Serbian Championship: Velimir Ivić and Irina Chelushkina clinch titles
The 16th Serbian Championship, played in the open and women’s sections, ended on Tuesday, December 14, in Baja Bašta. Both competitions were 10-player round-robin tournaments with classical time control. In the open competition, the reigning champion GM Velimir Ivić scored an impressive 7.5/9 and defended his title. This success came primarily thanks to the eighth-round victory over the top-rated participant and his main competitor GM Aleksandar Indjić, who finished a half-point behind and took silver. GM Aleksandar Kovačević made a great effort at the finish winning three straight games (including two with the black pieces) earned bronze. Finals standings: 1 GM Ivic, Velimir 2572 7½ 2 GM Indjic, Aleksandar 2636 7 3 GM Kovacevic, Aleksandar 2480 6 4 GM Ivanisevic, Ivan 2535 5½ 5 GM Perunovic, Milos 2541 5½ 6 GM Bogosavljevic, Boban 2518 4½ 7 IM Radovanovic, Nikola 2414 3 8 IM Perunovic, Miodrag 2417 2½ 9 FM Martic, Ivan 2270 2 10 IM Djordjevic, Vuk 2394 1½ Despite losing her first-round game in the women’s championship, WGM Irina Chelushkina scored 7 points in the next eight rounds and finished clear first. Interestingly, it is Irina’s fifth country in which she won a national championship. In her long and brilliant chess career, she was the champion of the USSR, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and now Serbia. WIM Marina Gajčin lost the direct encounter to the champion but delivered an overall excellent performance and took silver with 6.5 points. WGM Marija Manakova and the last-year champion WGM Jovana Erić tied for third place on 5 points, with the former claiming bronze thanks to a better Sonneborn-Berger. Final standings: 1 WGM Chelushkina, Irina 2189 7 2 WIM Gajcin, Marina 2188 6½ 3 WGM Manakova, Maria 2201 5 4 WGM Eric, Jovana 2236 5 5 WFM Vujcic, Milena 2048 4½ 6 WIM Drljevic, Ljilja 2175 4½ 7 WIM Srdanovic, Jovana 2190 4 8 WFM Bojicic, Andjela 2112 4 9 Grozdanovic, Anastasia 2009 3½ 10 WCM Dimitrijevic, Andjela 2021 1 Dejan Timotijević presented the cups to the winners on behalf of the municipality of Bajina Bašta and the Sports Association of the municipality of Bajina Bašta. IA Rade Goljović and the deputy head judge, IA Lena Miadinović officiated the championship; IA Saša Jevtić was the tournament director. Photo: Chess Federation of Serbia Official website: serbiachess.org/