Laznicka wins World Open
Viktor Laznicka won this year's World Open in Philadelphia. The Czech grandmaster was the only player to finish at 7.5/9, half a point more than Harikrishna, Smirin and McShane, and a point more than Van Wely, Gustafsson, Potkin and Lenderman.Viktor Laznicka | Photo Brittle Heaven licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licenseThe 38th World Open took place June 29-July 5 at the Valley Forge Convention Plaza of the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Many different tournaments over different rating sections were held, each over 9 rounds. Norms were available in the Open and Under 2400 Sections, but it was also possible to go for a shorter gig, for example a 4-day option, with rounds 1-2 with 75 minutes in total on the clock, or even a 3-day option with rounds 1-5 at just 45 minutes. (This is what Nakamura chose last year, and got him a shared first place.) There was a guaranteed prize fund of US $175,000.One of the participants was English grandmaster LukeMcShane, who played his first tournament in the United States. An interview with Chess Scoop (Jennifer Shahade and Dim Mak Films):[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"217","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"580","style":""}}]]22-year-old Viktor Laznicka, who played the 5-day schedule, won this year's World Open. Czech Republic's second best player (behind David Navara) was leading the field by a point, and had the white pieces against Loek van Wely in the last round. As always, the Dutch GM went for a fight, this time trying the Benoni, but eventually he offered a draw in a worse position. Laznicka proved a true fighter himself by at first declining the draw (which would secure the first prize), but eventually the point was split anyway.
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