Last Sunday, August 30, the Latvian 2020 Classic Chess Championships came to the end in Tallink Hotel Riga. GM Zigurds Lanka (pictured above) won his second title in the open section, whereas Laura Rogule became the Lavian women’s chess champion for the tenth time.
The 9-round open Swiss tournament brought together 39 participants battling for the title. Zigurds Lanka (2391) finished first with an excellent score 7.5/9 – a full point ahead of GM Tom Kantan (2499) and FM Ilya Semyonov (2368) taking silver and bronze respectively.
Interestingly enough Zigurds’ first title dates back to 1993, while Semyonov won his first medal in open championships and completed first of the three required IM norms.
Halfway through the championship, Semyonov was leading the field, but in Round 6 he was defeated by Lanka, he took the top spot. The future champion did not give up his position until the end of the tournament, scoring two more victories over Arsen Batashev (2149) and Alexander Jazdanov (2248). In the final round, Lanka made a quick draw with FM Matiss Mustap (2363) and secured the title.
This year, many new players with a relatively low rating took part in the tournament, so a lot of them managed to significantly increase their rating. Kirill Bogdanovičs (1611) - plus 128 points, Artjoms Tolmačevs (1655) - 97, Emīls Jānis Mieriņš (1730) - 96, and Miķelis Vingris (1767) - 95.
Final standings:
1. Zigurds Lanka (2391) – 7½
2. Toms Kantans (2499) – 6½
3. Ilja Semjonovs (2368) – 6½
4. Matiss Mustaps (2363) – 6
5. Vladimir Sveshnikov (2426) – 6
6. Maksims Golubovskis (2234) – 5½
7. Roland Berzinsh (2378) – 5½
8. Arsens Batashevs (2149) – 5½
9. Guntis Jankovskis (2256) – 5½
10. Aleksandrs Jazdanovs (2248) – 5½
24 participants competed in the ladies' tournament. Laura Rogule (pictured below) entered the competition as an undisputed favorite and lived by to her status by scoring 7.5 points out of 9 (no losses). Laura won her first title back in 2003 at the age of fifteen.
WFM Linda Krūmiņa (6.5) took silver, Madara Golsta (6) earned bronze – the first medal in her adult chess career.
Text and photo: Official website of the Latvian Chess Federation
