Tigran Gharamian, unbeaten in Belgium

by Sagar Shah
8/9/2017 – Belgium's biggest open tournament took place in Charleroi from July 29th to August 5th, 2017. A total of 240 players gathered to play, enjoy and celebrate the game of chess. The top seed of the event Tigran Gharamian (2616) emerged as the winner on tiebreak edging out experienced GM Alexandre Dgebuadze. Read on for interesting positions plus a video interview with Tigran showing you some beautiful tactics from one of his games, and his work as a second of Levon Aronian. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

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A strong open in a quiet locale

The Charleroi Open 2017 is not only the largest, but the strongest open tournament held in Belgium. Charleroi lies on banks of the river Sambre, about 50 kilometers south of Brussels. Although it sports a population of over 200,000, at times it has small town feel. 

Above: Sometimes when you walk through the streets of the city, you feel as if there is no one else!
Below: A dream house for those who calm and quiet! | Photos: Amruta Mokal

The Charleroi airport is one of the most important ones in the country

The TIPC (Tourneoi International Pays de Charleroi) started with 44 players in its first edition 16 years ago. The tournament has grown in numbers ever since and in 2017 there were 240 players. There were three events: A (above 1900), B (1500 to 2000) and C (below 2000) that took place simultaneously. 

The huge and well-lit tournament hall located in Complexe sportif de Roux | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The field in the A category was very interesting. One player was the favourite to win the title by quite some margin. He was the Armenian-French grandmaster Tigran Gharamian. Although Tigran currently has a rating of 2616, his level is much higher. His peak rating was 2676 in 2011 and he has an amazing wealth of knowledge thanks to working as Levon Aronian's second in the past. He intended to play the tournament with his Armenian friend Zaven Andriasian, but the latter couldn't make it as he had some visa issues to resolve. It meant that Tigran was staying alone at the event and it worked wonderfully well for him in terms of his result.

GM Tigran Gharamian, the top seed | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Experience vs. Youth

After Tigran we had four grandmasters who were extremely experienced and have beaten the best of players in the world during their younger days:

Clockwise from top left: Aloyzas Kveinys (Lithuania), Alexandre Dgebuadze (Belgium), Normund Miezis (Latvia), Ventizslav (Bulgaria) Inkiov | Photos: Amruta Mokal

A simple search on Mega Database shows that Kveinys has 2431 games, Miezes has 2754, Inkiov 2199 and Dgebuadze 1657. And these are just the recorded games. They must have played thousands of games which never made it to any databases. Now this is rich experience which makes each of the player a very dangerous opponent to face. But these experienced gentlemen were given a stiff challenge from three talented youngsters:

 (L to R) Francois Godart (Belgium), James Eden (France) and Christophe Sochacki (France) | Photos: Amruta Mokal

Fracois Godart is one of the most talented Belgian players and is an extremely sharp calculator. James Eden became France's latest IM at the event by making his final IM norm and also surpassing the Elo barrier of 2400, while IM Christophe Sochacki already has two GM norms and a rating over 2450.

Sochacki is fearless and plays extremely sharp chess; just to show how uncompromising his play is — he participated in the blitz tournament, that was held after round six of the main event, and "pulled a Bobby Fischer" scoring a perfect 11/11, three points more than the second placed player!

It's not easy to say who really triumphed in the battle between youngsters and the experienced players. Just to give you an idea, I made this crosstable of only the games between Youth and Experience:

 Youth prevails by a hair

The three youngsters scored five points against the experienced guys, while the older generation were able to snatch four points. However, it must be said that Alexandre Dgebuadze scored two extremely crucial wins, one in the penultimate and one in the last round against Godart and Sochacki repestively to finish as the joint winner with 7½/9.

The winner's games could have been smoother

Gharamian

Gharamian, at 33 years, straddles the middle. Perhaps that's the sweet spot: full of experience, but still full of energy. He scored 7½/9, tied with Dgebuadze, but won the tournament thanks to a better tie-break. (Incidentally, this was the first time in many years that I played a tournament which had the first tie-break as progressive score — also known as Cumulative.)

"The games could have been much smoother," Tigran said after the tournament ended. Being a perfectionist, he was not too pleased with the messy nature of his games. Yet, it must be said that he played against all the strongest players of the tournament beating the aforementioned youngsters Sochacki and Godart, as well as IM Velislav Kukov and others. With a performance of 2638, a small rating gain was the icing on the proverbial cake.

When asked for his favourite game from the tournament, Tigran thought for a while.

"There are no real games that I am proud of, but I would like to show you a very beautiful position from my game against Francois Godart from the fourth round."

Tigran was White and had sacrificed an exchange. The knight has moved to h4 and is coming to f5. It's going to be a strong attack. But Black has a lovely idea. Can you find it? Here is the position, and the solution is then explained by Tigran in the video below.

 
You can play moves right on the live diagram

 

Solution by Tigran as well as a short interview with him about his tournament (8 minutes and 30 seconds onwards) and his role as Levon Aronian's second

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 Godart loves the French Defence. 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Qe2 Qb8 Although the move is pretty weird, it has been seen in four games before. 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.e5 Bc7 12.0-0 Ng6 13.Re1 0-0 14.Ng5 Until now we had been following the game Thomas Luther vs Ekaterina Jussupow. This is the first new move of the game. White is basically trying to provoke a weakness on Black's kingside. Qe8 15.Bd2 15.Qh5 h6 16.Nxf7? Qxf7 17.Bxg6 Qxf2+-+ 15...h6 16.Nf3 c5 Black seems to have a pretty fine postion out of the opening. 17.b4!? An interesting concept by Tigran. In one move, he is trying to activate his dark squared bishop and also secure the d4 square for his knight. Qe7 17...c4!? 18.Bxg6 fxg6 It's important to assess this position correctly, if you have to make the move ...c4 as Black. It turns out that Black is doing fine here and although White has a grip on the dark squares, Black can play around it and have no real issues. 19.Nd4 g5 18.bxc5 Qxc5 19.h4 Rab8 20.h5 Ne7 21.Rec1 Rb2 22.Be3 Qa5 23.Bd4 This is one thing I like about strong players. They always get their pieces to the best squares. The only thing left on White's agenda is to engineer the c4 breakthrough. Rbb8 24.c4 Nc6 24...Bb6!? 25.cxd5 exd5 Everything looks good for White except for the part that the knight on c6 is going to take the beautiful d4 bishop. Well, for Tigran this was enough to get rid of the pesky knight from the board! 26.Rxc6!? objectively does not give White a winning position, but puts Black in a very precarious situation. He has to find all the accurate moves, which is not an easy task. Bxc6 27.Rc1 27.e6 was also an interesting option, but Black is better after Bb5 28.e7 Rfe8 29.Bxb5 Qxb5-+ 27...Bb5 28.Bxb5 Now the queen cannot take, as the c7 bishop would hang. Rxb5 29.e6 One bishop on d3 has been exchanged, but the bishop on d4 is quite strong and the knight will enter f5 via h4. It looks like White has great compensation. Rbb8 Godart finds the most tenacious defence. 30.e7 30.exf7+ Rxf7 31.Qe6 Rbf8 32.Bxg7 Kxg7 33.Qg6+ Kh8 34.Qxh6+ Kg8 35.Qg6+= 30...Rfe8 31.Nh4 This is the position which we have given as a test for you. White is threatening Nf5 and things could become really dangerous for Black after that. So what would you do here? Bf4?! This is a human move, that attacks the c1 rook and prepares Bg5, blocking moves like Qg4. However, Black had something better at his disposal than this. 31...Qb4! Now this move attacking the d4 bishop was seen by both the players and they both rejected it because of the simple Nf5. However, it turns out that Black has a winning move! 32.Nf5 Qb1‼ Not at all easy to see this double attack! The rook on c1 is hanging and so is the knight on f5 and there is simply no way to defend both of them. 33.Nxh6+ Only way to continue the game. Kh7! 33...gxh6 34.Qg4++- 34.Qf1 Qe4 White has lost all his coordination and Black is just dominating. 32.Rd1! Qc7 33.Nf5 Bg5 34.Be5 34.Bxg7 was pretty strong and would have given White a strong attack. 34...Qd7 34...Qc4!? 35.Qxc4 dxc4 36.Bxb8 Rxb8 37.f4 Bf6 38.Rd7 White is pushing here. 35.Qg4 Kh7 36.Bxb8 Rxb8 37.Nxh6 37.Qf3! As rightly pointed by Tigran was a strong move with the very nice point that after Bxe7 White has the strong 38.Nxg7!± And the knight cannot be taken because of Qg3+ 38.Qg3?! Rg8∞ 37...Qxe7 37...Qxg4 38.Nxg4 Bxe7 39.Rxd5 Black should have tried to hold this endgame. Not a fun task, but chances are not bad. 38.Nxf7 Qxf7 39.Qxg5 Rb2 40.f3 Rxa2 41.Qxd5 Tigran calculates that this endgame with 3 vs 1 on the same side is winning for him. Qxd5 42.Rxd5 Kh6 43.Kh2 a5 44.Kh3 a4 45.Ra5 Rb2 46.g4 Rb3 47.Kg3 a3 48.Ra6+ Kh7 49.g5 Rb1 50.Rxa3 Rh1 51.Kg4 Rg1+ 52.Kf5 Rg3 53.Rb3 A very interesting and rich struggle. 1–0
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Gharamian,T2616Godart,F24111–02017C07TIPC4.3

The aim of this DVD is to provide you with the practical skills and knowledge that you will need to play a rook and pawn endgame. Based on his own playing experience, Grandmaster Daniel King reveals what is essential knowledge, saving you time in your studies. The Power Play series is suitable for anyone looking to improve their chess, but also provides ready-made lessons and exercises for a trainer.
Running time: 5 hours

The top two finishers in the tournament played against each other in the fifth round and the game ended in a tame draw.

Dgebuadze and Gharamian with Robert Romanelli

 Dgebuadze vs. Gharamian as Honorary President of the Charleroi Chess Club and the organiser of the event Robert Romanelli, looks on | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The runner-up just keeps playing

Alexandre Dgebuadze is 46 years old, and at such an age it is not easy to keep playing sharp chess in almost all of your games. However, he was able to do it, and that too against players who were half his age. The natural question is: how does he keep himself tactically strong?

"I just keep playing! This is already my fourth tournament in a row and I am going to play two more after this." Playing continuous events is Alexandre's secret of staying tactically fit.

Here is his last round against IM Christophe Sochacki. The young player needed a win to make his final GM norm and that was the reason why he made certain decisions which he would have otherwise not made. Dgebuadze finishes him off to perfection.

 
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This was the last round. Sochacki needed a win in order to score his final GM norm. That explains some of his decisions in the game. 1.b3 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nd7 4.Bb2 Ngf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.c4 c6 Dguebaudze keeps it simple. 7.cxd5 Nxd5?! 7...cxd5= looks normal. 8.e4? This move was played due to a miscalculation. 8.Be2 And White has a very comfortable opening position. e5 Sochacki was a little worried about this move, but White seems to be doing fine after 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Bxe5 Qg5 11.Bxh5 Qxe5 12.d4 8...Nf4! 9.g3 The knight retreating to e6 also looks fine for Black, but Alexandre makes a very powerful move. Nc5! The knight on f3 is loose and the d3 square is weak. All in all, it's already losing for White. 10.gxf4 10.d4 Nxe4 11.gxf4 Qa5+! 12.Ke2 12.Nbd2 Bxf3-+ 12...Bxf3+! This was the move that Sochacki missed. 13.Kxf3 Qh5+-+ 10...Nd3+ 11.Ke2 11.Bxd3 Qxd3 loses a piece. 12.Qe2 Qxf3-+ 11...f5! A powerful move, opening the h1-a8 diagonal. 12.Ke3 12.e5 Bxf3+ 13.Kxf3 Qd5+ 14.Kg3 14.Ke2 Qe4# 14...Qxh1-+ 12...fxe4 13.Bc3 e5! 13...Bxf3 14.Qxf3 exf3 15.Bxd3 is winning too, but Black ends it faster in the game. 14.fxe5 Bc5+ 15.Bd4 15.Kxe4 Bg6# is a very pretty mate, right in the centre of the board. 15...Bxd4+ 16.Nxd4 Qg5+ And it's all over. Such accidents do happen when you are playing for a norm. It's difficult to be completely objective. 16...Qg5+ 17.Kxe4 Bg6+ 0–1
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Sochacki,C2451Dguebuadze,A25240–12017A06TIPC 20179.2

Top three finishers of the tournament: (L-R) 2nd - Alexandre Dgebaudze, 1st - Tigran Gharamian, 3rd - James Eden  | Photo: Amruta Mokal

James Eden is an upcoming star from France. He scored his final IM norm in this tournament and also crossed 2400 Elo on the rating list, thus becoming an International Master. He beat Aloyzas Kveinys, Velislav Kukov and drew with Inkiov to finish third in the tournament. This 22-year-old is someone to watch out for.

Sagar

The author of these lines scored 6.5/9, remained unbeaten and finished fourth | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Before the tournament I saw the DVD of Magnus — a movie based on the life of the current World Champion — in the book stall at the tournament venue. I really wanted to buy it. However, Amruta and I decided that I would purchase it if I won a prize. As there were only six prizes in the open group, it was not at all obvious that I would win one. I played steady chess and managed to finish fourth. Of course, I bought the Magnus DVD and I must say that the movie is excellently directed by Benjamin Ree. Expect a review on the newspage soon!

I played many interesting games, but one which was filled with a lot of instructional moments was my game against WIM Andreea-Cristiana Navrotescu. Black has just pushed his pawn from a5 to a4.

 
Should White take the pawn?

My opponent did take it, and the result was a complete domination!

 
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While playing this game, I was on 2.0/3. I had already drawn with two players who were rated lower than me and I wanted to win this game at all costs, even though I was Black. The opening had gone pretty well for me and I had equalized without too many difficulties. Hence, I wasn't quite happy with this position. White's defensive task is not so difficult. In fact I do not see why I should be better here. My next move was a small trap into which my opponent fell. 38...a4!? Andreea was playing pretty fast. Hence, even though it was the 40th move, she had a lot of time. But I think she had lost her sense of danger at this point and simply captured the pawn. 39.bxa4? 39.Bc4 According to me was the easiest way to equalize. Nb6 I had planned this and after 40.Re3+ Kf6 41.Bb5! axb3 42.Rxb3= I think White has absolutely no problems. In fact Black has to be careful not to over press. 39.Bc2 was also possible. 39...Kd4! My king comes in now and White has no Bishop to c4 eliminating my strong knight. 40.Bc2 40.Bb5 c4 Also looked pretty strong. But maybe was better because the bishop blocks the b-file and Black cannot penetrate so easily. 40...c4! Look at the knight, king and the pawn combo. They stop the white rook from getting activated. Each and every square is covered! 41.Kd2 Re6 42.Bd1 Rb6 43.Kc2 43.Bc2 Rb2 At some point I have to go in and it is similar to the game. 43...c3 This was a committal move, but I saw that this was the only way forward. 44.a5 44.Rd3+ I wasn't particularly worried about this check. Kc4 45.Be2? This fails tactically. 45.Rf3 Rb2+ 46.Kc1 Ra2 is like the game. 45...Rb2+ 46.Kd1 Rxe2 47.Kxe2 c2-+ 44...Rb2+ 45.Kc1 Now Black has everything under control, but White is pushing her a-pawn down the board. Hence it was important to play Ra2 and eliminate those pawns. But first it was important to stop Bb3 when Ra2 is played. Kc4! 45...Ra2 46.Bb3 Rxa3 47.Bxd5 Kxd5 48.Kc2= 46.a6 Ra2! 47.Kb1 47.a7 Rxa3 48.Be2+ Kc5-+ 47.a4 Ra1+ 48.Kc2 Nb4# 47...Rxa3 48.Be2+ Kc5 Nb4 threats are very strong now. 49.Bd3 49.Rd3 Nb4 50.Rd8 And here I saw a pretty mate where I could underpromote! Such lines are always nice. c2+ 51.Kb2 Ra2+ 52.Kb3 c1N+ 53.Kc3 Rc2# 49...Kd4 49...Nb4 was the best way to win. I didn't want her to activate her rook and hence avoided this line, but concretely it just wins. 50.Bc2 Nxa6! 51.Rf4 Nb4-+ The rook is not getting activated yet and Black is just winning. 50.Be2 Ke4 The rook cannot move, nor can the bishop. Hence the king has to. 51.Kc1 51.Kc2 Nb4+-+ 51...Ra1+ 52.Kc2 Ra2+ 53.Kd1 This was the crucial moment of the game. I saw the lines that I could not take on e2 just yet. And I also felt that Rxa6 complicated the winning task to some extent. Hence, I decided to maintain control. But it was wrong. Instead I should have understood that if I got this same position with White to move, I would be simply winning. Hence it was necessary to lose a move here. Rd2+? 53...Rxe2? This looks winning but actually throws away the win. 54.Kxe2 c2 55.Re3+! Nxe3 55...Kd4 56.Kd2+- 56.a7! c1Q 57.a8Q+ And there is no way to win here. Ke5= 57...Nd5? would even lead to bad position for Black. 58.Qe8+ Kd4 59.Qh8+ Ke4? 59...Nf6 60.Qxf6+± 60.f3# what a mate! 53...Ra4! Just a waiting move. The idea as mentioned before is to lose a move. 54.Kc2 54.Kc1 Ra3 55.Kd1 Ra2-+ This is the position that we want to reach. 54...Ra1! 55.Kb3 Rb1+ 56.Kc2 56.Kc4 c2-+ 56...Rb2+ 57.Kd1 Ra2 And there we have it White to play and there is no move available. 53...Rxa6! was also winning, but some faith was required that the bishop versus pawns endgame was winning. 54.Bxa6 Kxf3 55.Bb7 Kxf2! 55...Ke4 would also win according to me, but would require some effort. 56.Bxd5 Kxg3 57.Bf7 Kxh4 58.Bxg6 f4 59.Ke2 Kg4-+ These three pawns are too much for White to handle. Black wins. Somehow during the game I was not ready to leave my control and go into such a transformation. 54.Ke1 Rd4 I thought I was being quite smart as now White has no move but to push the pawn and then Ra4 wins it. But I missed my opponent's smart defence. 54...Ra2 55.Bc4! White holds the draw. 55.a7 Ra4 56.Rd3? 56.Bc4! A beautiful move that was missed by both of us. Rxa7 56...Kxf3 57.Bxd5++- 57.Bxd5+= Would have been a pretty brutal end to all my winning aspirations. 56...Rxa7 Now things are back on track. 57.f3+ Ke5 58.Bd1 Ra3 58...Ra1! This was a powerful move as now Black is winning a piece. 59.Ke2 Ra2+ 60.Ke1 c2-+ 59.f4+ Ke4 59...Ke6 was also winning. 60.Bc2 Ne3? It's very important to understand why this is a question-mark move. It's not easy to understand on the surface. We have to dig deeper and you will realize it as we make more moves. 60...Nb4! was a nice way to win as after 61.Rxc3+ Kd4! A key move. 62.Rc8 Ke3-+ Black king infiltrates and wins all the pawns. 61.Rxc3+ Nxc2+ 62.Rxc2 Rxg3 I had seen all of this and thought that winning two pawns would naturally end the game. 63.Kf2 Rf3+ 64.Kg2 Rxf4 And here my opponent resigned. And it seemed like the right move. After all, she was two pawns down and Black had everything in order. Surprisingly, and much to my disbelief this position turns out to be a draw. 0–1
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Navrotescu,A2207Sagar,S23910–12017D0516th Charleroi Open 20174

The final position, that my opponent resigned in, was very interesting.

 
Believe it or not, there is no easy way for Black to win!

Let me present you with my analysis:

 
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64...Rxf4 64...Rxf4 And here my opponent resigned. And it seemed like the right move. After all, she was two pawns down and Black had everything in order. Surprisingly, and much to my disbelief this position turns out to be a draw. 65.Ra2! The precise move to hold the draw. I cannot 65.Kg3? would lose the game in instructive way. Rg4+! 65...Rf3+? A bad move that allows White to gain back the draw. 66.Kg2 Ra3 67.Rc6! Ra2+ 68.Kh3 f4 69.Rxg6 Kf3 69...f3 70.Re6+ Kf4 71.Rf6+ Ke3 72.Re6+ Kf2 73.Rb6! 73.Kh2? Kf1+ 74.Kg3 f2-+ 73...Ra1 74.Rb2+ Kg1 75.Kg3= 70.Rb6 also draws. 70.Rg3+!= 66.Kh3 f4! is the other way to win and a logical one. Black will play Rg3+ and get his king to g4. This works because the rook is on c2 and the checking distance is not so huge. If the rook were on a2, this would not work. 66...Kd3? like in the game throws the win away as after 67.Ra2 f4 68.Ra3+ Kc2 69.Ra2+ Kb3 70.Ra6 Rg3+ 71.Kh2 Kc3 72.Rd6! This very important motif of cutting off the king gives White the draw. Kc4 73.Rd8 Rd3 74.Rg8 Rd6 75.Rf8= 66...Rg1 surprisingly wins, it's idea is to play f4 and Rh1+ and win the h4 pawn. 67.Rc4+ 67.Ra2 f4 68.Ra4+ Ke3 69.Ra3+ Kd2 70.Ra2+ Kc3 71.Ra4 Rh1+ and the h4 pawn is lost. 67.Kh2 Rd1 68.Rc6 f4 69.Rxg6 f3 70.Re6+ Kf4 71.Rf6+ Ke3 72.Re6+ Kf2 73.Ra6 Kf1 74.Kg3 f2-+ 67...Ke3 68.Ra4 f4 69.Ra3+ Kd2 70.Ra2+ Kc3 71.Ra3+ Kb4 72.Ra6 Rh1+! 73.Kg2 Rxh4 74.Rxg6 Rg4+-+ 67.Rc4+ Kf3 67...Ke3 68.Rc3+ Kd4 69.Rc2 Rg3+ 70.Kh2 Ke4 68.Rc3+ Ke2 69.Rc2+ Kd3 70.Ra2 Rg3+ 71.Kh2 Ke4-+ The king comes back in time and makes his way to g4. 65...Rg4+ 66.Kh3 f4 The best attempt to try and win, but doesn't work. 66...Rg1 67.Ra4+ Ke5 68.Ra5+ Kd4 69.Kh2!= 69.Ra4+? Kc3 70.Ra3+ 70.Kh2 Rg4-+ 70...Kb4 71.Ra8 Rh1+! A key move. 72.Kg3 f4+! 73.Kxf4 Rxh4+-+ And this is easily winning. 67.Ra4+ Kd3 68.Ra3+ Kc2 69.Ra2+ Kb3 70.Ra6 Rg3+ 71.Kh2 Kc3 This is the best that Black can achieve. 72.Rd6! I like this way of blocking the king. Black is two pawns up, but has no way to make progress. 72.Ra4= also seems to draw. 72...Kc4 73.Rd8 Rd3 74.Rg8 Rd6 75.Rf8= Now these are my findings of this rook endgame. I would really be interested if someone has something more to add to it and is able to find a win for Black. As far as I could analyze and also work with Tigran Gharamian after the tournament, we came to the conclusion that the game was drawn.
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Analysis of the rook endgame--

Sagar and Tigran

I also analyzed this endgame with Tigran at the end of the tournament and even he was very surprised that the position was drawn! (the guy in the background doesn't like it either!) | Photo: Amruta Mokal

So, dear readers, if you are able to find a way for Black to win, do let me know. As of now I am going to add this position to my memory as one that should be avoided by the side trying for a win!

Andreea-Cristiana Navrotescu

Kudos to Andreea, who after the above loss, came back strongly to score 4.0/5 in the remaining rounds and make her maiden WGM norm! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Interview with Andreea-Cristiana Navrotescu

Final standings (top 20)

Standings

Trophies

Trophies for the winners | Photo: Amruta Mokal

(L to R): Main organizer Robert Romanelli, best veteran in B-group Walter De Reymaeker, winner of the B group Axel Harutyunyan, winner of the C-group Henri Dambiermont, winner of the A group Tigran Gharamian, best female player Andreea Cristiana Navrotescu, and the most promising player of Belgium Francois Godart | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Everyone went back home with pleasant memories after a glass full of champagne! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Part II of the Charleroi Open with an important endgame lesson, lot of pictures, personalities and a video on the event will follow shortly. Stay tuned!

Correction - August 9: An earlier version of this story misidentified Alexandre Dgebuadze as being from France. In fact he represents Belgium.

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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