European Grand Prix 2013 - Prague

European Grand Prix 2013 - Prague
winner Franceso Marconi

Francesco Marconi (ITA) wins EGP Prague

Prague, Czech Republic, 23 - 24 February
Tourney format: 11 rounds, final and 3/4 playoff

The EGP 2012 champion Takuji Kashiwabara is present at this tourney in Prague, also the EGP 2012 #4 Patrick Aubroeck and #6 Francesco Marconi. The 2012 runner-up Nicky van den Biggelaar is absent and so is #3 Michele Borassi and #5 Marc Tastet. Lots of opportunities for those who came to beautiful Prague, to colllect precious EGP points.

The EGP Prague 2011 was won by Takuji Kashiwabara. The final was between two frenchmen, Takuji and Marc Tastet.

Round 3:
Miroslav Voráček, Martin Ødegård and Francesco Marconi have 3 pnts after 3 rounds.
Takuji Kashiwabara, European Champion 2012, lost his game in the third round against Miroslav Voráček. Patrick Aubroeck lost his game in the 3rd round against Martin Ødegård. Francesco Marconi won his game against Tom Schotte.

Round 4:
Miroslav Voráček and Martin Ødegård both have 4 points after round 4. The following players have 3 points: Roel Hobo, Francesco Marconi, Takuji Kashiwabara and Tom Schotte.

Round 5:
Martin Ødegård beats Miroslav Voráček. Roel Hobo beats Francesco Marconi and Takuji Kashiwabara beats Tom Schotte. Leader Martin Odegard with 5 points. Takuji, Miroslav and Roel have 4 points.

Round 6:
Martin Ødegård won against Takuji Kashiwabara. Roel Hobo lost his game against Miroslav Voráček. Tom Schotte lost against Patrick Aubroeck.
Martin Ødegård is still unbeaten and leads with 6 points, followed by Miroslav Voráček with 5 points. Tomáš Douda, Patrick Aubroeck, Roel Hobo, Francesco Marconi and Takuji Kashiwabara all have 4 points.

Round 7:
Martin also won his last game on the first day of the Prague EGP against Tomáš Douda. Takuji won against Roel. Francesco Marconi won against Miroslav Voracek.

Standings after 7 rounds of the 5 best players:

1: Martin Ødegård (NOR) 7 pnts
2: Patrick Aubroeck (NLD) 5 pnts
3: Francesco Marconi (ITA) 5pts
4: Miroslav Voráček (CZE) 5 pnts
5: Takuji Kashiwabara (FRA) 5 pts

EGP Prague 2013 finalists: Francesco Marconi and Martin Ødegård

To tell the truth I went over to visit the city and hoped for a good result, but apparently studies for the OWC have paid off: better late than never :-)
Francesco Marconi on FNGO mailinglist

Martin Odegard 34 - 30 Francesco Marconi
round 4 EGP Prague

Miroslav Voracek 25 - 39 Martin Odegard
round 5 EGP Prague

Martin Odegard 45 - 19 Takuji Kashiwabara
round 6 EGP Prague

Standings after 7 rounds

Before the tourney started on day 2, I asked Martin: "Will you attend more EGP's this year in pursuit of the European Champion title?". Martin answered that he is not aiming for the title, but will play Oslo EGP and hopefully one or two more. "I think Takuji and Imre will be too strong" was his response when I said he was being too modest.

Round 8:
Takuji beats Patrick, Tom beats Miroslav and Martin wins against Grzegorz..

Round 9:
Tom Schotte ended Martin's winning streak! Martin's score now is 8/9. Patrick won against Tomáš Douda and Francesco Marconi won his game against Takuji Kashiwabara.
Martin still leads with 8 points, followed by Francesco with 7 points. Takuji, Patrick, Roel, Miroslav and Tom have 6 points. Two more rounds to go and quite a number of players that still have a chance to make it to the final.

Round 10:
Another Belgian opponent for Martin Odegard, but Dimitri Vaes could not copy Tom's result. Francesco Marconi won his game against Patrick Aubroeck

Round 11:
Martin and Francesco win their game in round 11 and they both qualify for the final. Francesco won 5 out of 7 yesterday and won all 4 games today.

Playoff 3rd / 4th place:
Miroslav Voráček (CZE) 42 - 22 Takuji Kashiwabara (FRA)

Final (best of 3):
Francesco Marconi (ITA) 34 - 30 Martin Ødegård (NOR)
Martin Ødegård (NOR) 19 - 45 Francesco Marconi (ITA)

Miroslav Voracek 42 - 22 Takuji Kashiwabara
Playoff 3rd / 4th place EGP Prague