Leon Mendonca's immaculate 9.0/9 in the 27th Hit Open

by Shahid Ahmed
3/25/2023 – Generally after winning a tournament in a dominating fashion, players tend to relax. That's not what GM Leon Luke Mendonca did. After clinching 27th Hit Open 2023 on the previous day, the teenager went on to defeat FM Domen Tisaj to score a perfect 9/9. Leon, who has just turned 17, performed at 3196, which earned him 26.4 Elo rating points. This is Leon's second consecutive tournament triumph this month: he remains undefeated after winning 38th ChessOrg Festival Bad Woerishofen 2023 on 11th March. Report with full post-match interview.
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Leon performs at 3196

The brand ambassador of Geno and Microsense, GM Leon Luke Mendonca has been hitting all the right notes lately. After winning the 27th Hit Open 2023 before the final round, he did not slow down, but won the ninth-round game to finish with 9.0/9, with a rating performance of 3196. It will be very difficult to tie Leon's record, let alone break it, unless the future editions get an extra round or two. The top three prizes were €1000, €750 and €500 each respectively.

 
Domen - Leon, Round 9
Position after 21...Qc6

A well-timed offer of a queen exchange gave Leon a long-term positional advantage against FM Domen Tisaj (SLO, 2372). Computer recommends declining the exchange 22.Qe2 Ba3 23.Rb1 e4 and White's position stays unpleasant. The game continued 22.Qxc6 Rxc6 23.Nb1 Ne4 24.Be1 all White's pieces are now on the first rank f5 25.f3 Nf6 and Black went on to win the game eventually.

Last month, Leon visited the ChessBase office and was Karsten Müller’s guest in his Endgame Magic Show. Check it out!

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.a4 Ngf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Bb7 9.0-0 e6 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.Nd2 Ne5 12.Nc4 Nxc4 13.Bxc4 Be7 14.Be3 0-0 15.e5 dxe5 16.Qxb6 Qxc4 17.Qxb7 Bb4 18.Bd2 Rab8 19.Qf3 Rfc8 20.Rac1 Bf8 21.b3 Qc6 22.Qxc6 22.Qe2 Ba3 23.Rb1 e4 22...Rxc6 23.Nb1 Ne4 24.Be1 f5 25.f3 Nf6 26.Kf1 Nd5 27.Bd2 Kf7 28.Re1 Bd6 29.g3 Kf6 30.h4 h6 31.Kg2 g5 32.hxg5+ hxg5 33.c4 Ne7 34.Rc3 Bc5 35.Rd3 Rd6 36.Rxd6 Bxd6 37.Re3 Bc5 38.Rd3 e4 39.fxe4 fxe4 40.Bc3+ Kf5 41.g4+ Kxg4 42.Rg3+ Kf4 43.Ba5 Rb7 44.Nc3 Nf5 45.Ne2+ Ke5 46.Bc3+ Kd6 47.Rxg5 Rxb3 48.Kh2 Ra3 49.Rg4 Ra2 50.Rxe4 Ne3 51.Be5+ Kc6 52.Kg3 Rxe2 53.Kf3 Rc2 54.Bf4 Nxc4 55.Rxe6+ Nd6 56.Re2 Rc3+ 57.Kg4 Rc4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tisaj,D2372Mendonca,L25580–12023B5127. Hit open 2023 - A9

Leon's perfect 9.0/9 involved defeating five grandmasters and earned him 26.4 rating points

The maestro Vishy Anand congratulated his WACA student.

ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah spoke with the in-form youngster for almost a full hour. What was his secret? Find out below!

The tournament hall | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

A total of 84 players including 10 GMs and an IM took part in the A group (>1500) from 13 countries across the world. The eight-day, nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Chess Club Nova Gorica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia from 16th to 23rd March 2023. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 9 games

Round 9 results

Bo. No.     Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg   No. PGN
1 12
 
 FM Tisaj, Domen 2372 5½ 0 - 1 8 GM Mendonca, Leon Luke 2558
 
 1 PGN
2 9
 
 GM Tratar, Marko 2397 6 ½ - ½ 5½ FM Favaloro, Andrea 2407
 
 8 PGN
3 54
 
   Kozlovic, Jernej 1878 5½ 0 - 1 5½ GM Brunello, Sabino 2512
 
 2 PGN
4 15
 
 FM Bifulco, Michel 2312 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Cvitan, Ognjen 2446
 
 4 PGN
5 5
 
 GM Strikovic, Aleksa 2446 5½ 1 - 0 5 IM Wadsworth, Matthew J 2439
 
 6 PGN
6 3
 
 GM Beliavsky, Alexander G 2499 5 1 - 0 5 CM Garsky, Vladyslav 2253
 
 21 PGN
7 17
 
 FM Beletic, Daniel 2269 5 0 - 1 5 FM Dobrovoljc, Vid 2384
 
 10 PGN
8 11
 
 GM Davies, Nigel R 2380 5 ½ - ½ 5   Zamar Kodelja, Jurij 2254
 
 20 PGN
9 13
 
 GM Drazic, Sinisa 2368 5 1 - 0 5 FM Belli, Giorgio 2192
 
 25 PGN
10 19
 
 GM Djuric, Stefan 2256 5 0 - 1 5 FM Lavrencic, Matic 2319
 
 14 PGN

Details

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Mendonca, Leon Luke 9 0
2 Brunello, Sabino 6,5 0
3 Tratar, Marko 6,5 0
4 Strikovic, Aleksa 6,5 0
5 Cvitan, Ognjen 6 0
6 Lavrencic, Matic 6 0
7 Favaloro, Andrea 6 0
8 Bifulco, Michel 6 0
9 Drazic, Sinisa 6 0
10 Beliavsky, Alexander G 6 0

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Shahid Ahmed is the senior coordinator and editor of ChessBase India. He enjoys covering chess tournaments and also likes to play in chess events from time to time.

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