The 5th Paleohora International Open Chess Tournament, organized by the Municipality of Kandanos – Selino, Chania Chess Academy and Greek Chess Federation, took place on 16-23rd July in Paleohora, Greece.
The 9-round tournament with 8.000 EUR prize fund has attracted massive participation, with 214 players gathered at the playing venue in Municipality of Kandanos – Selino Community Centre.
Grandmasters Andrey Rychagov (Russia) and former Asian champion Ganguly Surya Shekhar (India) shared the first place with 7.5 points each. Rychagov is declared winner on better tie-break score. Full standings below.
214 players from 28 federations competed. Among them were 25 Grandmasters and 11 International Masters.
Paleohora is a small city belonging to the Municipality of Kandanos – Selino, located 60 km south – west of the city of Chania. The Chania prefecture is the western of the four prefectures of the island of Crete and one of the most popular touristic destinations in Greece, during the summer.
The southern part of Chania prefecture is exceptionally beautiful and thousands of tourists are visiting during the summer. The traveler can visit the astonishing Samaria Gorge and the blue-flagged beaches following the southern coastline of the prefecture.
The municipality of Kandanos – Selino is famous for its beaches, especially the magic Elafonisi beach, as well as the city of Paleohora, a graphical city with rich nightlife.
Photos by the Chief Arbiter IA Sotiris Logothetis
Final standings (top finishers):
1. GM Rychagov Andrey RUS 2517 – 7.5
2. GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2627 – 7.5
3. GM Kuljasevic Davorin CRO 2564 – 7 (former captain of the SPICE chess team)
4. GM Borovikov Vladislav UKR 2569 – 7
5. GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2594 – 7
6. GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2505 – 7
7. GM Neelotpal Das IND 2456 – 7
8. GM Zubarev Alexander UKR 2596 – 7
9. GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2595 – 6.5
10. GM Kharitonov Alexandr RUS 2538 – 6.5
11. IM Sivuk Vitaly UKR 2467 – 6.5
12. GM David Alberto LUX 2605 – 6.5
13. IM Filip Lucian ROU 2481 – 6.5
14. IM Hamitevici Vladimir MDA 2429 – 6.5
15. IM Bellia Fabrizio ITA 2428 – 6.5
16. GM Pap Misa SRB 2500 – 6.5
17. WGM Girya Olga RUS 2414 – 6.5
18. GM Zinchenko Yaroslav UKR 2544 – 6.5
19. GM Maiorov Nikita BLR 2574 – 6.5
20. GM Skembris Spyridon GRE 2460 – 6.5
21. IM Shyam Sundar M IND 2486 – 6.5
22. GM Polzin Rainer GER 2469 – 6.5
23. GM Romero Holmes Alfonso ESP 2523 – 6
24. GM Petrov Marijan BUL 2522 – 6
25. Stany G A IND 2393 – 6
26. WGM Videnova Iva BUL 2328 – 6
27. IM Henrichs Thomas GER 2505 – 6
28. IM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2476 – 6
29. Markidis Konstantinos GRE 2291 – 6
30. Koutoukidis Panagiotis GRE 2175 – 6
31. Royset Pal NOR 2190 – 6
32. Gavrish Leonid UKR 2117 – 6
33. GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2592 – 6
34. Barrenechea Bahamonde Gustavo ESP 2261 – 6
35. FM Mansour Sameer JOR 2239 – 6
36. FM Valenti Giuseppe ITA 2190 – 6
37. WGM Nadig Kruttika IND 2206 – 6
38. Apanasenok Alexander RUS 2206 – 6
39. Caloni Ugo ITA 2167 – 6
40. Papathanasiou Elisavet GRE 1922 – 6
41. IM Nitin S IND 2417 – 5.5
42. GM Kotronias Vasilios GRE 2595 – 5.5
43. CM Solberg Joachim NOR 2250 – 5.5
Strong tournament.
Very sad that dozens of GMs compete for a prize fun of 8000 Euro, not to mention the expenses.
It’s unfortunate for both the players and the orgnizer. Such a tournament will only damage the brand of chess as sports: is chess really so cheap? Can’t imagine how non-top GMs make a living off these tournaments.