The second edition of the Colònia de Sant Jordi International Chess Festival came to an end last Sunday. English CM Ankush Khandelwal was proclaimed champion of the International Open, the event that finished last in the festival that took place on June 9-18 at the Blau Hotel Colònia Sant Jordi. Khandelwal is a four-time world champion of Pentamind, an event that includes chess as well as four other modalities, which might include mental calculation, Go or memory tests. Second place went to Spanish-Swedish GM Juan Manuel Bellón, while Ukrainian IM Oleg Gubanov got third place.
Anna Cramling, whose live-streamed games kept thousands of fans on tenterhooks every round, was proclaimed the best woman player of the tournament. Her Twitch channel streamed the awards ceremony live.
A day earlier, the Masters Tournament had come to an end. The closed event was a resounding success for the Spanish players: Aarón Alonso won the event after a spectacular streak of four consecutive victories that have also earned him his first GM norm; second place went to Spanish GM Hipólito Asís; while Diego Macías, champion of Spain U16, had a magnificent performance obtaining the third place and his first IM norm.
Juan Rodríguez, Mayor of Ses Salines; Apolonia Bonet, vice-president of the Hotel Association; and Gaspar Guasp, tourism delegate of the District Council of Colònia Sant Jordi attended the closing ceremony and assured that the third edition of the International Chess Festival will be held in June 2024.
After the ceremony, Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin offered a simultaneous exhibition, in which he showed no mercy to any of his fourteen enthusiastic opponents.
The second edition of the Colònia de Sant Jordi International Chess Festival was sponsored by the Ajuntament de Ses Salines, Blau Hotel Colònia Sant Jordi and the city’s Hotel Association. The event was organised by the Mallorca Isolani Chess Club.
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 | IM | Alonso Garcia, Aaron | 2439 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM | Asis Gargatagli, Hipolito | 2525 | 6,5 | 0 | |
| 3 | FM | Macias Pino, Diego | 2408 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 4 | IM | Matnadze Bujiashvili, Ann | 2394 | 5 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM | Campos Moreno, Javier B. | 2408 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 6 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | 2418 | 4 | 0,5 | |
| 7 | FM | Szwed, Jacek | 2355 | 4 | 0,5 | |
| 8 | FM | Shivakumar, Shawnak | 2431 | 3,5 | 0,5 | |
| 9 | GM | Romanishin, Oleg M | 2397 | 3,5 | 0,5 | |
| 10 | FM | Soderstrom, Adrian | 2356 | 1,5 | 0 |
Full technical information on Chess-Results
The Masters’ podium was set up on the beach
Ana Matnadze finished in fourth place
Veteran Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin drew Indian rising star Savitha Shri with white in the seventh round
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | ||
| 1 | CM | Khandelwal, Ankush | 2221 | 7 | |
| 2 | GM | Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel | 2274 | 6,5 | |
| 3 | IM | Gubanov, Oleg | 2278 | 6,5 | |
| 4 | IM | Mascaro March, Pedro | 2359 | 6 | |
| 5 | FM | Voiteanu, Gabriel | 2149 | 6 | |
| 6 | Schmuck, Corentin | 2092 | 5,5 | ||
| 7 | Marin Ferragut, Pau | 2157 | 5,5 | ||
| 8 | WFM | Cramling Bellon, Anna | 2043 | 5,5 | |
| 9 | FM | Hristodorescu, Daniel | 2085 | 5,5 | |
| 10 | Yuste Valenzuela, Alejandro | 2125 | 5,5 | ||
| 11 | FM | Viskelis, Darius | 2157 | 5,5 | |
| 12 | GM | Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan | 2319 | 5 | |
| 13 | WGM | Calzetta Ruiz, Monica | 2174 | 5 | |
| 14 | Nieto Foresti, Julian | 1707 | 5 | ||
| 15 | Draghici Flutur, Gavril | 1934 | 5 |
English CM Ankush Khandelwal
The International Open tournament
Juan Manuel Bellón and his daughter Anna Cramling
