Andrey Esipenko and Kateryna Lagno Win Blitz Tournaments at BRICS Games
Vladislav Artemiev is second.
June 19, the individual blitz tournaments took place at the BRICS Games in the city of Kazan. 30 and 25 players took part in the men's and women's tournaments, respectively.
Andrey Esipenko of Russia took an unshared first place in the men's tournament with 9 points out of 11. Vladislav Artemiev, the silver medallist, landed half a point behind the winner. Third place went to Maksim Tsaruk (Belarus), who finished with 7.5 points, ahead of Ghosh Aronyak (India) thanks to the additional tiebreakers.
Andrey Esipenko: "Of course, I'm very happy with the result, especially considering my not the most successful performance in rapid chess. I'm happy to have played well and win. With no easy games and formidable opponents, it was hard to win".
Kateryna Lagno managed a "double gold" by winning the blitz tournament as well as the rapid one. The Russian has scored 10.5 points in 11 games, drawing only with Song Yuxin (China), who eventually took second place with 9 points. Another Chinese player, Guo Qi, finished third with 8.5 points. Valentina Gunina finished fourth with 7.5 points.
Kateryna Lagno: "It worked in the best possible way for me today. Of course, I'm very happy with my result."
Thursday, June 20, the team rapid chess tournament is to take place. It will be a 9-round Swiss event with the "10+5" time control.
Technical information
Photos
Games Live (Men)
Games Live (Women)
Video broadcast
Tournament page
Official website
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
