Anyone who has played in Spilimbergo likes to come back - and so do we. Five years ago, my son Max played his first international tournament in the C-Open, this time he started in the Masters.

There were four tournaments divided by Elo: A, B, C and the 'Masters' for players with more than 2000 Elo. In the Masters, more than half of the 154 participants were titleholders, including 14 GMs. The high number of women was also striking: 18 (almost 12%) in the Masters alone. In the A tournament (1700-2099 Elo) two young women, Elisa Cassi and Kamilla Rubinshtein, even took the top two places!

Despite the record number of participants, there was enough space for everyone in the sports hall.

Nowadays, the streamers who broadcast their games live attract a lot of attention at tournaments. Two of them were present in Spilimbergo:

The Ukrainian Angelika Valkova, here with Black against Max Skembris, did not get off to a good start with 1/5, but won the remaining 4 games.

Even more famous is Levy "Gotham Chess" Rozman, with more than 5 million subscribers one of the most successful chess streamers in the world. A few months ago the 28-year-old IM announced his intention to play more tournaments and to become a GM. His games in Spilimbergo were broadcast live, analysed by him afterwards and commented on in other streams by his coach Arturs Neiksans and sometimes by Hikaru Nakamura himself!

Levy Rozman with White against GM Alberto David: 1-0. Apart from that, the tournament was rather mixed for him, but in the seventh round he played a game which he himself described with a wink as his ‘immortal’.

GothamChess, who was surrounded by autograph hunters and fans more than any other player, was always friendly and communicative, not only online but also on site. Here he is analysing the game he has just played with his opponent: the ‘analysis room’ was located under shady trees in the open-air area in front of the tournament hall.

Former world champion Wesselin Topalow was invited as a 'special guest'. He played a simul, held a press conference and an autograph session and made the first move on one of the lower boards, much to the delight of the players.

What was nice about the whole festival was that attention was paid to both the professionals and the amateurs, and especially to the many children and young people. Most of the trophies at the awards ceremony went to young players in the weaker tournaments, and the applause for the U8 winner in the C tournament was as loud as that for the winner of the Masters.

The tournament victory in the Masters was hard-fought and open until the last round: The Iranian IM Mahdi Gholami finally secured first place on tiebreak ahead of GM Marcin Tazbir (Poland) and IM Kundu Kaustuv (India).

From left to right: Andrea Bisaro (main organiser), Luigi Maggi (President of the Italian Chess Federation), Kundu Kaustuv (3.), Mahdi Gholami (1.), Marcin Tazbir (2.) Enrico Sarcinelli (Mayor of Spilimbergo)

The reigning U14 world champion Pawel Sowinski (2nd from left), who made an IM norm, also had a good tournament. As the 14-year-old Pole already has an Elo-rating of 2467, he will probably be an IM soon. Next to him is WGM Yao Lan (England), who also made an IM norm despite losing in the last round.

The end of the tournament coincides with the Italian holiday of Ferragosto, on 15 August, and with the Medieval Festival of Spilimbergo, which lasts several days. During these days, the old town centre is filled with all kinds of interesting characters in period costume, musicians, jugglers, craftsmen, knights and nobles, medieval taverns, old games and much more.

Musicians in the historic city centre

In front of the cathedral: But apparently you just can't do without your smartphone.

Final standings after 9 rounds

...154 participants

Source: chess-results

The date for the chess festival is the same every year: 9-15 August: A date to remember!

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