The 12th Rochefort Open tournament was held on 16th-22th February 2013 at the Congres Palais, in Rochefort, France.
Just days before the huge Cappelle-la-Grande Open, the Rochefort Open was an excellent occasion for the players to test their preparation.
The Open A, which was reserved for players rated 1900 or higher, had 55 participants. Georgian GM Davit Jojua emerged clear tournament winner after collecting 7 points from nine games.
IM Karen H. Grigoryan from Armenia and IM Kore Akshayraj and India finished in the group of players on the shared second place and also earned Grandmaster norms.
This is the third GM norm for Akshayraj and now he only needs to pass the 2500-elo mark to become a new Indian Grandmaster.
The French junior Quentin Loiseau obtained his second IM norm.
GM Davit Jojua and FM Quentin Loiseau
Open A final standings:
1. GM JOJUA Davit GEO 2543 – 7
2-5. IM GRIGORYAN Karen H. ARM 2531, GM JIANU Vlad-Cristian ROU 2500, GM TER-SAHAKYAN Samvel ARM 2563 and IM AKSHAYRAJ Kore IND 2455 – 6½
6-7. GM ISTRATESCU Andrei FRA 2657 and GM BARSOV Alexei UZB 2521 – 6
8-13. GM SANIKIDZE Tornike GEO 2553, FM LOISEAU Quentin FRA 2374, IM PETRE Nad-Titus ROU 2374, IM DUMITRACHE Dragos-Nicolae ROU 2440, GM NINOV Nikolai BUL 2520 and GM BARLOV Dragan SRB 2461 – 5½
The Open B, reserved for the players rated under 2000, had 84 participants. Cyrille Gauthier FRA 1797 took a clear first place and the top prize with 7,5/9 points.
The Blitz tournament with 34 players was staged on 20th February. IM Karen H. Grigoryan won the event with 9,5/11 points.
Last year Rochefort winner was GM David Arutinian (GEO).
Information about the tournament is available at http://www.echiquier-rochefortais.com/english.php
News by IA Dominique Dervieux
