Lopez & Alsina lead in Barcelona
Jose Manuel Lopez and Daniel Alsina are leading the Torneig Cuitat de Barcelona after five rounds. In the category 14 round-robin the two scored 3.5 points and are half a point ahead of two more famous names: Ulf Andersson and Alexey Dreev.
The tournament is called Magistral Ciutat de Barcelona - Casino de Barcelona. It's a 10-player round-robin that takes place November 2-10 in Barcelona, Spain. It's organized for the 6th year in a row by the Catalonia Chess Federation and sponsored by the Casino de Barcelona and SB Hotels (Hotel Icaria Barcelona), the Barcelona City Hall and the Government of Catalonia. Previous winners: Ruben Felgaer (2004), Vassily Ivanchuk (2005), Leinier Dominguez (2006), Hikaru Nakamura (2007) and Alexey Dreev (2008).
This year Alexey Dreev (2655), Alexander Fier (2653), Pavel Tregubov (2642), José Manuel López (2589), Ulf Andersson (2582), Jordi Magem (2564), Fernando Peralta (2557), Omar Almeida (2542), Daniel Alsina (2523) and Marc Narciso (2510) play for a € 4,500 prize fund. The time control is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move from move one for 40 moves, then 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move to finish. Draw offers are not allowed until the first time control has been reached.
The players field had to be changed at the last minute due to a remarkable situation. The players of the European gold winning Azerbaijan team were expected to attend a meeting with government officials, to celebrate their success, and apparently GM Gadir Guseinov had no other choice but cancel the tournament in Barcelona one day before the start. He was quickly replaced by GM Fernando Peralta from Argentina.
Top seeds are Alexey Dreev and Alexander Fier, but after five rounds two local heros are topping the standings: GM José Manuel López and IM Daniel Alsina.
Barcelona 2009 | Round 5 Standings
Selection of games rounds 1-5
Game viewer by ChessTempo
GM Omar Almeida (Cuba)
IM Daniel Alsina ('Catalunya', the tournament website says, of course not Spain!)
GM Ulf Andersson (Sweden)
GM Alexey Dreev (Russia)
GM Alexander Fier (Brazil)
GM José Manuel López (Catalunya)
GM Jordi Magem (Catalunya)
GM Marc Narciso (Catalunya)
GM Fernando Peralta (Argentina)
GM Pavel Tregubov (Russia)
Photos courtesy of the tournament website
Links
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.
Your comment
Speak your mind
By posting a comment you are agreeing to abide our Terms & Conditions