GM Daniel Dardha emerged victorious in the 2024 Belgian Championship, capturing his fourth national title.
The 2024 Belgian Championship, which included an invitational 10-player round-robin (expert tournament) and an open tournament, took place in the large refectory of the Sint-Gummarus College in Liege from July 06-13.
The 18-year-old Dardha confirmed his status as a pre-tournament favorite to win the expert event, but it was a very close race with IM Stefan Beukema that came down to the wire.
Going into the final round, Dardha and Beukema shared the lead with 6.5/8 each. Stefan made a quick draw with IM Steven Geirnaert, while Daniel jumped on this opportunity and defeated IM Alexander Alienkin with black pieces to clinch the title. The champion and the runner-up became the only unbeaten players in the event.
Mher Hovhannisyan and Sim Maerevoet scored 5.5/9 and tied for third place, with the former completing the podium thanks to better tiebreak.
Final standings:
1 | GM | Dardha, Daniel | 2629 | 7½ |
2 | IM | Beukema, Stefan | 2411 | 7 |
3 | GM | Hovhannisyan, Mher | 2405 | 5½ |
4 | IM | Maerevoet, Sim | 2436 | 5½ |
5 | IM | Alienkin, Aleksander | 2331 | 5 |
6 | IM | Geirnaert, Steven | 2438 | 4 |
7 | GM | Dgebuadze, Alexandre | 2442 | 4 |
8 | FM | De Waele, Warre | 2365 | 3 |
9 | Ruzhansky, Elias | 2242 | 2 | |
10 | FM | Dreelinck, Jacob | 2310 | 1½ |
Photos: official website
Official website: bk.schaakliga-antwerpen.be/en/main-event/