Sardinia Festival 2024 R8: Alan Pichot catches up with Yair Parkhov

by Shahid Ahmed - 03/05/2024

Sardinia World Chess Festival 2024 is heading for a very close finish. GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) drew against GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU). It allowed GM Alan Pichot (ESP) to catch up as he defeated GM Vitaly Sivuk (SWE). Both Parkhov and Pichot are now the coleaders 6.5/8. Parkhov for the second consecutive game missed a good chance. They have already faced each other in the sixth round. It ended in a draw. In Group B, WFM Alexandra Botez (CAN) won against Carlo Molinari (ITA) in Open B. She maintains a full point lead going into the final round 7.5/8. In the final round, she will be up against the top seed Dejan Dimitrov (BUL). Round 9 starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST. All photos are by Shahid Ahmed unless stated otherwise.

Alexandra Botez a draw away from becoming a clear champion

GM Alan Pichot (ESP) and GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) will face GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) and GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) on the top two boards. Those two are undoubtedly going to be two tough battles. Ertan Ozdogan (TUR), Luca Ferraro (ITA) and Hanyu Sun (CHN) are leading the Open C category. They all will face three different opponents with a two point difference. There is a good chance they will finish scoring 8/9 each.

GM Alan Pichot (ESP) has now become a coleader with GM Yair Parkhov (ISR)

Parkhov - Shevchenko

Position after 23...Kf8

GM Yair Parkhov (ISR, 2510) is playing well and getting himself good positions. However, he is having trouble capitalizing on those chances. He needed to go 24.Nb6 Qc7/d8 25.Red1 Qxb6 26.Rd7 would have been winning for White. Unfortunately for him, he decided to retreat his knight 24.Nc3? and all his advantage waned. The game ended in a draw in less than ten moves.

GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) once again missed a good opportunity against GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU)

GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) had a flawless draw against...

...GM Ediz Gurel (TUR)

Sivuk - Pichot

Position after 33...b4

GM Alan Pichot (ESP, 2635) adhered to the old adage - passed pawns must be pushed. Hence he went 33...b4 34.Rc4? was not the best way to react to it. 34...Nd5 35.Bd4 Rxa5 36.f5?? was the straw that broke the camel's back moment for White 36...Rb5 37.e4 too little too late Nb6 38.Rc7 b3 39.Rb7 b2 40.Bxb2 Rxb2 and it's over.

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) blundered in time trouble and lost against Sanan Sjugirov (HUN)

The 12-year-old was in tears as he blundered in time trouble and fell into a mate in seven.

"I told my friends that I placed a bet on Gukesh" - GM Sanan Sjugirov | Video: ChessBase India

WFM Alexandra Botez (CAN) scored her seventh win as she defeated Carlo Molinari (ITA) to maintain her full point lead 7.5/8

Alessia Natoli (POL, pictured) and Dejan Dimitrov (BUL) are at 6.5/8 each

Federazione Scacchistica Italiana (FSI) President, Luigi Maggi made the ceremonial first move of Round 8 on IM Fabrizio Bellia and GM Francesco Sonis' board

A friendly football mini-tournament featuring the players, arbiters and officials of Sardinia World Chess Festival 2024 took place at 10 am before Round 8. All players are seen donning the FIDE 100 football jerseys to commemorate 100 years of FIDE. All three football match videos will be published in few days, stay tuned!

The four teams with the tournament organizer - GM FST IO Roberto Mogranzini

The winning team

Parents with their kids | Photo: Niklesh Jain

For more Round 8 and Football match photos, please click at the respective links. Lots of exciting, interesting game videos will be published soon, stay tuned!

Video Gallery

12-year-old navigates a Complex Pawn Race - FM Henry v FM Kanov | Video: ChessBase India

"When Fabi didn't win, we felt like we didn't win" - Evgenij Miroshnichenko | Video: ChessBase India

"My son rides his bicycle to every chess club in Amsterdam" - Mik | Video: ChessBase India

Replay live stream

Replay Round 8 live commentary by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko (UKR) and WCM Alexandra Prado (BOL) | Video: UniChess

Replay Round 8 Open A games

Replay Round 8 Open B games

Replay Round 8 Open C games

Round 8 Open A results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	20	GM	Parkhov Yair	2513	6	½ - ½	5½	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2675	3
2	9	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2621	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2690	1
3	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2668	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Gurel Ediz	2578	13
4	16	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2551	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Pichot Alan	2644	5
5	14	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2565	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Murzin Volodar	2632	7
6	2	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2689	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2540	19
7	6	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2640	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	2490	23
8	8	GM	Dardha Daniel	2630	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Haldorsen Benjamin	2419	41
9	10	GM	Moussard Jules	2610	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Lewtak Damian	2343	63
10	12	GM	Moroni Luca Jr	2580	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan	2490	24
11	54	IM	Bellia Fabrizio	2384	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Sonis Francesco	2562	15
12	53	FM	Vergara Anton Diego	2387	5	½ - ½	4½	GM	Velten Paul	2481	25
13	18	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2544	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Shohat Yotam	2398	51
14	22	IM	Rozen Eytan	2499	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Papadiamandis Elliot	2312	71
15	52	FM	Zemach Nadav	2396	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Costa Leonardo	2476	27

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	5	GM	Pichot Alan		ESP	2644	6,5	42	38	33,25	2499
2	20	GM	Parkhov Yair		ISR	2513	6,5	41,5	38,5	32,25	2520
3	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir		SLO	2690	6	41,5	37,5	29,50	2464
4	8	GM	Dardha Daniel		BEL	2630	6	41	37	30,50	2443
5	3	GM	Shevchenko Kirill		ROU	2675	6	40,5	36,5	30,00	2394
6	14	GM	Lodici Lorenzo		ITA	2565	6	40,5	36,5	28,50	2445
7	13	GM	Gurel Ediz	U18	TUR	2578	6	39,5	36	28,50	2416
8	9	GM	Chigaev Maksim		ESP	2621	6	39	35,5	28,00	2483
9	7	GM	Murzin Volodar	U18	FID	2632	6	38	35	27,75	2439
10	10	GM	Moussard Jules		FRA	2610	6	36,5	34	26,50	2427
11	2	GM	Sjugirov Sanan		HUN	2689	6	36	32,5	26,25	2430
12	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden		NED	2668	6	35	33	25,25	2374
13	24	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan		KAZ	2490	5,5	41,5	38	27,00	2507
14	16	GM	Sivuk Vitaly		SWE	2551	5,5	40,5	37	26,00	2439
15	23	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	U18	ISR	2490	5,5	39,5	36	26,00	2436

Details

Round 9 Open A pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	GM	Pichot Alan	2644	6½	6	GM	Dardha Daniel	2630	8
2	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2668	6	6½	GM	Parkhov Yair	2513	20
3	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2690	6	6	GM	Moussard Jules	2610	10
4	13	GM	Gurel Ediz	2578	6	6	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2689	2
5	3	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2675	6	6	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2565	14
6	7	GM	Murzin Volodar	2632	6	6	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2621	9
7	31	IM	Royal Shreyas	2455	5½	5½	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2640	6
8	46	IM	Aizenberg Benny	2409	5½	5½	GM	Moroni Luca Jr	2580	12
9	15	GM	Sonis Francesco	2562	5½	5½	FM	Vergara Anton Diego	2387	53
10	47	IM	Atanasov Anthony	2407	5½	5½	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2551	16
11	23	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	2490	5½	5½	IM	Bellia Fabrizio	2384	54
12	24	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan	2490	5½	5½	FM	Ezra Paul Chambers	2343	64
13	29	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2458	5½	5½	FM	Tudor Henry Edward	2279	81
14	57	FM	Carlo Emanuele	2363	5	5	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2544	18
15	19	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2540	5	5	FM	Zemach Nadav	2396	52

Details

Round 8 Open B results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1		Dimitrov Dejan	1998	5½	1 - 0	5½	CM	Joel Paul Ganta	1969	6
2	19		Natoli Alessia	1917	5½	1 - 0	5½		Knors Rudi	1992	2
3	27		Mascia Germano	1884	5	½ - ½	5		Wang Shanshan	1966	8
4	5	WFM	Botez Alexandra *)	1970	6½	1 - 0	5½		Molinari Carlo	1867	34
5	7		Nassa Nicolas	1969	4½	0 - 1	4½		Botez Andrea *)	1879	28
6	70		Valente Luca	1716	5	0 - 1	5		Maida Federico	1961	10
7	11		Costabile Vincenzo	1955	5	0 - 1	5		Benoit Hugues	1935	16
8	15		Carfagna Alex	1939	5	1 - 0	5		Peretti Eva	1698	74
9	24		Moreno Latorre Francisco Jose	1899	4½	0 - 1	4½		Neri Enzo	1978	4
10	64		Orman Attila	1728	4½	1 - 0	4½		Forno Diego	1961	9

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	5	WFM	Botez Alexandra	w	CAN	1970	7,5	40,5	36,5	37,75	1897
2	19		Natoli Alessia	w	POL	1917	6,5	40,5	37	32,25	1848
3	1		Dimitrov Dejan		BUL	1998	6,5	37	33,5	30,75	1825
4	16		Benoit Hugues		FRA	1935	6	39	37	27,00	1833
5	10		Maida Federico		ITA	1961	6	36,5	34,5	24,50	1827
6	15		Carfagna Alex		ITA	1939	6	34,5	32	25,00	1781
7	6	CM	Joel Paul Ganta		IND	1969	5,5	42	38,5	26,25	1875
8	34		Molinari Carlo		ITA	1867	5,5	40,5	38	25,25	1864
9	13		Becker Alexander		GER	1950	5,5	40	36,5	24,25	1822
10	8		Wang Shanshan	w	CHN	1966	5,5	37,5	34	23,75	1886

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	16		Benoit Hugues	1935	6	6½		Natoli Alessia	1917	19
2	10		Maida Federico	1961	6	6		Carfagna Alex	1939	15
3	2		Knors Rudi	1992	5½	5½		Simonelli Mattia	1886	26
4	1		Dimitrov Dejan	1998	6½	7½	WFM	Botez Alexandra *)	1970	5
5	8		Wang Shanshan	1966	5½	5½		Botez Andrea *)	1879	28
6	34		Molinari Carlo	1867	5½	5½		Neri Enzo	1978	4
7	6	CM	Joel Paul Ganta	1969	5½	5½		Mascia Germano	1884	27
8	13		Becker Alexander	1950	5½	5½		Orman Attila	1728	64
9	11		Costabile Vincenzo	1955	5	5		Petrosino Germano	1824	43
10	42		Fonda Marco	1825	5	5		Porcu Riccardo	1877	29

Details

Round 8 Open C results

Bo.	No.	Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.	Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	Piovesan Sara	1579	4½	0 - 1	6	Ferraro Luca	1399	20
2	22	Ozdogan Ertan	1399	6	1 - 0	4½	Corbo Giuseppe A.	1558	7
3	14	Geraci Daniele	1486	4½	0 - 1	6	Sun Hanyu	1399	26
4	8	Isaia Daniele	1548	4	1 - 0	4½	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	1574	5
5	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	1575	4	1 - 0	4	Saba Andrea	1399	24

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	22	Ozdogan Ertan	TUR	0	1399	7	40	36,5	33,00	1503
2	20	Ferraro Luca	ITA	0	1399	7	39,5	36	32,50	1532
3	26	Sun Hanyu	CHN	0	1399	7	38	35,5	31,00	1482
4	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	IND	1575	0	5	40	36,5	21,50	1466
5	8	Isaia Daniele	ITA	1548	0	5	36	34	20,50	1486
6	11	Serra Manuel	ITA	1521	0	5	34	31,5	17,00	1493
7	3	Piovesan Sara	ITA	1579	0	4,5	41	37	19,50	1471
8	7	Corbo Giuseppe A.	ITA	1558	0	4,5	39,5	36	18,75	1471
9	5	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	SMR	1574	0	4,5	37	34,5	15,50	1499
10	14	Geraci Daniele	ITA	1486	0	4,5	33	30,5	15,25	1496

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.	Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.	Name	Rtg	No.
1	20	Ferraro Luca	1399	7	5	Isaia Daniele	1548	8
2	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	1575	5	7	Ozdogan Ertan	1399	22
3	26	Sun Hanyu	1399	7	5	Serra Manuel	1521	11
4	7	Corbo Giuseppe A.	1558	4½	4½	Piovesan Sara	1579	3
5	5	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	1574	4½	4½	Schintu Elia	1399	25

Details

Links

Sardinia Chess Festival: Official site , fb page and instagram

Tournament details

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