IM Matej Sebenik wins San Sebastian

IM Matej Sebenik wins the 32nd San Sebastian chess tournament
detailed information, photos, and standings
By Mikael Larreategi
Published by Chessdom.com

Slovenian International Master Matej Sebenik won the 32nd San Sebastian Chess tournament, he finished the tournament with 7 points, same as Pablo Lafuente (ARG), Artur Kogan (ISR), Vinay Bhat (USA) and Marc Narciso (ESP), but with a better tiebreak. The top performance also brings IM Matej Sebenik a GM norm.

The last round of the event was played on Sunday. On the first board, Artur Kogan drew to Vinay Bhat in 19 moves after a French defence. Pablo Lafuente and Matej Sebenik also drew on the second board which finished with a perpetual-check in 29 moves.

The young spanish IM Mikel Huerga, needed to win against GM Marc Narciso to got his second GM norm, but lost his game after receiving a hard attack in his kingside. The now spanish-citizen Roberto Cifuentes, won in a very long game againts the top seeded Aleksandar Delchev, in a rook-and-pawns ending.

The spanish U12 champion, Jaime Santos Latasa was the revelation of the tournament with a 2500+ performance after beating 2 IMs and drawing with 3 GMs. Jaime Santos had impressed San Sebastian since he played for the first time in 2006, and drew his game after rejecting a draw offer from his opponent GM Ivan Salgado (ESP) on move 16.

The best local player was Iñigo Martin, followed by Juan Carlos Lakunza and IM Iñigo Argandoña.

Standings

1 – 5. Matej Sebenik, Pablo Lafuente, Arthur Kogan, Vinay Bhat y Marc Narciso 7 pts.
6 – 9. Pablo San Segundo, Roberto Cifuentes, Manuel Pena y Marko Tratar 6.5 pts.
10. Ivan Salgado, Daniel Alsina, Alexander Delchev, J. Fernando Cuenca, Nikita Maiorov y Mikel Huerga con 6 pts.

Total of 122 players

Official website http://www.fgajedrez.org