Dos Hermanas 2010

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Nakamura Blitzes Dos Hermanas

Hikaru Nakamura

Dos Hermanas has always been considered the biggest, best and strongest online blitz tournament in the world - and fittingly, the latest edition, the 11th Dos Hermanas online tournament, hosted exclusively on www.chessclub.com, was won in convincing style by arguably the strongest and best online blitz player in the world today: GM Hikaru Nakamura of USA.

Seattle-based Nakamura fought his way to the 32-player KO Finals (held 19th-20th March) after top-scoring in winning one of last week's 12 qualifiers (spanning 144 rounds). He was the top-seed and fan favorite for the finals, which had a prize-fund on offer of over $10,000.

Dos Hermanas though has a long history of being the graveyard of top seeds; but it wasn't to be this year. Nakamura (Smallville) beat GM Simonian Hrair (EREBUNI), IM Federico Perez Ponsa (Federicov), GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder (Kastor), and then GM Yaroslav Zinchenko (MEGAYARICK) in the final to take the title and$2,700 first prize.(Click here for brackets for Dos Hermanas 32-player finals, scores and all the game downloads)

It's been quite a year so far for Nakamura since he won his second US Championship title last May in St. Louis: his book Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate (co-authored with Bruce Harper) was published; he beat Magnus Carlsen to win the BN Bank Blitz in Norway; two superb performances at elite tournaments of London Chess Classic and Corus A Group; individual gold for his outstanding top-board performance at the World Team Championship that inspired Team USA to silver in Turkey; and now winning Dos Hermanas, the world's biggest, strongest and best online tournament.

This story was also covered in a recent edition of The New York Times - click here to read.

Finals grid

¤	1/16 Final	1/8 Final	1/4 Final	1/2 Final	Final
1 32	Smallville (3.0) YaacovN (0.0)	Smallville (4.0) EREBUNI (2.0)	Smallville (3.0) Federicov (0.0)	Smallville (2.5) Kastor (1.5)	Smallville (3.5) MEGAYARICK (1.5)
16 17	Dinamit (0.0) EREBUNI (3.0)	Smallville (4.0) EREBUNI (2.0)
8 25	Shadeath (1.5) Federicov (2.5)	Federicov (5.0) spark (3.0)
9 24	Wolf (0.5) spark (2.5)	Federicov (5.0) spark (3.0)
4 29	Vladimirovich (3.0) Tlaloc (0.0)	Vladimirovich (0.5) Kastor (2.5)	Kastor (4.0) LastKeks (2.0)
13 20	JuanCGlez (0.5) Kastor (2.5)	Vladimirovich (0.5) Kastor (2.5)
5 28	LastKeks (3.0) Universitario (0.0)	LastKeks (2.5) Crest (1.5)
12 21	Crest (2.5) Anarchy (1.5)	LastKeks (2.5) Crest (1.5)
2 31	IBorg (5.0) BlackHorse96 (3.0)	IBorg (1.0) MEGAYARICK (3.0)	MEGAYARICK (2.5) Ernesto (0.5)	MEGAYARICK (4.5) A-Lastin (3.5)
15 18	MEGAYARICK (3.0) topotun (0.0)	IBorg (1.0) MEGAYARICK (3.0)
7 26	Ernesto (3.0) HuevosDeLeon (0.0)	Ernesto (3.0) VerdeNotte (0.0)
10 23	VerdeNotte (4.0) Barbos (2.0)	Ernesto (3.0) VerdeNotte (0.0)
3 30	A-Lastin (2.5) firetiger (0.5)	A-Lastin (3.0) EX (1.0)	A-Lastin (3.0) manest (1.0)
14 19	Imperator15 (2.5) EX (3.5)	A-Lastin (3.0) EX (1.0)
6 27	JonLudvig (3.0) AtlasEagle (0.0)	JonLudvig (1.0) manest (3.0)
11 22	manest (2.5) DRUID1 (1.5)	JonLudvig (1.0) manest (3.0)

Download PGN for the FINALS

A brief Q&A session with GM Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

Maup: why b6 small?
Smallville(GM): Pretty much, I tried to avoid my main openings. Fortunately, it worked but kastor and mega came close to trashing my nonsensical opening!

chimbba: what's the next supertournament you play?
Smallville(GM): Next tournament I am playing is in Saint Louis.

LateKnight: are non sensical openings a PLUS in 3 0 or faster with your level of play?
Smallville(GM): I find that avoiding theory in blitz allows stronger players to outplay their opponents.

BrotherJohn: QUESTION ***** How often do you get RECOGNIZED on the street, in airports, public places, etc? *****
Smallville(GM): That depends, BrotherJohn. In New York, I get recognized fairly often. I also am recognized almost all the time when I go to casinos.

Thomasdada: will u play more OTB blitz in the future?
Smallville(GM): 5. I have always loved blitz immensely, but as I've become much stronger at classical my blitz skills have fallen off. Since I've gotten older, I actually enjoy thinking which had led me away from blitz. As such, I odubt I'll be playing more blitz online or otb unless its a showdown with Magnus! :)

Finals table

Seed	Username	Title	Real Name	FIDE-Rating	Qualified by
1	Smallville	GM	Hikaru Nakamura	2708	WQ2
2	IBorg	GM	Gata Kamsky	2693	WQ11
3	A-Lastin	GM	Alexander Lastin	2659	WQ5
4	Vladimirovich	GM	Dmitry Andreikin	2635	TNW2
5	LastKeks	GM	Farrukh Amonatov	2634	WQ3
6	JonLudvig	GM	Jon Ludvig Hammer	2627	TNW16
7	Ernesto	GM	Lazaro Bruzon Batista	2615	WQ1
8	Shadeath	GM	Andrey Deviatkin	2604	TNW10
9	Wolf	GM	Giorgi Kacheishvili	2587	TNW8
10	VerdeNotte	GM	Gawain Jones	2561	TNW15
11	manest	IM	Aleksandr Lenderman	2560	WQ6
12	Crest	GM	Sergey Shipov	2557	TNW13
13	JuanCGlez	GM	Juan Carlos G. Zamora	2552	WQ12
14	Imperator15	GM	Yuri Vovk	2546	TNW7
15	MEGAYARICK	GM	Yaroslav Zinchenko	2538	TNW1
16	Dinamit	GM	Artur Gabrielian	2523	TNW17
17	EREBUNI	GM	Simonian Hrair	2521	WQ8
18	topotun	GM	Mikhail Panarin	2518	WQ7
19	EX	GM	Rustam Khusnutdinov	2513	TNW18
20	Kastor	GM	Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder	2506	TNW4
21	Anarchy	IM	Anatoly Bykhovsky	2499	TNW3
22	DRUID1	GM	Kirill Bryzgalin	2497	WQ10
23	Barbos	GM	Dmitry Gurevich	2491	TNW6
24	spark	IM	Oliver Barbosa	2452	TNW12
25	Federicov	IM	Federico Perez Ponsa	2437	TNW5
26	HuevosDeLeon	IM	Leonardo Tristan	2408	TNW11
27	AtlasEagle	IM	Ismael Karim	2407	WQ4
28	Universitario	FM	Renato Terry Lujan	2397	TNW19
29	Tlaloc	IM	Leonardo Valdes	2395	TNW9
30	firetiger	none	Igor Sorkin	2392	TNW20
31	BlackHorse96	none	Alexandr Bortnik	2348	TNW14
32	YaacovN	none	Yaacov Norowitz	2334	WQ9

March 19, 2010: After a dramatic week of 12 qualifiers and 144 rounds, the ICC version of "March Madness" and the science of bracketology now comes into play as the world's strongest online blitz tournament, Dos Hermanas, first reached its final 32 on Friday, and now gears up for the final countdown on Saturday, 20th March.

Exiting early before the final eight has been some top GM names such as Gata Kamsky, Jon Ludvig Hammer and Giorgi Kacheishvili. But still riding high and within reach of his first Dos Hermanas title is top seed and big fan favorite GM Hikaru Nakamura. But the U.S. champion and world's top bullet player will also have to look out for Alexander Lastin, Farrukh Amonatov, Lazaro Bruzon and Alex Lenderman who are also among the final eight, and all of whom will equally be looking to snatch the title.

Click here for brackets for Dos Hermanas 32-player finals, scores and all the game downloads from the 12 qualifiers and finals so far.

And you can have a ringside seat as the final eight slug it out for the biggest online cash prize worth more than $10,000 by becoming a member of ICC by clicking here to join (or try our 7-day free trial). Why not follow all the action as it unfolds game by game for Saturday's decisive shootout for the title (+ch 227 for all the channel chat) by joining now?

Play gets underway Saturday, 20th March on ICC at 15:00 ET (20:00CET).

Qualifier-12 | Manager: Beats20cents | Wednesday, March 17 | 20:00 EDT | 333 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	JuanCGlez	GM Juan Carlos Gonzalez	2893	10.5	12	92.0	2599
2	HuevosDeLeon	IM Leonardo Francisco Tristán Pierantozzi	2547	10.0	12	91.0	2621
3	Dinamit	GM Gabrielian Artur	2873	10.0	12	89.5	2514

Download PGN for Q-12
Raffle prize winner: thewathkill

Qualifier-11 | Manager: ehab | Wednesday, March 17 | 15:00 EDT | 360 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	IBorg	GM Gata Kamsky	2874	10.0	12	98.5	2677
2	VerdeNotte	GM Gawain Jones	3041	10.0	12	93.0	2564
3	BlackHorse96	Alexandr Bortnik	2991	10.0	12	89.5	2585

Download PGN for Q-11
Raffle prize winner: Necrofago

Qualifier-10 | Manager: Lisebeth | Tuesday, March 16 | 20:00 EDT | 313 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	DRUID1	GM Bryzgalin Kirill	3006	11.5	12	99.0	2666
2	Vladimirovich	GM Dmitry Andreikin	3080	10.5	12	103.0	2665
3	spark	IM Oliver Barbosa	2790	10.0	12	98.0	2596

Download PGN for Q-10
Raffle prize winner: Rayconniff

Qualifier-9 | Manager: Kiebitz | Tuesday, March 16 | 15:00 EDT | 338 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	YaacovN	Yaacov Norowitz	3146	10.5	12	98.0	2691
2	Imperator15	GM Yuri Vovk	2769	10.0	12	96.0	2693
3	Tlaloc	IM Leonardo Valdes	2561	10.0	12	95.5	2681
4	Wolf	GM Giorgi Kacheishvili	2832	10.0	12	94.0	2688

Download PGN for Q-9
Raffle prize winner: boozehound

Qualifier-8 | Manager: ehab | Monday, March 15 | 20:00 EDT | 347 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	EREBUNI	GM Simonian Hrair	3088	10.5	12	98.5	2776
2	Anarchy	IM Anatoly Bykhovsky	2777	10.5	12	93.5	2630
3	Shadeath	GM Andrey Deviatkin	2981	10.0	12	93.5	2642

Download PGN for Q-8
Raffle prize winner: komaromy31

Qualifier-7 | Manager: Lisebeth | Monday, March 15 | 15:00 EDT | 339 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	topotun	GM Mikhail Panarin	3039	11	12	95.0	2666
2	MEGAYARICK	GM Yaroslav Zinchenko	3008	10.5	12	101.5	2801
3	Crest	GM Sergey Shipov	3025	10.0	12	96.5	2594

Download PGN for Q-7
Raffle prize winner: goran-esyu

Qualifier-6 | Manager: Beats20cents | Sunday, March 14 | 20:00 EDT | 329 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	manest	IM Aleksandr Lenderman	3014	10.5	12	95.5	2535
2	Vladimirovich	GM Dmitry Andreikin	3244	10.0	12	97.5	2687
3	Barbos	GM Dmitry Gurevich	2531	10.0	12	96.5	2760

Download PGN for Q-6
Raffle prize winner: ausstrider

Qualifier-5 | Manager: Lisebeth | Sunday, March 14 | 15:00 EDT | 398 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	A-Lastin	GM Alexander Lastin	3175	11.0	12	95.0	2678
2	JonLudvig	GM Jon Ludvig Hammer	2914	10.0	12	91.5	2529

Download PGN for Q-5
Raffle prize winner: Muad-dib

Qualifier-4 | Manager: ehab | Saturday, March 13 | 20:00 EDT | 298 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	AtlasEagle	IM Karim	2716	11.0	12	93.5	2805
2	EREBUNI	GM Simonian Hrair	3124	10.0	12	100.5	2753

Download PGN for Q-4
Raffle prize winner: geertm

Qualifier-3 | Manager: Kiebitz | Saturday, March 13 | 15:00 EDT | 369 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	LastKeks	GM Amonatov	3293	10.0	12	102.0	2751
2	Vladimirovich	GM Dmitry Andreikin	3321	10.0	12	99.0	2802
3	Kastor	GM rodrigo rafael vasquez schroder	3222	10.0	12	96.0	2775
4	BlackHorse96	Alexandr Bortnik	3251	10.0	12	90.5	2437

Download PGN for Q-3
Raffle prize winner: ortega

Qualifier-2 | Manager: Beats20cents | Friday, March 12 | 20:00 EDT | 258 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	Smallville	GM Hikuar Nakamura	3501	10.5	11	101.5	2694
2	manest	IM Aleksandr Lenderman	2917	10.0	12	96.0	2764
3	IBorg	GM Gata Kamsky	2795	10.0	12	95.0	2668

Download PGN for Q-2
Raffle prize winner: carlosh99

Qualifier-1 | Manager: Kiebitz | Friday, March 12 | 15:00 EDT | 353 players

N	ICC Username	Real name	Rating	Score	#g	S.O.S.	Opp.Rating
1	Ernesto	GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista	3218	10.5	12	101.5	2859
2	Federicov	IM Federico Perez Ponsa	3025	10.0	12	101.0	2771
3	Vladimirovich	GM Dmitry Andreikin	3342	10.0	12	97.5	2816
4	BlackHorse96	Alexandr Bortnik	3273	10.0	12	91.5	2494

Download PGN for Q-1
Raffle prize winner: Drift

It's the chess equivalent of March madness here on ICC, as we crank-up the servers for the online chess tournament that the fans eagerly look forward to each year: "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas", the biggest, grandest and best online tournament hosted only here on ICC.

The total prize fund amounts to EUR 7,600 (about $10,400), with Euro 2,000 (roughly $2,700) first prize, plus additional class prizes and ICC membership prizes for amateur players. Entry is completely FREE but you DO need to be a member of ICC (and register) to play!

This is one of the most important Internet chess tournaments in the world with the last four editions boasting an entry of over 5,000 players from all over the world. Will previous two-time winner, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, go for a third title in four years, or will defending champion GM Dmitry Kononenko (Dako) join the untitled online blitz maven by becoming the second player to win back-to-back titles? Other top grandmasters who have vied for the title in the past include: Shahriyar Mamedyarov, Tigran L. Petrosian, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Kiril Georgiev and Sergey Shipov.

As in previous editions, the playing system is as follows: twelve 12-round Swiss qualifiers using the playing rate of 3 minutes per game. Qualifiers are held twice a day from March 12th to March 17th, with the finals being held on March 19th & 20th. The 12 qualifier winners plus the 20 best scores qualify to go forward to the 32-player KO final.

Even if you are not aiming to win a prize, this tournament gives you a unique chance to meet world class players! We hope that Dos Hermanas will become the internet chess tourney of the year once again. Make sure to register early only at the official site below! Your registration is valid for all qualifiers, but you do not need to play all.

Useful links:

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