Indian IM Kore Akshayraj finished sole first at the 27th International Chess Winter Open at Cannes, which took place from February 25th to March 3rd at the playing venue Lerins.
Akshayraj obtained 7.5/9 points to finish half a point ahead of his two closest followers. Argentine GM Ruben Felgaer edged Eltaj Safarli in tiebreaks to keep the second place.
The Indian IM had an impressive 2743 rating performance, achieving his fourth GM norm. This is his second norm in the last two weeks, as he got another one at the Rochefort Open.
The winners
This event is known for being a good opportunity to make norms, and this year it was not an exception. Besides Akshayraj, Manuel Valles obtained his first IM norm, Gary Giroyan got his third (obtaining the IM title), and the young Romanian Adeline Uta grabbed her second FM norm.
317 players participated in the three sections. The organization hopes to break the 2003 record of 323 participants during next year’s edition.
Last year winner was GM Evgeny Romanov
Final Standings:
| 1 | m | AKSHAYRAJ Kore | 2455 F | 7½ |
| 2 | g | FELGAER Ruben | 2557 F | 7 |
| 3 | g | SAFARLI Eltaj | 2638 F | 7 |
| 4 | m | ROMBALDONI Axel | 2472 F | 6½ |
| 5 | g | IORDACHESCU Viorel | 2610 F | 6½ |
| 6 | g | DOBROV Vladimir | 2537 F | 6 |
| 7 | m | DONCHENKO Alexander | 2412 F | 6 |
| 8 | m | MOGRANZINI Roberto | 2507 F | 6 |
| 9 | g | GODENA Michele | 2516 F | 6 |
| 10 | g | SANCHEZ Joseph | 2533 F | 6 |
| 11 | g | TKACHIEV Vladislav | 2650 F | 5½ |
| 12 | g | FLEAR Glenn C | 2471 F | 5½ |
| 13 | GIROYAN Gary | 2366 F | 5½ | |
| 14 | f | CODENOTTI Marco | 2396 F | 5½ |
| 15 | f | FAVAREL Antoine | 2345 F | 5½ |
| 16 | m | LEKIC Dusan | 2411 F | 5½ |
| 17 | m | PRASANNA RAGHURAM RA | 2425 F | 5 |
| 18 | m | BEJTOVIC Jasmin | 2382 F | 5 |
| 19 | VALLES Manuel | 2226 F | 5 | |
| 20 | m | SAVINA Anastasia | 2339 F | 5 |
| 21 | m | BATTAGLINI Gabriel | 2440 F | 5 |
| 22 | FORMENTO Paolo | 2200 F | 5 | |
| 23 | m | BORGO Giulio | 2379 F | 5 |
| 24 | f | LAMARD Guillaume | 2257 F | 5 |
| 25 | g | DEGRAEVE Jean-Marc | 2591 F | 5 |
| 26 | f | DE FILOMENO Simone | 2332 F | 5 |
| 27 | VILLEGAS Pierre | 2253 F | 5 | |
| 28 | m | FIERRO BAQUERO Martha L. | 2364 F | 4½ |
| 29 | MIDOUX Sebastien | 2316 F | 4½ | |
| 30 | m | PHILIPPE Christophe | 2391 F | 4½ |
| 31 | SORCINELLI Francesco | 2187 F | 4½ | |
| 32 | ABELLO Sebastien | 2348 F | 4½ | |
| 33 | f | VELTEN Paul | 2391 F | 4 |
| 34 | LEMEAUX David | 2285 F | 4 | |
| 35 | f | LYELL Mark | 2200 F | 4 |
| 36 | ff | UTA Adeline-Ramona | 2047 F | 4 |
| 37 | f | ROBIN Samy | 2250 F | 4 |
| 38 | f | SORM Daniel | 2317 F | 4 |
| 39 | f | KHOURI Ibrahim Mohamed | 2252 F | 4 |
| 40 | f | DIMITROV Christo | 2294 F | 4 |
| 41 | PERNIGOTTI Carlo | 2195 F | 4 | |
| 42 | FRICK Christoph | 2250 F | 4 | |
| 43 | SARDO Gabriele | 2190 F | 4 | |
| 44 | CAYLA Jonathan | 2036 F | 4 | |
| 45 | BEKKER-JENSEN David | 2274 F | 3½ | |
| 46 | f | LASINSKAS Povilas | 2196 F | 3½ |
| 47 | f | BRESSAC Stephane | 2283 F | 3½ |
| 48 | f | WEERAMANTRY Sunil | 2118 F | 3½ |
| 49 | MALEKI Nicolas | 2120 F | 3½ | |
| 50 | mf | SIROTKINA Nina | 2224 F | 3 |
| 51 | PESCE Gabriele | 2219 F | 3 | |
| 52 | GALLUCCI Alessio | 2225 F | 3 | |
| 53 | IAGAR Razvan-Gabriel | 2175 F | 3 | |
| 54 | MALKA Samuel | 2192 F | 3 | |
| 55 | GELAS Christophe | 2216 F | 2½ | |
| 56 | mf | FLEAR Christine | 2157 F | 2½ |
| 57 | MURATET Lucas | 2133 F | 2½ | |
| 58 | MAYER Philippe | 2164 F | 2 | |
| 59 | m | DEBRAY Christopher | 2360 F | 1½ |
| 60 | f | WEILL Roland | 2183 F | 1½ |
| 61 | BRETHES Francois | 2256 F | 1 | |
| 62 | GERTOSIO Franck | 2181 F | 0 | |
| 63 | g | ORATOVSKY Michael | 2510 F | 0 |
