Bhopal 2017 Round 7: Gareyev impresses one and all!
Seven rounds have been completed at the Bhopal International 2017. GM Timur Gareyev is the sole leader with 6.5/7. He beat GM Alberto David. Timur is closely followed by seven other players on 6.0/7. They include Rozum, Khusenkhojaev, Sangma, Girish Kaushik, Himanshu Sharma, Yeoh Li Tian and Tran Tuan Minh. The tournament is spicing up and we have last three crucial rounds remaining to be played. However, the leader, Timur Gareyev isn't really interested in the standings, He gave a three hour blindfold clock simul to local kids! What a great spectacle it was! We bring you all he details, pictures and videos!
Timur Gareyev is all over the city of Bhopal! When I first heard about Timur, I was intrigued by his achievements. When I saw him in the videos a few months ago, I took him for an eccentric man who seemed to have a crazy view of things happening around him. He calls himself the blindfold king, he must be arrogant I thought to myself. When I met Gareyev in Bhopal, I would say my opinions were turned 180 degrees. In front of me was a man who gave utmost respect to the game of chess. He knew how to live his life kingsize and he always wants to help people! Seeing him I could only think of one thing - Bhopal International GM 2017 could not have got a better top seed than Timur Gareyev.
The game began as a closed Ruy Lopez variation. It was round about even until some point, but then Alberto started to make some imperceptible errors. Timur was in sublime form as he found one good move after another. He finished the game with a flourish when he found a nice little combination.
Timur found the move Rxh3! The rook cannot be taken as then Rg6+ would be curtains. But with Rg6 coming up anyway, it was all over for White. Very soon David Alberto resigned.
Thus Timur has the sole lead of half point over the entire field with 6.5/7. But he cannot afford to relax as he has a pack of seven players on 6.0/7.
Results of round 7
| Bo. | No. | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 4 | GM | David Alberto | ITA | 2571 | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 5½ | GM | Gareyev Timur | USA | 2606 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | GM | Rozum Ivan | RUS | 2595 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | IM | Khusenkhojaev Muhammad | TJK | 2451 | 10 | ||||
| 3 | 12 | IM | Girish A. Koushik | IND | 2412 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Nguyen Duc Hoa | VIE | 2504 | 7 | ||||
| 4 | 16 | FM | Erigaisi Arjun | U15 | IND | 2359 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Atalik Suat | TUR | 2545 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 6 | GM | Tran Tuan Minh | VIE | 2544 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Moksh Amit Doshi | U15 | IND | 2337 | 19 | ||||
| 6 | 8 | IM | Yeoh Li Tian | MAS | 2480 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Rathnakaran K. | IND | 2307 | 25 | ||||
| 7 | 20 | IM | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | IND | 2334 | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Himanshu Sharma | IND | 2469 | 9 | ||||
| 8 | 14 | IM | Wohl Aleksandar H. | AUS | 2370 | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | IM | Sangma Rahul | IND | 2311 | 24 | ||||
| 9 | 44 | Patil Pratik | IND | 2199 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | CM | Gukesh D | U11 | IND | 2362 | 15 | ||||
| 10 | 48 | CM | Kushagra Mohan | U13 | IND | 2174 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Tukhaev Adam | UKR | 2575 | 3 |
Rank after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Gareyev Timur | USA | 2606 | USA | 6,5 | 0,0 | 30,0 | 33,5 | 30,50 | 6,0 | ||
| 2 | 2 | GM | Rozum Ivan | RUS | 2595 | Russia | 6,0 | 0,0 | 31,0 | 34,5 | 28,25 | 5,0 | ||
| 3 | 10 | IM | Khusenkhojaev Muhammad | TJK | 2451 | Tajikistan | 6,0 | 0,0 | 29,5 | 33,5 | 28,50 | 5,0 | ||
| 4 | 8 | IM | Yeoh Li Tian | MAS | 2480 | Malaysia | 6,0 | 0,0 | 28,5 | 32,0 | 27,00 | 5,0 | ||
| 5 | 24 | IM | Sangma Rahul | IND | 2311 | Delhi | 6,0 | 0,0 | 28,5 | 31,5 | 25,75 | 5,0 | ||
| 6 | 9 | GM | Himanshu Sharma | IND | 2469 | Haryana | 6,0 | 0,0 | 28,0 | 32,0 | 27,00 | 6,0 | ||
| 7 | 12 | IM | Girish A. Koushik | IND | 2412 | Karnataka | 6,0 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 30,5 | 25,50 | 5,0 | ||
| 8 | 6 | GM | Tran Tuan Minh | VIE | 2544 | Vietnam | 6,0 | 0,0 | 25,5 | 29,0 | 25,00 | 6,0 | ||
| 9 | 7 | GM | Nguyen Duc Hoa | VIE | 2504 | Vietnam | 5,5 | 0,0 | 32,0 | 35,0 | 27,00 | 4,0 | ||
| 10 | 4 | GM | David Alberto | ITA | 2571 | Italy | 5,5 | 0,0 | 30,0 | 34,0 | 24,75 | 5,0 |
Replay games of round 7:
Timur Gareyev's blindfold spectacle!
After the seventh round Timur Gareyev agreed to play ten kids from a local chess academy in a blindfold clock simul! Of course, for Gareyev playing ten players is no big deal. He holds the Guinness World Record for playing 48 opponents. Yet, this was a clock simul and to do it in between a tournament that he was playing is simply mind-boggling. Gareyev is leading the tournament with 6.5/7, but for him promoting chess is much more important than finishing first. When the simul began, the number of players increased to 11.
Replay all the games of the blindfold clock simul: