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Zviad Izoria wins HB Global Chess Challenge

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Zviad Izoria wins HB Global Chess Challenge

Georgian Grandmaster Zviad Izoria drew GM Ildar Ibragimov in the 9th and final round to take clear first at the first HB Global Chess Challenge. Izoria scored 7.5 points in 9 rounds, a half-point ahead of 10 other players.

For taking first place, Izoria won $50,000. Each of the players who tied for second took home $5,500 for their efforts. The second place finishers were: Ilya Smirin, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Beliavsky, Pentala Karikrishna, Jaan Ehlvest, Evgeny Najer, Ildar Ibragimov, Artur Jussupow, Leonid Yudasin and Daniel Fridman.

This tournament drew a strong international field. Of the top 11 finishers, nine came from outside the United States, with Kamsky and Ibragimov the exceptions.

Of course, this tournament had many winners; the top finishers in each of the six lower divisions each took home significant prize money as well. Here are the winners from each section, with their prize money:

Under 2200: Andrew Cunanan, $20,000
Under 2000: Karl Victor F Ochoa, $20,000
Under 1800: Vaughan Earle Heussenstamm, $20,000
Under 1600: Todd Freitag, $20,000
Under 1400: John Thomas, $12,000
Best Under 1200 (U1400 division): Jason Clark, $10,000
Best Under 1000 (U1400 division): Anton A Li, $4,000
Unrated: Ynocencio Pujols, $2,000

Here is a crucial game from the Open division, a round eight victory by Izoria over Beliavsky.

White: Beliavsky, A (2760)
Black: Izoria, Z (2707)
HB Global Chess Challenge, Round 8
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Rc8 12.Nc3 Qe8 13.e4 dxc4 14.h3 Bb4 15.Re1 h6 16.bxc4 Bxc4 17.a3 Be7 18.Nd2 Ba6 19.Qa4 Bd3 20.Re3 Bb5 21.Nxb5 cxb5 22.Qxa7 g5 23.Bc7 Ra8 24.Qb7 Qc8 25.Qxc8 Raxc8 26.Be5 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Nd7 28.Nf3 Rc5 29.Rb3 Nxe5 30.Nxe5 Rxe5 31.Rab1 Rd8 32.Rxb5 Rxb5 33.Rxb5 Bc5 34.Rb3 Rd2 35.Rf3 Ra2 36.Bf1 Bxa3 37.Bc4 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Bc5 39.Rc3 Re1 40.Kf3 Kg7 41.Rc2 h5 42.Rd2 Rc1 43.Be2 Kf6 44.Kg2 h4 45.gxh4 gxh4 46.Rd7 Rc2 47.Kf1 Kg6 48.e5 Rb2 49.f4 Rb4 50.Bd3+ f5 51.exf6+ Kxf6 52.f5 exf5 53.Rh7 Rf4+ 54.Ke2 Rf2+ 55.Ke1 Rf3 56.Bf1 Kg5 57.Rh5+ Kxh5 58.Be2 Kg5 59.Bxf3 Kf4 60.Bc6 Kg3 61.Bd7 f4 0-1