The 63rd edition of the Imperia International Chess Festival took place from September 5-12 at the Palazzetto dello Sport (Imperia, Italy). One of the oldest European chess forums, the Imperia Chess Festival, dates back to 1959, when the maiden edition was held.
The Imperia International Chess Festival 2021 became one of 27 events that received financial support from FIDE. The festival attracted 109 participants (including 12 women) from 11 federations competing in Swiss tournaments A, B and C. Before the start, the Imperia Chess Club handed all the participants a bag with local products and some souvenirs with the inscription Festival Scacchistico Imperiese.
Thanks to the commitment of the organizers and staff, Fabiano Lagonigro, a quadriplegic person, took part in tournament C, his first-ever OTB chess competition.
The main event, Open A, was won by the rating favourite Yuri Solodovnichenko from Ukraine. Despite losing his third-round encounter, he scored 6½ out of 9 points and took the first prize. French IM Pierre Laurent-Paoli netted an equal amount of points but had to settle for second place due to inferior tiebreaks (he suffered defeat in the seventh-round clash with Solodovnichenko). Adrian Gschnitzer from Germany, the only player to defeat the champion, came in third.
Final standings:
Open A
1 | Solodovnichenko, Yuri | UKR | 2581 | 6½ |
2 | Laurent-Paoli, Pierre | FRA | 2402 | 6½ |
3 | Gschnitzer, Adrian | GER | 2398 | 6 |
4 | Yankelevich, Lev | GER | 2416 | 6 |
5 | Salvador, Roland | PHI | 2412 | 6 |
6 | Di Paolo, Raffaele | ITA | 2321 | 6 |
7 | Dietmayer-Kraeutler, Marco | AUT | 2297 | 6 |
8 | Barseghyan, Harutyun | FRA | 2444 | 6 |
9 | Legky Nikolay A | FRA | 2381 | 6 |
10 | Wilhelm, Till | GER | 2305 | 5½ |
Open B (under 2000)
1. Alain Wauters (FRA) – 6½
2. Antonio Barletta (ITA) – 6
3. Andrea Zechner (AUT) – 6
Open C (under 1600)
1. Wolfango Rizzi (WLS) – 6½
2. Ravihansa Moratumullege Dulmina (ITA) – 6
3. Andrea De Roberto (ITA) – 6
Official website: http://www.imperiascacchi.it/