Morovic and Rodríguez qualify for the WC

GM Ivan Morovic Fernandez and GM Andrés Rodríguez qualify for the World Cup 2009
The winner of the women Zonal tournament is WIM Mariza Zuriel
Report by Chessdom.com

GM Ivan Morovic Fernandez and GM Andrés Rodríguez qualified for the World Cup 2009 by finishing first and second at the Zonal 2.5 tournament in Paraguay. They finished with the same points as FM Ricardo Kropff, but a better tiebreak put them ahead.

The Zonal 2.5 went through several changes of leadership. GM Damian Lemos got early lead in round 3, that lasted only for a day. GM Ruben Felgaer defeated him in a direct match to lead the competition for several rounds together with many other players. In round 7 IM Sandro Mareco got half a point lead, which proved to be thin. Round 8 victory by Morovic, round 9 victory of Rodriguez, and a final round loss by Mareco gave the final results that you can see below.

Besides bringing prize fund and a pass to Khanty Mansiysk World Cup, the tournament gave 2 FM norms to Rubén Zacarías and Juan Pablo De María.

In the women section Mariza Zuriel played her cards well by drawing with higher rated opponents and defeating the lower rated ones, to win the tournament in the women section. With this Mariza Zuriel qualidied for the World Women Chess Championship.

The other success was for María de los Ángeles Plazaola, who achieved a WIM norm.

All results and standings are available at the official website, photos are at the Zonal chess photo gallery.

Standings open section

1. GM MOROVIC FERNANDEZ IVAN CHI 6.5 46.50 50.00
2. GM RODRIGUEZ ANDRES URU 6.5 44.00 47.50
3. FM KROPFF RICARDO PAR 6.5 39.00 39.00
4. GM MARECO SANDRO ARG 6.0 47.00 51.00
5. GM LAFUENTE PABLO ARG 6.0 44.00 48.00
6. GM LEMOS DAMIAN ARG 6.0 43.50 47.50
7. IM CUBAS JOSE FERNANDO PAR 6.0 42.00 43.50
8. GM FELGAER RUBEN ARG 5.5 46.00 51.00
9. GM BACHMANN AXEL PAR 5.5 42.00 46.00
10. GM FLORES DIEGO ARG 5.5 41.50 45.00
11. IM PIERROT FACUNDO ARG 5.5 40.00 43.50
12. IM ROSELLI BERNARDO URU 5.0 40.50 43.50
13. DEMARIA JUAN PABLO ARG 5.0 33.00 36.00
14. ZACARIAS RUBEN PAR 5.0 32.50 34.00
15. PEREIRA FABIAN PAR 4.5 39.50 41.00

Total: 33 players

Standings women section

1 Zuriel, Mariza ARG 2201 8.5/11
2-3 Luján, Carolina ARG 2324 7
2-3 Plazaola, María De Los Ángeles ARG 2160 7
4 Colombo, Camila URU 2090 6.5
5-7 Toro, María José CHI 5.5
5-7 Nejansky, Maiza ARG 2100 5.5
5-7 Vargas, Gabriela PAR 2090 5.5
8 Fernández, Florencia ARG 2105 4.5
9 Quiñónez Mena, Jannette CHI 2020 2.5
10 Pérez, Dalila PAR 1620 2
11 Ávalos, Leticia PAR 1670 0.5