Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Bartolomiej Macieja share first place
The 5th Polonia Wroclaw International Chess Festival was held from 26th June to 2nd July in Wroclaw, Poland. Nearly 300 players competed in four groups: Open A (for players rated 2000 and above), Open B (for players under 2100), Open C for kids born in 1997 and later and Open D for kids born in 2001 and later. All events were played over 9 rounds with Swiss pairing system.
The main Open A had 76 participants, among them are 16 Grandmasters and 12 International Masters. Top seed and Viswanathan Anand’s reliable second GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek took the winner’s trophy after edging Poland’s 2009 champion GM Bartlomiej Macieja in tiebreak score. Both players finished with 7.0 points from nine games. Wojtaszek continues a string of successful performances in his country, having earlier won the 2008 European Rapid Championship and 2009 Miguel Naidorf Memorial.
Poland’s 2010 champion GM Mateusz Bartel was alone in the lead after seven rounds, but two consecutive losses denied him of challenging the title.
Radoslaw Wojtaszek
Final standings:
1-2. GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek POL 2663 and GM Bartolomiej Macieja POL 2618 – 7.0
3-7. GM Robert Markus SRB 2615, GM Sergei Tiviakov NED 2634, GM Daniel Fridman GER 2654, GM Maxim Rodshtein ISR 2626 and WIM Nazi Paikidze GEO 2317 – 6.5
8-11. GM Mateusz Bartel POL 2609, GM Tomasz Markowski POL 2628, GM Algimantas Butnorius LTU 2439 and Pawel Stoma POL 2309 – 6.0 etc
Immediately after the Festival, the 19th Adolf Anderssen Memorial is commencing on 3rd July. The rapid tournament with time control 15′ + 5″ per player (elimination on first day) and 15′ + 7″ (8-players knockout final on second day) honors Adolf Anderssen (1818 – 1879) from Wroclaw, one of the best chess players in the world in the second half of XIX century.
Next top tournament is Poland will be Miguel Naidorf Memorial
The tennis hall in Hotel GEM
The streets of Wroclaw (photos courtesy of Viktor Novotny and Novoborsky SK)
