Igor Bjelobrk has won the 2013 Oceania Zonal, and in the process has also picked up a somewhat overdue IM title. He defeated GM Darryl Johansen in the final round to finish the tournament undefeated on 7.5/9. This left him half a point ahead of Ari Dale, who also earned an IM title (under the 66% rule). In outright third was Justin Tan, meaning Australian players filled the top 3 places.
Of the non-Australian players, FM Bob Smith (NZ) and FM Stuart Fancy (PNG) did the best, tied for 7th on 5.5/0. Fancy started the tournament slowly (2.5/6) but finished with 3 wins, including a last round victory over IM Vladimir Feldman.
In the Womens Zonal, IM Irina Berezina and WIM Emma Guo tied for first place with 8/9. In the playogg match that followed the final round Berezina defeated Guo 2-0, to claim the Oceania place in the next Womens World Championship Knock Out.
Final results for the Open Zonal are here, while the Womens Zonal results are here.
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2 comments:
I thought Dale Ari wins the IM title for both reasons, namely that he was in the top 3 of the Zonal as well as meeting the 66.6% rule. But Anton Smirnov scored 6/9, which is also a 66.6% score. Doesn't he also score an IM title? - James
Oops - my bad. Only one IM title at a time in these circumstances. I assume he did win the FM title under the 50% rule?
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