21-28th May in Otranto, Italy, IM Luca Shytaj is the winner

The 1st Alimini Village International Open was held from 21st to 28th May in Otranto, Italy. 42 players in Open A and 28 in Group B competed over the nine rounds of Swiss pairings.

GM Sabino Brunello was leading throughout the tournament, but in the last round he was defeated by IM Luca Shytaj, who eventually clinched a clear first place with 7.0 points. Grandmasters Arthur Kogan, Oleg Korneev and Michele Godena shared the second with 6.5 points each, while Brunello slipped down to 5th.

Alessandro Verardi won the B tournament with 7.0 points.

The 16-years old Marina Brunello had a fantastic tournament and securred IM norm and WGM norm with one round to go. Adolivio Capece informs that two weeks ago Marina received an important Honour directly from Mr Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Italian Republic. Video of the ceremony (at Quirinale) is posted on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJLEetnstPE (look at the last 5 minutes).

Talented junior Marco Codenotti also earned IM norm.

Round 9 top results:

Shytaj Luca - Brunello Sabino 1 – 0

Korneev Oleg - Naumkin Igor 1 – 0

Kogan Artur - Brunello Marina 1 – 0

Godena Michele - Laketic Gojko 1 – 0

Dvirnyy Daniyyl - Lazic Miroljub ½ – ½

Codenotti Marco - Drazic Sinisa ½ – ½

Lanzani Mario - Conquest Stuart 0 – 1

Bruno Fabio - Adrian Claude 0 – 1

Glek Igor – Thorfinnsson Bjorn 0 – 1

Final standings:

1. IM Shytaj Luca 2494 ITA – 7.0

2-4. GM Kogan Artur 2556 ISR, GM Korneev Oleg 2573 RUS and GM Godena Michele 2528 ITA – 6.5

5. GM Brunello Sabino 2537 ITA - 6.0

6-13. GM Lazic Miroljub 2471 SRB, GM Naumkin Igor 2506 RUS, WIM Brunello Marina 2177 ITA, Codenotti Marco 2284 ITA, IM Adrian Claude 2267 FRA, GM Conquest Stuart C 2532 ENG, IM Thorfinnsson Bjorn 2415 ISL and IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2448 – 5.5 etc

On 29th May Grandmaster Sabino Brunello will hold a simultaneous exhibition open to all interested players in one of the central squares of Otranto.

Tournament website