Vladimir Akopian wins Albena Open
The International Open Chess Tournament Albena 2012 was held from 26th May to 3rd June at the Albena Sports Hall, in Albena, Bulgaria.
The 9-round Swiss open is organized by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, Chess Club “Dobrich – Albena” and Albena JSCo.
The Armenian players enjoy a notable success as three of them, GM Vladimir Akopian, GM Tigran Petrosian and IM Karen Grigoryan, are among the joint winners, together with GM Ivan Cheparinov and GM Tamir Nabaty. They collected 7 points each.
Vladimir Akopian took the winner’s trophy on best tiebreak score. Full standings bellow.
Nabaty continues with strong performances on the Bulgarian soil, having earlier achieved three GM norms there (Albena, Plovdiv, Bansko Open). Nabaty also spoiled the Armenian celebration a bit as he defeated the European blitz champion Hrant Melkumyan in the final round.
Albena is one of the most popular resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea.
It is located 11 km south of Balchik and 30 km north of Varna – the sea capital of Bulgaria. Albena holds a “Blue Flag” certificate for its ecologically clean sea, beach and area. The soft sandy beach of Albena is more than 3.5 km long and up to 150 m wide.
Final standings:
1. GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2697 – 7
2. GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2673 – 7
3. GM Petrosian Tigran L ARM 2657 – 7
4. GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2553 – 7
5. IM Grigoryan Karen H ARM 2517 – 7
6. GM Tikkanen Hans SWE 2566 – 6.5
7. IM Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 2457 – 6.5
8. GM Nikolov Momchil BUL 2553 – 6.5
9. IM Das Arghyadip IND 2482 – 6.5
10. IM Thejkumar M S IND 2450 – 6.5
11. GM Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2642 – 6
12. GM Xiu Deshun CHN 2494 – 6
13. IM Qashashvili Alexandre GEO 2299 – 6
14. GM Grigorov Grigor BUL 2496 – 6
15. GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2522 – 6
16. GM Li Shilong CHN 2553 – 6
17. IM Arnaudov G. Petar BUL 2477 – 6
18. IM Bargan Sergei MDA 2292 – 6
19. Wan Yunguo CHN 2456 – 6
20. IM Enchev Ivajlo BUL 2419 – 6
21. GM Solak Dragan TUR 2586 – 5.5
22. GM Carlsson Pontus SWE 2531 – 5.5
23. GM Spasov Vasil BUL 2570 – 5.5
24. IM Rathnakaran Kantholi IND 2441 – 5.5
25. WGM Zhang Xiaowen CHN 2385 – 5.5
26. IM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2471 – 5.5
27. WGM Nikolova Adriana BUL 2345 – 5.5
28. Rzayev Bahruz AZE 2380 – 5.5
29. Ji Dan CHN 2326 – 5.5
30. FM Zalkind Konstantin ISR 2197 – 5.5
31. FM Dragicevic Drazen SWE 2301 – 5.5
32. IM Atalik Ekaterina TUR 2474 – 5.5
33. IM Hamitevici Vladimir MDA 2437 – 5.5
34. GM Tunik Gennady RUS 2429 – 5.5
Full standings here: http://www.chessdom.com/vladimir-akopian-wins-albena-open/
Well done!