Sunway Sitges Chess Festival: Cheparinov Wins, Niemann Clinches GM Title
GM Ivan Cheparinov has won the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival in Sitges, Spain. The Bulgarian grandmaster won 5,000 euros as the only player to finish on 8/10. The American IM Hans Niemann broke the 2500 Elo threshold, the last hurdle for him to become a grandmaster.
The games of the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival can be found here as part of our live games platform. Lots of lectures can be enjoyed on the tournament's YouTube channel.
We pick up the tournament from the sixth round when the Czech grandmaster Vojtech Plat was leading with 4.5/5. Don't miss our big pictorial report on the first half of the tournament where you can find more background on how this tournament could be held during the pandemic as well as a collection of different face masks in the playing hall.
Plat didn't play a major role in the remainder of the tournament as he scored 1.5/5 in the second half. After eight rounds, Cheparinov was tied for first place with the French grandmaster Jules Moussard. The two drew in round nine, which allowed the Spanish GM Jaime Santos Latasa to catch them as he defeated the 2019 champion GM Anton Korobov:
In the final round, Moussard and Santos drew their game on board one. Cheparinov became the big winner as he won his game as Black against another French GM, Matthieu Cornette:
And we have a winner!!! 🏆 Bulgarian 🇧🇬 GM Ivan Cheparinov wins 7th #SunwaySitges International Chess Festival! We rushed to congratulate him, but could only be second as his wife GM Antoaneta Stefanova - former Women's World Champion - had already done 😄. Congratulations again! pic.twitter.com/5Cp3I55bp2
— Sunway Chess Open (@SunwayChessOpen) December 23, 2020
American IM Niemann had a good tournament and got what he came for: getting his (virtual) rating over 2500. He already had the three norms and together with earlier results, he now has fulfilled the requirements to become a grandmaster.
Here's his win in round seven:
Niemann said he was happy but remained down to earth as well: "I've never cared too much about titles. I'm just happy with the way I played in this event, despite a few games. In general, I'm just very happy that my hard work has paid off, more than the title itself."
Niemann interviewed by the "many hats wearing" tournament organizer Oskar Stober.
The French IM Marc-Andria Maurizzi had to win in the ninth round for his first GM norm and did:
7th Sunway Sitges | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Cheparinov, Ivan | 2660 | 8,0 | 60,0 | 64,0 | 50,25 | |
| 2 | 5 | GM | Moussard, Jules | 2626 | 7,5 | 62,5 | 68,0 | 49,75 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Santos Latasa, Jaime | 2588 | 7,5 | 62,0 | 67,0 | 49,00 | |
| 4 | 12 | GM | Fier, Alexandr | 2549 | 7,5 | 59,0 | 62,5 | 45,25 | |
| 5 | 13 | GM | Nevednichy, Vladislav | 2546 | 7,5 | 53,5 | 57,5 | 41,75 | |
| 6 | 18 | GM | Checa, Nicolas | 2527 | 7,0 | 61,5 | 67,0 | 45,75 | |
| 7 | 1 | GM | Korobov, Anton | 2693 | 7,0 | 56,5 | 62,0 | 42,00 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | 2651 | 7,0 | 56,0 | 61,0 | 41,50 | |
| 9 | 7 | GM | Santos Ruiz, Miguel | 2581 | 7,0 | 53,5 | 57,0 | 39,00 | |
| 10 | 16 | IM | Mendonca Leon, Luke | 2530 | 7,0 | 53,5 | 57,0 | 38,75 | |
| 11 | 4 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | 2651 | 7,0 | 52,0 | 57,0 | 39,00 | |
| 12 | 23 | IM | Dardha, Daniel | 2485 | 7,0 | 52,0 | 55,5 | 35,75 | |
| 13 | 24 | IM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 2478 | 6,5 | 60,0 | 65,0 | 38,75 | |
| 14 | 11 | GM | Plat, Vojtech | 2552 | 6,5 | 57,0 | 62,0 | 37,75 | |
| 15 | 9 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2558 | 6,5 | 57,0 | 61,0 | 37,50 | |
| 16 | 30 | IM | Maurizzi, Marc Andria | 2445 | 6,5 | 56,5 | 59,5 | 35,75 | |
| 17 | 26 | IM | Sochacki, Christophe | 2469 | 6,5 | 55,0 | 59,5 | 36,50 | |
| 18 | 27 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2466 | 6,5 | 54,5 | 58,5 | 35,00 | |
| 19 | 31 | IM | Gines Esteo, Pedro Antonio | 2437 | 6,5 | 54,0 | 58,5 | 35,75 | |
| 20 | 59 | Souhardo, Basak | 2276 | 6,5 | 53,0 | 54,5 | 31,50 |
(Full standings here.)
One more game should be included here. In this last-round encounter, White sacrificed his queen for just two minor pieces but proved it was enough:
The Sunway Sitges Chess Festival was one of the few open tournaments held during the pandemic. It took place December 12-23 at the Hotel Sunway Playa Golf in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain.
See also:
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.
Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.
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In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!
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