Baadur Jobava dominates Riga Technical University Open 2023 E Opening Blitz, Nitish Belurkar second
Baadur Jobava (GEO) scored an unbeaten 10.5/11 to win Riga Technical University Open E Opening Blitz 2023. He finished a full point ahead of the competition. IM Nitish Belurkar scored an impressive 9.5/11 to secure second place. He is the sole IM among top four finishers. Nitish's only draw was against Jobava and the only loss occurred against the eventual second runner-up, GM Paulius Pultinevicius (LTU). He scored 9/11 to finish third. The total prize fund of the event was €1000. The first prize was €170. Nitish performed at 2555 and gained 57 Elo rating points. He also scored 7/9 in the Tournament A to secure a seventh place finish. He gained a valuable 18.4 Elo rating points, taking his rating to 2451 in September 2023 FIDE Rating list. Photo: Diana Matisone
Nitish impressive in Riga, Latvia
A total of 150 players including 7 GMs, 6 IMs and 2 WGMs took part from 19 countries across the world in this one-day eleven round Bliz Rating Open tournament. It was organized by Riga Technical University and Latvian Chess Federation in Riga, Latvia on 5th August 2023. The time control of the event was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 2 | GM | JOBAVA, Baadur | GEO | 2576 | 10,5 | 75 | 65,5 | 2757 | 10 | 17,2 | ||||
| 2 | 11 | IM | NITISH, Belurkar | IND | 2352 | 9,5 | 74,5 | 64 | 2555 | 20 | 56,4 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | GM | PULTINEVICIUS, Paulius | LTU | 2596 | Sc Marijampolė/Sūduva | 9 | 79,5 | 69 | 2553 | 10 | 0,9 | |||
| 4 | 7 | GM | BASSO, Pier Luigi | ITA | 2438 | 8 | 76,5 | 66 | 2402 | 10 | 0,1 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | CM | TRAN, Thanh Tu | JPN | 2413 | 8 | 74,5 | 65 | 2349 | 10 | -4,2 | ||||
| 6 | 9 | GM | BLOMQVIST, Erik | SWE | 2379 | 8 | 74 | 63,5 | 2395 | 10 | 6,5 | ||||
| 7 | 15 | IM | MITUSOV, Semen | U18 | NOR | 2318 | Oss | 8 | 73,5 | 63 | 2369 | 20 | 20 | ||
| 8 | 6 | IM | GHARIBYAN, Mamikon | ARM | 2445 | 8 | 67,5 | 59,5 | 2294 | 10 | -14,2 | ||||
| 9 | 17 | FM | SEMJONOVS, Ilja | LAT | 2283 | 8 | 67,5 | 58 | 2291 | 20 | 8,4 | ||||
| 10 | 24 | MICKEVICIUS, Juras | LTU | 2185 | Vilnius Chess United | 8 | 66 | 58 | 2344 | 20 | 45,2 |