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The 29th Annual North American Open was held at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, from December 26th to 30th. 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 15th 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.
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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...
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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
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| # | Name | Rtng | Country | Tot | Prize | Amount |
| 1 | GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan | 2610 | ARM | 7.0 | 1st-2nd/Bonus | $7700.00 |
| 2 | GM Zviad Izoria | 2599 | USA | 7.0 | 1st-2nd | $7500.00 |
| 3 | GM Mark Paragua | 2513 | PHI | 6.5 | 3rd-7th | $1220.00 |
| 4 | GM Nikola Mitkov | 2508 | MKD | 6.5 | 3rd-7th | $1220.00 |
| 5 | IM Hans Niemann | 2471 | USA | 6.5 | 3rd-7th | $1220.00 |
| 6 | IM John Daniel Bryant | 2422 | USA | 6.5 | 3rd-7th | $1220.00 |
| 7 | IM Alexander Ross Katz | 2404 | USA | 6.5 | 3rd-7th | $1220.00 |
| 8 | FM Ian Zhao | 2320 | CAN | 6.5 | 1st U2400 | $2400.00 |
| 9 | GM Joshua D Ruiz C | 2497 | COL | 6.0 | 8th-10th/Other | $416.67 |
| 10 | IM Florin Felecan | 2336 | USA | 6.0 | 8th-10th/2nd U2400 | $416.67 |
| 11 | FM Jason Wang | 2317 | USA | 6.0 | 8th-10th/2nd U2400 | $416.67 |
| 12 | FM Spencer George Lehmann | 2236 | USA | 6.0 | 8th-10th/2nd U2400 | $416.67 |
| 13 | Logan Wu | 2155 | USA | 6.0 | 8th-10th/2nd U2400 | $416.67 |
| 14 | Davaaoch Nyamdorj | 2110 | CAN | 6.0 | 8th-10th/2nd U2400 | $416.67 |
| 15 | FM Mirai Aoshima | 2361 | JPN | 5.5 | ||
| 16 | IM Richard Wang | 2342 | CAN | 5.5 | ||
| 17 | GM Pavel Blatny | 2331 | CZE | 5.5 | ||
| 18 | FM Shunkai Peng | 2315 | USA | 5.5 | ||
| 19 | Jason Liang | 2296 | USA | 5.5 | ||
| 20 | FM Todd D Andrews | 2214 | USA | 5.5 |
