Karposh Open 2014 Round 9
The tournament was won by Kiril Georgiev. An amazing feat by the Bulgarian, who had a slow start with 2/3, but then played himself into shape and won his last 4 (!) games to finish sole first with 7.5/9. A well-deserved triumph, he seems to like playing in Skopje, having won the blitz tournament in March this year with 12/13.
The Spanish Inquisitors were in contention until the very end, but they succumbed under the Orthodox threat in the 8th round – Vovk beat Salgado and Predojevic drew with Anton. Then in the last round it was Anton who lost his game, but overall they performed well and finished 2nd (Salgado) and 9th (Anton).
My own play was pretty good and had I not spoiled it in the penultimate round I would have had a chance to fight for a good prize.
Congratulations to the organizers for another great tournament here in Skopje, hopefully this is a start of a long tradition. Next year Skopje will also be the venue of the European Club Cup, so it’s pleasant to see my home town back on the chess map.