Open Events/ 2014 World Open
GM Boris Gelfand, IM Albert Kapengut, and GM Ilya Smirin in the late 1980s.
worked together for 15 years, at least, I think. But Kapengut and I were also close. We went to tournaments together, often the three of us, Gelfand, Kapengut, and I. He’s just celebrated his 70th birthday, on U.S. Independence Day, July 4th. Maybe he’s reinforcing America’s independ - ence in some way (laughing).
Is there one characteristic of his training that comes to mind first of all for you?
Well, I would say that he was very erudite. In the days before computers, he had great knowledge of the openings. And that did set him apart from other trainers.
If you were feeling nostalgic, what would you remember about your native country and your home town of Minsk?
At A Glance ⁄2 ⁄2 : Alexander Davydov; Under 1800 Section, 1st-4th, 71 ⁄2 ⁄2
I do feel somewhat nostalgic about Minsk, and I managed to satisfy this nostalgia a bit this year when I was in Minsk a few months ago for an open tournament devoted to the memory of the great player David Bronstein. You know I always loved Minsk, and back in Soviet times I considered it one of the best Soviet cities.
And has your family been in Minsk since way back, or not?
I don’t have any relatives left in Minsk, for quite a while now. My parents also live [in] Vitebsk. I was born in Vitebsk, also in Belorussia, the hometown of Marc Chagall. I went to college in Minsk, and served there while I was in the army. I was there for five years, from about 18 through 22, so say four years.
And what can fans of Smirin look forward to now? Do you have a heavy schedule in front of you? The Olympiad?
Yes, of course I will play in the Olympiad in August [for Israel]. What to expect from me? I don’t know. I play a bit less these days than before, but it’s certainly interesting to play. I’ll be playing.
We sincerely congratulate you on your victory here.
Thank you very much!
The full interview in English can be seen here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW3X0vQEeCA&featur e=
youtu.be and in RUSSIAN:
www.youtube.com/ watch?v=fSBXf_Ot4c4&feature=
youtu.be
See video of the blitz playoff:
www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XqzVm-MXrbI&feature=
youtu.be.
Date: June 30-July 6, 2014 | Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia | 1,106 players | Top Finishers: Open, 1st-3rd, 7: Ilya Smirin, Illia I Nyzhnyk, Conrad Holt; 4th-7th, 61
Eugene Yanayt, Luis Maria Flaquer; 3rd-6th, 7: Angelo Young, Iskandar Aripov, Qibiao Wang, Ilker Bozkurt; Under 2200 Section, 1st-3rd, 71
: Yuniesky Quesada Perez, Sergei Azarov, Aleksandr Lenderman, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami; Under 2400/Unrated Section, 1st-2nd, 71 ⁄2
⁄2
Ewing, Yogesh Gautam; 4th-9th, 7: Daniel J. Ng, Arturo Gracia, Rainer Labay, Oscar Tan, Libardo Rueda, Charles Campbell; Under 2000 Section, 1st-2nd, 8: Zaida Hernandez, Manuel Then; 3rd, 71
⁄2 ⁄2 : Alex Hu; 3rd-4th, 7: Aaron Vaughn Wilson, Jiyong Dong; Unrated/Provisional Section, 1st-2nd, 71
: John A. Montfort; 2nd-3rd, 7: Brian F. Swope, Jay Chakravarthy; Under 900/Unrated Section, 1st, 81 ⁄2
World Open :
: Curtis Brooks, Gabriel : Lisandro Geraldo, Arthur G. Arutyunov, William Hwang, Saul Sanchez
Lizarraga; 5th-8th, 7: Justin Rajsky, Maxwell Feng, Alan Gracia, Robert Asibor; Under 1600 Section, 1st-2nd, 8: Joseph M. Zeltsan, Alexey Kochemirovskiy; 3rd- 7th, 7: Eli Baumann, Claude Redd, Max Haugh-Ewald, Naman Singh, Orlando Williams; Under 1400 Section, 1st, 71 Philip Gomory Keisler; Under 1200 Section, 1st, 71 Wang; 2nd, 71
: Daniel M. Adams, Hengyi Zhu; 3rd-4th, 61 Luming Cao, Dari M. Castro. | Chief Tournament Director: William Goichberg.
www.uschess.org 37
: Ali Thompson; 2nd-3rd, 7: Mark A. Jungo, ⁄2
: Haoxiang ⁄2
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