ГоБиблиотека: Турниры/Европа/Фудзицу/1997

V European Fujitsu Finals 1997

EGCC, Amstelveen, 13-14.12.1997

Country Str. 1st round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final Winner Romania 2p Catalin Taranu Taranu France 6d Farid Ben Malek? W+R Taranu Russia 6d Victor Bogdanov Sorin W+R Romania 6d Sorin Gherman B+R Taranu Russia 6d Alexei Lazarev Soldan B+5.5 Poland 6d Leszek Soldan W+21.5 Guo Czech 6d Radek Nechanicky Guo W+R Netherland 7d Guo Juan B+25.5 Taranu Netherland 7d Rob van Zeijst van Zeijst B+R Russia 6d Ruslan Saifullin W+R Yatsenko Ukraine 6d Dmitrii Yatsenko Yatsenko B+2.5 Czech 6d Vladimir Danek B+R Pop Romania 6d Cristian Pop  Pop W+1.5 United Kingdom 6d Matthew Macfadyen B+8.5 Pop Netherland 5d Emil Nijhuis Nijhuis B+2.5 Germany 1p Hans Pietsch W+R

Catalin Taranu, winner 1997

With a similair line-up as last year, four players of professional strength and the rest renowned European top players, many people expected again an interesting tournament. However, nobody could expect the excitement and the upsets as they were this time.

Round 1 saw the biggest upset, Hans Pietsch, strong favorite for a final place (like last year), lost by resignation to the seventeen-year old Emil Nijhuis. This was a huge dissappointment for Hans Pietsch, because he came to win this time, after being runner-up last year.
Surprisingly, all Russian participants were eliminated too, so the quarter finals started with three Romanians, three Dutch, a Pole and a Ukrainian. And this Ukrainian guy, Dmitrii Yatsenko, was responsible for the second main upset of the tournament. Four time finalist and two time winner, Rob van Zeijst had a bad day. After a disastrous start he almost came back in the game, but eventually he lost by 2,5 points.
In the upper half of the draw, both seeded players, Guo and Taranu, came through. With an 16-9 record (1997) as a professional player, it was interesting to see if Catalin Taranu could match Guo Juan. Taranu won by 5,5 points to meet his friend and fellow countryman, Cristian Pop in the final. Pop won by 1,5 points after a dramatic game, which looked a winning game for Yatsenko for a long time.
The final was a relatively easy game for Taranu, who will bring Pop with him as insei to Nagoya in January. With this win Catalin qualified for the Fujitsu Cup, which will be played next year in Japan.