A lot of young players at Ikaros 2012!
Greater than ever before is the participation of young children in the International Open Aegean Championship Ikaros 2012. In most games of the 1st round one or even both opponents were below 20 years and in some cases even below 10 years of age!
Although the statistical comparison with the previous years is not done yet, it’s almost certain that this is a new record of participation of young players in the tournament!
The tournament commenced on Saturday 7th of July at the Sports Center of Aghios Kirykos with 130 participants. Among them 10 are holders of international titles while 80 of them have a FIDE rating.
After an agreement between the participants and the organization committee, it was decided that, due to the participation of so many children, the system of the games will be an accelerated swiss.
The first round was completed without any major upset with the theoretically stronger players conquering on the board. The list of participants, the results and updates can be found on the tournament website.
Official Sponsor of the tournament is ANEK Lines S.A., that offered a considerable discount on the ferry tickets of the chess players traveling to Ikaria for the tournament. (http://www.anek.gr)
Starting list:
1 GM PROHASZKA PETER HUN 2562
2 GALOPOULOS NIKOLAOS GRE 2406
3 GOUMAS GEORGIOS GRE 2402
4 IM MAKI-UURO MIIKKA FIN 2341
5 FM MALIKENTZOS SOTIRIOS GRE 2324
6 KOUROUSIS EPAMINONDAS GRE 2324
7 IM NESTER IHOR UKR 2315
8 WGM BOTSARI ANNA-MARIA GRE 2313
9 FM GAZIS EFSTATHIOS GRE 2310
10 VAFIADIS KLEANTHIS GRE 2299