GM Aleksandar Kovacevic with perfect score after round five
The 24th Pula Open chess tournament is taking place on 19-26th June at the hotel “Histria”, under management of the Croatian Chess Federation and local Chess Club “Pula”. The competition will be held over nine rounds of Swiss system and with time control of 90 min + 30 sec increment.
Former World Champion Boris Spassky is the special guest of the tournament. He received a plaque from the organizers, the text is reading “His name marks an epoch”.
The event saw a massive turnout as 287 players from 23 countries signed to participate. After Croatia, the largest groups arrive from Austria (38) and Slovenia (30). Twelve Grandmasters and 15 International Masters are eying the 11.000 EUR worth prize fund.
Serbian Grandmaster Aleksandar Kovacevic is leading the race with perfect five points from that many rounds, but already tomorrow he is facing the top-seeded GM Borki Predojevic on the first board. Nine players share second place with 4.5 points each.
Aleksandar Kovacevic and Borki Predojevic
Round 5 top results:
IM Barle Janez SLO 2404 – GM Kovacevic Aleksandar SRB 2573 0 – 1
IM Kuljasevic Davorin CRO 2539 – GM Zelcic Robert CRO 2538 ½ – ½
GM Felgaer Ruben ARG 2585 – FM Fodor Tamas Jr HUN 2420 ½ – ½
GM Predojevic Borki BIH 2628 – GM Shalnev Nikolai GER 2450 1 – 0
GM Saric Ivan CRO 2580 – FM Stokke Kjetil NOR 2399 1 – 0
IM Doric Darko CRO 2452 – GM Cvitan Ognjen CRO 2534 ½ – ½
GM Jovanic Ognjen CRO 2530 – IM Feletar Darko CRO 2390 1 – 0
FM Sklyarov Dmitry V RUS 2373 – IM Martinovic Sasa CRO 2515 1 – 0
GM Fercec Nenad CRO 2492 – IM Bukal Vladimir Jr CRO 2388 1 – 0
FM Valenti Giuseppe ITA 2128 – GM Saric Ante CRO 2489 0 – 1
FM Hamitevici Vladimir MDA 2421 – FM Hess Christian GER 2303 ½ – ½
FM Aschenbrenner Robert AUT 2223 – IM Kovacevic Blazimir CRO 2471 ½ – ½
Round 5 standings:
1. GM Kovacevic Aleksandar SRB 2573 – 5.0
2-10. GM Zelcic Robert CRO 2538, FM Fodor Tamas Jr HUN 2420, FM Sklyarov Dmitry V RUS 2373, GM Jovanic Ognjen CRO 2530, GM Saric Ivan CRO 2580, IM Kuljasevic Davorin CRO 2539, GM Predojevic Borki BIH 2628, GM Saric Ante CRO 2489 and GM Fercec Nenad CRO 2492 – 4.5
11-28. GM Felgaer Ruben ARG 2585, IM Barle Janez SLO 2404, GM Cvitan Ognjen CRO 2534, IM Doric Darko CRO 2452, Mihalincic Tomislav CRO 2232, IM Rukavina Josip CRO 2397, Nordenbaek Jan DEN 2215, Cop Tomislav CRO 2254, FM Fahrner Kurt AUT 2302, FM Plenca Julijan CRO 2286, FM Hess Christian GER 2303, Nemeth Gergely HUN 1835, IM Doric Nenad CRO 2320, IM Biti Ozren CRO 2376, WIM Kopinits Anna-Christina AUT 2158, FM Djurovic Goran CRO 2318, WFM Novkovic Julia AUT 2146 and IM Molnar Bela HUN 2340 – 4.0 etc
Round 6 top pairings:
GM Kovacevic Aleksandar SRB 2573 – GM Predojevic Borki BIH 2628
GM Fercec Nenad CRO 2492 – GM Saric Ivan CRO 2580
GM Saric Ante CRO 2489 – IM Kuljasevic Davorin CRO 2539
GM Zelcic Robert CRO 2538 – FM Sklyarov Dmitry V RUS 2373
FM Fodor Tamas Jr HUN 2420 – GM Jovanic Ognjen CRO 2530
FM Hess Christian GER 2303 – GM Felgaer Ruben ARG 2585
GM Cvitan Ognjen CRO 2534 – FM Fahrner Kurt AUT 2302
FM Plenca Julijan CRO 2286 – IM Doric Darko CRO 2452
Mihalincic Tomislav CRO 2232 – IM Barle Janez SLO 2404
Cop Tomislav CRO 2254 – IM Rukavina Josip CRO 2397
Nordenbaek Jan DEN 2215 – IM Biti Ozren CRO 2376
WIM Kopinits Anna-Christina AUT 2158 – IM Molnar Bela HUN 2340
IM Doric Nenad CRO 2320 – WFM Novkovic Julia AUT 2146
