Savvas, Michael, Sandro and Maria are four children of the chess "dynasty" Manelidis permanently residing in Kavala, originally from Georgia, country with the most Women World Chess Champions! Savvas and his 14 year-old sister Maria are also members of the 1st team of Kavala, and are this years Team Champions of Greece, 18-year old Sandro teaches chess to beginners in the Chess Club and the eldest fourth child Michael plays chess on tournaments, when his fathers Internet service company MANBIZ, hosting the Kavala Chess Club website, allows him! All four of them played at the recently finished 14th International Open of Kavala, possibly challenging some Guinness World Chess Record!?