17th International Chess Festival ‘Caspian Cup 2019’ and ‘3rd Chess Stars Cup’
Report by Shohreh Bayat. Photos: Nima Kamali & Diyar Mirza.
The 17th International Chess Festival ‘Caspian Cup 2019′ and the ‘3rd Chess Stars Cup’ took place in mid February 2019. It was officially opened in Anzali Free Zone in Iran on 11 February 2019 and ran from 12-19 February 2019.
This event was hugely successful. A total of over 750 players from 20 countries took part in this annual event. Gilan Chess Association under the auspices of Chess Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran were the organisers
3rd Chess Stars Cup
The 3rd edition of the Chess Stars Cup was the flagship event. This event pitted some of Iran’s most talented youngsters against an experienced group of foreign Grandmasters.
The format was the Scheveningen System which pitted the Iran stars against the foreign grandmasters.
The foreign grandmasters comprised GM Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan), GM Evgeny Alekseev (Russia), GM Marin Bosiocic (Croatia), and GM Sergey Tiviakov (Netherlands).
The All Stars from Iran included World Junior Champion GM Parham Maghsoodloo, GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei and GM Amirreza Pourramezanali.
the Iran Stars convincingly prevailed over the World Stars with a match point score of 10 to 6 over the 8 rounds.
GM Alireza Firouza v GM Marin Bosicic
GM Parham Maghsooloo (pictured above) also played well and gained +6.6 rating points.
GM Marin Bosiocic v GM Parham Maghsoodloo
GM Marin Bosiocic (pictured above) was however the most uncompromising player in the tournament with no draws, with 4 wins and 4 losses and scoring 4 out of 8.
GM Alekseev (pictured above) also played some great games and achieved a performance rating of 2644.
17th Caspian Cup
The 17th Caspian Cup was another event that took place at the same time in the same venue. It is considered to be the most representative open tournament in Iran. Former World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov has also been a special guest in the past edition.
The event consisted of five groups according to the rating of the participants. The groups were – А (2100 and more), B (2099-1800), C (1799 and less) D (Women) and C (Youth- Under 14). Participants of all the groups played in 9 or 11 rounds according to the Swiss system.
This year the winner of the Masters or A Group were Iran GM Masoud Mosadeghpour. GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy from Ukraine and GM Karen Grigoryan from Armenia were in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Anzali Free Zone
Anzali Free Zone is the only free zone in the southern part of Caspian Sea. It is the economic hub of Iran with an area of 9,400 hectares of land and 40 km shoreline is located in Gilan province which has launched its official activity since 2005.
It is also a popular destination for tourists from the Caspian states and Iraq.
Links
Interview with Secretary General with Iran Chess Federation.
Shohreh Bayat is board member of the Iranian Chess Federation. She is also a highly respected IA and officiated at the 2018 Ladies World Championship match in Khanty Mansiysk. Shohreh is also a Councillor in the FIDE Arbiters Commission.