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The Voice of Russia
March 22 2014
Summing up the 2014 European Chess Championship in Yerevan
By Elina Kazaryan and David Kerans
YEREVAN (VR)-- The 2014 European Individual Chess Championship that
concluded Friday in Yerevan was a blockbuster, not just for the
hundreds of titled players who filled out the field, but for the
brilliant performance of surprise winner Alexander Motylev, whom we
featured in an in-depth interview on Monday.
0Radio VR's Elina Kazaryan was on the scene at the closing ceremonies
to gather thoughts from Chief Arbiter Ashok Vardapetyan, who is also
Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation.
0Kazaryan: I know you followed the tournament avidly, and could
discuss how it played out at great length, but how would you summarize
the European Championship?
0EICC tournament setting in Yerevan
Photo credit: (c) Elina Kazaryan, VR
0Vardapetyan: It seems to me that many of the players had concrete
sporting assignments here {as in, to finish in the top 23 and
guarantee themselves a spot in the 2015 World Cup}. Some completed
their assignments, others did not. But the chief result of the
tournament boils down to the fact that Motylev rose above them all.
His victory was fully warranted. He did very well early {Motylev
reeled of five wins after an opening round draw with the black
pieces}, spent the rest of the tournament among the leaders, and won
the championship outright. I want to congratulate Motylev, and to ask,
half-jokingly, that if the Russian national team has a trainer who
wins the European Championship {Motylev is currently the number two
trainer of the Russian national team}, how extraordinary must the
national team be?
0Kazaryan: How would you characterize the play of the Armenian contestants here?
0Vardapetyan: In general the Armenian players in the EICC did not
badly. Three of them finished in the top twenty-three {Hrant
Melkumyan, Gabriel Sarkissian, and 20 year-old Samvel Ter-Sahakyan},
and thus qualified for the World Cup. Armenia has not had many players
qualifying for recent editions of the World Cup, so that is a success.
Many Armenian junior players did well, but of course the fact that the
Yerevan hosted the Championship allowed more of our young players than
usual to compete. As to the fact that none of the top Armenian players
made it to the podium, that might be because they were a bit short on
combativeness, or weren't blessed with the best of luck. I would say
again that the Armenian players did not do badly here.
0Kazaryan: If you were to choose one game as the most striking, does
one or another come immediately to mind?
0Vardapetyan toting up the final results Photo
credit: (c) Elina Kazaryan, VR
0Vardapetyan: As Chief Arbiter I keep an eye on all the games, but I
am watching to make sure all rules are observed, not so much on the
moves in the games. I won't select any game myself, but on websites
covering the Championship I noticed particular interest in one of (GM
Baadur) Jobava's games. There were several Queens on the board, and
the game {Dubov-Jobava} ended in style.
0Kazaryan: And what do you make of Jobava's fate here, what happened?
{the sixth-highest rated contestant at the EICC, and coming off a
victory in the Bronstein Memorial in Minsk, Jobava crashed to a 52nd
place finish in Yerevan}
0Vardapetyan: He started pretty well, and had a chance to finish very
high. {he was in the top 10 at the halfway point} He fell off late,
but I think he need not despair, because next February at the European
Championship in Jerusalem he'll have another chance by finishing in
the top 23 there to secure a spot in the 2015 World Cup. He's a strong
enough player to do better than he did here and to qualify for the
World Cup.
http://voiceofrussia.com/us/2014_03_22/Summing-up-the-2014-European-Chess-Championship-in-Yerevan-5715/
March 22 2014
Summing up the 2014 European Chess Championship in Yerevan
By Elina Kazaryan and David Kerans
YEREVAN (VR)-- The 2014 European Individual Chess Championship that
concluded Friday in Yerevan was a blockbuster, not just for the
hundreds of titled players who filled out the field, but for the
brilliant performance of surprise winner Alexander Motylev, whom we
featured in an in-depth interview on Monday.
0Radio VR's Elina Kazaryan was on the scene at the closing ceremonies
to gather thoughts from Chief Arbiter Ashok Vardapetyan, who is also
Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation.
0Kazaryan: I know you followed the tournament avidly, and could
discuss how it played out at great length, but how would you summarize
the European Championship?
0EICC tournament setting in Yerevan
Photo credit: (c) Elina Kazaryan, VR
0Vardapetyan: It seems to me that many of the players had concrete
sporting assignments here {as in, to finish in the top 23 and
guarantee themselves a spot in the 2015 World Cup}. Some completed
their assignments, others did not. But the chief result of the
tournament boils down to the fact that Motylev rose above them all.
His victory was fully warranted. He did very well early {Motylev
reeled of five wins after an opening round draw with the black
pieces}, spent the rest of the tournament among the leaders, and won
the championship outright. I want to congratulate Motylev, and to ask,
half-jokingly, that if the Russian national team has a trainer who
wins the European Championship {Motylev is currently the number two
trainer of the Russian national team}, how extraordinary must the
national team be?
0Kazaryan: How would you characterize the play of the Armenian contestants here?
0Vardapetyan: In general the Armenian players in the EICC did not
badly. Three of them finished in the top twenty-three {Hrant
Melkumyan, Gabriel Sarkissian, and 20 year-old Samvel Ter-Sahakyan},
and thus qualified for the World Cup. Armenia has not had many players
qualifying for recent editions of the World Cup, so that is a success.
Many Armenian junior players did well, but of course the fact that the
Yerevan hosted the Championship allowed more of our young players than
usual to compete. As to the fact that none of the top Armenian players
made it to the podium, that might be because they were a bit short on
combativeness, or weren't blessed with the best of luck. I would say
again that the Armenian players did not do badly here.
0Kazaryan: If you were to choose one game as the most striking, does
one or another come immediately to mind?
0Vardapetyan toting up the final results Photo
credit: (c) Elina Kazaryan, VR
0Vardapetyan: As Chief Arbiter I keep an eye on all the games, but I
am watching to make sure all rules are observed, not so much on the
moves in the games. I won't select any game myself, but on websites
covering the Championship I noticed particular interest in one of (GM
Baadur) Jobava's games. There were several Queens on the board, and
the game {Dubov-Jobava} ended in style.
0Kazaryan: And what do you make of Jobava's fate here, what happened?
{the sixth-highest rated contestant at the EICC, and coming off a
victory in the Bronstein Memorial in Minsk, Jobava crashed to a 52nd
place finish in Yerevan}
0Vardapetyan: He started pretty well, and had a chance to finish very
high. {he was in the top 10 at the halfway point} He fell off late,
but I think he need not despair, because next February at the European
Championship in Jerusalem he'll have another chance by finishing in
the top 23 there to secure a spot in the 2015 World Cup. He's a strong
enough player to do better than he did here and to qualify for the
World Cup.
http://voiceofrussia.com/us/2014_03_22/Summing-up-the-2014-European-Chess-Championship-in-Yerevan-5715/