Friday, July 27, 2007

Smerdon Edges To Norm

Oh what a good morning! David Smerdon was victorious in his game last night against GM Evgeni Sveshnikov of Latvia in Pardubice. And yes, that's the Sveshnikov who invented the famous Sicilian system. I don't have the PGN and I'm kind of afraid to ask from our man David as he shouldn't be disturbed so we'll have to wait for that on the official site.

With that win, the Aussie IM should just now be a draw away from the GM norm. Then it'll just be a matter of achieving the required rating after that.

Our man will play the 2492-rated Ukrainian IM Martyn Kravtsiv next and that game should be broadcast live tonight. Perhaps none of us are too fond of the quick GM draw but, I think under the circumstances, a little bit of pragmatism ought to prevail.

After 7 rounds, Vlastimil Babula is the sole leader on 6.5 points. There are 3 chasers on 6 points and 13 other players on 5.5 including IM Smerdon.

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