GM Vitalii Sivuk is the new chess champion of Sweden. The 31-year-old native of Ukraine turned in an excellent performance in the 2023 Swedish Championship and won his maiden title with a round to spare.
The Swedish Chess Championship 2023 took place in 2023 in Helsingborg from June30 to July 9 and was played in several different classes - from youngsters tournament to the battle for the Swedish championship gold in the Champion Class, a round-robin with classical time control, featuring local best players.
Sivuk took the lead as early as in Round 3 after defeating the defending champion GM Jonny Hector and never looked back. The new champion scored impressive 7/9 and became the only unbeaten player in the event.
A three-time national champion GM Tiger Hillarp Persson (pictured above) finished 1.5 points behind Sivuk and earned silver. IM Milton Pantzar and GM Thomas Ernst tied for third place with the former taking bronze thanks to a slightly better tiebreak.
Final standings:
|
1 |
GM |
Vitalii Sivuk |
2432 |
7 |
|
2 |
GM |
Tiger Hillarp |
2493 |
5½ |
|
3 |
IM |
Milton Pantzar |
2442 |
5 |
|
4 |
GM |
Thomas Ernst |
2288 |
5 |
|
5 |
IM |
Jung Min Seo |
2469 |
4½ |
|
6 |
FM |
William Olsson |
2383 |
4½ |
|
7 |
GM |
Erik Blomqvist |
2500 |
4 |
|
8 |
GM |
Jonny Hector |
2481 |
3½ |
|
9 |
IM |
Kaan Küçüksarı |
2512 |
3½ |
|
10 |
IM |
Linus Johansson |
2466 |
2½ |
Complete results in all categories
Official website: schack.se/tavlingar/schack-sm/sm-i-helsingborg-2023/
Photos: Lars OA Hedlund / Swedish Chess Association
