Sammed Shete clinches Zadar Chess Festival 2023, Bhakti Kulkarni third
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.
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 |
