Sammed Shete clinches Zadar Chess Festival 2023, Bhakti Kulkarni third

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/08/2023

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win Zadar Chess Festival A 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. GM Alexander Delchev (BUL) and IM Bhakti Kulkarni scored 7/9 each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. Sammed drew against both runner-ups. Bhakti also remained undefeated and drew against the top two finishers. The total prize fund of the event was €10000. The top three prizes were €1600, €1100 and €700 along with a trophy each respectively. This is Sammed's seventh tournament triumph of the year. The festival was organized by University of Zadar Chess Club, “Casper” Chess Club and Zadar County Chess Association from 16th to 23rd July. Photos: IM Patrick Levacic

Sammed and Bhakti remain undefeated

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete and IM Bhakti Kulkarni were in the lead 6.5/8 each heading into the final round. Sammed defeated FM Nikhil Dixit and Bhakti drew against FM Mikhail Tobak (UKR). Thus, Sammed became a clear champion and Bhakti was placed third according to tie-breaks.

Champion - IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete 7.5/9

Runner-up - GM Alexander Delchev 7/9

Second Runner-up - IM Bhakti Kulkarni 7/9

Top three (L to R) - 2nd GM Alexander Delchev (BUL) 7/9, 1st IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete 7.5/9 and 3rd IM Bhakti Kulkarni 7/9

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete scored an unbeaten 7.5/9, drew against both runner-ups and gained 16.2 Elo rating points

4th IM Moksh Amit Doshi 6/9

6th FM Nikhil Dixit 5.5/9

9th IM Sharan Rao 5.5/9

The trophies for the prize winners in front of beautiful natural background

The organizers and officials

IM Moksh Amit Doshi, FM Nikhil Dixit, IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete and IM Sharan Rao having a great time

A total of 50 players including 2 GMs and six IMs took part from 17 countries across the world in A (>2200) category. Category B (<2300) witnessed the participation of 154 players and the Blitz event had 106 players. The three events were organized by University of Zadar Chess Club, “Casper” Chess Club and Zadar County Chess Association at Novi Studentski Dom (New student residence in Zadar, Croatia from 16th to 23rd July 2023. The time control for the Classical event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from no.1.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	2	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete			IND	2440		7,5	40,5	44,5	37,5	39,25	0	2594	9	7,5	5,88	1,62	10	16,2
2	1	GM	Delchev, Aleksander			BUL	2513	ŠK Casper, Zadar	7	42,5	47,5	40	39,50	0	2551	9	7	6,59	0,41	10	4,1
3	16	IM	Kulkarni, Bhakti		w	IND	2315		7	40,5	44	36,5	34,50	0	2543	9	7	4,40	2,60	10	26
4	8	IM	Moksh, Amit Doshi			IND	2397		6	42	46,5	39	28,50	0	2423	9	6	5,62	0,38	10	3,8
5	20	FM	Tobak, Mikhail			UKR	2291		6	39	43	36	26,25	0	2442	9	6	4,20	1,80	20	36
6	33	FM	Dixit, Nikhil			IND	2242		5,5	41,5	46	38,5	28,00	0	2390	8	4,5	2,87	1,63	20	32,6
7	3	GM	Cvitan, Ognjen			CRO	2439		5,5	39,5	44	37	29,25	0	2402	9	5,5	5,90	-0,40	10	-4
8	18	FM	Grutter, Tim			NED	2300		5,5	38	41	34	23,25	0	2362	9	5,5	4,70	0,80	20	16
9	30	FM	Sharan, Rao			IND	2255		5,5	37	41	35,5	27,25	0	2407	9	5,5	3,63	1,87	20	37,4
10	31		Dubnevych, Maksym			UKR	2251		5,5	36	40	33	23,50	0	2414	8	4,5	2,73	1,77	40	70,8