The 51st edition Mar del Plata Open, one of the oldest tournaments in Argentina, was held from April 9-16 in the second-largest city in Buenos Aires province. One of many tournaments supported by FIDE under the Open Aid Project, the 9-round Swiss event brought together 282 participants from eight countries, including 35 titled players.

The event turned into a very close race among the rating favourites. Suffice it to say that three players, GMs Andres Rodriguez (Uruguay) and two Argentineans, Facundo Pierrot and Leonardo Tristan, were coming into the final round as joint-leaders on 7/8 with six players, including the highest-rated Diego Flores, trailing by a half-point.

After Facundo Pierrot fell to Diego Flores in a seesaw game, all eyes were on the leaders’ clash Rodriguez – Tristan. The Uruguayan made the best of the opponent’s mistakes, scored a very important victory and took the first prize with an excellent result of 8/9. Diego Flores, Italian veteran GM Carlos Garcia Palermo and IM Ismael Acosta tied for the second place, with the first two making the podium by dint of better Buchholz. 

WFM María José Campos (pictured below) turned in the best female performance, whereas FM Marcelo Ibar became the best senior player.

The event ran very smoothly, thanks largely to a great job by the tournament director Javier Curilen and AI OI Leandro Plotinsky.

Final standings:

You can find the complete results here.

Official website: mdpajedrez.com.ar/inscripcion/

Photo credit: official website