Peter Acs and Zsuzsanna Terbe won the Hungarian Championship 2021, Géza Hetényi Memorial in the open in women’s sections. Both tournaments, round-robins with classical time control, took place in Budapest from December 7-17.

The fourth-rated Peter Asc grabbed the lead in Round 2 but suffered a defeat in Round 4 at the hands of the rating favourite Ferenc Berkes and slid down to a 50% mark. To his credit, Peter braced up and scored an impressive 4½ in 5 games to finish clear first, a full point ahead of the runner-up Gergely Kantor. By clinching the first national title in his long career (Peter won silver with Hungary back in 2002), the native of Eger proved once again that there is life in chess after forty.

Gergely Kántor lost two games but managed to overcompensate with four victories scoring a solid +2. In an interview before the event, the talented young GM pursuing his university studies humbly said that he would be satisfied with the bronze medal. As we can see, Gergely beat the target.

Bence Copra became the only unbeaten player in this all-GM tournament, but eight draws and one win did not allow him to mount higher than third place.  

Final standings open:

Zsuzsanna Terbe sprang a major surprise in the women’s event, winning her maiden national title. The lowest-rated player in the tournament, Zsuzsanna scored an amazing 5½/7 and picked 65(!) rating points.

A multiple-champion Anita Gara chalked up a very solid +3 (5/7) but had to settle for silver this time. Zsoka Gaal and Bianka Havanecz tied for third place, with the former taking bronze thanks to better tiebreaks.

Final standings women:

Official website: chess.hu/

Photo: Magyar Sakkszövetség