Romanian Championships: Shevchenko and Lehaci win maiden titles

Young champions

Press release by the International Chess Federation

GM Kirill Shevchenko and WIM Miruna-Daria Lehaci are the new champions of Romania. Both won their maiden national titles.

The Romanian Championships took place on February 19–26 in Sebes, and saw the triumph of young players. The open, women’s and amateur sections were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control.

The Fianchetto Scandinavian

The mainline from the repertoire will start with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nf3 g6. From there on, the repertoire will be worked out backwards till the second move options for White.

The third-rated Romanian player, Kirill Shevchenko, who completed his transfer from the Ukrainian to the Romanian Federation last month, sure-footedly confirmed his status as the tournament favourite in the open event. The native of Kyiv scored an impressive 8/9, conceding his opponents just two draws.

Two other zoomers, IM David Gavrilescu and FM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu, tied for second place, netting 6½/9, with the former claiming silver thanks to a superior Buchholz score.

The only female player in the open section, IM Irina Bulmaga, turned in a solid performance and shared fourth place with a large group of players.

The winners of the open championship

Irina Bulmaga had a strong performance in the open section

The women’s championship was a much closer competition, as Miruna-Daria Lehaci and WGM Michaela Sandu took turns leading the field and came to the final round sharing the top position. Lehaci pulled off a crucial victory with the black pieces in a complicated battle with WGM Elena-Luminita Cosma, whereas Sandu suffered a defeat at the hands of the top-rated participant, 12-time national champion IM Corina-Isabela Peptan.

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With these results, Miruna-Daria Lehaci finished clear first, a full point ahead of four players tied for second place. The second tiebreak variable (Buchholz) favoured Mihaela Sandu, who took silver, and WIM Angela Dragomirescu, who grabbed the bronze.

Miruna-Daria Lehaci was the outright winner in the women’s section

The winners of the women’s tournament

NM Ion-Cristian Veneteanu emerged as the winner of the amateur section. 

Final standings - Open

...84 players

All available games - Open

Final standings - Women’s

...30 players

All available games - Women’s

Links

• Official website
• More photos on the Romanian Federation Facebook page
• Chess-Results: Open | Women’s