Ilmars Starostits dominates 15th International Open GEMA63

by Shahid Ahmed - 28/01/2020

GM Ilmars Starostits scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 to win International Open GEMA63. IM Diego Espineira Gonzalez secured second position with a score of 7.0/9. GM Arian Gonzalez Perez scored 6.5/9 to be placed third. Starostits also scored an unbeaten 9.5/11 to win 3rd International Open Blitz GEMA63. Both IM Jose Luis Gonzalez Trigal and FM Luis Marcos Medarde Santiago finished with 9.0/11 each and they were placed second and third respectively. Total 33 players participated in the open event from four federations including Spain comprising of two GMs, three IMs and a FM. The tournament was held from 2nd to 7th January 2020 at Mondariz Balneario, Spain. Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Ilmars Starostits wins 1st International Open GEMA63

GM Starostits Ilmars (LAT, 2492) scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 to win International Open GEMA63 and finish a full point ahead of the competition. IM Diego Espineira Gonzalez (ESP, 2327) finished at second place with a score of 7.0/9. GM Arian Gonzalez Perez (FID, 2478) scored 6.5/9 to secure third position.

Champion Ilmars Starostits won a beautiful trophy and €1000 cash prize | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Ilmars' unbeaten championship run gained him 9 Elo rating points

The podium finishers (L to R) - Runner-up Diego Gonzalez, Champion Ilmars Starostits and Second Runner-up Arian Gonzalez | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Top boards in action | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Ilmars wins Blitz too

GM Ilmars Starostits (LAT, 2439) scored an unbeaten 9.5/11, finished a half point ahead of the competition to GEMA63 International Blitz open. Both IM Jose Luis Gonzalez Trigal (ESP, 2315) and FM Luis Marcos Medarde Santiago (ESP, 2183) finished with 9.0/11 and they were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-break scores.

Champion Ilmars Starostits received €100 as cash prize for his efforts | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Ilmars' unbeaten performance earned him 9 Elo rating points in Blitz too

Top boards in action during Blitz | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Tournament Hall | Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

The 15th International Chess Festival GEMA63 was held in the Galician town of Mondariz Balneario and consisted of two tournaments - Ist International Chess Open GEMA63 from 2nd to 7th January 2020 in which 33 players participated from four different federations including Spain comprising of two GMs, three IMs and a FM. IIIrd Blitz GEMA63 International Chess Tournament took place on 4th January 2020 with a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds.

The organization of the festival thanks all the players for their presence in the tournaments and invites them to the next edition of the festival.

Final Standings in Open

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Starostits Ilmars		LAT	2492	NAV	8,0	41,0	46,0	50,5
2	4	IM	Espineira Gonzalez Diego		ESP	2327	C. Ajedrez Padron	7,0	41,5	46,0	49,5
3	2	GM	Gonzalez Perez Arian		FID	2478	Liceo de Ourense	6,5	41,5	46,5	51,0
4	7		Villar Perez Samuel		ESP	2166	C. Xadrez Rianxo	6,0	40,0	44,5	48,5
5	5	FM	Medarde Santiago Luis Marcos		ESP	2287	C. Ajedrez Padron	5,5	43,5	48,0	50,5
6	3	IM	Gonzalez Trigal Jose Luis		ESP	2369	C. Casino Beniajan	5,5	41,5	46,0	50,0
	6	IM	Rodriguez Lopez Rafael	S50	ESP	2212	GAL	5,5	41,5	46,0	50,0
8	10		Del Prado Rodriguez Xulio	U12	ESP	2102	C. Chantadino Xadrez	5,5	39,0	42,5	45,0
9	12		Rodriguez Ferreiros Andres	U16	ESP	2047	Xadrez Fontecarmoa	5,5	32,0	34,5	36,5
10	9		Fernandez Lopez Ruben	U14	ESP	2135	EXP	5,0	41,0	45,5	48,0

Complete standings

Final Standings in Blitz

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Starostits Ilmars	LAT	2439		9,5	73,5	68,5	63,0
2	4	IM	Gonzalez Trigal Jose Luis	ESP	2315	Casino Beniajan	9,0	74,0	68,5	63,0
3	5	FM	Medarde Santiago Luis Marcos	ESP	2183	C. Ajedrez Padron	9,0	72,5	68,0	62,5
4	3	IM	Espineira Gonzalez Diego	ESP	2316	C. Ajedrez Padron	8,0	73,5	68,5	63,5
5	11		Rodriguez Ferreiros Andres	ESP	1615	Xadrez Fontecarmoa	7,0	71,5	69,5	64,0