The third round of the 23rd World Senior Championship turned out successful for the Georgian delegation.
All three Georgian women chess players celebrated victories. World and Olympic champion Nona Gaprindashvili (2312) beat Elena Afanasieva of Russia (1625) with black pieces. World senior champion Tamar Khmiadashvili (2158) won over Martina Beltz of Germany (2100) with black pieces. Nino Melashvili (2126) defeated Ingrid Lauterbach of England (2132) with white pieces.
After three rounds 6 chess players are leading with 2.5 points. Khmiadashvili and Melashvili are among the leaders. Tamar is in the second place and Nino – in the fifth place. As for Gaprindashvili, she is in the 8th place with 2.0 points.
In the 4th round Melashvili will play Swietlana Miednikova of Russia (2166), Khmiadashvili – Larisa Khropova of Russia (2009), Gaprindashvili – Margarita Baliuniene of Lithuania (1885). All three Georgians will play with white pieces.
At men’s tournament Sergo Tsomaia (1859) is in the 13th place with 2.5 points and is 0.5 point behind leaders. Tsomaia drew with Jorgen Jorgenson of Denmark (2257).
It is worth mentioning that the Georgian chess player is No.179 seed among 200 participants. In the 4th round Sergo will face Alexander Filipenko of Russia (2288).
Eleven rounds will be held at the championship and it will end up on 23 November. Novemberr 17 is a day off. Prize money is 18 000 EUR.
