Ukrainian Chess Review: April 2001
April: one good news and four good tournaments

Mikhail Golubev
6.5.2001

A good news of April was the nomination of grandmaster Viacheslav Eingorn a participant of the 2001 World Championship by the FIDE President. The Ukrainian federation has received an official notification from the FIDE Secretariat and the Kiev «Sporyvna Gazeta» has informed its readers accordingly on 28 April.
The story how Eingorn was not included into the previous 2000 FIDE World Championship membership list clouded the spirits not only of the famous grandmaster (though it is quite enough) but also of many chess players of Ukraine, therefore we are happy to see that the situation has been changed.

Ukrainian Women's Championship
(Kramatorsk, 26 March - 8 April)

The 2001 Championship that took place in A.V.Momot Donetsk Regional Chess Club was peculiar of its exceptionally strong level - 7 grandmasters participated though the rest of the participants did not spoil with their play the true chess festival which Donetsk organizers made a customary gift to the chess public of Ukraine.
Anna Zatonskih who holds the highest tournament rating (2432) became the champion and we take this opportunity to send our congratulations to her again.
Should it is possible to organize the same representative tournament among men in Ukraine this year, I consider that the major recent problem of Ukrainian chess is successfully resolved.

Team Championship of Ukraine
(Alushta, 6-15 April)

I am provoked to say that it is for the next time, though not in succession but following the unexpected last year miss, that the strongest Ukrainian team of all last years - «Danko-Donbass» - won. Having preserved its almost invariable membership (Baklan, Kruppa, Kuzmin, Timoshenko, Shneider, Gurevich and Savchenko), the Donbass team has left few chances for its competitors from the «Grandmasters' School» and «Law Academy».
It is hard not to pay attention to the fact that the big chess centers, among which there are Lviv and Odessa, did not present their teams again. Until now the majority of Ukrainian chess players conceived that a chess club is something free for the citizens and is supported and managed by the state, and team competitions are taken seriously if the participation in the team is directly connected with the place of residence. Under such circumstances it is for certain that the real club system can not naturalize. Let us wait for about decade and see what happens.

Alushta Open
(16-25 April)

Eighty nine chess players took part in this competition that simultaneously possessed several statuses: the open, the third stage of the Russian Cup, the semi-final of the Ukrainian Championship and the Ukrainian qualification tournament preceding the European Championship (Macedonia, 1-15 June). FIDE's decision to make a selection for the 2001 World Championship through the continental tournament created, as any novelty, new problems, therefore it is hardly fair to reproach the Ukrainian federation for selecting six participants through the Alushta tournament. Fourteen other Ukrainian nominations were obtained by the holders of the highest ELO ratings.
As the Ukrainian Championship final is delayed until autumn, let us wait and hope that this time it will be held at the level we all are entitled to expect.
Coming back to the Alushta tournament, we may not omit the win of Vladislav Borovikov (ELO 2555). By the way, as early as in 1992 he became the first chess champion of the Independent Ukraine. This new win was dearly bought by Vladislav as it follows from the list of the players who took the subsequent places: 2. S.Fedorchuk 3-9. V.Burmakin, A.Korobov, Å.Miroshnichenko, Z.Efimenko, V.Malakhatko, D.Yevseev, M.Podgaets.

Rector Cup
(Kharkov, 18-25 April)

The third tournament named the National Law Academy Rector's Cup collected the record 13th category. Very few tournaments of such level are held in Ukraine and just this fact is enough to view this contest as one of the most famous events of the year. Besides, we should note that the new and controversial FIDE time control was implemented for the first time in Ukraine just in Kharkov. Good or bad, but the experiment could not prevent Ruslan Ponomariov, the strongest out of six participants, from winning. Ruslan has gained 7.5 points out of 10 against such serious opponents as Alexander Moiseenko, Yannick Pelletier, Maxim Turov, Pavel Eljanov and Alexander Zubarev. Taking into account the unsure start and unusual control, we cannot but admit that this result is good. However, the most significant fact for Ponomariov is the victory itself as the organizers of serious international tournaments balk him (which is surprising considering Ponomariov's invariable leadership in the world junior rating). Under such circumstances it was quite relevant for Ruslan to prove himself and all people involved that he is in apple-pie order.

 
  Interview with Viacheslav Eingorn (November 2000)
  Ukrainian Women's Championship
  Team Championship of Ukraine
  Alushta Open
  Rector Cup
 
 
 
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