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14th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
22 Sept - 2 Oct 2005

Last updated: Monday, August 21, 2017 6:40 PM
 
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Round 9 - 2 October 2005 - "The New Monarch is... Alex Shabalov!"

Parimarjan Negi and David Howell  
Future Manx Monarchs? Star of India Parimarjan Negi plays top English junior David Howell

John Saunders reports: Results and games complete. Alex Shabalov is the new 'Manx Monarch' He agreed a very quick draw with Danny Gormally, as did the brilliant young Ukrainian Alexander Areshchenko (against Vyacheslav Ikonnikov) shortly afterwards; so they tie for the money - but Alex Shabalov take the trophy and 'Manx Monarch' title on sum of progressive scores. The quickness of the draws was an anti-climax but it would have been unfair for either of these two players to have finished ahead of the other because they have both been outstanding at this tournament.

Alex Shabalov - Manx MonarchAlexander AreshchenkoAlex Shabalov (left) is one of nature's nice guys. The Pittsburgh-based former US champion is quiet but friendly, and always to be seen with his ultra-small laptop in hand in the hotel, preparing for his game. Another theory is that he's playing online poker. I'm not sure that can be true because he doesn't seem to mind people interrupting him for a chat (maybe the stakes are relatively low?). Anyway, I managed to grab a few words with the new Monarch just after his game, once again with his trusty laptop in front of him. He hasn't played in a British tournament since the last Lloyds Bank Masters in 1994 where he didn't do very well, so this was a great confidence booster for him. He tells me he hasn't done too well on the US circuit of late either, managing to lose $11,000 with a bad result in the last round of the (I think) Philadelphia Open: hence the safety-first last round tactics here. He was very impressed by the play of his co-winner, Alexander Areschenko (right)and also, the remarkable 15-year-old Yuri Kuzubov, whom he reckons could be even better than Areshchenko. That goes for all of us who have seen these Ukrainian prodigies in action for the last few days.

Leading scores: 1-2 A Shabalov (USA, 1st on tie-break), A Areshchenko (Ukraine) 7, 3-5 A Galkin (RUS), M Kobalia (RUS), O Korneev (RUS) 6½, with 11 players on 6.

Here's is one measure of the strength of this tournament: we acquired our first 2700 rated contestant on 1 October when the new FIDE Rating List came out. Sergei Tiviakov is now 2700 - a fantastic achievement - but here in the last round of the Monarch, he is playing on board 14.

A good final flourish from the Manx squad in the open, as Keith Allen wins quickly and Monsieur Jean Depin, French by birth but playing proudly under the Manx flag, scored a tough draw with genial Irishman, John Nicholson. Jean is our host hotelier at the Ocean Castle and something of a chess fan. He boasts some star chessplayers amongst his personal friends (including Viktor Korchnoi and Jonathan Speelman). Like Alfred Hitchock in his movies, it is now traditional that Jean plays a small 'walk-on' part in the Monarch Assurance every year. This year's game will be the fourth of his cameo appearances to be recorded on Mega Database.

Round  9

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 IKONNIKOV,Vyache 2560 (5½)  ½ - ½  ARESHCHENKO,Alex 2625 (6½)   14   2
  2 SHABALOV,Alexand 2593 (6½)  ½ - ½  GORMALLY,Daniel  2557 (5½)    9  17
  3 KOBALIA,Mikhail  2614 (5½)  1 - 0  KRITZ,Leonid     2544 (5½)    3  20
  4 EPISHIN,Vladimir 2600 (5½)  ½ - ½  KUZUBOV,Yuri     2535 (5½)    5  22
  5 WELLS,Peter      2529 (5½)  0 - 1  GALKIN,Alexander 2598 (5½)   24   6
  6 LALIC,Bogdan     2491 (5½)  0 - 1  KORNEEV,Oleg     2594 (5½)   27   8
  7 NEUBAUER,Martin  2468 (5½)  ½ - ½  DAVID,Alberto    2579 (5½)   30  11
  8 MIKHALEVSKI,Vict 2572 (5½)  ½ - ½  KLENBURG,Mikhail 2400 (5½)   12  41
  9 MALAKHATKO,Vadim 2556 (5)   ½ - ½  BRODSKY,Michail  2554 (5½)   18  19
 10 ERENBURG,Sergey  2595 (5)   1 - 0  GREET,Andrew N   2425 (5)     7  37

 11 KUNIN,Vitaly     2448 (5)   ½ - ½  FRIDMAN,Daniel   2566 (5)    32  13
 12 PALLISER,Richard 2389 (5)   0 - 1  YAKOVICH,Yuri    2560 (5)    43  15
 13 GUPTA,Abhijeet   2380 (5)   ½ - ½  ULYBIN,Mikhail   2529 (5)    46  23
 14 TIVIAKOV,Sergei  2678 (4½)  1 - 0  GLADYSZEV,Oleg   2436 (4½)    1  35
 15 ROEDER,Mathias   2393 (4½)  0 - 1  GHAEM MAGHAMI,Eh 2603 (4½)   42   4
 16 KOGAN,Artur      2580 (4½)  ½ - ½  SAREEN,Vishal    2385 (4½)   10  44
 17 POSTNY,Evgeny    2559 (4½)  1 - 0  MANNION,Steve R. 2331 (4½)   16  54
 18 ZATONSKIH,Anna   2435 (4½)  ½ - ½  SULSKIS,Sarunas  2535 (4½)   36  21
 19 ADLY,Ahmed       2503 (4½)  ½ - ½  RADOVANOVIC,Jovi 2357 (4½)   26  52
 20 NEGI,Parimarjan  2376 (4½)  0 - 1  HOWELL,David W   2471 (4½)   47  29

 21 PEEK,Marcel      2373 (4½)  ½ - ½  NEELOTPAL,Das    2467 (4½)   49  31
 22 KONONENKO,Tatian 2442 (4½)  ½ - ½  ZIMMERMAN,Yuri   2375 (4)    34  48
 23 KIDAMBI,Sundarar 2484 (4)   0 - 1  HANLEY,Craig     2367 (4)    28  50
 24 COX,John         2385 (4)   ½ - ½  AAGAARD,Jacob    2442 (4)    45  33
 25 ZUDE,Erik        2424 (4)   ½ - ½  MIRZOEVA,Elmira  2223 (4)    38  60
 26 KOLBUS,Dietmar   2416 (4)   1 - 0  SPENCE,David     2218 (4)    39  61
 27 HUGHES,Howard R  2194 (3½)  1 - 0  BOBRAS,Piotr     2525 (3½)   67  25
 28 DWORAKOWSKA,Joan 2401 (3½)  1 - 0  KIRSCHBAUM,Gunna 2204 (3½)   40  65
 29 BOSBOOM-LANCHAVA 2363 (3½)  1 - 0  GOODGER,Martyn   2162 (3½)   51  70
 30 GOLETIANI,Rusuda 2332 (3½)  1 - 0  LOHOU,Stephane   2144 (3½)   53  72

 31 ZOZULIA,Anna     2314 (3½)  1 - 0  HENRICHSEN,Jens  2075 (3½)   55  80
 32 PERIC,Slavisa    2280 (3½)  ½ - ½  FRASER-MITCHELL, 2098 (3½)   57  78
 33 FAIRBAIRN,Steve  2065 (3½)  0 - 1  VITOUX,Colomban  2264 (3½)   82  58
 34 DUHAYON,Yves     2230 (3½)  ½ - ½  BENNION,David A. 2074 (3½)   59  81
 35 GRANT,Alan       2152 (3)   0 - 1  ASHTON,Adam      2294 (3)    71  56
 36 ALLEN,Keith      2210 (3)   1 - 0  DE LAGONTRIE,Jea 1988 (3)    62  87
 37 FOX,Anthony      2118 (3)   ½ - ½  GROFFEN,Hans     2210 (3)    74  63
 38 SMITH,Andrew P   2204 (3)   ½ - ½  ADAMS,Phil       2138 (3)    64  73
 39 DUNN,Andrew      2197 (3)   ½ - ½  HENDERIKSE,Bert  2028 (3)    66  85
 40 WADEMARK,Helge   2182 (2½)  0 - 1  WERNER,Gert      2047 (2½)   68  83

 41 HICKMAN,John     2115 (2½)  0 - 1  HUTCHINSON,Norma 2097 (2½)   76  79
 42 HEYL,Thomas      2101 (2½)  1 - 0  FOX,Pierre       1815 (2½)   77  91
 43 WALTHER,Cliff    2175 (2)   ½ - ½  SPANTON,Tim      2032 (2)    69  84
 44 YOUNG,Mel        1971 (2)   1 - 0  MARKS,Ian A      1889 (2)    88  90
 45 NICHOLSON,John   2000 (2)   ½ - ½  DEPIN,Jean            (0)    86  93
 46 MCKENZIE,Mark         (0)   0 - 1  MARTIN,Katie     1953 (1½)   92  89
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