Venkatesh M R clinches 21st Dolomitenbank Open Lienz 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/02/2023

GM Venkatesh M R defeated GM Sandipan Chanda in the final round to win 21st Dolomitenbank Open Lienz 2023. There were five players at 6.5/8 each heading into the final round. Venkatesh was the only person to win his game among the pack. A well-timed exchange sacrifice allowed Venkatesh to create and seize the opportunity for a first place finish. Venkatesh won €2000 and a trophy. The only other Indian to make a top ten finish is Sandipan. A last round loss pushed him back to seventh place. He received €250 as his prize. Venkatesh has already started his next event at 6th Cannes Games Festival 2023 in France. Photo: Georg Weiler

Venkatesh's first triumph since May 2019

India's 28th GM Venkatesh M R is a very strong player. Last year, he made a couple of podium finishes. Yet a tournament triumph is something he had not achieved since winning his last rating tournament in May 2019. This tournament victory is certainly going to boost his confidence. He has played some fantastic games in this event. Nikolov Rumen (BUL, 2219) scored an IM-norm. WIM Dr. Gundula Heinatz (SUI, 2162) is the top finisher among female participants. She scored 6/9 to finish 16th overall.

Champion - GM Venkatesh M R 7/9 with Elisabeth Blanik (Mayor of Lienz) and Georg Weiler (Tournament Director) | Photo: Georg Weiler

Runner-up - Nikolov Rumen (BUL) 7/9 | Photo: Georg Weiler

Second Runner-up - GM Evgeny Romanov (NOR) 7/9 | Photo: Georg Weiler

Five players were - Nikolov Rumen (BUL, 2219), GM Venkatesh M R (2452), GM Sandipan Chanda (2453), FM Pascal Karsay (GER, 2327) and GM Robert Zelcic (CRO, 2497) were at 6.5/8 heading into the final round. Apart from Robert, the remaining four were unbeaten then.

Sandipan - Venkatesh, Round 9

Position after 26.Nc5

26.Nc5 cannot be called a mistake. However, it creates a promising opportunity for Black. When a draw in the final round does not guarantee a first place finish and your opponent is such a strong player like GM Sandipan Chanda, you have to seize every tiny chance you get. GM Venkatesh M R just did that. He sacrificed an exchange and had huge play as a compensation. 26...Rxc5 27.Qxc5 Nxa4 28.Qa3 Nxb2 29.Qxb2 e4 30.Qe2 White makes one final attempt to not give a second piece for the exchange. Black was determined to get it 30...Bc3 and now White needed to return the exchange. Instead, he decided to go for rook against two bishops which gave Black a decisive advantage. Venkatesh became the sole player to win his final round game among the leaders. Thus, he won the tournament.

GM Venkatesh M R pondering over his plan | Photo: Georg Weiler

GM Venkatesh M R scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win the tournament and gain 13..6 Elo rating points

7th - GM Sandipan Chanda 6.5/9 | Photo: Georg Weiler

Best Senior (>70) - Dieter Hilbig (GER) 5.5/9 | Photo: Georg Weiler

The tournament hall at Handelsakademie Lienz in Lienz, Austria | Photo: Georg Weiler

A total of 132 players including six GMs, eight IMs and two WIMs took part from 24 countries all over the world. The eight-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Schachklub DolomitenBank Lienz at Handelsakademie Lienz in Lienz, Austria from 11th to 18th February 2023. The time control of the tournament was 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 1-9 games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	6	GM	Venkatesh M.R.			IND	2452	2504		7,5	53,5	42	44,25
2	25		Nikolov Rumen			BUL	2219	2243	Satranç Club 2000 E. V.	7	53,5	42,5	40,00
3	1	GM	Romanov Evgeny			NOR	2601	2640	Vålerenga	7	52	41	40,25
4	28	FM	Chkhaidze Nikoloz			GEO	2165	2317		7	47,5	38	35,00
5	3	GM	Zelcic Robert			CRO	2497	2524	Sv Schwarzach	7	47,5	37	36,75
6	15	FM	Stijve Theo			SUI	2338	2245	Payerne	6,5	52	40,5	34,25
7	4	GM	Chanda Sandipan			IND	2453	0		6,5	51,5	41	34,25
8	11	FM	Lumachi Gabriele			ITA	2375	2242		6,5	49	38,5	34,50
9	16	FM	Karsay Pascal			GER	2327	2296	Sv Worms 1878	6,5	49	37,5	33,75
10	12	IM	Song Julien			FRA	2358	0		6,5	47	36	32,25

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

Related news:

	Yevgeniy Roshka wins 42nd St. Veiter Jacques-Lemans Open 2023, Sharan Rao second @ 25/07/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Leonid Milov wins 7th Bodensee Open, Anwesh Upadhyaya second @ 29/05/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Pranav Venkatesh aces Promethean Rapid Rating Open 2023 @ 03/03/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Abhijeet Gupta conquers Graz Open 2023 @ 27/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	R Ashwath dominates Graz Open 2023 Blitz @ 18/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Valentin Baidetskyi wins 35th Schwarzacher Open 2022, Praveen Kumar third @ 14/08/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Nikolas Stanec dominates 1st Arberia Open 2019 @ 29/10/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)