The Rapid event gathered 150 of the world’s strongest players, including Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik, Ukraine’s Vasily Ivanchuk, Israel’s Boris Gelfand, India’s Vishvanatan Anand, and Armenia’s Levon Aronyan. The event attracted so many chess geniuses that it could perhaps have joined the Guinness Book of Records.
Among the participants were Belarusians Sergey Zhigalko and Vladislav Kovalev. In the Rapid event, Sergey set the standard, heading the table after 10 rounds, with Magnus Carlsen. During the eleventh round, the leaders met and the Belarusian lost. Zhigalko earned 9.5 points and was placed 18th. The top three players were Carlsen, Russia’s Yan Nepomnyashchy and Azerbaijan’s Teimur Radzhabov.
Zhigalko’s second game was in the 16th round, in the Blitz, which ended in a draw; the Belarusian earned 10.5 points and was placed 12th. However, in the last five rounds, Sergey lost every game, pushing him into 90th position.
From December 17th-20th, similar tournaments will be held in Minsk, with chess players competing for the European Championship title.
