Following the worldwide coronavirus lockdown, the Croatian Championships were the first national championships to be held as an over-the-board chess tournament again, with all players in the same place and on real boards. The venue was Vinkovci, where Bobby Fischer shone in 1968, winning a tournament with a strong line-up.
Twelve players took part in the championship. The race for the title was close, but in the end Sasa Martinovic was victorious. The 29-year-old was the only player to score 7 points, beating four players into second place by half a point.
The championship was decided in the final round, with Kozul defeating the leading Brkic and Martinovic scoring a victory over Jovanovic.
19...Rac8 Better was 19...f5 20.Neg5 Rf6 21.Nh4 Ne5 22.Nxf5 Qd7 and black can still play on. 20.Neg5 f6 20...Bxf3+ 21.Nxf3 fxg6 22.Qe4. now follows a series of crushing moves. 21.Bxe6+ Kh8 22.Nf7+ Rxf7 23.Qf5 Kg8 24.gxf7+ Kf8 25.Nh4 1–0
Zelcic, Martinovic, Kozul
Games
Finals standings
| 1 |
9 |
GM |
Martinović Saša |
CRO |
2532 |
2521 |
GŠK Solin-Cemex, Solin |
7,0 |
4,0 |
37,00 |
0,0 |
3 |
1 |
2638 |
10 |
15,5 |
| 2 |
7 |
GM |
Kožul Zdenko |
CRO |
2597 |
2587 |
ŠK Zagreb, Zagreb |
6,5 |
3,5 |
36,25 |
0,0 |
4 |
2 |
2595 |
10 |
0,0 |
| 3 |
1 |
GM |
Zelčić Robert |
CRO |
2527 |
2501 |
ŠK Zagreb, Zagreb |
6,5 |
3,0 |
33,75 |
0,0 |
4 |
1 |
2601 |
10 |
11,5 |
| 4 |
10 |
GM |
Stević Hrvoje |
CRO |
2575 |
2536 |
ŠK Zagreb, Zagreb |
6,5 |
3,0 |
33,00 |
0,0 |
2 |
0 |
2597 |
10 |
3,6 |
| 5 |
5 |
GM |
Brkić Ante |
CRO |
2593 |
2557 |
ŠK Vinkovci, Vinkovci |
6,5 |
2,5 |
33,25 |
0,0 |
3 |
1 |
2595 |
10 |
0,6 |
| 6 |
6 |
GM |
Šarić Ante |
CRO |
2541 |
2526 |
ŠK Mornar, Split |
6,0 |
2,0 |
29,25 |
0,0 |
3 |
0 |
2571 |
10 |
4,2 |
| 7 |
3 |
GM |
Jovanić Ognjen |
CRO |
2524 |
2466 |
ŠK Liburnija, Rijeka |
5,5 |
3,0 |
30,00 |
0,0 |
1 |
0 |
2537 |
10 |
1,9 |
| 8 |
11 |
GM |
Palac Mladen |
CRO |
2529 |
2520 |
ŠK Zagreb, Zagreb |
5,0 |
3,5 |
28,00 |
0,0 |
0 |
0 |
2500 |
10 |
-3,9 |
| 9 |
8 |
GM |
Bosiočić Marin |
CRO |
2625 |
2576 |
ŠK Sesvete Agroproteinka, Zagreb |
5,0 |
2,5 |
24,75 |
0,0 |
2 |
0 |
2492 |
10 |
-19,4 |
| 10 |
12 |
GM |
Rogić Davor |
CRO |
2492 |
2476 |
GŠK Solin-Cemex, Solin |
5,0 |
1,5 |
24,25 |
0,0 |
3 |
1 |
2504 |
10 |
2,2 |
| 11 |
4 |
IM |
Plenča Jadranko |
CRO |
2483 |
2428 |
ŠK Liburnija, Rijeka |
3,5 |
2,0 |
19,25 |
0,0 |
0 |
0 |
2407 |
10 |
-11,3 |
| 12 |
2 |
GM |
Kovačević Blažimir |
CRO |
2410 |
2438 |
ŠK Novi Zagreb, Zagreb |
3,0 |
2,0 |
16,75 |
0,0 |
1 |
0 |
2372 |
10 |
-4,9 |
Links
Translation from German: Nick Murphy
