Riga Technical University Open

Last updated

The Riga Technical University Open (also RTU Open) is an international "open" chess festival annually held in Riga, Latvia in August. It is the largest classical chess tournament in the Baltic states.

Contents

Abstract

The Riga Technical University Open has been held since 2011, with the exception of the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequently the 10th jubilee edition followed in summer 2021. The festival is organized by Riga Technical University in cooperation with the Latvian Chess Federation and the Riga Chess Federation. The founder and tournament director is IO (International Organizer) Egons Lavendelis from Latvia, who, as a player, is also an FM. Chief Arbiter of the RTU Festival is IA (International Arbiter) Alberts Cimiņš. Chief Arbiter of Tournament A is IA Andra Cimiņa. The current venue where the festival is held is the Ķīpsala exhibition hall in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Over the years, the RTU Open has attracted thousands of chess players from over 50 countries, becoming one of the biggest chess festivals in northern Europe and in Europe as a whole. Additional events include GM lectures, excursions, simuls, as well as Bughouse (tandem) and Dice Chess are offered, too.

History

The first three international chess festivals (2011–2013) were held in the main building of the Riga Technical University. The first and second festival included two classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. The third festival included three classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B-C for amateurs). The fourth international chess festival in 2014 was moved to the International Exhibition Centre Ķīpsala, where larger number of participants applied. The fourth international chess festival included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and a first day blitz tournament. The fifth and sixth festival was held in Ķīpsala and included four classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–D for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. Overall, more than 1,200 participants took part in the festivals from the years 2014 to 2016. [1] The seventh festival in 2017 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. The eighth festival in 2018 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and two blitz tournaments. The ninth festival in 2019 was held in Ķīpsala and included six classical chess tournaments (A for masters, Y for young chess players and B–E for amateurs), a rapid chess tournament and two blitz tournaments. In 2020, the tournament did not take place due to a COVID-19 pandemic. The tenth festival in 2021 was held in Ķīpsala and included four classical chess tournaments (A for masters, B&Y for young chess players and amateurs, and C&D–E for amateurs), a rapid chess tournament (G) and two blitz tournaments (F and H). The eleventh festival in 2022 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters, B, C, D for amateurs and Y for young chess players), a rapid chess tournament (F) and two blitz tournaments (E and G). The twelfth festival in 2023 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters, B, C, D for amateurs and Y for young chess players), a rapid chess tournament (F), two blitz tournaments (E and G) and three qualifying tournaments for beginners (Q1, Q2 and Q3). The thirteenth festival in 2024 was held in Ķīpsala and included four classical chess tournaments (A for grandmasters, B, C, D for amateurs), rapid chess tournament ("Riga Open Rapid Chess Championship 2024"), two blitz tournaments ("Latvian Chess Federation & FIDE 100-Year Anniversary Blitz Tournament" and "Midnight Blitz").

List of A tournament winners

YearWinner2nd place3rd placeBest woman
2011 Flag of Luxembourg.svg Alberto David Flag of the United States.svg Jaan Ehlvest Flag of Latvia.svg Vladimir Sveshnikov Flag of Poland.svg Katarzyna Toma
2012 Flag of Slovakia.svg Ján Markoš Flag of Brazil.svg Alexandr Fier Flag of Germany.svg Daniel Fridman Flag of Germany.svg Judith Fuchs
2013 Flag of Poland.svg Bartosz Soćko Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robin van Kampen Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Antipov Flag of Slovakia.svg Zuzana Štočková
2014 Flag of Armenia.svg Hrant Melkumyan Flag of Hungary.svg Richárd Rapport Flag of Venezuela.svg Eduardo Iturrizaga Flag of Serbia.svg Maria Manakova
2015 Flag of Latvia.svg Alexei Shirov Flag of Armenia.svg Robert Hovhannisyan Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Rinat Jumabayev Flag of Poland.svg Monika Soćko
2016 Flag of Ukraine.svg Martyn Kravtsiv Flag of Armenia.svg Hrant Melkumyan Flag of Latvia.svg Arturs Neikšāns Flag of India.svg Soumya Swaminathan
2017 Flag of Ukraine.svg Vladimir Onischuk Flag of Ukraine.svg Sergey Pavlov Flag of Israel.svg Tamir Nabaty Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Lei Tingjie
2018 Flag of Armenia.svg Robert Hovhannisyan Flag of Armenia.svg Manuel Petrosyan Flag of Russia.svg Alexandr Predke Flag of India.svg Nutakki Priyanka
2019 Flag of Latvia.svg Igor Kovalenko Flag of Lithuania.svg Šarūnas Šulskis Flag of Armenia.svg Arman Mikaelyan Flag of Romania.svg Irina Bulmaga
2021 Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Donchenko Flag of India.svg S. L. Narayanan Flag of Lithuania.svg Tomas Laurusas Flag of Estonia.svg Margareth Olde
2022 Flag of Lithuania.svg Paulius Pultinevičius Flag of Latvia.svg Toms Kantāns Flag of Sweden.svg Erik Blomqvist Flag of Latvia.svg Laura Rogule
2023 Flag of Norway.svg Elham Amar Flag of Sweden.svg Erik Blomqvist Flag of Moldova.svg Dragoș Cereș Flag of Estonia.svg Anastassia Sinitsina
2024 Flag of Greece.svg Nikolas Theodorou Flag of Germany.svg Jakob Leon Pajeken Flag of Lithuania.svg Tomas Laurusas Flag of the Netherlands.svg Eline Roebers

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikhail Tal</span> Soviet and Latvian chess grandmaster (1936–1992)

Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as one of the most influential players in chess history. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Vladislav Zubok said of him, "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexei Shirov</span> Latvian-Spanish chess grandmaster (born 1972)

Alexei Shirov is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Malakhov (chess player)</span> Russian chess grandmaster (born 1980)

Vladimir Malakhov is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was a member of the Russian team that won gold at the 2009 World Team Chess Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxime Vachier-Lagrave</span> French chess grandmaster (born 1990)

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, he is the seventh-highest rated player in history.

The Biel International Chess Festival is an annual chess tournament that takes place in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. It consists of two events, the Grandmaster Tournament, held with the round-robin system, and the Master Open Tournament (MTO), held with the Swiss system. The Grandmaster Tournament has taken place since 1977. The city of Biel hosted three Interzonal Tournaments, in 1976, 1985 and 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Fridman</span> Latvian-German chess grandmaster (born 1976)

Daniel Fridman is a Latvian-German chess player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2001, he was Latvian champion in 1996 and German champion in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lê Quang Liêm</span> Vietnamese chess grandmaster (born 1991)

Lê Quang Liêm is a Vietnamese chess grandmaster, the top-ranked of his country. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2006. Liêm won the Asian Chess Championship in 2019 and was the World Blitz Chess Champion in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIDE titles</span> Title for chess players awarded by FIDE

FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms. Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Chess Classic</span> Chess festival held in London

The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cover a wide range of chess activities, including tournaments suitable for norm and title seekers, junior events, amateur competitions, simultaneous exhibitions, coaching, and lectures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arturs Neikšāns</span> Latvian chess grandmaster (born 1983)

Arturs Neiksans is a Latvian chess player who has held the FIDE title of Grandmaster since 2012. He is a four-time Latvian champion, one of the leading Latvian chess players, an FIDE-accredited chess trainer, author and a commentator of high-level chess tournaments.

Vladimir Sveshnikov is a Latvian chess player. He was awarded the International Master title in 2011.

Arturs Bernotas is a Latvian chess player. He was awarded the FIDE Master title in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irina Bulmaga</span> Moldovan-born Romanian chess player

Irina Bulmaga is a Moldovan-born Romanian chess player. She received the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 2012 and International Master (IM) in 2013.

European Youth Chess Championship 2018 was a Swiss-system tournaments in Riga, to decide the European Youth individuals chess champions in U8 — U18 age categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjun Erigaisi</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 2003)

Arjun Erigaisi is an Indian chess grandmaster and India's highest ranked player as of June 2024, overtaking former world champion Viswanathan Anand. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 13 days, making him the 32nd youngest person ever to achieve the title of grandmaster. He is the 54th grandmaster from India. He won the 2022 Indian National Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. L. Narayanan</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1998)

Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan is an Indian chess player. He earned the title of Grandmaster in 2015 and is the 41st Grandmaster from India. As of September 2023, he is ranked No. 8 in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalia Popova (chess player)</span> Belarusian chess player

Natalia Popova is a Belarusian chess player who holds the titles of Woman International Master (1999), International Arbiter (2017), and FIDE Trainer (2018). She is a five-time Belarusian Women's Chess Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Dobrov</span> Russian chess player

Vladimir Vladimirovich Dobrov is a Russian chess grandmaster with a FIDE rating of 2478 as of May 2021. Dobrov obtained the title of International Master in 2001 and subsequently the title of grandmaster in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luka Budisavljević</span> Serbian chess grandmaster (born 2004)

Luka Budisavljević is a Serbian chess player. He is the youngest Grandmaster in the history of Serbia. He fulfilled requirements for achieving highest chess title Grandmaster on 29 November 2020 when he was exactly 16 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the first Serbian who managed to get such an achievement before 17th birthday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abhimanyu Puranik</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 2000)

Abhimanyu Samir Puranik is an Indian chess player who holds the title of chess grandmaster.

References