Thank you !

Winners of the Thailand Open Chess Championship 2011
Winners of the Thailand Open Chess Championship 2011 (photo: Panupand V.)

The tournament at the wonderful Dusit Thani Pattaya was by far the best tournament we have held. With 220 players it was clearly the largest and with 44 titled players it was also the strongest. Going into the final round was incredibly exciting, with the top 3 players having a chance to be outright winner. In the event, No. 3 GM Jan Gustaffson took the trophy on tiebreak from GM Nigel Short and GM Paco Vallejo. It wasn’t to be third time lucky for Short, though with more wins than anyone else, the prize might have gone his way. There were three IM norms awarded, to FM Martin Voigt, FM Max Illingworth and Blitz Champion Nelson Mariano III.

GM Nigel Short and WGM Alina l'Ami on the terrace
GM Nigel Short and WGM Alina l'Ami on the terrace, with Peter Darby, IO Kai Tuorila and GM Ian Rogers, Press Officer for the tournament. Alina just barely missed out on an IM norm (photo: Panupand V.)

In this picture, Tournament Director IO Kai Tuorila is sporting one of our new Bangkok Chess Club polo shirts. Thanks to the 30 people who bought the shirt at the Thailand Open, the Bangkok Chess Club has sent a donation of US$100 to the Japanese Red Cross (100 Baht per shirt).

Thank you to all who took part to make the tournament a great success!

Download rounds 1-8 in PGN format here