Martinovic wins Croatian Championship

by André Schulz
7/2/2020 – Sasa Martinovic is the new Croatian national champion. He won the championship - the first national championship since the coronavirus lockdown to be held as a "real" chess tournament - with 7.0/11, ahead of Zdenko Kozul, Robert Zelcic, Hrvoje Stevic and Ante Brkic who all finished on 6.5/11. | Photo: Tournament Website

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

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

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Martinović Saša 7,0 4,0
2 Kožul Zdenko 6,5 3,5
3 Zelčić Robert 6,5 3,0
4 Stević Hrvoje 6,5 3,0
5 Brkić Ante 6,5 2,5
6 Šarić Ante 6,0 2,0
7 Jovanić Ognjen 5,5 3,0
8 Palac Mladen 5,0 3,5
9 Bosiočić Marin 5,0 2,5
10 Rogić Davor 5,0 1,5
11 Plenča Jadranko 3,5 2,0
12 Kovačević Blažimir 3,0 2,0

Links

Translation from German: Nick Murphy


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register