GMs Amin Tabatabaei, Haik Martirosyan, and Oleksandr Bortnyk won 3 0 Thursday tournaments on April 23. No one had a smooth run to the title as GM Jose Martinez, one of the top Thursday performers this year, made the podium in each event, but couldn’t quite take first place in any of them. On the women’s side, IM Anna Sargsyan took prizes in the first two tournaments, giving her 11 total titles overall. FM Anastasia Avramidou took her second women’s title in the third event.
1st Tournament: Tabatabaei Takes First Title
In the first event of the day, Tabatabaei started hot with 7.5/8. Then he ran into Martinez, who caught him in a fork in a tight endgame.
Tabatabaei recovered in the next round, turning around a tough position out of the opening to win an attacking game against GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov.
He continued his form in the next round, playing a risky opening to win with black against IM Khuong Duy Dau.Â
Martinez might have been able to catch the leader, but he only managed a quick draw with black against GM Tuan Minh Le. That left Tabatabaei in first with 9.5/11, followed by Martinez with nine points and Tsydypov with 8.5.
2nd Tournament: Martirosyan Escapes To Take Title
The second tournament featured some huge swings in the critical games. Martirosyan started with 7.5/8 and seemed well on his way to first place before one move, perhaps a mouse slip, cost him a full point against GM Benjamin Bok.
Bok wasn’t able to keep his lead, dropping a point in round 10 against GM Pranav V. That meant a final-round win would deliver the title for Martirosyan. However, it wasn’t an easy ride. He fell behind by several pawns against IM Alexandros Papasimakopoulos, and it took an improbable comeback to secure the win.
That shocking finish gave Martirosyan first place with 9/11, just ahead of Bok on tiebreaks. Martinez took third place with 8.5 points.
3rd Tournament: Bortnyk Loses Final Game, Wins Anyway
The third tournament turned into a race between Bortnyk and Martinez. Bortnyk took an early lead by winning their head-to-head encounter in the fourth round.
Bortnyk had great success with one of his favorite openings, the Jobava London. He won the following round-nine game quickly against IM Roman Pyrih. This is what your author’s database of high-level games that reached the position after six moves looks like. Notice who has had White in every game.
Bortnyk won again in the 10th round to maintain a half-point lead over Martinez going into the final round. Bortnyk, with 9.5 points, played against IM Garg Aradhya, who had just six points. However, Aradhya played a great game, winning with Black and giving Martinez a chance to win the event. However, Martinez managed only a solid draw with Pyrih. Bortnyk had the better tiebreaks to take first. Martinez finished second, well ahead of IM Renato Terry who took third with eight points.Â
3 0 Thursday is a set of three weekly Swiss tournaments for verified titled players featuring their favorite time control. Each of the three tournaments is an 11-round Swiss with a 3+0 time control. The combined prize fund is $3,000 every week.