For those of you who just can’t wait for Chess Life online, here are the results from the just completed World Open.
Four GMs (Ftacnik, Negi, Moiseenko and Najer) tied for first at 7-2. The two with the best tiebreaks were Najer and Negi, so they played an Armageddon blitz game for the title. Najer got White and 5 minutes, while Negi got Black, 7 minutes and draw odds. It was a Najdorf Sicilian and although an IM later told me that Black should have been better in the opening, White built up a crushing attack and won. So GM Najer is the World Open Champ. The game was recorded several different ways - on a Monroi, video recorded and by two volunteer scorekeepers (I was one) - so it should soon be available for viewing.
Finishing at 6.5 points were GMs Smirin and Mikhalevski, while about 7-8 GMs finished back at 6.0. These included Shabalov, Ehlvest, Ivanov, Ganguly, Erenburg, Yermolinsky, Kudrin etc. Maybe a couple more I missed.
– Hal Terrie