The 52nd Groningen Chess Festival was held from 21-30th December at the Sport Centre Rijksuniversiteit & Hanzehogeschool in Groningen, Netherlands.
The Festival consisted of several events:
– Open A, 9-round Swiss for players rated above 2000, prize fund 6000 EUR
– Open B, 9-round Swiss for players rated 1700-2100, prize fund 1500 EUR
– Open C, 9-round Swiss for players rated under 1800, prize fund 750 EUR
– Groningen Compact (26-30 December), 5-round Swiss in groups of about 40 players, split up according to playing strength
– Match between European Youth Champion 2013 U14 Jorden van Foreest (2455 IM) and former Dutch Champion Dimitri Reinderman (2592 GM)
– Match between reigning Dutch Women Champion WIM Anne Haast (2357) and IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2477, Germany)
The main Open A section had 110 participants. German IM Alexander Donchenko demolished the opposition to take a clear first place with 8,0/9 points, full point ahead of the nearest followers Benjamin Bok and Alexander Ipatov.
A large number of FIDE title norms were achieved. Alexander Donchenko, Danny Raznikov (Israel) and Vahe Baghdasaryan (Armenia) scored GM norms. Demre Kerigan (Turkey), Thorben Koop (Germany) and Maciej Klekowski (Poland) earned IM norms, while Riya Savant (India) fulfilled WIM norm.
Open A final standings:
1. IM Donchenko Alexander GER 2523 – 8,0
2-3. GM Bok Benjamin NED 2572 and GM Ipatov Alexander TUR 2599 – 7,0
4-7. GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2609, GM L’Ami Erwin NED 2613, GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2647 and IM Baghdasaryan Vahe ARM 2368 – 6,5
8-19. IM Raznikov Danny ISR 2494, GM Alsina Leal Daniel ESP 2540, GM Tiviakov Sergei NED 2677, GM Ma QunCHN 2621, IM Nakar Eylon ISR 2419, IM Svane Rasmus GER 2507, FM Kerigan Demre TUR 2277, IM Biolek Richard Jr. CZE 2446, IM Wan Yunguo CHN 2482, IM Hovhannisyan Mher BEL 2511, Klekowski Maciej POL 2418 and GM Dobrov Vladimir RUS 2495 – 6,0 etc
Very strong.