The 17th Corsica Masters started in Bastia as 182-player Open Oscaro.com to later continue with the knockout phase.
French Grandmaster Andrei Istratescu (2664 elo) won the qualification stage and top 14 finishers advanced to play in knockout matches.
Croatian Grandmaster Ivan Saric eliminated Evgeny Postny, Etienne Bacrot and Sergey Fedorchuk to qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, Hungarian GM Zoltan Almasi outplayed Adam Horvath, Zdenko Kozul and Daniel Fridman to schedule a clash with Saric.
The final match was played in Aiacciu, on the opposite coast of the Mediterranean island, and Saric defeated Almasi by 2-1 to take the winner’s trophy and top prize of 15,000 EUR.
Saric and Almasi
The festival also included “Coca-Cola Blitz Tournament” with 5000 EUR prize fund (won by Andrei Istratescu) and two BNP-Paribas U16 tournaments with gifts of 30,000 EUR value.
Report by IA and FM Akkha Vilaisarn
More photos and videos on http://www.corse-echecs.com/
BNP junior blitz
