Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Smerdon Has 7-Move Draw

It was a short 7-mover draw for Smerdon last night against GM Gajewski. The Australian IM, who is gunning for his third GM norm in Pardubice, will front up against IM Andriy Vovk next. David is on 3.5 points after 4 games.

Manuel Weeks, on the other hand, posted another draw against Boris Furman and the Aussie now has 1.5 points.

2 comments:

Justin said...

u can't be serious! A 7 move draw?!
I know he is goin for a GM norm and every point or half point is vital. But this shows a complete lack of fight and competitiveness.
Smerdon should think about wat sort of GM he wants to be!

Phil Willis said...

I'm glad Smerdon grabbed the draw, but I'd be keen to know more about the circumstances involving the draw.

Was one of them not feeling well? Was it a strategic move? Was it just a chance to get a bit of extra rest before other rounds?

How common are these kinds of draws?

I must say I'm puzzled by it - or maybe I'm just naive as to how these big tournaments operate.

Anyway - good luck to Dave Smerdon!