Mark Lapidus, 16, Crowned Estonian Chess Champion
At only 16 years of age, Mark Lapidus (representing the team T. Truusi MKK) won the men's division of the Estonian National Chess Championship held from May 1 to 7 in Tallinn, having collected 6.5 points in 9 games.
Sander Kukk (SK Reval-Sport) and Roman Jezhov (SK Maletäht) finished second and third, respectively, with 5.5 points each. Fourth place went to International Master Tarvo Seeman (Laagri MAEKK) who also scored 5.5 points, but had a lower Koya coefficient, while former six-time Estonian champion Olav Sepp (Laagri MAEKK) had to content himself with fifth place, according to the website of the Estonian Chess Federation.
Three grandmasters, Kaido Külaots, Meelis Kanep and Aleksandr Volodin, did not participate, citing dissatisfaction with policies of the Chess Federation's acting head Henrik Olde. This means they will also not be representing Estonia at this year's Chess Olympiad in Istanbul.
In the women's division, Tatjana Fomina (Võru MK) won the title for the ninth time, having collected 6 points in 8 games. Second place went to Triin Narva (SK Reval-Sport) with 5.5 points and third place to Tuuli Vahtra (Võru MK) with 5 points.
Sigrid Maasen
