Li Chao is champion at Cappelle

Within a stone's throw from our hotel in Dunkerque; I felt like a child again, drawing a typical
scene (for me at least) with water, boats, some houses and, of course, the usual sun in the
top left corner. Just that this time I didn't use crayons but Nikon tools.

For more than 30 years, Cappelle and its playing hall stand still! The thought of stability,
traditions, a system that works, gives me the comfortable feeling of durability and strength
in a world that is constantly changing. I believe we will, hopefully, celebrate 100 years of
the Cappelle la Grande event!

Federico Perez Ponsa having troubles to acclimatize with the European weather in February,
but his South American colleague seems to have adjusted; even more than that...

...with Alexander Fier: one of a kind! Just imagine a hot-blooded Brazilian
walking on the windy streets of Dunkerque and Cappelle in...what you
see him wearing in this photo - only a t-shirt! No doubt living in Georgia
helps. I will check again once I reach Iceland, where he will also be playing.

A real winner will always stand up after falling. Li Chao didn't fall but
had a "slow start", just like in Reykjavik last year: a draw in the first
round. This strategy seems to work as he won both tournaments in style!

Great tournament for Vladimir Onischuk, who shared 1st with Li Chao, scoring 7.5/9 and
a magnificent performance of 2840!

Andreea Navrotescu, the talented junior player of France happens to be the
daughter of my former coach: Catalin Navrotescu. The family moved to France
some years ago but I do remember when she was a little girl. Time flies!

A heroic tournament for the Romanian GM Vladislav Nevednichy. Vladik,
as we all call him, won his last four games against tough opposition,
finishing on the podium in third place.

Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian had a good tournament, finishing sixth with 6.5/9

The top boards in action

Igor Kovalenko had a very good start but the second half of the tournament didn't go his way

Chess players will always have something to bring along, to make them
feel comfortable and more energetic, such as mysterious Chinese elixirs

Tension in the air

Vasilios Kotronias did well and came in fifth place

Sharing third with 7.0/9, Marcin Tazbir from Poland, much like Vladik, also won his last four games!

The French GM Tigran Gharamian

After a flawless tournament, the deserved first place finisher Li Chao

Winning the top female prize was Ekaterina Atalik

The winners take all

Together with his friend and top GM, Wang Yue, Li Chao opened a chess school in Chengdu,
which is already giving the chess world new talents! His students played in Cappelle as well
but this didn't stop Li Chao from taking the first place.

The city hall in Dunkerque

The final standings

Click for complete standings

Photos by Alina L'Ami

Links Official tournament site You can use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.