27th Hit Open 2023 R1-7: Leon Luke Mendonca is in perfect harmony 7/7

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/03/2023

GM Leon Luke Mendonca made a stellar start at 27th Hit Open 2023. He has won seven games in a row and his current performance is 3202. He is already gaining 21.1 Elo rating points so far and it seems like he wants to storm into 2600. The recently turned 17-year-old has defeated GM Marko Tratar (SLO), GM Ognjen Cvitan (CRO), GM Aleksa Strikovic (SRB), IM Matthew J Wadsworth (ENG) and GM Sabino Brunello (ITA) among the seven victories. He is now a staggering two points ahead of the field which means he needs a minimum two draws in the last two rounds to win the tournament. We wouldn't be surprised if Leon wants to go for a rare feat of 9/9 to finish first. The ninth round will be GM Nigel Davies (ENG). Round 8 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Leon is poised to create another record

Two days before his 17th birthday, the brand ambassador of Geno and Microsense, GM Leon Luke Mendonca created history along with GM Visakh N R and the reigning Commonwealth 2022 champion, IM P Shyam Nikhil. In the previous 26 editions of Hit Open, no Indian players have ever made a podium finish, let alone win the tournament. Leon is certainly well placed to become the champion. The question is what will be the final score, he will aim for.

GM Leon Luke Mendonca 7/7 has a massive two point lead over the field | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Wadsworth - Leon, Round 6

Position after 51...Rf4+

GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2558) made a very nice finish against the defending champion, IM Matthew J Wadsworth (ENG, 2439). 51...Rf4+ forced White to resign as 51.g4/gxf4 runs into Bf2# and 52.Bg4 is lost anyway after Rxg4+

GM Leon Luke Mendonca en route his double hat-trick win over the defending champion - IM Matthew J Wadsworth (ENG) | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Leon - Sabino, Round 7

Position after 22...Be6

Leon's well-coordinated pieces and a space advantage made it difficult to find something good to play for the Italy no.7 GM Sabino Brunello (2512). He made a tactical error 22...Be6 as it dropped the a5-pawn 23.Nxa5. He gave up another pawn 23...Bf7 24.Nxb7 Bf6 25.a5 and White's protected passed pawn on a5-file eventually helped him to win the game.

Inaugural first move is being made | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Round 1: GM Leon Luke Mendonca - CM Vladyslav Garsky (UKR): 1-0 | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

The tournament hall | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Delectable chess cakes | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

A giant chess board at the venue | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

Would you like to try a game on this unique chess board? | Photo: Chess Club Nova Gorica

A total of 84 players including 10 GMs and an IM are taking part in the A group (>1500) from 13 countries across the world. The eight-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament is organized by Chess Club Nova Gorica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia from 16th to 23rd March 2023. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 1-7 games

Round 7 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2558	6	1 - 0	4½	GM	Brunello, Sabino	2512	2	PGN
2	11	GM	Davies, Nigel R	2380	4½	½ - ½	4	GM	Cvitan, Ognjen	2446	4	PGN
3	18	FM	Goroshkov, Maksym	2265	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Strikovic, Aleksa	2446	5	PGN
4	17	FM	Beletic, Daniel	2269	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Wadsworth, Matthew J	2439	6	PGN
5	30		Perossa, Nicolas	2141	4	½ - ½	4	FM	Favaloro, Andrea	2407	8	PGN
6	9	GM	Tratar, Marko	2397	4	1 - 0	4		Zamar Kodelja, Jurij	2254	20	PGN
7	24		Gregoric, Andraz	2206	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Tisaj, Domen	2372	12	PGN
8	13	GM	Drazic, Sinisa	2368	4	1 - 0	4	CM	Garsky, Vladyslav	2253	21	PGN
9	54		Kozlovic, Jernej	1878	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Van Dael, Siem	2312	16	PGN
10	3	GM	Beliavsky, Alexander G	2499	3½	1 - 0	4	FM	Belli, Giorgio	2192	25	PGN

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2558	7		5	GM	Davies, Nigel R	2380	11
2	6	IM	Wadsworth, Matthew J	2439	5		5	GM	Tratar, Marko	2397	9
3	12	FM	Tisaj, Domen	2372	5		5		Kozlovic, Jernej	1878	54
4	5	GM	Strikovic, Aleksa	2446	4½		5	GM	Drazic, Sinisa	2368	13
5	2	GM	Brunello, Sabino	2512	4½		4½	FM	Goroshkov, Maksym	2265	18
6	14	FM	Lavrencic, Matic	2319	4½		4½	GM	Beliavsky, Alexander G	2499	3
7	4	GM	Cvitan, Ognjen	2446	4½		4½		Perossa, Nicolas	2141	30
8	8	FM	Favaloro, Andrea	2407	4½		4½		Pennica, Andrea	2094	34
9	42	CM	Chinguun, Bayaraa	2013	4½		4½	FM	Bifulco, Michel	2312	15
10	10	FM	Dobrovoljc, Vid	2384	4		4		Chubakov, Sultan	2190	27

Details

Links

Official site

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