Himal Gusain perfect at 14th Salento Open Master 2025
IM Himal Gusain scored a perfect 9/9 to win 14th Salento Open Master (≥1900) 2025. He won the tournament with a round to spare and finished a whopping two points ahead of the rest. WIM Cecile Haussernot (FRA) scored sole 7/9 to secure second place. IM Piotr Goluch (POL) was placed third with a score of 6/9. The total prize fund was €4200, €2500 for Master. The top three prizes were €1000 + trophy, €600 + cup and €299 + cup each. The eight-day nine round rating tournament was organized by Chess Projects ASD at Caroli Hotels Eco resort Le Sirenè in Gallipoli, Italy from 17th to 24th May 2025. This is Himal's fifth rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Official site
Himal's fifth rating tournament triumph of the year
IM Himal Gusain won the tournament when he defeated Ralf Weijers (NED) in the eighth round. The last round result was immaterial towards his first place finish. He still went on to win against Vedant Mistry to become the champion. He won against the top eight finishers of the tournament. The 14th edition of the tournament witnessed the participation of 67 players - 16 in Master (≥1900), 38 in Main (1400-2000) and 13 in Youth (Under-16). Himal won two more tournaments after this. One of them was also in Italy and the report is published here.
A total of 16 players including a GM, two IMs and a WIM took part from nine countries across the world. The eight-day nine round rating tournament was organized by Chess Projects ASD at Caroli Hotels Eco resort Le Sirenè in Gallipoli, Italy from 17th to 24th May 2025. The time control of the event was 40 moves in 90 minutes + 20 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
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Final standings in Master
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | IM | Gusain, Himal | IND | 2523 | 9 | 9 | 39,5 | 43 | 2113 | 10 | 9,2 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | WIM | Haussernot, Cecile | w | FRA | 2108 | 7 | 9 | 41,5 | 45 | 2168 | 20 | 53,6 | |||
| 3 | 2 | IM | Goluch, Piotr | POL | 2255 | 6 | 9 | 43,5 | 47 | 2175 | 10 | -1,4 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | Mensing, Adrian | NED | 2073 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 45,5 | 2150 | 20 | 21 | |||||
| 5 | 3 | GM | Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel | S60 | SWE | 2252 | 5 | 9 | 43 | 46,5 | 2183 | 10 | -11,7 |
