Grandmaster Shirov wins an intense battle at the five-nation chess tournament in Riga – Other sports – Sportacentrs.com

53 players from five countries – Latvia, Spain, France, Turkey and Poland – participated in this tournament, which was also the 74th birthday tournament of FIDE Master Vitaly Levchenkov. This year, the prize fund reached 394 euros. Of all participants, eight had international titles (GM, IM, WIM, FM, WFM). The tournament was played according to the Swiss system in nine quick rounds with a deliberation time of eight minutes per game plus four seconds per move with FIDE rating calculation.

Although Shirov was a clear leader both in terms of rating and skill, he failed to finish the tournament completely “dry”. GM Toms Kantāns (2392) and Marats Franz (1865) took care of it, who were able to deduct half a point from the winner of the competition. If in the case of Kantan it was normal, like a match between two great masters, then Franca’s draw with Shirov was the biggest surprise of the event.

In the end, Shirov got 8 points out of 9, followed by Kantāns with 7.5, while IM Guntars Antoms (2084), Marats Francs (1865) and Emīls Jānis Mieriņš (2071) each got 6.5. FIDE master Matīss Mustaps (2291) completed the top six with 6 points. Levchenkov himself (2005) had 5.5 points and 16th place, but the best of the ladies were WFM Agnesa Stepania Ter-Avetisjana (1968) and WIM Anna Kantāne (Poland, 2159).

Marat Franz will remember this tournament not only with a draw against Shirov, but also with a victory against the international master from Poland, Anna Kantani, as well as an increase in the rating by 134.4 (!) points.

Resources used:
sahafederacaija.lv