The event brought together nearly a hundred participants in the capital of the Bajo/Baix Cinca region
Last Saturday, June 22nd, the 12th Fraga City Chess Open was held at 'Lo Castell', the former Church of San Miguel, a perfect setting for the event. The 92 participants provided a day of excellent chess, with a fantastic atmosphere and one of the best turnouts in recent years, both in terms of numbers and quality.
Ukrainian Grandmaster Yuri Solodovnichenko, from the Figueres Chess Club , made history at the Open, taking first place with 7,5 points. FM Guerau Masagué Artero finished second with 7 points, and David Lana Rodríguez came in third , also with 7 points.
In the morning, veteran GM Roberto Cifuentes and FIDE Master Guerau Masagué dominated, winning all their games, closely followed by IM Guillermo Baches with 4,5 points. In the sixth round, Cifuentes and Masagué faced off, with the latter emerging victorious and taking a giant step towards winning the tournament. However, in the seventh round, Masagué's mobile phone rang mid-game against Ukrainian Solodovnichenko, resulting in his immediate defeat.
From then on, the Ukrainian showed no mercy and won the tournament with 7,5 points. Guerau Masagué and FM David Lana, last year's champion, completed the podium in third place. Also noteworthy were the outstanding performances of Miguel Miranda from Zaragoza, who battled for the title until the final round, and local player José Luis Ramón, who achieved a spectacular eighth place overall.
The awards ceremony was presided over by the mayor of Fraga, Ignacio Gramunt, and the councilor for culture, María José Barrafón.
All participants received a basket of sweet fruit. The largest team (Queen's Flanker) received two boxes of fruit as a gift. Link to full results: https://chess-results.com/tnr951945.aspx?lan=2&art=1&rd=9
