The 57th Ilmar Rauda (1913–1941) memorial classical chess tournament, which was also the Estonian Open Championship, was held in Wieland. In addition to domestic athletes, representatives of eight other federations competed, including four Latvian chess players. The prize pool was around five thousand euros.
A total of 57 participants sat at the tables in Wilande Sporta Centa, who had to complete nine classic time control rounds of the Swiss system in eight days from July 2 to 9. Our country was represented by Grandmaster Normunds Miezis (2420), as well as representatives of the new generation Miķelis Vingris (2122), Reinis Valdats (1860) and Ivans Kukushkins (1388).
As could be expected, Miezis, who had the fifth starting rating, started the best of the Latvian quartet. In nine rounds, he collected 6.5 points and took second place, defeating the main rating favorite GM Tomas Lauruši (2548) from Lithuania in the penultimate round. International master Taivo Keinanen (2504) from Finland took the first place with 7 points.
In the U-18 rating, the best with 5.5 points were Reinis Valdats (1860) and Miķelis Vingris (2122). Thirteen-year-old Valdats ranked 13th overall, and he increased his classical chess rating by 144.8 (!) points. Vingrim 16th position.
In the last round, Valdat defeated Estonian grandmaster Igor Švirjov (2359), while Vingris fought to a draw with GM Mēli Kanepa (2405).
It was a draw against Wingri that prevented Kanep from becoming a national champion. Four representatives of Estonia scored 6 points each, but Kaido Kulaots was the best in overtime.
2023-07-13 14:22:00
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