10th Internet Chess Tournament “Ciudad
de Dos Hermanas”
(Internet Chess Club (ICC), March 13th-21st 2009)
IM Michael Rahal (EDAMI, Barcelona)
During nine days the tenth edition of the Internet Chess Tournament “Ciudad de Dos Hermanas”, has been battled out on the Internet Chess Club www.chessclub.com. With 1975 registrations, amongst them many of the best blitz players in the world, this event has definitely become one of the biggest chess events in the world, both online and on-the-board. It's not easy to find a chess festival with so many sportsmen participating.
With this event, the Seville city and its Sports Council continue to promote chess as an educational tool and sports promotion, combining it with the on-the-board Open that will be held on the 28th of March (details here http://www.doshermanas.net/actividades.asp?id=51) with more than 15 GM's already registered.
After the drop-out of IM Robert Hess, the 32 finalists, 26 of them Grand Masters, held a two-day battle until the quick play specialist Ukranian GM Dmitry Kononenko (2574) defeated in the final another great blitz player, Armenian GM Zaven Andriasian (2564) by a clear 3.5 to 1.5. In his path to the final, Kononenko had to overcome the two pre-event favourites: American GM Hikaru Nakamura and the winner of the previous two editions of the event, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun. Thus, his victory is a great achievement.
The total prize fund was 7.500 euros with the winner receiving a 2.000 euros first prize.
Tournament winners
| Edition | Year | Winner |
| I Dos Hermanas Internet | 2000 | Dmitry Tyomkin (ISR - MI 2513) |
| II Dos Hermanas Internet | 2001 | Sergei Shipov (RUS - GM 2640) |
| III Dos Hermanas Internet | 2002 | Alexander Rustemov (RUS - GM 2607) |
| IV Dos Hermanas Internet | 2003 | Vladimir Potkin (RUS - GM 2516) |
| V Dos Hermanas Internet | 2004 | Daniel Fridman (GER - GM 2588) and Jan Gustafsson (GER - GM 2572) |
| VI Dos Hermanas Internet | 2005 | Daniel Fridman (GER - GM 2569) |
| VII Dos Hermanas Internet | 2006 | Fabian Doetlling (GER - GM 2542) |
| VIII Dos Hermanas Internet | 2007 | Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (USA - 2460) |
| IX Dos Hermanas Internet | 2008 | Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (USA - 2460) |
| X Dos Hermanas Internet | 2009 | Dmitry Kononenko (UKR - GM 2574) |
Complete standings and other interesting information can be found at the Dos Hermanas web site www.doshermanas.net. Download PGN of the finales here
32-player Knockout Finals
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