2017 Sigeman & Co 10-14 May

[Chris Rice]

It's good to see this Malmo-based tournament back on the map after a break. The tournament starts next Wednesday 10th May and is a very short five round, one game a day, apa, between six interesting players:

Nigel Short
Pavel Eljanov
Baadur Jobava
Nils Grandelius
Erik Blomqvist
Harika Dronavalli

On the official website there is a page where the participants have responded to various questions put to them. Very interesting they are too, Nigel's in particular. He is in very good form at the moment both on and off the board!

[JustinHorton]

Just out of interest, is there a Major Tournament Calendar somewhere that everybody knows about but me?

[Mick Norris]

Just out of interest, is there a Major Tournament Calendar somewhere that everybody knows about but me?

Depends what you mean; live ratings has a Future Events section, if you scroll down, which is useful for the events with 2700+ players

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Just out of interest, is there a Major Tournament Calendar somewhere that everybody knows about but me?

If you go to the 2700 live chess ratings website, and scroll down, they list upcoming events in which those rated over 2700 are playing (currently the world top 45). I believe they also track the live ratings of the world top 100 (at least when you type in ENG in the box, Gawain Jones is no longer there has he has dropped out of the top 100). Not sure exactly how they deal with people entering and leaving the top 100 (they can't track all results, but must have some way to track those just below the top 100). The FAQ should explain it.

http://www.2700chess.com/
http://www.2700chess.com/faq

Incidentally, the Twitter feed on the right-hand side currently has a picture of Nigel Short from the World Seniors Team Championships.

(As Mick said - I posted anyway, as I said a bit more... )

[JustinHorton]

Thanks all.

Can't see Nigel on my smartphone though. Trust he's looking well.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I'll post in the World Seniors thread.

[Chris Rice]

Round 1 is due to start at 1pm BST:

Jobava, B. (0) 2713 — Grandelius (0) 2665
Short, N. D. (0) 2688 — Blomqvist, E. (0) 2546
Eljanov, P. (0) 2755 — Harika, D. (0) 2531

[John McKenna]

A tasty taster for the Moscow GP and a tough 1st round draw for the bottom three.

[LawrenceCooper]

A convincing win for Nigel today whilst the other two games look likely to be draws.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Is Nigel aiming to be the first (actively playing) 50+ chess player rated over 2700? Or does that record already belong to someone else?

[Barry Sandercock]

Yes, I think Nigel would be.

[Mick Norris]

Is Nigel aiming to be the first (actively playing) 50+ chess player rated over 2700? Or does that record already belong to someone else?

Nigel's live rating is 2699.3 after today's win; he's black tomorrow against Jobava which in rating terms is 2713 v 2688 so I think a draw takes Nigel to exactly 2700 although someone may be able to confirm that?

So, depends Chris whether over 2700, or 2700 and over, is your target, and also whether you are talking about live rating or would need to wait until the end of May for the next rating list

[Richard Bates]

Is Nigel aiming to be the first (actively playing) 50+ chess player rated over 2700? Or does that record already belong to someone else?

Nigel's live rating is 2699.3 after today's win; he's black tomorrow against Jobava which in rating terms is 2713 v 2688 so I think a draw takes Nigel to exactly 2700 although someone may be able to confirm that?

So, depends Chris whether over 2700, or 2700 and over, is your target, and also whether you are talking about live rating or would need to wait until the end of May for the next rating list

2699.6

[Chris Rice]

Rd 1 results
Jobava, B. (0) 2713 ½ - ½ Grandelius (0) 2665
Short, N. D. (0) 2688 1 - 0 Blomqvist, E. (0) 2546
Eljanov, P. (0) 2755 ½ - ½ Harika, D. (0) 2531

Rd 2 (1pm BST):
Grandelius (½) 2665 — Harika, D. (½) 2531
Blomqvist, E. (0) 2546 — Eljanov, P. (½) 2755
Jobava, B. (½) 2713 — Short, N. D. (1) 2688

[John McKenna]

A convincing win for Nigel today whilst the other two games look likely to be draws.

When I had a quick look yesterday, at their Spanish position at move 22.Rc1, I thought Blomqvist had reasonable chances to hold tight. I now see that within a few more moves he was busted on the K-side and getting mated by R & N after Nigel sacrificed his Q!