British Grand Master Nigel Short won the recently completed 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2012 with a last-round draw against IM Nguyen Duc Hoa, whose outstanding performance earned the Vietnamese player a Grand Master norm.
The annual event took place at the Dusit Thani hotel in Bangkok from April 14-19 and was attended by a host of top chess players representing 34 nations in total. India provided the largest contingent with 33 players aiming for the top award and while there were also numerous players from China and the Southeast Asian countries, players travelled from as far away as Europe, the USA, and Australia to be part of one of Asia’s foremost chess events.
British GM, Nigel Short, centre, the Bangkok Open Champion 2012, stands alongside India’s M.R. Venkatesh and Neelotpal Das at the conclusion of the tournament.
From the beginning of the tournament Short demonstrated his great fighting spirit. Having won the Gibraltar Chess Festival in January, it was apparent that he had come to Bangkok with a high confidence level and the mission to become the sole champion. Mission accomplished! Short played with passion and expertise in his fourth consecutive BCC Open tournament and finally managed to win it.
While defending champion GM Jan Gustafsson and Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan underperformed, other predominantly Asian participants played very well and often surpassed expectations. In the Challenger category, Tint Swe Win (Myanmar) was the sole winner with 6.5 points after having defeated Filipino front-runner Arnulfo Gavilan Jr. in the final round. Tint Swe Win was followed by a pack of six players from the Philippines!
The very competitive and well-attended blitz tournament was won by GM Farrukh Amonatov while IM Nguyen Van Huy was the runner-up, and Wan Yunguo finished third.
For more information including a full list of the winners and scores, go to http://bangkokchess.com.
GM Farrukh Amonatov faces WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam in the final of the Blitz Championship.
