The complete final standings of the 15th BCC Chess Championships:
Author: BCC
Nigel Short Wins 2015 Thai Open Chess Championship
English Grandmaster Nigel Short is the 2015 Thai Open Champion after a nail-biting final round in which the top two seeds crashed to their only loss of the tournament.
A large crowd at the Dusit Thani in Pattaya watched top seed Wang Hao fall to Indian sixth seed Surya Ganguly in an exhausting 69 move encounter where Wang spoiled an endgame which appeared headed for a draw.
Instead of tying for first and winning his first Thai Open title, Wang dropped to fourth place, overtaken by Ganguly plus Short, who ground down Diptayan Ghosh, and Poland’s Kamil Dragun who upset second seed Paco Vallejo.
The top three players share 220,000 Baht, with Short edging out Ganguly for the title thanks to the strength of his opposition during the 9 day tournament.
Wang Hao Sole Leader in Thai Open Chess
Top seed Wang Hao took a huge step towards becoming the 2015 Thai Open Champion by beating Germany’s Jan Gustafsson in the penultimate round of Thailand’s biggest and richest tournament at the Dusit Thani Hotel Pattaya on Saturday.
With 380,000 Baht of prizes on the line on the final day, nothing is certain, but the Chinese top seed has become the first outright leader of the tournament, with a score of 7/8, at the right end of the event.
Wang’s victory over Gustafsson came after 60 moves and almost five hours play, with Wang Hao using an original Duke of York strategy with his king to win the endgame. Read More
Top Seeds Break Away in Thai Open Chess
Two players – China’s Wang Hao and Germany’s Jan Gustafsson – have broken away from the pack and are now favourites to win the 2015 Thai Open in Pattaya.
After an extended photo-shoot in the morning, Wang and Gustafsson might have been expected to be tired but both won convincingly, the Chinese top seed beating India’s Abhijit Kunte with a powerful attack and fourth seeded Gustafsson grinding down Kunte’s compatriot Sharma Himanshu to join Wang on 6/7.
The chasing pack, just half a point behind the leaders, includes all other top seeds – Vallejo, Short, Socko, Ganguly, Dragun and Horvath – with a winner almost certain to come from the top two score groups. Read More
Logjam at the Top of Thai Open Chess
With just three rounds to play, the name of the winner of the 2015 Thai Open in Pattaya remains a mystery.
With none of the pacesetters winning their games in Thursday’s sixth round at Thailand’s premier tournament, an incredible 12 players are now tied for first place. The leading group includes 10 Grandmasters and two International Masters, with top seed Wang Hao perhaps slight favourite to pull away from the pack. India is the best represented nation at the top with four of the 12 tournament leaders.
With the top two boards finishing as draws, the most significant result came on table three where Poland’s Bartosz Socko put a dent in the title hopes of Filipino Oliver Dimakiling, though Dimakiling remains a chance to secure a Grandmaster norm in this tournament. Read More
Peleton of Five at Head of Thai Open Chess
Five Grandmasters have moved to the front of the Thai Open Chess Championship as the tournament, being played at the Dusit Thani Resport in Pattaya, passes the halfway mark.
Two of the overnight leaders, Jan Gustafsson and Paco Vallejo, played out a speedy, friendly draw to maintain a share of the lead, and were soon joined at the head of the field on 4.5/5 by Chinese top seed Wang Hao, now fully recovered from illness and showing top form in defeating giant-killer Oliver Barbosa.
While these players make up three of the four top seeds, the fourth member of the leading pack was a surprise; the Philippines’ Oliver Dimakiling, seeded only 24th at the start of the tournament, defeated higher rated Indian International Master Diptayan Ghosh to take a share of the lead. Read More