Czech Republic Individual Chess Championships
WIM Karolína Olšarová and GM Jiří Štoček are the new champions
The Czech Republic Individual Championship was held from 12th to 20th May in the hotel Labe in Pardubice. Ten participants with an average ELO of 2517 played in a round-robin tournament. Number one of the Czech rating list and the title defender GM David Navara (2702) chose to play the Capablanca Memorial this year, which made the race for the trophy more exciting for the remaining players.
The clear winner and new champion is GM Jiří Štoček from 1. Novoborský šachový klub, who finally earned the title after several attempts. He scored three victories and six draws.
Half a point behind is IM Jan Krejčí, who made his final GM norm. A better tie-break decided that the third place goes to GM Tomáš Polák (5 points).
The Women Championship ended in a play-off, where WIM Karolína Olšarová beat Hana Pirklová 2-0 and became the national champion. WIM Kristýna Havlíková took the bronze medal after beating WFM Alena Kubíková 1,5-0,5 in the match.
Final standings:
1. GM Štoček Jiří 2600 (1. Novoborský ŠK) – 6.0
2. IM Krejčí Jan 2489 (Tatran Litovel) – 5.5
3. GM Polák Tomáš 2526 (ŠK Zlín) – 5.0
4. GM Babula Vlastimil 2566 (Agentura 64 Grygov) – 5.0
5. GM Mirumian Viguen 2513 (ŠK Rapid Pardubice, o.s.) – 5.0
6. GM Votava Jan 2541 (ŠK Rapid Pardubice, o.s.) – 4.5
7. IM Kaňovský David 2472 (Agentura 64 Grygov) – 4.5
8. IM Šimáček Pavel 2462 (Agentura 64 Grygov) – 4.5
9. IM Rašík Vítězslav 2485 (Šachový klub GEOFIN Ostrava) – 3.0
10. GM Jansa Vlastimil 2518 (ŠK JOLY Lysá nad Labem) – 2.0
Article by Viktor Novotný, Chairman of the Czech Chess Federation. More information on the official website.
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