Leon Luke Mendonca conquers 27th Hit Open 2023 scoring 8/8 and one round to spare
GM Leon Luke Mendonca has won 27th Hit Open 2023 with a perfect score 8/8. He became champion with one round left to be played. In the penultimate round, the teenager made a short work of GM Nigel Davies in just 19 movies. The veteran grandmaster from England neglected the safety of his king and paid a heavy price for it. Leon etched his name in the history by becoming the first Indian to win the tournament in its 27 editions. Leon will face Slovenia's very own FM Domen Tisaj in the final round. The game might be a formality, however, Leon might want to go for 9/9 and set a record which can never be broken but only tied. Round 9 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Leon creates history again
As we mentioned in our previous report, the brand ambassador of Geno and Microsense, GM Leon Luke Mendonca created history by becoming the first Indian to become a champion at 27th Hit Open 2023. The teenager created a similar record earlier this month in Germany at Bad Woerishofen. With an exponential increase of Indian players winning tournaments all over the globe and creating records, that day is not so far when the number of tournaments left where an Indian hasn't conquered yet will become less and less.
Leon - Davies
Black seems to be forcing White to trade the bishop with the knight at e5. However, White is not forced to do so. Leon went 14.Bxg5 Nxc4 15.Rac1 Rg8 16.Bh4 keeping the bishop in the important diagonal, so that the black king cannot castle its way into safety easily. 16...b5? first mistake 17.b3 Qf4?? the blunder 18.Kh1 stepping out of the pin which means both queen at f4 and knight at c4 are under attack. 18...Qd2 19.Rfd1 and Black resigned as there is no way to save the queen and prevent Rd8# at the same time. What a fantastic way to score 8/8 and win the tournament for Leon.
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 8 games
Round 8 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2558 | 7 | 1 - 0 | 5 | GM | Davies, Nigel R | 2380 | 11 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 6 | IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2439 | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Tratar, Marko | 2397 | 9 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 12 | FM | Tisaj, Domen | 2372 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Kozlovic, Jernej | 1878 | 54 | PGN | |||
| 4 | 5 | GM | Strikovic, Aleksa | 2446 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 5 | GM | Drazic, Sinisa | 2368 | 13 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 2 | GM | Brunello, Sabino | 2512 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | FM | Goroshkov, Maksym | 2265 | 18 | PGN | ||
| 6 | 14 | FM | Lavrencic, Matic | 2319 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 2499 | 3 | PGN | ||
| 7 | 4 | GM | Cvitan, Ognjen | 2446 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | Perossa, Nicolas | 2141 | 30 | PGN | |||
| 8 | 8 | FM | Favaloro, Andrea | 2407 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | Pennica, Andrea | 2094 | 34 | PGN | |||
| 9 | 42 | CM | Chinguun, Bayaraa | 2013 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | FM | Bifulco, Michel | 2312 | 15 | PGN | ||
| 10 | 10 | FM | Dobrovoljc, Vid | 2384 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Chubakov, Sultan | 2190 | 27 | PGN |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2558 | 8 | 0 | 37,5 | 42,5 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Tratar, Marko | SLO | 2397 | 6 | 0 | 38,5 | 42,5 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Brunello, Sabino | ITA | 2512 | 5,5 | 0 | 39 | 43,5 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Strikovic, Aleksa | SRB | 2446 | 5,5 | 0 | 38 | 42,5 | |
| 5 | 12 | FM | Tisaj, Domen | SLO | 2372 | 5,5 | 0 | 37 | 41 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Cvitan, Ognjen | CRO | 2446 | 5,5 | 0 | 36,5 | 40 | |
| 7 | 8 | FM | Favaloro, Andrea | ITA | 2407 | 5,5 | 0 | 35,5 | 39,5 | |
| 8 | 54 | Kozlovic, Jernej | SLO | 1878 | 5,5 | 0 | 35 | 39 | ||
| 9 | 15 | FM | Bifulco, Michel | ITA | 2312 | 5,5 | 0 | 33 | 36,5 | |
| 10 | 6 | IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | ENG | 2439 | 5 | 0 | 40,5 | 45 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 12 | FM | Tisaj, Domen | 2372 | 5½ | 8 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2558 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 9 | GM | Tratar, Marko | 2397 | 6 | 5½ | FM | Favaloro, Andrea | 2407 | 8 | |||
| 3 | 54 | Kozlovic, Jernej | 1878 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Brunello, Sabino | 2512 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 15 | FM | Bifulco, Michel | 2312 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Cvitan, Ognjen | 2446 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 5 | GM | Strikovic, Aleksa | 2446 | 5½ | 5 | IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2439 | 6 | |||
| 6 | 3 | GM | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 2499 | 5 | 5 | CM | Garsky, Vladyslav | 2253 | 21 | |||
| 7 | 17 | FM | Beletic, Daniel | 2269 | 5 | 5 | FM | Dobrovoljc, Vid | 2384 | 10 | |||
| 8 | 11 | GM | Davies, Nigel R | 2380 | 5 | 5 | Zamar Kodelja, Jurij | 2254 | 20 | ||||
| 9 | 13 | GM | Drazic, Sinisa | 2368 | 5 | 5 | FM | Belli, Giorgio | 2192 | 25 | |||
| 10 | 19 | GM | Djuric, Stefan | 2256 | 5 | 5 | FM | Lavrencic, Matic | 2319 | 14 |
