Online Grand Prix tournaments in January

January 31st 2021

Following the Annual General Meeting held in December, members showed interest in online tournaments. It was decided to hold two Grand Prix tournaments (blitz 3+2 and rapid 5+5) that run from January to May.

Online Blitz - January Event

A respectable 14 players took part in the Blitz event and all thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour event. 14-year old Jack Mizzi was in a class of his own by winning all the games of the 9-round tournament. The closest who came from talking half a point was Nina who opted to try for more when a repetition seemed on the board. Malta Champion Jake Darmanin ended 2nd – 1 point behind. His only loss – the 98-mover against Jack. Novak Robert ended 3rd. The longest game of the tournament was his first round game against Matthias that lasted 100 moves and ended in a draw. Many endgame situations resulted in this game and each were played very well from both players.

The first 6 players win Grand Prix points. 4th-6th were taken by Matthias Gatt, Nina Thornton and Matteo Stagno.

Online Rapid - January Event

Another 100% score by young Jack Mizzi who won the January Rapid online tournament. Jack showed great determination by winning games from totally drawn positions – or even with inferior material. Robert Novak ended 2nd with 4.5 points. Novak blundered a piece in his loss against Jack and drew against Matthias Gatt (as he had done in the online blitz). Onurcan Pala ended third also on 4.5 points but with an inferior Bucholtz score.

The event was attended by 10 players – quite a low number considering the interest shown in last December’s AGM.