Visakh triumphs at Leça Blitz Open 2023, Vignesh second and Harshit Raja third

by Shahid Ahmed - 31/08/2023

GMs Visakh N R, Vignesh N R and Harshit Raja scored 7.5/9 each at Leça Blitz Open 2023. Both Visakh and Vignesh remained undefeated. Visakh drew against Vignesh and defeated Harshit. The top three prizes in Blitz were €300 + trophy, €200 + medal and €100 + medal each respectively. GM Manuel Perez Candelario (ESP), IM Raja Panjwani (CAN), GM Visakh N R and GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (ISL) scored 7/9 each in the Classical Rating Open. They were placed first to fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. The top three prizes were €1500, €1000 and €700 along with a trophy each. WFM Vishwa Shah scored 5/9 to secure her second WIM-norm. Photos: GDBL

Manuel Perez Candelario wins Leca Open 2023, Raja Panjwani second and Visakh third

Both GM Visakh N R and GM Vignesh N R were the coleaders 7/8 heading into the final round of Blitz. GM Harshit Raja was at 6.5/8. Visakh and Vignesh drew against IM José Francisco Reis Pedreiras Veiga (POR) and FM Bruno André Leite Martins (POR) respectively. Harshit defeated IM Sambit Panda. Visakh, Vignesh and Sambit - all three ended up with the same score 7.5/9. They were placed first, second and third according to tie-breaks.

Blitz Champion - GM Visakh N R 7.5/9

Blitz Runner-up - GM Vignesh N R 7.5/9

Blitz second runner-up - GM Harshit Raja 7.5/9

Tournament flex - Leça Chess Open 2023

Round 5: GM Harshit Raja - GM Visakh N R: 0-1

GM Visakh N R scored an unbeaten 7.5/9, gained 6.8 Elo rating points en route his first place finish

Round 5: GM Vignesh N R - GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (ISL): 1-0

Round 7: GM Vignesh N R - GM Visakh N R: 0.5-0.5

Players in action during the Blitz tournament

Classical: Visakh third, Vishwa Shah scores her second WIM-norm

Top 3 in Classical: 2nd IM Raja Panjwani (CAN) 7/9, 1st GM Manuel Perez Candelario (ESP) 7/9 and 3rd GM Visakh N R

Second Runner-up - GM Visakh N R 7/9

5th Vignesh N R 6.5/9

Best 2150-2299: IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh J 6.5/9

Best Female 1st - IM Inna Gaponenko (UKR) 6/9

Best Female 2nd - IM Bhakti Kulkarni 5.5/9

Best Female 3rd - Sarayu Velpula 5.5/9

Best Below 1800 - WFM Chaitanya V 5.5/9

WFM Vishwa Shah earned her second WIM-norm by scoring 5/9

WFM Vishwa Shah scored 5/9, performed at 2252 and gained 45.2 Elo rating points

Entrance to the tournament hall

Inaugural first moves are being made

Classical rating tournament in progress

A view of the tournament hall

Trophies for the prize winners

A total of 167 players including 11 GMs, 13 IMs and 2 WIMs took part from 21 countries across the world. The tournament was organized by Grupo Desportivo Basquete de Leça - Chess Club (GDBL Chess Club) from 31st July to 6th August 2023 at Pavilhão Municipal de Leça da Palmeira in Leça da Palmeira, Porto district, Portugal. The nine-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Final standings in Classical

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	K	rtg+/-
1	1	GM	Perez Candelario, Manuel			ESP	2573	A.Xat - Montemor O Novo	7	10	8,5
2	8	IM	Panjwani, Raja			CAN	2469		7	10	13,9
3	2	GM	Visakh, N R			IND	2536		7	10	11,3
4	6	IM	Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar	U20		ISL	2487	Basquete de Leça	7	10	7,3
5	5	GM	Vignesh, N R			IND	2495		6,5	10	10,1
6	7	GM	Gretarsson, Helgi Ass			ISL	2475	Basquete De Leça	6,5	10	1,6
7	16	IM	Dionisi, Thomas			FRA	2401		6,5	10	6,3
8	13	IM	Panda, Sambit	U20		IND	2417		6,5	10	-5,3
9	10	IM	Sousa, André Miguel Vale Ventura			POR	2455	Vitória Sc	6,5	10	-9,1
10	18	FM	Santos, José Guilherme Bárria Lima Dos	U20		POR	2386	A.Xat - Montemor O Novo	6,5	20	-23,4

Details

A total of 96 players including six GMs and six IMs took part from 13 countries across the world. The tournament was organized by Grupo Desportivo Basquete de Leça - Chess Club (GDBL Chess Club) on 4th August 2023 at Pavilhão Municipal de Leça da Palmeira in Leça da Palmeira, Porto district, Portugal. The nine-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.

Final standings in Blitz

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	GM	Visakh, N R	Sen	IND	2466		7,5	0	52,5	57,5
2	5	GM	Vignesh, N R	Sen	IND	2415		7,5	0	51,5	55,5
3	4	GM	Raja, Harshit	Sen	IND	2458	Gd Dias Ferreira	7,5	0	46	50
4	9	IM	Veiga, José Francisco Reis Pedreiras	U20	POR	2317	Xadrez Colégio Efanor	7	0	51,5	55,5
5	10	FM	Martins, Bruno André Leite	U20	POR	2275	A.Xat - Montemor O Novo	7	0	46	49
6	24		Gonçalves, Samuel Jesus Pereira	U20	POR	2017	Ferroviários Do Barreiro	7	0	45,5	48,5
7	20		Ferreira, Hugo Miguel Da Costa	Sen	POR	2078	Ferroviários Do Barreiro	7	0	43,5	47,5
8	18		Ribeiro, Gustavo Martins Santos	U16	POR	2131	Ca Téssera	7	0	43	47
9	7	GM	Campora, Daniel H.	S65	ARG	2380	Cx A2d	6,5	0	47,5	52
10	1	IM	Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar	U20	ISL	2510	Basquete De Leça	6	0	51	55

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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