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Chess Life Online 2008 August Akobian Joins Mikhalevski in SPICE lead
Chess Life Online 2008 August Akobian Joins Mikhalevski in SPICE lead | Akobian Joins Mikhalevski in SPICE lead |
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| By Jennifer Shahade | |
| September 26, 2008 | |
GM Varuzhan Akobian, Photo Paul Truong
In round six of the SPICE Cup, GM Varuzhan Akobian won a sparkling game against GM Hannes Stefansson to join Victor Mikhalevski in the SPICE Cup lead. (Lubbock, TX, Sept 19-29) Before playing through the entire Akobian- Stefansson game in the Tarrasch line of the Queen's Gambit, try to find his moves in the following three positions. 
Position after 31.Bd3
Position after 33.Kf1, Black to Move
Position after 34.Qa5, Black to Move
Varuzhan and Victor now lead with 4/6, but there are four players just half a point behind him, so it's anyone's tournament. Be sure to watch the final three rounds live on the Monroi.com or the Internet Chess Club. Also check out the live video feed and Susan Polgar's blog for more info. Check out crosstable here. Gregory Kaidanov is the "most decisive player" of the tournament so far with two wins and two losses. Check out the CLO Round three report for two Kaidanov games. Here are two more examples, one a tough loss on the White side of the Grunfeld to Victor Mikhalevski and the next a victory over defending champion Eugene Perelshteyn, featuring a pretty knight infiltration. SPICE Cup Standings after six rounds 1-2. Mikhalevski, Victor GM 2592 ISR and Akobian, Varuzhan GM 2610 USA 4.0 3-6. Kritz, Leonid GM 2610 GER, Onischuk, Alexander GM 2670 USA, Becerra, Julio GM 2598 USA and Pentala, Harikrishna GM 2668 IND 3.5 7. Kaidanov, Gregory GM 2605 USA 3.0 8. Miton, Kamil GM 2580 POL 2.0 9-10. Perelshteyn, Eugene GM 2555 USA and Stefansson, Hannes GM 2566 ISL 1.5 |
