9th International Chess Festival Meurthe et Moselle
Laurent Fressinet and Daniel Fridman win blitz and rapid respectively
The 9th International Chess Festival was held in Nancy (France) on 12 and 13 of March 2011. The field for the big rapid and blitz tournaments was incredibly strong, with the 2004 world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, two of the three best French players, Etienne Bacrot and Laurent Fressinet, and the three top German players, Arkadij Naiditsch, Georg Meier and Daniel Fridman.
The Blitz tournament took place on Saturday, over 11 rounds of Swiss system and with time control 4 min + 2 sec. GM Laurent Fressinet crowned the fantastic form with 10.5 points and clear first place. He earned 500 EUR for this effort. Second was Arkadij Naiditsch with 9.0 points, while Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Georg Meier shared the third with 8.5 each. Full crosstable.
The Rapid was played on Sunday, over 9 rounds of Swiss system and with time control of 15 min (+3 sec per move) per player. GM Daniel Fridman is the sole winner with 7.5 points and takes the first prize of 1000 EUR. Second place with 7.0 points each is shared by Ulf Andersson, Maxim Turov, Laurent Fressinet, Arkadij Naiditsch, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Georg Meier.
As top local finisher, Laurent Fressinet is also declared the 2011 French champion in rapid chess. Full crosstable.
GM Etienne Bacrot hosted a simultaneous exhibition on 20 boards and scored 18 wins and two draws.
News and photos by IM Christophe Philippe. More information on the official website.
While the winners are of course to be congratulated, I think the most remarkable performance was by Ulf Andersson, who, just a few months before his 60th birthday, managed to tie for second in the rapids and tie for 5th in the blitz.