Aivars Gipslis Memorial – Alexei Shirov clear first
The Latvian Chess Federation in cooperation with Grandmaster Alexei Shirov organized the Aivars Gipslis Memorial on Sunday 12th February at the Technical University in Riga, Latvia.
The tournament is organized to commemorate Aivars Gipslis, eight-times Latvian champion and respected Grandmaster.
The competition was held over 9 rounds of Swiss System 9 rounds, with rapid time control of 10 minutes + 3 seconds per player. The prize fund was 360 EUR.
Alexei Shirov took a clear first place with 8 points, followed by fellow Latvian GM Normunds Miezis who finished half a point behind.
Guest from Spain, GM Manuel Perez Candelario, clinched the third place on better tie-break.
Latvian chess scene was revived in the recent months as several tournaments are organized and GM Alexei Shirov returned from Spain.
Final standings (top 5):
1 GM Shirov Alexei LAT 2710 – 8
2 GM Miezis Normunds LAT 2564 – 7.5
3 GM Perez Candelario Manuel ESP 2572 – 7
4 IM Samoļins Vitālijs LAT 2470 – 7
5 GM Svesnikovs Jevgenijs LAT 2530 – 6.5
6 FM Lavendelis Egons LAT 2411 – 6.5
7 WGM Rogule Laura LAT 2353 – 6.5
Impressive!