TWIC is 30. First issue 17th September 1994.
Najdorf Memorial Warsaw 2010 (1)
First round of surprises in Warsaw
Stanislaw Zawadzki - Sunday 18th July 2010
Stanislaw Zawadzki reports on the first round of the Najdorf Memorial Chess Festival in Warsaw.
Swiss tournaments are somehow specific. One of the rules is that usually first round is boring and lacks the unexpected turns of events. Well, on Miguel Najdorf International Chess Festival it was exactly the opposite and the thrill could have been divided into few tournaments. But first things first...
Event started, as planned, at 5pm on the 17th of July. After a short opening ceremony over 200 players started their games. Since very beginning one could spot something isn't the way it's used to be. The symbol of this round could be a game Gamback-Warakomski. Young Pole with ELO 2500 got an advantage after opening, but spoiled it after few imprecise moves. Still, the position was equal when he decided to play a move, after which he didn't only lose pawn on very simple tactical blow, but his whole position was torn apart. He kept fighting, sacrificing two more pawns for some complication - still it surely wasn't good enough. Suddenly, few moves before time control, Gamback made a terrible mistake and allowed Warakomski to go into endgame with great winning chances. Warakomski, of course, didn't get his chance and went into completely hopeless endgame. I think I don't have to add that the game ended in draw.
Another very representative game was a clash on the first board - Stoma vs Zhigalko. Player from Lublin was bravely holding his worse position against very strong opponent for a very long time only to play a losing move in the move of 125(!). It was almost midnight and other game finished an hour earlier.
There was a lots of surprises, only to mention the defeat of Jon Ludvig Hammer with young Michal Janczarski and a draw of Victor Erdos (with white!) against WGM Marta Przezdziecka. It could have been even more unexpected results, but some players spoiled a great position after the openings. But nonetheless - first round showed that this event should be very interesting.
View the games on this Page
Download the PGN from this page
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