Final-round win secures Andorra Open title for 15-year-old Francisco Fiorito

Fiorito recovers from round-four loss

IM Francisco Fiorito won the 42^nd Andorra Open after scoring 7½ points from 9 rounds. The 15-year-old from Argentina finished half a point ahead of four players tied for second place, securing outright victory with a final-round win over Ukrainian GM Andrey Sumets.

The tournament was held from 18 to 26 July at the Hotel Panorama in Escaldes-Engordany. The 9-round Swiss used a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one. The field comprised 208 players – Fiorito entered as the 16^th seed with a rating of 2452.

Fiorito began with three consecutive victories, defeating Manuel Cabarcos Baulina, Laurent Bruneau and Roee Zemach. His only setback came in round four, when he lost to Germany’s Bruno Engel. He responded by winning his next two games against Aniruddha Deshpande and Naitik Mehta, returning to contention before the decisive final phase of the event.

A draw against top seed Miguel Santos in round seven kept Fiorito among the leaders. He then defeated GMs Egor Bogdanov and Sumets in the last two rounds. His victory over Sumets, the 2023 Andorra Open champion, took him to 7½ points and left Santos needing to win with black against Aleksandr Shimanov to draw level. Santos had been under pressure during that game but recovered to secure a draw, confirming Fiorito’s outright first place.

The top boards in the final round – Aleksandr Shimanov v. Miguel Santos, with eventual champion Francisco Fiorito playing white on the second board | Photo: Andorra Open

Santos took second place on tiebreak with 7 points, followed by Ukrainian IM Vladyslav Larkin. Georgian WFM Lile Koridze finished fourth, while French GM Laurent Guidarelli placed fifth, all on the same score. Koridze, who had started as the 79^th seed with a rating of 2109, remarkably defeated GM Julen Arizmendi in the final round and earned an IM norm. Koridze is also a content creator on Twitch and YouTube.

Engel led the next group, finishing sixth with 6½ points. The German junior went unbeaten after his win over Fiorito, recording four victories and five draws, and achieved a GM norm.

IM Marta García from Spain received the women’s first prize, since Koridze’s fourth place overall granted the Georgian a bigger reward. García finishing 13^th overall with 6½ points. Marc González and Andrés Zamora were the leading Andorran players, both ending the tournament on 5½ points.

Lile Koridze’s performance gained her an IM norm | Photo: Andorra Open

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

Francesc Rechi, President of the Andorran Chess Federation, and Spanish IM Marta García | Photo: Andorra Open

Final standings

…208 players

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