Vienna open 15 to 23 August 2015

[Barry Sandercock]

Jonathan Hawkins has won, but Keith's game is looking difficult.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Top three boards might end in draws, which would produce a massive pile-up of players on 4.5/5.

[Barry Sandercock]

They did end in draws. Keith Arkell did well to draw that one.

[David Robertson]

would produce a massive pile-up of players on 4.5/5.

Only 15

[Barry Sandercock]

Jonathan Hawkins has a tricky ending, rook and knight v. rook. but with just one pawn against two, is it winnable ?

[Paul Dargan]

Good day today for England on the live boards - wins for Keith and Hawk. Ravi drew too.

[Mick Norris]

Great results, Keith is joint first but downfloated today, 2733 performance so far

Rd. Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
7 4 15 GM Kindermann Stefan 2507 5 5½ GM Arkell Keith 2488 16
7 5 5 GM Hawkins Jonathan 2554 5 5 FM Kevlishvili Robby 2357 53
7 37 115 Haria Ravi 2243 4 4 IM Zeller Frank 2402 38
7 40 50 FM Jackson James 2367 4 4 NM Steiner Bruno 2206 138
7 41 52 WGM Theissl Pokorna Regina 2362 4 4 Stone Andrew 2209 136
7 51 70 FM Berry Stephen H 2314 4 4 Wecker Martin 2145 182

[Roger de Coverly]

7 37 115 Haria Ravi 2243 4 4 IM Zeller Frank 2402 38
7 40 50 FM Jackson James 2367 4 4 NM Steiner Bruno 2206 138
7 41 52 WGM Theissl Pokorna Regina 2362 4 4 Stone Andrew 2209 136
7 51 70 FM Berry Stephen H 2314 4 4 Wecker Martin 2145 182

The middle of the tournament seems to have settled into a form of stability where the differential between ratings is around 150, so Ravi and Andrew are playing "up" and James and Stephen playing "down". If you manage to draw, you get an equivalently rated opponent next time. If you lose when the underdog, at least you get to be the ratings favourite the following round.

[Mick Norris]

Yes, not sure about IM norm chances, but James is performing just over 2400 and has played 2 GMs, so I assume he needs to win today both to boost his performance and to have a better chance of meeting a titled player in round 8 and/or 9

Ravi's performance is 2341 and he is playing his second IM today - I assume a win would be essential, but maybe not enough unless he wins in the next 2 rounds

For all players, though, must be good experience, playing in a 450 player section with all the different nationalities

[Paul Dargan]

I suppose it would have been possible to downfloat Keith to play Hawk in a replay of the last round of Coventry - glad that didnt happen.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I suppose it would have been possible to downfloat Keith to play Hawk in a replay of the last round of Coventry - glad that didnt happen.

Presumably rejected because it would have meant giving Hawk two consecutive upfloats.

[Paul Dargan]

No idea what pairing rules they are using - I imagine plug and play

[NickFaulks]

I once tried the exact line that Justin Tan is playing. I lost badly and we concluded in the post-mortem that it was rubbish.

Edit : but my opponent played 14...0-0-0, not fearing 15.Qxf7.

...and now Black's given up a piece. I don't understand chess.

[Tim Harding]

Top board (Antal-Buhmann) agreed drawn in ten moves.
Board 9 Black already busted against 1 b3 inside 14 moves.

A BIT LATER: Tan may be winning now that his opponent has allowed Qh8+. At least that's what Houdini on my laptop reckons.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Boards 9 (Shengelia-Kokol) and 33 (Tan-Caruso), pointed out in the preceding posts, are excellent games to watch. The GM games are a bit boring at the moment...