Duncan Vella protected his lead to secure first place in the Malta Chess Open that came to an end last Saturday at the Paradise Bay Hotel in Cirkewwa.

The new Malta Open champion preferred a drawish line against the Russian-game (placing his Queen on e2 in the fifth move), to earn the needed half-point in his last round encounter with Paul Mizzi. The latter had a good tournament, finishing fifth overall.

On board two, Colin Pace defeated Mark Cardona in a French defence, sacrificing a knight temporarily to expose and corner the black king.

On third board, Horace Cassar pressed Hans Peter Graf for a win but Graf defended well and earned the whole point when Cassar blundered in time trouble.

Graf thus joined Pace with five and a half points but he was third overall as the latter had a superior bucholtz score.

Ayman Ibrahim, of Egypt, won the Best Unrated prize, beating J. Demanuele in the last round. Maurice Zammit won the Best Mellieha prize while Rita Saliba won the Best Female award.

Final standings: 1. Vella 6; 2-3. Pace, Graf 5.5; 4-5. Cilia Vincenti, Mizzi 5; 6-12. Cassar, Ibrahim, Sinn, Cardona, I. Attard, Sammut, Hans Camilleri 4.5; 13-18. Harry Camilleri, O. Said, Azzopardi, Farrugia, B. Borg, Petterson 4; 19-22. Lau, Fenech, Micallef, Psaila 3.5; 23-29. D. Saliba, L. Saliba, Cuschieri, Bugelli, Demanuele, Ebejer, Muscat Baron 3; 30-34. Aquilina, R. Saliba, P. Saliba, R. Borg, Zammit 2.5; 35. Aleksandr 2; 36-39. Gauci, S. Attard, Aksentic, R. Said 1.