Hovhannes Gabuzyan grabs North American Open

End of year in Vegas

The 29^th Annual North American Open was held at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, from December 26^th to 30^th. GMs Zviad Izoria and Hovhannes Gabuzyan topped the Open Section, with final scores of 7/9. The latter got the title and the $200 bonus for first place thanks to his superior score in the second tiebreak criterion — the co-leaders drew both on points and on the first tiebreaker score.

Gabuzyan is a 24-year-old Armenian grandmaster, who is currently the 15^th highest-rated player in his country. Born in Yerevan, he won the Armenian National Championship in 2017, a ten-player single round robin that had Robert Hovhannisyan, Zaven Andriasian and Arman Pashikian in the line-up.

Typical mistakes by 1600-1900 players

Some mistakes repeat themselves often in amateur games. With themes such as "Miscalculating Forcing Lines", "Being Too Materialistic" and "King Safety" Nick Pert shows you how to avoid making typical mistakes.

Getting in the zone — Hovhannes Gabuzyan | Photo: Crystal Jiuzhou Gu

Before the eventual winners rose through the ranks, it was GM Nikola Mitkov who snatched a one-point lead after soundly defeating the top seed. 

Meanwhile, Izoria faced tough and creative resistance in the form of IM Dionisio Aldama, whose three connected passed pawns offered interesting compensation for a whole rook deficit.

In round seven, Mitkov decided to go for the gold with an attack on Izoria’s king; but it backfired severely, and his own king ended up in mortal danger...

How to play the Sicilian Defence!

The continuous stream of new ideas in the Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I do give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.

Zviad Izoria drew the eventual champion in the last round | Photo: Crystal Jiuzhou Gu

The adventures of Nikola Mitkov continued in round eight, when GM Mark Paragua nonchalantly sacrificed a piece for a decisive long-term initiative. Mitkov redeemed his tournament life in the final round, crushing IM Richard Wang’s Sicilian. Meanwhile, Paragua was half a point behind Izoria and Gabuzyan, but was unable to make headway against the undefeated and newly-minted GM Joshua Ruiz. A safe draw between Izoria and Gabuzyan sealed the standings at the top.

Mark Paragua finished in third place — here playing Black against Balaji Daggupati | Photo: Crystal Jiuzhou Gu 

Other highlights from the event

You can select any game from the list!

Final standings (top 20)

Fritz 17 - The giant PC chess program, now with Fat Fritz

The most popular chess program offers you everything you will need as a dedicated chess enthusiast, with innovative training methods for amateurs and professionals alike.

...91 players

Links

• More info at chessevents.com