Malta Chess Open underway

The Malta Open got underway last week at the Paradise Bay Hotel, Cirkewwa. Forty-one contestants, including some foreigners, have registered for this annual competition that brings together players from all walks of life in a black and white festival of kings and knights and chequered boards.

Commenting on the turn-out, chief organiser J. Grech said he was pleased to see that this competition continues to attract a substantial number of players. He added that the participation of foreign players from the UK, US, Serbia, Mongolia, Switzerland, Germany and Egypt is in itself a celebration of cultures and adds spice to the Malta Open.

Malta champion Colin Pace opened with a win and will do his best to add the coveted Malta Open title to that of national champion earned last November.

This is no easy task as there are a handful of very strong players he will have to face and beat in the coming weeks.

Among them one finds ex-champions Harry Camilleri and David Cilia Vincenti, Duncan Vella, Ron Sammut and Mark Cardona.

A strong group of intermediate players are also there to take advantage of the slightest of mishaps and to collect valuable rating points at the expense of the top players.

The first round saw the clash between rated and unrated players with good wins for the top boards and a few surprises lower down the table.

Unrated Ayman Ibrahim (Egypt) overcame Fabiano Bugelli while Alex Farrugia, another unrated player, beat veteran Joe Demanuele.

The biggest upset of the day was young Luke Saliba's win against Anthony Muscat Baron. Saliba, 12, played a daring game of attack that forced a win after 27 moves.

Results

Cilia Vincenti vs Lau 1-0; Cuschieri vs Pace 0-1; Camilleri vs Attard 1-0; Borg vs Vella 0-1; Cassar vs Saliba 1-0; Muscat vs Cardona 0-1; Mizzi vs Saliba 1-0; Aksentic vs Petterson 0-1; Sammut vs Aleksandr 1-0; Aquilina vs Graf 0-1; Said vs Ebejer 1-0; Farrugia vs Demanuele 1-0; Attard vs Gauci 1-0; Ibrahim vs Bugelli 1-0; Borg vs Micallef 1-0; Psaila vs Camilleri Hans 0-1; Sinn vs Said 1-0; Saliba vs M. Baron 1-0; Azzopardi vs Saliba 1-0; Zammit I. vs Zammit M. draw. Cassar J. - bye.