IV Budapest Open and V International Master Tournament 

Report by Diana Mihajlova

Hungary abounds with chess tournaments of all kind – for amateurs, professionals, closed ones specifically designed for norms and many other forms of chess promotion.

The Budapest Open, accompanied with GM and IM tournaments, since its inception, five years ago, is getting in popularity and international acclaim.

As IM Eric Kislik (USA) says: ‘I like to play in the Sarkany GM tournament every year because it is one of the strongest events in Hungary.’

This chess event, which run from 17 – 25 August 2014, is called Sarkany- Aranytiz and is a collaborative effort between the Sárkány DSE Chess Club, the Aranytíz House of Culture and the Budapest Chess Federation (BCF).

It is organised under the patronage of Mr Tamás Szentes, Deputy Lord Mayor of Budapest, Mr Antal Rogán, MP, Mayor of Budapest’s V. district and Mr Máriusz Révész, MP and President of the Budapest Chess Federation.

The same team behind the Budapest Spring Festival http://en.chessbase.com/post/spring-starts-with-chess-in-budapest , IO Balazs Nadasi and MP Marius Revesz, are continuing their spree of successful chess tournaments in the Hungarian capital.

The round-robin GM and IM tournaments that offer the opportunity to achieve a coveted norm, attracted ambitious chess players from England, the USA, Israel, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Romania and, of course, a home grown talent.

19 year old Daniel won the GM tournament and, with 6.5/9, scored his first GM norm. He lives currently in Manchester in the UK but hails from Singapore and plays under the Singaporean flag, having represented the country at World Junior championships and the Olympiad.

Last year’s winner, Imre this year shared second (with Romanian GM Szabo, Gergely-Andras-Gyula). Among his diverse chess activities – active player, coach, trainer, commentator and writer, since recently Imre is also a newly published book author. His book ‘A Cutting-Edge Gambit against the Queen’s Indian’, has been published at the beginning of this year (NIC) to a great acclaim. The book treats a rare Nimzowitsch Variation with 6.d5!, which has not been explored extensively before.

GM Gergely Szabo lives in Bucharest and plays under Romanian flag. Being of Hungarian ethnic origin, he frequently plays in Hungarian chess events. He has a rich experience as a national team coach heaving headed the Romanian Olympic women team in the 2012 Olympiad and this year ending up as a coach of both Surinam’s teams at the latest Olympiad in Tromso.

A few years ago, Erik left his native Hillsborough, California, to pursue his chess career in Europe. At the beginning of 2012, he got confirmed his IM title. Now living in Budapest, he is in pursuit of the grandmaster title.

In the meantime, he is teaching chess and seconding grandmasters. Last year he was the trainer and coach of the 2013 Danish champion GM Davor Palo. More about his teaching activities can be found on his websitehttp://erikthekid.wix.com/ek-chess-schoolOnce the UK’s youngest master, Yang-Fan followed immediately after junior talents Gawain Jones and David Howell to achieve the International Master title, ranking among the English most promising hopes.

He has already one GM norm, but the second one eluded him in Budapest. He is simultaneously pursuing a degree in chemical engineering and the Churchill College in Cambridge and a GM title.

Oliver, supported by his girlfriend Barbara, missed out on a GM norm this time. A former European Union U12 champion, he is participating at international opens whenever possible while carrying on with his studies in Economics.

The IM tournament was won by Hungarian FM Kristof Juhasz who made an IM norm. With his younger brother Armin, who also played in the IM group (5/9), they share the love of chess and make together a steady progress.

More here: http://www.chessdom.com/iv-budapest-open-and-v-international-master-tournament-photo-report

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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