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The last round of the French Championship could hardly have been more dramatic: after eight of nine rounds five of the ten players shared first place with 5.0/8 each: Laurent Fressinet, Etienne Bacrot, Christian Bauer, Tigran Gharamian and Yannick Gozzoli.
Bacrot played in the last round with Black against his direct rival Bauer and won convincingly:
Gharamian and Gozzoli also belonged to the leading five players but in their game they both showed little ambition to become French Champion 2017: after 19 moves they managed to draw a well-known theoretical line by a repetition of moves:
Laurent Fressinet fared much better. He played with Black against Jean-Luc Chabanon who overambitiously sacrificed an exchange and a few moves later succumbed to a powerful counterattack.
Thus after nine rounds Bacrot and Fressinet shared first place with 6.0/9 each.
Rg. | Tit. | Name | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts. |
1 | GM | Etienne Bacrot | 2715 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6.0 / 9 | |
2 | GM | Laurent Fressinet | 2650 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.0 / 9 | |
3 | GM | Tigran Gharamian | 2616 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.5 / 9 | |
4 | GM | Yannick Gozzoli | 2592 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 / 9 | |
5 | GM | Christian Bauer | 2650 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0 / 9 | |
6 | GM | Sebastien Maze | 2612 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0 / 9 | |
7 | GM | Maxime Lagarde | 2607 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0 / 9 | |
8 | GM | Matthieu Cornette | 2609 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4.0 / 9 | |
9 | GM | Jean Luc Chabanon | 2467 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 / 9 | |
10 | IM | Jean Francois Jolly | 2381 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1.5 / 9 |
Now Fressinet and Bacrot had to play a tie-break for the title - and this brought even more drama. After four draws Bacrot finally won the decisive Armageddon game and became French Champion 2017.
Rg. | Tit. | Name | Elo | Score | |
1 | GM | Etienne Bacrot | 2715 | ½½½½1 | 3.0 / 5 |
2 | GM | Laurent Fressinet | 2650 | ½½½½0 | 2.0 / 5 |
The Women's Championship was much less dramatic. Here Sophie Milliet dominated from beginning to end and finished with 8.0/9, 2.5 points ahead of her closest rivals.
Pays | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | SB | ||
1 | m Sophie MILLIET | 2362 F | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 32½ | ||
2 | ff Cecile HAUSSERNOT | 2077 F | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5½ | 22½ | ||
3 | m Silvia COLLAS | 2289 F | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 21½ | ||
4 | mf Andreea-Cristiana NAVROTESCU | 2150 F | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5 | 19¼ | ||
5 | gf Maria LECONTE | 2208 F | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 17¾ | ||
6 | mf Natacha BENMESBAH | 2271 F | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14½ | ||
7 | gf Anda SAFRANSKA | 2224 F | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3½ | 15¾ | ||
8 | gf Nino MAISURADZE | 2280 F | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 3½ | 14 | ||
9 | ff Isabelle MALASSAGNE | 2061 F | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10¼ | ||
10 | mf Marina ROUMEGOUS | 2142 F | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2½ | 11½ |
Sophie Milliet | Photo: Alina l'Ami