Romanian Championship 2024: Parligras and Lehaci clinch titles
Only 0.5 Buchholz points separated GMs Mircea-Emilian Parligras and Constantin Lupulescu, who scored 7.5/9 and tied for first place in the open section of the 2024 Romanian Championship. Thanks to a slightly better tiebreaker, Mircea-Emilian won his fourth national title in classical chess. The Romanian Championship 2024 in Open, Women and Amateur sections took place in Complex Steaua de Mare in the coastal town of Eforie Nord from February 24 to March 02. All three competitions were 9-round Swiss events with classical time control. The open event was a close race, with several top-rated participants sharing first place most of the way. Only after Round 7 Mircea-Emilian Parligras emerged as the sole leader and came to the final round a half-point ahead of Constantin Lupulescu. Parligras made a quick draw with Filip Magold and secured the title, although Lupulescu beat Vladislav Nevednichy and caught up with the leader. As many as four players tied for third place, with David Gavrilescu taking bronze by way of a superior Buchholz. Interestingly, the three rating favorites (rated 2500+) occupied the entire podium. Final standings: 1 GM Parligras, Mircea-Emilian 2537 7½ 2 GM Lupulescu, Constantin 2589 7½ 3 GM Gavrilescu, David 2524 6½ 4 FM Magold, Filip 2400 6½ 5 FM Cnejev, Vladimir-Alexandru 2311 6½ 6 IM Ghimpu, Samuel-Timotei 2467 6½ 7 GM Nevednichy, Vladislav 2445 6 8 FM Ilinca, Felix-Antonio 2377 6 9 FM Tudor, Henry Edward 2239 6 10 FM Antal, Hunor-Zoltan 2272 5½ The women’s event saw the triumph of WIM Miruna-Daria Lehaci, who bagged her second straight national title. Miruna-Daria grabbed the lead after defeating one of her main rivals, Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu, and preserved her top position in the standing to the very end. Although she made three draws at the finish, it was enough to secure the title with 7/9. Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu, Elena-Luminita Cosma, Mihaela Sandu, and Corina-Isabela Peptan scored 6.5 and finished a half-point behind the champion with Ciolacu and Cosma winning silver and bronze respectively, thanks to superior tiebreaks. Final standings: 1 WIM Lehaci, Miruna-Daria 2227 7 2 WIM Ciolacu, Alessia-Mihaela 2175 6½ 3 WGM Cosma, Elena-Luminita 2238 6½ 4 WGM Sandu, Mihaela 2270 6½ 5 IM Peptan, Corina-Isabela 2314 6½ 6 WFM Obada, Ema 1969 6 7 WCM Trifoi, Mihaela-Ioana 2003 6 8 WCM Stanciu, Andreea-Briana 1960 5½ 9 WCM Batagan, Ilinca-Petra 1859 5½ 10 WCM Schiopu, Oana-Magdalena 1750 5 Photos: Federația Română de Șah Facebook