GM Nikola Sedlak wins Villach Chess Open

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hello everyone,

The 4th International Villach Open was played over 9 rounds of Swiss system from 11th to 18th February at the Volkshaus Völkendorf, Neubaugasse 9, 9500 Villach, Austria.


Chess Evolution author and Chessdom commentator GM Nikola Sedlak and reigning World Senior Champion GM Vladimir Okhotnik shared the first place with 7.5 points each. Sedlak emerged the winner on better tie-break criteria.


Hungarian GM Jozsef Horvath was the sole leader prior to the final round but a sudden defeat with white pieces against IM Siegfried Baumegger took him down in the final ranking.

GM Nikola Sedlak

The tournament was organized by the ESV ASKÖ Admira Villach and incorporated the 31st Open Championship of Villach. 99 players competed. The tournament was themed as “Chess at the meeting point of three cultures” – Austria, Italy and Slovenia.

Villach (Slovenian: Beljak, Italian: Villaco, Friulian: Vilac) is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region.

Final standings:
1 GM Sedlak Nikola SRB 2587 – 7.5
2 GM Okhotnik Vladimir FRA 2467 – 7.5
3 GM Horvath Jozsef HUN 2531 – 7
4 FM Hartl Daniel AUT 2288 – 7
5 IM Baumegger Siegfried AUT 2427 – 7
6 FM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2234 – 6.5
7 Cabarkapa Novak SRB 2299 – 6
8 Leitner Gerald DI. AUT 2234 – 6
9 FM Juhasz Kristof HUN 2377 – 6
10 IM Mencinger Vojko SLO 2377 – 6
11 Juhasz Armin HUN 2157 – 6
12 FM Ceschia Ivano ITA 2319 – 6
13 Wertjanz David AUT 2235 – 6
14 FM Praznik Niko SLO 2331 – 6
15 IM Borsos Bogdan UKR 2292 – 6
16 MK Muellneritsch Anton AUT 2150 – 6
17 Kropik Martin AUT 2075 – 6
18 Mesaros Florian AUT 1981 – 6
19 Frank Emanuel AUT 2024 – 6
20 Pregl Walter AUT 2126 – 6

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com