Riga Technical University Open

Riga Technical University Open (also RTU Open) is international "open" chess festival, annually held in Riga, Latvia in August. It is the largest classical chess tournament in the Baltic states.

Abstract

The Riga Technical University Open is held since 2011, with the exception of the year 2020 due to global pandemic, subsequently the 10th jubilee edition followed in summer 2021. This International Chess Festival is organized by Riga Technical University in cooperation with Latvian Chess Federation and Riga Chess Federation. Founder and Tournament Director is IO Egons Lavendelis from Latvia, as a player he is also FM. Chief Arbiter of the RTU Festival is IA Alberts Cimiņš, Chief Arbiter of the Tournament A is IA Andra Cimiņa. Current venue is the Ķīpsala exhibition hall in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

The RTU Open has attracted thousands of chess players from over 50 countries in these years, becoming one of the biggest chess Festivals in northern Europe and in the whole continent. Additional events as GM lectures, excursions, simuls, as well as Bughouse (tandem) and Dice Chess are offered, too.

History

The first three international chess festivals (2011–2013) was held in the main building of the Riga Technical University. The first and second festival included two classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. The third festival included three classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B-C for amateurs). The fourth international chess festival in 2014 moved the International Exhibition Centre Ķīpsala where was applied to a larger number of participants. The fourth international chess festival included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and a first day blitz tournament. The fifth and sixth festival was held in Ķīpsala and included four classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–D for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. Overall more than 1200 participants took part in the festivals from the years 2014 to 2016.[1] The seventh festival in 2017 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and a last day blitz tournament. The eighth festival in 2018 was held in Ķīpsala and included five classical chess tournaments (A for masters and B–E for amateurs) and two blitz tournaments. The ninth festival in 2019 was held in Ķīpsala and included six classical chess tournaments (A for masters, Y for young chess players and B–E for amateurs), rapid chess tournament and two blitz tournaments. In 2020, the tournament did not take place due to a COVID-19 pandemic. The tenth festival in 2021 was held in Ķīpsala and included four classical chess tournaments (A for masters, B&Y for young chess players and amateurs, and C&D–E for amateurs), rapid chess tournament (G) and two blitz tournaments (F and H).

List of A tournament winners
YearWinner2nd place3rd placeBest woman
2011 Alberto David Jaan Ehlvest Vladimir Sveshnikov Katarzyna Toma
2012 Ján Markoš Alexandr Fier Daniel Fridman Judith Fuchs
2013 Bartosz Soćko Robin van Kampen Mikhail Antipov Zuzana Štočková
2014 Hrant Melkumyan Richárd Rapport Eduardo Iturrizaga Maria Manakova
2015 Alexei Shirov Robert Hovhannisyan Rinat Jumabayev Monika Soćko
2016 Martyn Kravtsiv Hrant Melkumyan Arturs Neikšāns Soumya Swaminathan
2017 Vladimir Onischuk Sergey Pavlov Tamir Nabaty Lei Tingjie
2018 Robert Hovhannisyan Manuel Petrosyan Alexandr Predke Nutakki Priyanka
2019 Igor Kovalenko Šarūnas Šulskis Arman Mikaelyan Irina Bulmaga
2021 Alexander Donchenko S. L. Narayanan Tomas Laurusas Margareth Olde

References
  1. History of the festival
  • RTU OPEN Riga Technical University Open home page
  • Riga Technical University Open 2011 Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2011
  • Riga Technical University Open 2012. Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2012
  • Riga Technical University Open 2013 - Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2013
  • RTU OPEN 2014 Riga Technical University Open 2014
  • RTU OPEN 2015 Riga Technical University Open 2015
  • RTU OPEN 2016 Riga Technical University Open 2016
  • Riga Technical University Open 2017 - Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2017
  • Riga Technical University Open 2018 - Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2018
  • Riga Technical University Open 2019 - Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2019
  • Riga Technical University Open 2021 - Tournament A Riga Technical University Open 2021


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