Maurizzi dominates Djerba Masters, scores 7½ out of 9

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/23/2025 – French Grandmaster Marc'Andria Maurizzi delivered a commanding performance to win the Djerba Masters, a 10-player single round-robin held on the paradisiac Tunisian island. The 17-year-old secured first place with a round to spare and finished with an impressive 7½/9 score. Belgian GM Daniel Dardha claimed second place as the only other undefeated player, while Parham Maghsoodloo and Volodar Murzin shared third. | Photos: Djerba Chess Festival

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Six wins and three draws

The Djerba Masters, a classical chess tournament held on the Tunisian island, saw a commanding performance from 17-year-old French Grandmaster Marc'Andria Maurizzi. Displaying remarkable consistency, Maurizzi secured six wins and three draws, clinching first place with a round to spare after defeating Bassem Amin with the white pieces on Saturday.

Despite already having an unassailable 1½-point lead over his closest rivals, Maurizzi ended the event in style, beating Volodar Murzin in the final round to conclude with a 7½/9 score. His outstanding performance earned him a 2898 Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) and a gain of 35.4 rating points.

Maurizzi, who obtained the GM title in 2021 at the age of 14, is the youngest French player ever to achieve the title. His successes include winning the 2023 World Junior Chess Championship in Mexico City and a strong showing at the 2024 Tata Steel Challengers tournament, where he finished in shared second place with 9/13 points. His triumph in Djerba further solidifies his status as a rising star in the chess world.

In round six, the eventual champion defeated his countryman Etienne Bacrot with the white pieces. The all-French duel saw Bacrot, fittingly, playing the French Defence. The game only lasted 22 moves, and featured a good-looking final move (full game analysis below).

Djerba Chess Festival 2025

Volodar Murzin kibitzing the game between Parham Maghsoodloo and Vasyl Ivanchuk during the fifth round

Second place in the tournament went to Daniel Dardha, the 2024 champion. The 19-year-old Belgian GM was the only player apart from Maurizzi to remain undefeated. Entering the final round tied for second place with Murzin, Dardha secured clear second place by defeating Vasyl Ivanchuk with the white pieces. Murzin's loss against Maurizzi allowed top seed Parham Maghsoodloo to catch him in shared third place with 5/9 points after beating David Navara.

Meanwhile, the youngest participant, 11-year-old Argentine Faustino Oro, faced a challenging tournament. As the clear rating underdog, he managed three draws but suffered six defeats. Despite his struggles, the significant rating difference meant he only lost 7.6 rating points, while gaining valuable experience against high-level opposition.

Daniel Dardha

Daniel Dardha finished the tournament undefeated

Maurizzi 1 - 0 Bacrot

Top Choice Repertoire: Play the French Defence Vol.1 & 2

In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening.

Final standings

All games

Links

<< Monaco GP: Five draws, Humpy and Paehtz get promising positions
Grivas on Trapping a Piece >>
Topics: Daniel Dardha, Djerba Chess Festival 2025, Marc Andria Maurizzi
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Djerba 'the sweet' welcomes chess festival's fifth edition

2/21/2025 – The Djerba Chess Festival's Masters section brings together top grandmasters from around the world for a highly competitive tournament on the island of Djerba, a.k.a. the Island of Dreams. Vetted GMs such as Vasyl Ivanchuk, David Navara and Parham Maghsoodloo compete alongside rising talents like Volodar Murzin and current tournament leader Marc'Andria Maurizzi. The event, enriched by Tunisian culture and hospitality, also welcomed the country's Minister for Tourism. | All photos: Diana Mihajlova
More...
 5

See also

Volodar Murzin, the newly crowned Rapid World Champion, to play in the Djerba Chess Festival

1/27/2025 – The <a href="https://djerbachessfestival.com/">Djerba Chess Festival</a> is steadily securing its place on the international chess scene as an exciting blend of competition, tourism, and cultural experience. Known as the "sweet Djerba" or the "island of dreams," this enchanting destination on Tunisia's southeast coast will host its fifth edition from February 15–23, 2025.
More...
 2

Video

60m How to fight Queen's Pawn Openigns

After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.