Areshchenko Retains Title In Pretty Porticcio

For the second year in a row, Alexander Areshchenko won the Porticcio Open in Corsica, France. The Ukrainian grandmaster edged out six players who also scored 7.0/9.

All photos courtesy Corse-Echecs.

Say “chess in Corsica” and you'll say “Leo Battesti.” Already responsible for countless wonderful chess events on the French island (most prominently the annual Corsican Circuit in October), Battesti organized an open tournament in Porticcio for the third time this year. This iteration drew in some well-known grandmasters

Porticcio is a seaside area which lies in the south on the Gulf of Ajaccio. It is part of the municipality of Grossetu Prugna and has a bit more than 2,000 inhabitants. With beautiful landscapes and beaches, tourism is an important economic sector.

Not a bad place for a chess tournament.

The tournament, a nine-round Swiss, took place June 25-July 1 in Hotel Club Marina Viva and had a €15,000 prize fund. The top seeds were Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2695), Alexander Areshchenko (UKR, 2654) Viktor Laznicka (CZE, 2654), Sergei Zhigalko (BLR, 2653), Gawain Jones (ENG, 2650), Romain Edouard (FRA, 2648), Nils Grandelius (2643), Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2635), Daniel Naroditsky (USA, 2634), and Sebastien Mazé (FRA, 2627).

You might remember the name Areshchenko from last September when he  ousted Levon Aronian from the World Cup in Baku. Back then the Ukrainian was rated 2661, but he was “stronger than his rating” according to Russian grandmaster Ernesto Inarkiev. 

Areshchenko, who passed the 2700 mark two years ago, couldn't keep it up. His rating has dropped to 2654, but he's still a very strong player, obviously. He won the third Porticcio Open last Friday, a year after he had won the second edition. He tied for first place with Naroditsky, Zhigalko, Edouard, Jones, and GM Deep Sengupta of India.

In a tournament where he remained undefeated, Areshchenko started with two wins and two draws. He then grabbed the lead thanks to three straight victories. Finally, he stayed on top with two more draws.

Here's his win against Grandelius, the strongest opponent he defeated, in an old line of the Closed Ruy Lopez.

A powerful game by Areshchenko, full of forcing moves.

Another player who remained undefeated was Deep Sengupta of India. He ultimately finished in third place. His biggest win was against Zhigalko in a Sveshnikov. After lots of maneuvering, White finally found a winning breakthrough, although it took him longer than necessary to win it.

Deep Sengupta of India.

Naroditsky's biggest scalp was Laznicka, in round four. That was a bit of a topsy-turvy game where Black was better in the early middlegame, went for a strange trade around the time control, could still draw the endgame, but then blundered a full piece.

Daniel Naroditsky finished second on tiebreak.

3rd Porticcio Open | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

The prize winners: L-R Deep Sengupta, Alexander Areshchenko and Daniel Naroditsky.