Toby Curtis perfect at Golden Week Open 2024 Group A, Murugappan second
Axel Martin (FRA) and Nathan Summerville (JPN) scored 4.5/5 each at Golden Week Open 2024. Axel won the tournament due to better tie-breaks, Nathan was placed second. Shun Tokuni (JPN), Pei-Ti Wu (TPE) and Kei Sugita (JPN) scored 4/5 each. They were placed third to fifth respectively. In the Group A (Below 1700) section, Toby Curtis scored a perfect 5/5 to become the champion. Murugappan N, Yukihiko Yoshii (JPN), Kantaro Kohara (JPN) and Jie-Xin Lu (TPE) scored 3.5/5 each. They secured second to fifth place according to tie-breaks. The top three prizes in the Open were 20000, 15000 and 10000 Yen along with a plaque each. For Open A, the top three prizes were plaques with a Chessmood gift each. Photo: Japan Chess Federation
Axel Martin wins the Open
This year Sheldon Donaldson and I participated in the Japan Chess Championship, as a player and an arbiter respectively. This tournament is an annual invitational tournament, with qualifying tournaments held typically in February and March of the same year.
But what does that mean for players who don’t qualify to the Japan Chess Championship? Are they doomed to be mere spectators, or is there any semblance of hope to get a taste of the FIDE rated tournament pie?
Fear not dear readers, for there is the “Golden Week Open” tournament: an annual FIDE rated tournament that coincides with the Japan Chess Championship, with fewer rounds, and an equally thrilling competition (albeit, at a lower average rating level).
Golden Week Open 2024, was held at the same venue as Japan Chess Championship – Curian at Oimachi, in Tokyo – from Saturday May 4, to Monday May 6. It featured five rounds, and was divided into two sections: the open section and Group A (FIDE 1700 and under).
This year saw the participation of a big group from Shanghai in both sections.
Prizes
Open section:
1st 20000 yen and plaque
2nd 15000 yen and plaque
3rd 10000 yen and plaque
4th ChessMood Prizes and plaque
5th ChessMood prizes and plaque
Group A:
1st to 3rd Plaques and ChessMood prizes
4th and 5th ChessMood prizes
Games of Murugappan
N Murugappan is a PhD student of the Department of Chemical Systems Engineering, at the University of Tokyo. He secured second place in the Golden Week Open, Group A and very kindly agreed to shares his games for the benefit of the readers.
L to R: Mr. K Satya Sandesh, Sheldon Donaldson, Mayur Gondhalekar, N Murugappan
Final standings in Open
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Martin Axel | FRA | 1953 | 0 | F-ticket | 4,5 | 15 | 18 | 16,00 | 7103 | |
| 2 | 7 | Summerville Nathan | JPN | 1815 | 1724 | 4,5 | 11,5 | 13 | 11,50 | 6958 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Tokuni Shun | JPN | 1897 | 1841 | 4 | 13,5 | 15,5 | 11,50 | 7123 | ||
| 4 | 27 | Wu Pei-Ti | TPE | 1602 | 1602 | 4 | 12,5 | 14 | 8,00 | 7555 | ||
| 5 | 17 | Sugita Kei | JPN | 1743 | 1719 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 9,50 | 6947 | ||
| 6 | 20 | Ogawa Genki | JPN | 1728 | 1411 | 3,5 | 13,5 | 15,5 | 9,00 | 6986 | ||
| 7 | 26 | Wang Zi-Jie | TPE | 1610 | 0 | F-ticket | 3,5 | 12,5 | 14 | 6,25 | 6598 | |
| 8 | 13 | Nagai Toshiyuki | JPN | 1801 | 1561 | 3,5 | 12 | 13,5 | 7,25 | 7037 | ||
| 9 | 8 | Erkoc Vedat | TUR | 1810 | 1645 | 3,5 | 11,5 | 13 | 8,50 | 6840 | ||
| 10 | 34 | Fuse Naoki | JPN | 0 | 1598 | 3,5 | 11 | 13 | 9,25 | 7152 |
Final standings in Group A
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Curtis Toby | JPN | 0 | 1300 | 5 | 11,5 | 13 | 13,50 | 6237 | ||
| 2 | 2 | N Murugappan | IND | 1527 | 1488 | 3,5 | 15 | 17 | 10,25 | 5545 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Yoshii Yukihiko | JPN | 0 | 1597 | 3,5 | 13,5 | 15,5 | 9,25 | 4629 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Kohara Kantaro | JPN | 0 | 1376 | 3,5 | 11 | 13 | 7,75 | 4967 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Lu Jie-Xin | TPE | 1439 | 0 | F-ticket | 3,5 | 11 | 12,5 | 8,25 | 6120 |
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About the Author
Mayur is an IT engineer and a chess enthusiast from Mumbai, working in Japan since 2013. He has played over-the-board tournaments in India, USA and Japan. He has also been a top three finisher in a one-day OTB events in Japan in 2013, 2015, 2017 and online blitz in 2020. Currently he is making use of online platforms for chess improvement and learning Ayurveda. He loves salsa dancing, reading, traveling and teaching.
