Luca Moroni claims the Italian title and climbs over the 2600 wall
The 82nd Italian Championship was held in Brescia from November 28 to December 9, in the magnificent hall of the Centro Paolo VI, a location at walking distance from the renowned Museum of Santa Giulia and the most beautiful squares (Piazza della Loggia and Piazza del Duomo) of the ancient town halfway between the lakes of Garda and Iseo.
In the major event the GM Luca Moroni (23) took home his third Italian title with 8,5/11, one point and half ahead of the GMs Lorenzo Lodici and Sabino Brunello. Luca also achieved his goal of reaching a live rating of 2601 for the first time.
Moroni is the clear number two of the Italian ranking, while the number one GM Daniele Vocaturo (2629) also this time chose not to play in the Championship, despite the first prize worth over 4.000 euros; the second and the third prizes were above 3.000 euros after all.
The Women's Championship saw IM Olga Zimina win her third national title with 6.5 out of 7. Also undefeated was the IM Marina Brunello with 6 points, while IM Elena Sedina was third with the same score (4 points) of Elisa Cassi who won the Under 20 Women's title.
The Under 20 Championship was hard-fought, with Simone Pozzari winning the last round game and the title against Joshuaede Cappelletto, who was the leader of the eve. Pozzari scored 5,5/7 and Cappelletto 5; Francesco Bettalli was the top scorer in the first half (4/4) but finished third with 4,5/7.
Standings
82th Italian Championship
1° Moroni 8,5/11; 2°-3° Lodici, Brunello S. 7; 4° Sonis 6,5; 5°-6° Gilevich, David 6; 7° Basso 5,5; 8° Carnicelli 5; 9° Dvirnyy 4,5; 10° Iermito 4; 11° Lumachi 3,5; 12° Santagati 2,5
Women Italian Championship
1° Zimina 6,5/7; 2° Brunello M. 6; 3°-4° Sedina, Cassi 4: 5° Gueci 3,5; 6° Martinelli 2; 7° Sala 1,5; 8° Rubinshtein 0,5
Under 20 Italian Championship
1° Pozzari 5,5/7; 2° Cappelletto 5; 3° Bettali 4,5; 4° Titze 4: 5° Pegno 3; 6°-7° Bin-Suhayl, Vincenti 2,5; 8° Perossa 1
The chess events were part of the large schedule of “Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture 2023” that signed a true renaissance for the two Italian towns hardest hit by the covid in the beginning of the 2020. With the partnership of the magazine Torre & Cavallo Scacco! - published in Brescia since 1990 by the IM Roberto Messa - the two towns hosted from March to December 2023 several chess events like the simuls in Piazza Vecchia (Bergamo, May 6) and Piazza della Loggia (Brescia, September 10), free chess lessons for beginners in ten public libraries.
In November the main library of Brescia “Queriniana” held an exhibition of its ancient chess jewels, such as the “Libro da imparare giocare a scachi et de belissimi partiti” (1525) by Damiano da Odemira.
The cover of the chess magazine Torre & Cavallo Scacco (January 2018) with a picture of the young (17) Luca Moroni at the Italian Championship that he won in December 2017.
The president of the Italian Chess Federation Luigi Maggi with the master Antonio Pipitone, still an active player at 97. Pipitone was one of the special guests awarded at the "Gala degli Scacchi" held in Brescia in the last day of the tournaments.
IM Roberto Messa (66) won the Italian championship in 1981. Since 1990 he is the editor of Torre & Cavallo Scacco!, author and publisher of chess books in Brescia with Messaggerie Scacchistiche. He was also awarded at the "Gala degli Scacchi" with the prize of the Italian Chess Federation in the section "One life for the chess culture"
(all the photos are © Roberto Cerruti, Roberto Messa, Torre & Cavallo)
In the major event the GM Luca Moroni (23) took home his third Italian title with 8,5/11, one point and half ahead of the GMs Lorenzo Lodici and Sabino Brunello. Luca also achieved his goal of reaching a live rating of 2601 for the first time.
Moroni is the clear number two of the Italian ranking, while the number one GM Daniele Vocaturo (2629) also this time chose not to play in the Championship, despite the first prize worth over 4.000 euros; the second and the third prizes were above 3.000 euros after all.
The Women's Championship saw IM Olga Zimina win her third national title with 6.5 out of 7. Also undefeated was the IM Marina Brunello with 6 points, while IM Elena Sedina was third with the same score (4 points) of Elisa Cassi who won the Under 20 Women's title.
The Under 20 Championship was hard-fought, with Simone Pozzari winning the last round game and the title against Joshuaede Cappelletto, who was the leader of the eve. Pozzari scored 5,5/7 and Cappelletto 5; Francesco Bettalli was the top scorer in the first half (4/4) but finished third with 4,5/7.
Standings
82th Italian Championship
1° Moroni 8,5/11; 2°-3° Lodici, Brunello S. 7; 4° Sonis 6,5; 5°-6° Gilevich, David 6; 7° Basso 5,5; 8° Carnicelli 5; 9° Dvirnyy 4,5; 10° Iermito 4; 11° Lumachi 3,5; 12° Santagati 2,5
Women Italian Championship
1° Zimina 6,5/7; 2° Brunello M. 6; 3°-4° Sedina, Cassi 4: 5° Gueci 3,5; 6° Martinelli 2; 7° Sala 1,5; 8° Rubinshtein 0,5
Under 20 Italian Championship
1° Pozzari 5,5/7; 2° Cappelletto 5; 3° Bettali 4,5; 4° Titze 4: 5° Pegno 3; 6°-7° Bin-Suhayl, Vincenti 2,5; 8° Perossa 1
The chess events were part of the large schedule of “Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture 2023” that signed a true renaissance for the two Italian towns hardest hit by the covid in the beginning of the 2020. With the partnership of the magazine Torre & Cavallo Scacco! - published in Brescia since 1990 by the IM Roberto Messa - the two towns hosted from March to December 2023 several chess events like the simuls in Piazza Vecchia (Bergamo, May 6) and Piazza della Loggia (Brescia, September 10), free chess lessons for beginners in ten public libraries.
In November the main library of Brescia “Queriniana” held an exhibition of its ancient chess jewels, such as the “Libro da imparare giocare a scachi et de belissimi partiti” (1525) by Damiano da Odemira.
The cover of the chess magazine Torre & Cavallo Scacco (January 2018) with a picture of the young (17) Luca Moroni at the Italian Championship that he won in December 2017.
The president of the Italian Chess Federation Luigi Maggi with the master Antonio Pipitone, still an active player at 97. Pipitone was one of the special guests awarded at the "Gala degli Scacchi" held in Brescia in the last day of the tournaments.
IM Roberto Messa (66) won the Italian championship in 1981. Since 1990 he is the editor of Torre & Cavallo Scacco!, author and publisher of chess books in Brescia with Messaggerie Scacchistiche. He was also awarded at the "Gala degli Scacchi" with the prize of the Italian Chess Federation in the section "One life for the chess culture"
(all the photos are © Roberto Cerruti, Roberto Messa, Torre & Cavallo)