Reports | November 02, 2012 11:43

Cap d'Agde: Ivanchuk, Karpov, Ju Wenjun, Edouard in semi-finals

Cap d'Agde Echecs

Vassily Ivanchuk, Anatoly Karpov, Ju Wenjun and Romain Edouard have qualified for the semi-finals of the "Trophée Anatoly Karpov" in Cap d'Agde. Ivanchuk and Karpov both finished on 11.5/14 in the preliminary round round robin tournament. Ju Wenjun finished third with 8.5 points and Edouard scored 7.5. Christian Bauer, Marie Sebag, Sophie Milliet and Aleksandra Goryachkina were eliminated. The 1/2 finals will be played on Friday and the final on Saturday.

Event Trophée Anatoly Karpov | PGN | via TWIC
Dates October 26th-November 3rd, 2012
Location Cap d'Agde, France
System Round robin & knockout
Players Ivanchuk, Bauer, Edouard, Karpov, Sebag, Ju Wenjun, Milliet, Goryachkina
Rate of play

25 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move

 

When we write about this year's Cap d'Agde rapid event, obviously most of the attention should go to Anatoly Karpov – and not just because the organizers have named the tournament after him. The lengthy discussion below our previous report made one thing clear: Karpov still has a large fanbase!

Well, we have good news for all his fans. The 12th World Champ continued strongly in the preliminary phase, of which we discussed the first eight rounds a few days ago. In rounds 9-14 he started with two draws, against Vassily Ivanchuk and Romain Edouard, and duly finished off with four consecutive wins. His victims were Marie Sebag, Sophie Milliet, Christian Bauer and Ju Wenjun.

Karpov finished on 11.5/14, just like top favourite Ivanchuk. Besides their mutual draw, the Ukrainian beat Bauer, Goryachkina, Edouard and Ju Wenjun and drew with Sebag.

However, this double round robin was just a preliminary phase, in which it was all about the top four spots. Ju Wenjun and Edouard finished 3rd and 4th, so the semi-finals, scheduled for today, will be Ivanchuk vs Edouard and Karpov vs Ju Wenjun.

Update: we got this wrong. The semi-finals are Ivanchuk-Ju Wenjun and Karpov-Edouard.

This year the annual rapid event Rencontres Nationales & Internationales d’Echecs du Cap d’Agde celebrates its 10th edition. On this occasion the top group has been called the "Trophée Anatoly Karpov", in honor of the 12th World Chess Champion, who since 1994 has participated in all editions in Cap d'Agde. The time control for the whole tournament is 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move.

Below you can replay all games from rounds 9-14.

PGN file

Here's another video report produced by Europe-Echecs:

Le Trophée Anatoly Karpov | Preliminary, final standings

 

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Peter Doggers's picture
Author: Peter Doggers

Founder and editor-in-chief of ChessVibes.com, Peter is responsible for most of the chess news and tournament reports. Often visiting top events, he also provides photos and videos for the site. He's a 1.e4 player himself, likes Thai food and the Stones.

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Comments

Dag Sødtholt's picture

Dag Sødtholt

6 months 2 weeks ago

Hi there, have you changed around the semi-finals? Playchess is showing that Ivanchuk is playing Ju right now.

Peter Doggers's picture

Peter Doggers

6 months 2 weeks ago

Indeed, got that wrong. Thanks!

MW's picture

MW

6 months 2 weeks ago

I'm happy to see Karpov is doing well. Hopefully this marks a bit of a resurgence in his play.

hansie's picture

hansie

6 months 2 weeks ago

Karpov winning his own trophy! Can't believe this!! Must be cheating!!!

hansie's picture

hansie

6 months 2 weeks ago

And at the age of 61 years!!!!

What is this world coming to????

S3's picture

S3

6 months 2 weeks ago

Fantastic. The last couple of games looked pretty bad and Ivanchuk almost won it all but it doesn't matter, Karpov won in the end!! Great show of both, and perhaps those Norwegian organizers should consider Karpov for their tournament!

Anonymous's picture

Anonymous

6 months 2 weeks ago

KARPOV IS BACK IN THE SADDLE!!

redivivo's picture

redivivo

6 months 2 weeks ago

I only looked at the last three-four games and it didn't resemble chess much, players losing on time in winning positions and nothing even close to the Chessbase description of those games but maybe they wanted to make it look better than it was. Nice for Karpov to win his on tournament but it wasn't pretty.

Bartleby's picture

Bartleby

6 months 2 weeks ago

You mean the blitz games? The 4th and 6th blitz had been lost on time, with the "wrong" side winning, but this is what you get in a blitz tie-break. Apart from that, Karpov's play was clear, methodical, impressive. Ivanchuk overplayed him convincingly in complicated double-edged play, but Karpov owned the simple positions.

Zeblakob's picture

Zeblakob

6 months 2 weeks ago

Carpov strategy was not to win but to force Ivanchuck to lose: Ivanchuk had the edge, but lost on time since there are many ways to win.

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