LAS VAGAS–Vladamir Akopian of Armenia has entered the quarter finals of a chess tournament sponsored by the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) that took place at Ceasars Palace on Tuesday.
31st seeded Akopian–defeated the veteran Bulgarian grandmaster Kiril Georgiev–seeded 23rd–in an endgame that lasted 90 moves.
Akopian felt that Georgiev could have forced a draw with a perfect play even though he had an extra pawn. Several small errors made by Georgiev led to his eventual defeat.
The winner of the tournament will receive $660,000 of the $3 million prize fund.
The youngest player–Sergei Movsesian–20–an Armenian representing the Czech Republic managed a magical draw against Alexei Fedorov of Belarus–seeded third. Fedorov gained an early advantage forcing Movsesian to give up his queen for only a rook and knight. Fedorov was winning handily at first but played inaccurately giveing way for Movsesian–seeded 27th–to build a fortress and salvage the draw.