International News Today

[Fred McKim]

IM Eric Hansen is finishing his Olympic preparation at the Isthmia International in Greece. The 93 player, 9 round A section has 12 players 2500+ including Iordachescu (2645) and Fedorchuk (2639). Round 7 is in progress - Eric has 4/6, having drawn his last 4 games all vs GM's.

GM Kevin Spraggett is playing in the Sants Open in Barcelona. There are over 300 players in the 10 round A section. After 6 rounds, Kevin with 5 is 1/2 point out of first. He was 3rd ranked behind Nisipeanu and Gajewski, with a total of 14 2500+ players. A good finish could put him back in the 2600 club.

Update: Eric won his game today. While the title rules are tricky I think he might be close to a GM norm if he scores 1.5/2 to finish out. His lowest rated opponent gets raised to 2200.

[Christopher Mallon]

He needs to play at least one more title-holder (not counting CM/WCM), which is likely but not guaranteed.

Depending on their ratings... 1/2 might do the trick, but you're right that he probably needs 1.5/2.

[Christopher Mallon]

His current "norm" performance rating is 2586, just shy of a GM norm.

After the full 9 rounds, raising the lowest rating to 2200 will increase his performance rating by 18 points. So he needs an actual performance rating of 2582 for a GM norm.

He plays an IM tomorrow which satisfies the titleholder requirements.

[Christopher Mallon]

Eric won today against an IM, giving him 6/8.

If he happened to be playing someone rated 2792 or higher tomorrow then even a loss would give him a GM norm. However since none of those are available to be played...

If his opponent tomorrow is rated 2423 or higher, a draw gets him a GM norm. If his opponent is rated lower than 2423, he needs a win.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Eric won today against an IM, giving him 6/8.

Enjoy the win :)

[Event "2nd International Tournament "]
[Site "?"]
[Date ""]
[Round "8"]
[White "Hansen, E. (2472)"]
[Black "Akshayraj, K. (2483)"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Be6 10. Bf3 Nbd7 11. a4 Qc7 12. Nd2 Rac8 13. Nf1 Qb8 14. Ne3 Bd8 15. Bd2 Bb6 16. a5 Ba7 17. Rc1 Rfe8 18. b3 b5 19. axb6 Bxb6 20. Ncd5 Bxd5 21. exd5 Qa7 22. Rf1 e4 23. Be2 Re5 24. Ra1 Nxd5 25. Bxa6 Nxe3 26. Bxe3 Rd8 27. Bf4 Rf5 28. Bg3 Bxf2+ 29. Rxf2 Rxf2 30. Be2 Qxa1 31. Qxa1 Rxe2 32. Qc3 e3 33. Kf1 Rd2 34. Be1 e2+ 35. Kf2 Rd5 36. Qc7 Rf5+ 37. Kg3 Rf8 38. Qxd7 Rf1 39. Qxd6 Rxe1 40. Qd2 Rf1 41. Qxe2 Rf6 42. Qc4 Re8 43. h3 h5 44. b4 g5 45. b5 h4+ 46. Kh2 Kg7 47. Qd4 Kg6 48. b6 Re1 49. b7 Rb1 50. c4 Kg7 51. c5 Rxb7 52. Qd5 Ra7 53. Qxg5+ Rg6 54. Qe5+ Kh7 55. Qf4 Raa6 56. Qxf7+ Kh6 57. Qf8+ Kh5 58. Qh8+ Kg5 59. Qd4 Kh5 60. Qe4 Raf6 61. Kg1 Ra6 62. Qd5+ Rg5 63. Qf3+ Kh6 64. c6 Ra1+ 65. Kh2 Rc1 66. Qf6+ Kh5 67. Qf7+ Kh6 68. Qe6+ Kh5 69. Qe8+ Kh6 70. Qh8+ Kg6 71. Qg8+ Kh6 72. Qh8+ Kg6 73. Qxh4 Rgc5 74. Qe4+ Kh6 75. h4 Rxc6 76. g3 R1c4 77. Qe5 Kh7 78. Qe7+ Kh8 79. Qf8+ Kh7 80. Kh3 Rc7 81. h5 R4c5 82. Qf3 Rg5 83. Kh4 Rcg7 84. Qd3+ Kh6 85. Qe3 Rg8 86. Qf4 R8g7 87. Qf6+ R7g6 88. Qh8+ 1-0

[Christopher Mallon]

Eric has Black against GM Ioannis of Greece - rated 2562 - in Round 9. A draw or a win will get him a GM norm! :)

Also, he is currently tied for 2nd-7th with 5 GMs.

[Christopher Mallon]

Eric's win today got him a GM norm! Congrats!

Also... I'm not 100% sure, due to rounding, but I think it'll put his rating up to 2502. Which means he's fulfilled the published rating requirement.

That means he just needs 18 games worth of GM norms to get the title. Which means that a norm result at the Olympiad (worth 20 games) would get him the title! :)

[Fred McKim]

Eric's win today got him a GM norm! Congrats!

Also... I'm not 100% sure, due to rounding, but I think it'll put his rating up to 2502. Which means he's fulfilled the published rating requirement.

That means he just needs 18 games worth of GM norms to get the title. Which means that a norm result at the Olympiad (worth 20 games) would get him the title! :)

This may be difficult if he's actually playing 4th board, but we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope it all works out for him. He's hot !!

[Christopher Mallon]

This may be difficult if he's actually playing 4th board, but we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope it all works out for him. He's hot !!

Only if our team does particularly poorly and plays a lot of VERY low ranked countries... Assuming he plays 9 rounds out of 11, he needs to play only 3 GMs and 2 FM/IM/WGM/WIM/WFM and perform >2600 for a 20 game norm. If he misses the titled players requirements, which is what I think you're worried about, just performing >2600 is still a 13-game norm.