2017 Riga Technical University Open
Ukrainians triumph in Riga
Congrats to Ukrainians gm Vladimir Onischuk and im Sergey Pavlov for winning the very strong Riga International with 7.5 points out of 9 games. The 7th edition of this tournament saw players from 41 countries taking part, including 48 grandmasters and 63 international masters. For my Canadian readers, 4 Canadians participated, headed by im Aman Hambleton, who finished with a respectable 6 points.
My friend Alexi Shirov (born in Riga !) continues with his bad form, his result in this tournament (6 points) no doubt another disappointment to his many fans around the world. Alexi’s ELO had dropped almost 50 points in the past 6 months. Playing in ‘open’ tournaments has a serious downside for such high rated players. I am certain that Alexi will soon return to his ‘super’ class level of play, and continue to charm and entertain his fans with the type of creative play that one has come to expect from him.
Winning 5-second tactics
Solutions in pgn can be found HERE.
