RSS Feed
Rowson wins first 5 in Sardinia
20 May 2008 23:17 PM | Last modified: 11:23
After the M-Tel Masters I didn’t fly back to Amsterdam, but via Rome to Sardinia. ChessVibes was invited by the organizers of the 2nd Festival Internazionale Capo d’Orso, where Jonathan Rowson is leading with 5 points out of 5 games.
As most of you will probably remember, last year around this time ChessVibes on tour had just started.
Then I also went from Sofia directly to Sardinia, then to actually play myself in the open tournament that was held at a beautiful location near the town of Palau, at the Porto Mannu bay, under the shadow of the Homeric Capo d’Orso (Bear Cape).
Just minutes away from world-renowned Porto Cervo and Porto Raphael, or the magnificent Emerald Coast, the Porto Mannu resort faces the Natural Sea Park and Archipelagus of the La Maddalena Island.
During my tour I took my camera with me and I filmed three interesting lectures that are part of the tournament program: by Jonathan Rowson, Mihail Marin and Jacob Aagaard. The organizers were very happy with the coverage and decided to invite me for the second editition as well.
And so I’m back in Sardinia, where the weather is less good than last year by the way (it’s raining cats and dogs). Quite unfortunate but the location and the Porto Mannu Residence is still as beautiful as it was a year ago, and the Italian food seems to taste even better.
Like last year, one of the favorites is British Champion 2004, 2005 and 2006 GM Jonathan Rowson, also known for his excellent book review column in New in Chess Magazine. Except for him the GMs Oleg Korneev, Granda Zuniga, Mihail Marin and Tiger Hillarp Persson (who recently was very succesful at the Sigeman & Co tournament) have a good chance to win this tournament.
Rowson had a great start - in fact, he did “a Chucky”, winning his first five games. Today he totally crushed Julio Granda Zuniga.
Rowson has already given his lecture too, by the way, and I hope I can publish it from Sardinia this week. Otherwise it’ll come online next week when I’m back in Amsterdam.
2. Capo d\'Orso Open Round 5 Standings
| Pos | Pts | ID | NAME | Rtg | PRtg | Fed. | APRO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.0 | 3 | GM Rowson Jonathan | 2582 | 3117 | SCO | 2407 |
| 2 | 4.0 | 1 | GM Korneev Oleg | 2651 | 2642 | RUS | 2421 |
| 3 | 4.0 | 15 | IM BRUNO Fabio | 2450 | 2633 | ITA | 2417 |
| 4 | 4.0 | 11 | IM De Jong Jan-Willem | 2474 | 2542 | NED | 2360 |
| 5 | 4.0 | 10 | IM Brunello Sabino | 2475 | 2558 | ITA | 2347 |
| 6 | 4.0 | 4 | GM Marin Mihail | 2556 | 2543 | ROU | 2337 |
| 7 | 4.0 | 6 | GM Godena Michele | 2528 | 2520 | ITA | 2328 |
| 8 | 4.0 | 8 | GM Naumkin Igor | 2494 | 2439 | RUS | 2304 |
| 9 | 4.0 | 9 | GM Hillarp Persson Tige | 2491 | 2552 | SWE | 2301 |
| 10 | 4.0 | 14 | FM Scalcione Michelange | 2455 | 2410 | ITA | 2231 |
| 11 | 3.5 | 18 | GM De Vreugt Dennis | 2403 | 2575 | NED | 2492 |
| 12 | 3.5 | 5 | GM Aagaard Jacob | 2533 | 2505 | SCO | 2430 |
| 13 | 3.5 | 13 | GM Djuric Stefan | 2460 | 2385 | SRB | 2300 |
| 14 | 3.5 | 21 | FM Friedrich Norbert | 2323 | 2354 | GER | 2297 |
| 15 | 3.5 | 20 | IM Fierro Baquero Marth | 2375 | 2386 | ECU | 2228 |
| 16 | 3.5 | 41 | CM Galassi Federico | 2145 | 2336 | ITA | 2175 |
| 17 | 3.5 | 56 | CM Chiarotto Filippo | 2084 | 2270 | ITA | 2105 |
| 18 | 3.5 | 47 | -- Dehmel Jens | 2122 | 2182 | GER | 2044 |
| 19 | 3.5 | 80 | CM Salzano Guido | 1962 | 2130 | ITA | 1959 |
| 20 | 3.5 | 43 | CM Bonanno Alessandro | 2142 | 2169 | ITA | 1855 |
| 21 | 3.5 | 130 | Pedrinzani Ivano | 1655 | 1807 | ITA | 1704 |
| 22 | 3.5 | 141 | Coralli Nevio | 1539 | 1874 | ITA | 1621 |
| 23 | 3.0 | 2 | GM Granda Zuniga Julio | 2609 | 2511 | PER | 2586 |
| 24 | 3.0 | 16 | IM Mogranzini Roberto | 2418 | 2442 | ITA | 2391 |
| 25 | 3.0 | 12 | GM Garcia Palermo Carlo | 2465 | 2360 | ITA | 2378 |
| 26 | 3.0 | 50 | CM Puzzoni Christian | 2114 | 2236 | ITA | 2280 |
| 27 | 3.0 | 19 | IM Piscopo Pierluigi | 2379 | 2277 | ITA | 2257 |
| 28 | 3.0 | 31 | CM Ibba Isacco | 2222 | 2366 | ITA | 2256 |
| 29 | 3.0 | 37 | -- Schaefer Michael | 2194 | 2257 | GER | 2233 |
| 30 | 3.0 | 7 | GM Haslinger Stewart G | 2500 | 2263 | ENG | 2232 |
The venue from outside
The view from the venue
The playing hall
The top boards (the back row)
Rowson-Granda Zuniga
Jonathan Rowson
Julio Granda Zuniga
Oleg Korneev
Mihail Marin
Tiger Hillarp Persson
Links:
The eight top boards can be followed live every day. For the coming rounds you’ll need the following links : round 6, round 7, round 8 and round 9.
Loading ...
As always, thank you for this great service to our global chess community. Bravo. Wonderful.
FYI, usual details by me: Rounds 1-4 at download do NOT include the highlited game between Rowson and Zuniga.
Glad he didnt leave the world just to grow tomatoes in Peru, as previously reported, expecting the end of civilization. A creative genius chess player, who is reputed not to have studied openings or much theory, but a natural like Sultan Khan, was it?
Thank you, David K, Seattle
Thanks. Soon also videos.
You’re right about Rowson-Granda not included in rounds 1-4, because it was played in the fifth round.
Now that round 5 games are available, the PGN link has been updated.
And yes, this was Granda’s reputation when he quickly rose to above 2600 in the mid-nineties, but I have the feeling he knows his opening theory now. Still, he’s a very interesting personality and I hope I’ll get a chance to interview him sometime this week.
Thank you. Even my close friend GM Seirawan has a few scrapes with him.
Yes, he aught to know the openings by now!
I will get the missing game now, thanks,
David K Seattle