Leon is poised to create another record
Two days before his 17th birthday, the brand ambassador of Geno and Microsense, GM Leon Luke Mendonca created history along with GM Visakh N R and the reigning Commonwealth 2022 champion, IM P Shyam Nikhil. In the previous 26 editions of Hit Open, no Indian players have ever made a podium finish, let alone win the tournament. Leon is certainly well placed to become the champion. The question is what will be the final score, he will aim for.
Wadsworth - Leon, Round 6
GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2558) made a very nice finish against the defending champion, IM Matthew J Wadsworth (ENG, 2439). 51...Rf4+ forced White to resign as 51.g4/gxf4 runs into Bf2# and 52.Bg4 is lost anyway after Rxg4+
Leon - Sabino, Round 7
Leon's well-coordinated pieces and a space advantage made it difficult to find something good to play for the Italy no.7 GM Sabino Brunello (2512). He made a tactical error 22...Be6 as it dropped the a5-pawn 23.Nxa5. He gave up another pawn 23...Bf7 24.Nxb7 Bf6 25.a5 and White's protected passed pawn on a5-file eventually helped him to win the game.
A total of 84 players including 10 GMs and an IM are taking part in the A group (>1500) from 13 countries across the world. The eight-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament is organized by Chess Club Nova Gorica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia from 16th to 23rd March 2023. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 1-7 games
Round 7 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2558 | 6 | 1 - 0 | 4½ | GM | Brunello, Sabino | 2512 | 2 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 11 | GM | Davies, Nigel R | 2380 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Cvitan, Ognjen | 2446 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 18 | FM | Goroshkov, Maksym | 2265 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Strikovic, Aleksa | 2446 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 17 | FM | Beletic, Daniel | 2269 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2439 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 30 | Perossa, Nicolas | 2141 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | FM | Favaloro, Andrea | 2407 | 8 | PGN | |||
| 6 | 9 | GM | Tratar, Marko | 2397 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Zamar Kodelja, Jurij | 2254 | 20 | PGN | |||
| 7 | 24 | Gregoric, Andraz | 2206 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | FM | Tisaj, Domen | 2372 | 12 | PGN | |||
| 8 | 13 | GM | Drazic, Sinisa | 2368 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | CM | Garsky, Vladyslav | 2253 | 21 | PGN | ||
| 9 | 54 | Kozlovic, Jernej | 1878 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | FM | Van Dael, Siem | 2312 | 16 | PGN | |||
| 10 | 3 | GM | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 2499 | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 4 | FM | Belli, Giorgio | 2192 | 25 | PGN |
Round 8 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2558 | 7 | 5 | GM | Davies, Nigel R | 2380 | 11 | |||
| 2 | 6 | IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2439 | 5 | 5 | GM | Tratar, Marko | 2397 | 9 | |||
| 3 | 12 | FM | Tisaj, Domen | 2372 | 5 | 5 | Kozlovic, Jernej | 1878 | 54 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | GM | Strikovic, Aleksa | 2446 | 4½ | 5 | GM | Drazic, Sinisa | 2368 | 13 | |||
| 5 | 2 | GM | Brunello, Sabino | 2512 | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Goroshkov, Maksym | 2265 | 18 | |||
| 6 | 14 | FM | Lavrencic, Matic | 2319 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 2499 | 3 | |||
| 7 | 4 | GM | Cvitan, Ognjen | 2446 | 4½ | 4½ | Perossa, Nicolas | 2141 | 30 | ||||
| 8 | 8 | FM | Favaloro, Andrea | 2407 | 4½ | 4½ | Pennica, Andrea | 2094 | 34 | ||||
| 9 | 42 | CM | Chinguun, Bayaraa | 2013 | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Bifulco, Michel | 2312 | 15 | |||
| 10 | 10 | FM | Dobrovoljc, Vid | 2384 | 4 | 4 | Chubakov, Sultan | 2190 | 27 |
