Croatia Chess Championship

The Croatian Chess Championship was held on 18-28th January at the Open University in Otocac. Twelve players, all but one with Grandmaster rank, competed in the round robin tournament. The Championship is officially valid for the year 2009, and top four finishers will qualify for the 2010 event. The prize fund is 10.000 EUR.

The last round was set to determinate the winner after an exciting race between GM Ivan Saric, the 2007 U18 European Chess Champion and the 2008 U18 World Youth Chess Champion, and GM Alojzije Jankovic, who both entered the final round with 7.5 points each and were paired to play one against another.

However, the two leaders made a quick 13-moves draw and postponed the decision on who will be the next state champion. According to the tournament regulations, there will be a four-game additional match between Saric and Jankovic, but the timetable is still unknown. In case of a tied match, the title goes to the player with better additional criteria in the main tournament, and in this case it is Saric.

Final standings:
1. GM Saric Ivan 2586 and GM Jankovic Alojzije 2541 – 8,0
3. GM Sulava Nenad 2539 – 6,5
4. GM Stevic Hrvoje 2614 – 6,0
5-6. IM Martinovic Sasa 2499 and GM Jovanic Ognjen 2533 – 5,5
7-9. GM Kozul Zdenko 2617, GM Cvitan Ognjen 2554 and GM Palac Mladen 2563 – 5,0
10-11. GM Zelcic Robert 2557 and GM Jovanovic Zoran 2537 – 4,0
12. GM Brkic Ante 2564 – 3,5

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