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Monday, May 7, 2012

Ilze Berzina, Vitalijs Samolins are Latvian Chess Champions 2012

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

Hi everyone,

Ilze Berzina, Vitalijs Samolins are the 2012 Latvian Chess Champions. The event was held from April 29 May 5. IM Vitalijs Samolins, who emerged leader in the penultimate round of the tournament, drew IM Vladimir Sveshnikov on the last day and waited for the results in the other top games. GM Ilmars Starostits was not in the mood to take risks and quickly followed with a draw against IM Oleg Krivonosov.
 
On the other hand, the legendary GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, who is in late 60s, pushed hard against FM Toms Kantans in attempt to catch Samolins on the shared first place. However, Kantans tenaciously defended the slightly worse position and eventually pulled a draw.IM Vitalijs Samolins finished clear winner with 7 points and is crowned the new Latvian Champion. This is his second title, with the first being won in 2009.

Starostits and E.Sveshnikov share the 2nd place with 6.5 points each.

WGM Ilze Berzina claimed her third title of the Latvian Women Champion by finishing clear first in the women’s event with 7/9 points. Her earlier titles, in 2004 and 2008, were won from the Open Championships where she also competed with men. WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola had a chance to catch up with Berzina, but in the last round she over-pressed against Katrina Skinke and lost to slip down to the shared third place.

WGM Laura Rogule took the silver medal with 6.5 points, while WGM Inguna Erneste claimed the bronze after edging Skinke and Reizniece-Ozola on tie-break.

You can access the official website for more details, and www.chessdom.com for a nice report. 

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