Ukrainian Ivanchuk Wins Amsterdam Chess Tournament

Kyiv, July 23, 2012. Ukrainian grandmaster Vasyl Ivanchuk won the Association of Professionals Gold Classic international chess tournament in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Playing black figures in the final round Ivanchuk beat former Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk, now representing Slovenia.

The ACP Golden Classic tournament took place in Amsterdam on July 14-22. Vasyl Ivanchuk went through the tournament undefeated with the score of 5 points out of possible 6. The winner Vasyl Ivanchuk was followed by GM Gata Kamsky, USA, with 4.5 points. Georgian GM Baadur Jobava became the second runner up of the tournament with a score of 3.5. Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem scored 3 points in the final rating, thus occupying the fourth position.

Liem was followed by GM Anna Muzychuk representing Slovenia. Muzychuk managed to score 3 points and finished fifth in the tournament. Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran (1.5) ended up at the sixth position in the seven-player field after he lost and drew the two adjourned games from rounds five and six. Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky (1) came out of the tournament on the seventh position.

The event saw adjournments at move 40 for the first time in many years at the top level but it was the extra half hour of thinking time that made the most difference to the quality of the games, reported chess.co.uk.

Vasyl Ivanchuk (World Chess Federation rating 2769) will play in the 2013 Candidates' tournament, where the world’s best eight players will fight for the qualification for the World Championship Match. Kasparov called him “a genius”; Anand called him “the most eccentric chess player in the world”.

Ivanchuk won the Chess Olympiad in 2004 and 2010 and the World Team Championship in 2001 as Ukrainian team’s leader. He also was the 2007 – 2008 World Blitz Chess champion.

Ivanchuk won the Amber blindfold and rapid chess championship in 1992 and 2010. He was FIDE World Championship runner-up in 2002 and European Champion in 2004. Ivanchuk topped the M-Tel Masters 2008, Tal Memorial 2008, Kings Tournament 2009 and Gibraltar 2011. Since 1990, he has consistently ranked among the top 10, climbing as high as number two, according to amsterdamchess.com.