When it comes to speed chess, one should never bet against Nihal Sarin, be it over-the-board or online. He is that good when the time available is reduced. This is Nihal's first tournament triumph of the year. We hope this is the first of many to come in the next few months. The third leg of the GP will take place at Brasov in Romania from 15th to 21st July 2024.
A total of 314 players, including 22 GMs, 11 IMs and 3 WGMs, from 17 countries across the world participated in this two-day ten-round rapid open tournament. It was organized by the Romanian Chess Federatio in Cluj on 13th and 14th June 2024. The time control of the event was 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.
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Top 3 (L to R): GM Imre Balog (HUN) 8½/10, GM Nihal Sarin (IND) 8½/10, and GM Jaime Santos (ESP) 8/10 with Vishy Anand | Photo: Federația Română de Șah
Women top 3 (L to R): WGM Petra Papp (HUN) 6½/9, FM Nadya Toncheva (BUL) 7/9, and tournament winner IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU) 7½/9 with Vishy Anand | Photo: Federația Română de Șah
Nihal Sarin in action | Photo: Saji Mathew
Top boards playing on the stage | Photo: Federația Română de Șah
Players, parents and accompanying persons at the closing ceremony | Photo: Federația Română de Șah
Vishy Anand to meet Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in Cluj
Nihal Sarin talks about the Gukesh v. Ding Liren World Championship match
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2653 | 8,5 | 1 |
| 2 | GM | Balog, Imre | 2613 | 8,5 | 2 |
| 3 | GM | Santos Latasa, Jaime | 2659 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | GM | Shevchenko, Kirill | 2633 | 8 | 0 |
| 5 | GM | Erdos, Viktor | 2519 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2535 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | GM | Solodovnichenko, Yuri | 2457 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | GM | Sokolov, Ivan | 2598 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2737 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | GM | Glek, Igor | 2415 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 11 | FM | Secheres, Adrian-Simion | 2378 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 12 | CM | Sachilaru, Alexandru | 2146 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 13 | GM | Kantor, Gergely | 2487 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 14 | GM | Istratescu, Andrei | 2422 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 15 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 2589 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 16 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 2390 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 17 | IM | Filip, Lucian-Ioan | 2267 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 18 | FM | Stoleriu, George | 2327 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 19 | GM | Narayanan, S L | 2598 | 7 | 0 |
| 20 | FM | Magold, Filip | 2282 | 7 | 0 |
