Friday 27 February 2015

Who is ... Itzhak Kfir?

Looking for a change from the usual 'OMG Another monster swiss' I started looking at the bottom end of the 2015 European Individual Championship. The tournament, which is being held in Jerusalem, has the usual strong field of 2600+ GM's, and has attracted 250 players.
While David Navara (2753) is the top seed (by virtue of being alphabetically ahead of Nikita Vitiugov who is also rated 2745), Itzhak Kfir is seed number 250. He is one of a group of FIDE unrated Israeli players who have braved an event where the half way player is rated 2457. And just as at the top, Kfir got the bottom spot courtesy of his surname.
Keeping with the bottom up view of the tournament, the lowest seeded title player is IM Vladimir Chuba (2066).  This puts him below the lowest rated FM (Dan Drori) and the lowest rated CM (Saar Drori). However the field gets quite strong after that, with GM Jacob Murey (2428) seeded 135, the lowest of the GM's.
The whole event kicked off on Tuesday, and so there are still plenty of players on 2/2. Based on previous versions of this event, I assume one of the top seeds will clear out at the top, a large bunch will keep pace, and the final two rounds will see players aiming for World Cup places with strategic draws.
Results for the event are here, and it includes a link to download games from the early rounds.

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