Harikrishnan dominates Pays de Charleroi Classical and Blitz Rating Open for the second consecutive year
IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 21st Pays de Charleroi Open Group A (>=2000) 2024. He bettered his previous year's performance by scoring a half point more, finished a full point ahead of the rest. IM FT Muthaiah Al scored sole 7/9 to secure second place for the second consecutive year. He also remained undefeated. GM Namig Guliyev (AZE) scored 6.5/9 to finish third. Harikrishnan defeated both participating GMs in the Classical event - the eventual second runner-up, GM Namig and GM Alexandre Dgebuadze (BEL) en route his championship. He also won the Blitz event for the second consecutive year. This is Harikrishnan's fifth and sixth triumph of the year. Photo: Frédéric Dehoux
Muthaiah second in Classical for second year in-a-row
IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra had a half point lead 7/8, going into the final round. His friend IM FT Muthaiah Al was the sole pursuer at 6.5/8. Harikrishnan defeated Fabio De Block (BEL) to become a clear champion. Muthaiah drew with GM Alexandre Dgebuadze (BEL) to secure second place.
Blitz
IM Harikrishnan A Ra won the Blitz event for the second year in-a-row. Unlike last time when he scored 11/11, this time he suffered two losses and finished with 9/11. He won the tournament on tie-breaks. FM Jacob Dreelinck (BEL) 9/11 secured second place. GM Namig Guliyev (AZE) was third 8.5/11. IM Muthaiah Al is the only other Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 7.5/11 to finish seventh.
In case you missed it this year, the next edition was announced to take place from 26th July to 2nd August 2025.
A total of 47 players including two GMs and two IMs took part from eleven countries across the world in the Group A >=2000 category. The tournament was organized by Cercle Royal des Echecs de Charleroi (CREC) from 27th July to 3rd August 2024 at Complexe Sportif de Roux in Charleroi, Belgium. The nine-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves then 30 min. QPF with 30 seconds by move from the first move.
Replay all available Open A games
Final standings in Open A
| Classement final | ||||||||||||
| Cl. | Titre | Nom Prénom | U Elo | Cat | Pays | Nom du Club | P.Tot. | Perf | S.B | B Cut1 | Perf. | |
| 1 | IM | 2502 | -60 # +2100 |  | India | 8.0 | 2613 | 43.25 | 45.00 | 2613 | ||
| 2 | IM | 2492 | -60 # +2100 | | India | 7.0 | 2480 | 36.00 | 45.50 | 2480 | ||
| 3 | GM | 2488 | -60 # +2100 |  | Namur-Echecs | 6.5 | 2436 | 34.75 | 47.00 | 2436 | ||
| 4 | GM | 2442 | -60 # +2100 |  | Wachtebeke | 6.0 | 2394 | 31.75 | 48.00 | 2394 | ||
| 5 | FM | 2285 | -60 # +2100 | | 2 Fous Diogène | 6.0 | 2225 | 27.00 | 39.00 | 2225 | ||
| 6 | 2147 | -20 # +2100 | | Tournai | 5.5 | 2357 | 29.00 | 47.00 | 2357 | |||
| 7 | FM | 2250 | -60 # +2100 |  | Malaysia | 5.5 | 2311 | 26.00 | 45.00 | 2311 | ||
| 8 | 2157 | -20 # +2100 | | Aalst | 5.5 | 2181 | 23.25 | 36.50 | 2181 | |||
| 9 | CM | 2232 | -20 # +2100 |  | France | 5.0 | 2216 | 22.50 | 43.50 | 2216 | ||
| 10 | 2122 | -60 # +2100 | | KOSK Oostende | 5.0 | 2189 | 21.75 | 40.00 | 2189 | |||
A total of 83 players including a GM and two IMs took part from six countries across the world. The tournament was organized by Cercle Royal des Echecs de Charleroi (CREC) on 31st July 2024 at Complexe Sportif de Roux in Charleroi, Belgium. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Final standings in Blitz
| Cl. | Nom Prénom | U Elo | Cat | Pays | Nom du Club | P.Tot. | Perf | S.B | B Cut1 | Perf. | - |
| 1 | 2465 | +2000 | | India | 9.0 | 2415 | 65.00 | 76.00 | 2415 | 0 | |
| 2 | 2268 | +2000 | | Geraardsbergen | 9.0 | 2379 | 61.50 | 73.00 | 2379 | 0 | |
| 3 | 2510 | +2000 | | Namur-Echecs | 8.5 | 2375 | 58.25 | 74.50 | 2375 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2089 | +2000 | | Wetteren | 8.5 | 2307 | 57.50 | 74.00 | 2307 | 0 | |
| 5 | 2138 | +2000 | | Geraardsbergen | 8.0 | 2210 | 53.50 | 71.50 | 2210 | 0 | |
| 6 | 2099 | +2000 | | LSV-Chesspirant | 8.0 | 2169 | 50.50 | 65.00 | 2169 | 0 | |
| 7 | 2287 | +2000 | | India | 7.5 | 2196 | 46.50 | 70.00 | 2196 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2109 | +2000 | | CREB Bruxelles | 7.5 | 2076 | 46.00 | 63.00 | 2076 | 0 | |
| 9 | 2029 | +2000 | | Caissa Europe | 7.5 | 2172 | 45.75 | 68.50 | 2172 | 0 | |
| 10 | 2011 | +2000 | | Aalst | 7.5 | 2142 | 44.50 | 69.00 | 2142 | 0 |
Links
|
Harikrishnan dominates 20th Pays de Charleroi Classical and Blitz Rating Open 2023, Muthaiah second
@ 29/08/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
Is Chess really a young man's game?
@ 02/10/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |