Yu Yangyi Won Qatar Chess Master 2014

Qatar Chess Master 2014 is happening from November 25 to December 4th 2014. Some said this is (one of) the strongest open tournament ever. The players are ranging from ex world champion Vladimir Kramnik, top celebrities Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Mamedyarov, all the way to about 100+ titled players from around the world.  At first, Anish Giri was cheered by fans for his six victories in the row and the cup seemingly very close to his hand. Then Vladimir Kramnik emerged, defeating Giri and take over the spot with also a six wins in a row. Interestingly, Kramnik having a 'tough' start, when in round 1 only draw against GM Stelios Halkias, in Evans Gambit game. Alas, you don't need a six-wins-in-a-row to won this tournament, just a few draws and NO LOSSES will do! It is the young, 20 years old Chinese, GM Yu Yangyi who came out from nowhere and grind down Vladimir Kramnik. More tearfully is because Yu defeat Kramnik on his most trademark Berlin Defence. Thus Yu Yangyi grab the first Qatar Master title with a point of 7.5/9, a sole lead. Kramnik and Giri was second then. Yu Yangyi  余泱漪 last notable achievement is Norway Olympiad where he was member of the Gold medal team and his last notable bad luck was when he blunder a winning position against Ray Robson at Millionaire Chess 2014. He is from Huangshi and already a grandmaster since five years ago. Live rating put him on #24 in the world with 2730 elos.  We also learn that Yu's English is (still) very elementary.

Qatar Master 2014, top finishers:

Rank	Player	Points	Tie Break
1	Yu, Yangyi	7.5	41.5
2	Kramnik, Vladimir	7	40
	Giri, Anish	7	38
4	Efimenko, Zahar	6.5	32
	Sjugirov, Sanan	6.5	31.75
	Durarbayli, Vasif	6.5	30.5
7	Perunovic, Milos	6	33.25
	Ivanisevic, Ivan	6	32
	Salem, A.R. Saleh	6	31.25
	Moiseenko, Alexander	6	30.75
	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	6	30.75
	Akopian, Vladimir	6	30.5
	Eljanov, Pavel	6	30.25
	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	6	30.25
	Volokitin, Andrei	6	30.25
	Shankland, Samuel L	6	29.75
	Movsesian, Sergei	6	29
	Safarli, Eltaj	6	29
	Vovk, Andrey	6	28.5
	Ding, Liren	6	27
	Bu, Xiangzhi	6	26.75
	Jobava, Baadur	6	26.25
	Salgado Lopez, Ivan	6	25.75
	Adhiban, B.	6	23

chess-results

Best Woman Prize - Bela Khotenashvili (GEO) - 5.5 points

Best Arabic Player - Salem A.R. Saleh (UAE) - 6 points

Turnamen catur terbuka yang diyakini salah satu turnamen terkuat seantero jagad berlangsung di Qatar dari tanggal 25 November hingga 4 Desember 2014. Turnamen ini dihadiri pecatur top dunia, termasuk mantan juara catur Vladimir Kramnik. Seed teratas adalah Anish Giri, Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave dan lain-lain. Awalnya Anish Giri membuat massa penggemar catur heboh dengan enam kemenangan beruntun, tapi di ronde 7 dia K.O. di tangan Vladimir Kramnik. Perhatian dunia pun pindah ke Kramnik yang juga punya enam kemenangan berturut-turut. Di ronde terakhir, ronde 9, Kramnik bertemu pecatur muda China, Yu Yangyi. Bermain di pertahanan Ruy Lopez variasi Berlin andalan Kramnik, ternyata dia ketemu batunya melawan Yu Yangyi. Alhasil justru Yu Yangyi yang kemudian mengalahkan Kramnik dan merebut juara turnamen catur terbuka ini. Yu Yangyi adalah pecatur muda China yang juga anggota tim Olimpiade catur pemenang medali emas di Norwegia tahun ini. Sekarang dia di urutan ke-24 dunia dengan rating 2730.

Sementara itu pecatur wanita Indonesia Irene Kharisma Sukandar yang juga mengadu keberuntungan di Qatar musti memetik pelajaran berharga dengan hanya mengumpulkan tiga angka dari sembilan babak. Irene berhadapan dengan tiga pecatur berating 2600 an dan beberapa WGM. Irene mengalahkan dua pecatur di dua babak terakhir. Turnamen di Qatar ini cukup keras, bahkan tidak ada hari istirahatnya alias bertanding sembilan hari berturut-turut. 

Kramnik's Berlin did not a successful one against Yu Yangyi

Vladimir Akopian lost to Anish Giri , Qatar round 9, Giri sneak to third finisher by this win

Berikut partai catur di Qatar Master 2014.

Yu Yangyi vs Vladimir Kramnik, 1-0 C65  Ruy Lopez Berlin
Julia Kochetkova vs Irene Kharisma Sukandar 0-1, B30 Sicilian Rossolimo