Kacper Piorun wins Polish Championship

8/3/2020 – The 28-year old Polish Grandmaster Kacper Piorun is five-time World Champion in problem solving but also a very strong over-the-board player. At the end of July he won the 77th Polish Championships in Warsaw. This year, the Polish Championship was a knockout tournament and in the final Piorun won against Daniel Sadzikowski. But the match was close and was only decided in the Armageddon game. | Photos: Polish Chess Federation / Krzysztof Ćwik

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Polish Championship 2020

Under the required anti-corona regulations the Polish Chess Federation organised the 77th Polish Championship from July 20 to 28. This year the championship was played in the building of the Bank and Financial Centre in Warsaw and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was patron of the event. The organizers also formed an honorary committee, with representatives of the sponsors and organizers, including, for example, fencer Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk, who is currently non-party Minister of Sport in Mateusz Morawiecki's cabinet.

This year the championship was played as a knockout tournament with 16 players. Poland's top players usually take part in the national championships, which are sponsored by Lotto, and this year the field was again very strong.

The knockout matches were played in World Cup format, that is, the players started with two classical games which in case of a tie were followed by rapid- and blitz-tiebreaks and, if necessary, an Armageddon game.

The first round already brought suprises and two of the favourites were eliminated: Matheusz Bartel lost against Pawel Teclaf, and Bartosz Socko lost against Daniel Sadzikowski. In the quarter finals Bartlomiej Heberla won against Pawel Teclaf, Daniel Sadzikowski won against Jacek Tomcak and Kacper Piorun defeated tournament senior Michal Krasenkow while Grzegorsz Gajewski beat Marcin Dziuba.

In the semi-finals Sadzikowski won against Heberla while Piorun won against Gajewski.

Kacper Piorun

The final was close and exciting. After two draws in the classical games followed a play-off in which the first two games also ended in a draw. Then each of the two players won one of the next two games and the match had to be decided by an Armageddon game. This was won by Kacper Piorun who had White and one minute more on the clock, but who had to win while Sadzikowski only needed a draw to become Polish Champion 2020.

The match for the bronze medal was won by Grzegorz Gajewski who defeated Bartłomiej Heberla.

Heberla-Gajewski

This is Kacper Piorun's second title win after 2017, and he has also won the vice championship three times. Piorun is also five times world champion in solving chess compositions.