GM Giorgi Bagaturov of Georgia and IM Baris Esen of Turkey were victorious in the 8th round of the Thessaloniki Open and continue the race for the first place, keeping a distance of full point ahead of the rest of the field. Talented Greek junior Antonios Pavlidis (rated 2307, photo left) won against Krum Georgiev, this being his third win against Grandmasters here in Thessaloniki, but unfortunately has no chance of scoring a GM norm because his last round opponent is relatively low rated. Pavlidis still has some consolation is already secured IM norm.
Round 8 Results
| Round 8 on 2009/05/02 at 17.00 | |||||
| Bo. | Name | Result | Name | ||
| 1 | Sidorenko Ilya | 0 - 1 | GM | Bagaturov Giorgi | |
| 2 | GM | Georgiev Vladimir | 0 - 1 | IM | Esen Baris |
| 3 | IM | Obodchuk Andrei | ½ - ½ | IM | Ivanov Jordan |
| 4 | FM | Velchev Hristo | ½ - ½ | IM | Shavtvaladze Nikoloz |
| 5 | GM | Georgiev Krum | 0 - 1 | Pavlidis Antonios | |
| 6 | GM | Sanduleac Vasile | ½ - ½ | WIM | Burtasova Anna |
| 7 | FM | Perdek Miroslaw | 1 - 0 | IM | Poley Vladimir |
| 8 | IM | Danilov Vladimir | ½ - ½ | FM | Simanjuntak Sebastian |
| 9 | FM | Okun Leonid | 0 - 1 | WGM | Karlovich Anastazia |
| 10 | Galopoulos N | ½ - ½ | Nikologorsky Matfei | ||
| 11 | FM | Vragoteris Antonios | 1 - 0 | FM | Galopoulos Panagiotis |
| 12 | WIM | Fakhiridou Ekaterini | 1 - 0 | Tsintsar Zoran | |
| 13 | WIM | Makka Ioulia | ½ - ½ | Sidiropoulos Nikolaos | |
| 14 | Pavlidou Ekaterini | 1 - 0 | Jevtic Miroljub | ||
| 15 | Kounalakis Evryklis | 1 - 0 | Aharon Ofir | ||
| 16 | Matsenko Vadim | 1 - 0 | Ivanov Borislav | ||
| 17 | Manelidou Maria | 0 - 1 | Skoulakis Charalambos | ||
| 18 | Atababayev Khalid | ½ - ½ | WIM | Polyakova Natalia | |
| 19 | Demiralp Murat | ½ - ½ | Mavreas Dimitrios | ||
| 20 | Verikakis Manolis | - - + | Gymnopoulos Konstantinos | ||
| 21 | Hidzos Georgios | 0 - 1 | Constantinou Pavlos | ||
| 22 | Giankoula Romeo | 1 | bye | ||
Round 8 Standings
| Rank after Round 8 | |||||
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | |
| 1 | GM | Bagaturov Giorgi | GEO | 2467 | 6,5 |
| 2 | IM | Esen Baris | TUR | 2472 | 6,5 |
| 3 | IM | Obodchuk Andrei | RUS | 2393 | 5,5 |
| 4 | Pavlidis Antonios | GRE | 2307 | 5,5 | |
| 5 | Sidorenko Ilya | ISR | 2357 | 5,5 | |
| 6 | FM | Perdek Miroslaw | POL | 2232 | 5,5 |
| 7 | GM | Georgiev Vladimir | MKD | 2539 | 5 |
| 8 | IM | Shavtvaladze Nikoloz | GEO | 2454 | 5 |
| 9 | GM | Sanduleac Vasile | MDA | 2438 | 5 |
| 10 | IM | Ivanov Jordan | BUL | 2435 | 5 |
| 11 | FM | Velchev Hristo | BUL | 2284 | 5 |
| 12 | WIM | Burtasova Anna | RUS | 2299 | 5 |
| 13 | WGM | Karlovich Anastazia | UKR | 2251 | 5 |
| 14 | IM | Poley Vladimir | BLR | 2338 | 4,5 |
| 15 | FM | Vragoteris Antonios | GRE | 2264 | 4,5 |
| 16 | FM | Simanjuntak Sebastian | INA | 2260 | 4,5 |
| 17 | WIM | Fakhiridou Ekaterini | GRE | 2252 | 4,5 |
| 18 | GM | Georgiev Krum | BUL | 2440 | 4,5 |
| 19 | IM | Danilov Vladimir | ROU | 2410 | 4,5 |
| 20 | Galopoulos N | GRE | 2247 | 4,5 | |
| 21 | Kounalakis Evryklis | GRE | 2090 | 4,5 | |
| 22 | Pavlidou Ekaterini | GRE | 2162 | 4,5 | |
| 23 | FM | Okun Leonid | RUS | 2272 | 4 |
| 24 | Nikologorsky Matfei | RUS | 2229 | 4 | |
| 25 | WIM | Makka Ioulia | GRE | 2229 | 4 |
| 26 | Sidiropoulos Nikolaos | GRE | 2081 | 4 | |
| 27 | Matsenko Vadim | RUS | 2144 | 4 | |
| 28 | Skoulakis Charalambos | GRE | 2091 | 4 | |
| 29 | Tsintsar Zoran | GER | 1962 | 3,5 | |
| 30 | FM | Galopoulos Panagiotis | GRE | 2151 | 3,5 |
| 31 | Jevtic Miroljub | SRB | 2173 | 3,5 | |
| 32 | Ivanov Borislav | BUL | 2002 | 3 | |
| 33 | Aharon Ofir | ISR | 2134 | 3 | |
| 34 | Demiralp Murat | TUR | 2071 | 3 | |
| 35 | Atababayev Khalid | AZE | 2001 | 3 | |
| 36 | Gymnopoulos Konstantinos | GRE | 1894 | 3 | |
| 37 | WIM | Polyakova Natalia | RUS | 2077 | 3 |
| 38 | Giankoula Romeo | ALB | 2026 | 3 | |
| 39 | Constantinou Pavlos | CYP | 2018 | 3 | |
| 40 | Mavreas Dimitrios | GRE | 1984 | 3 | |
| 41 | Verikakis Manolis | GRE | 1959 | 2,5 | |
| 42 | Manelidou Maria | GRE | 2014 | 2,5 | |
| 43 | Hidzos Georgios | GRE | 2046 | 2 | |
| 44 | IM | Dimitrov Radoslav | BUL | 2388 | 0,5 |
| 45 | Grapsa Georgia | GRE | 2106 | 0,5 | |
| 46 | FM | Nikolaidis Konstantinos | GRE | 2270 | 0 |
| Ketzetzis Georgios | GRE | 2259 | 0 | ||
| WIM | Isgandarova Khayala | AZE | 2230 | 0 | |
| WFM | Navabi Shirin | IRI | 2092 | 0 | |
| Romanos Theodoros | GRE | 2081 | 0 | ||
| Tsikrikonis Panagiotis | GRE | 2052 | 0 | ||
| Anagnostou Ioannis | GRE | 2050 | 0 | ||
| Gountras Klearhos | GRE | 2031 | 0 | ||
| 54 | IM | Dimitrov Pavel | BUL | 2396 | 0 |
| 55 | Norkin Alexey | RUS | 2122 | 0 | |
Round 9 Pairings
| Round 9 on 2009/05/03 at 10.00 | |||||||
| Bo. | Name | Pts. | - | Pts. | Name | ||
| 1 | IM | Esen Baris | 6½ | 5½ | FM | Perdek Miroslaw | |
| 2 | GM | Bagaturov Giorgi | 6½ | 5 | GM | Georgiev Vladimir | |
| 3 | Pavlidis Antonios | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Obodchuk Andrei | ||
| 4 | IM | Shavtvaladze Nikoloz | 5 | 5½ | Sidorenko Ilya | ||
| 5 | IM | Ivanov Jordan | 5 | 5 | GM | Sanduleac Vasile | |
| 6 | WIM | Burtasova Anna | 5 | 5 | FM | Velchev Hristo | |
| 7 | WGM | Karlovich Anastazia | 5 | 4½ | GM | Georgiev Krum | |
| 8 | IM | Danilov Vladimir | 4½ | 4½ | WIM | Fakhiridou Ekaterini | |
| 9 | IM | Poley Vladimir | 4½ | 4½ | Galopoulos N | ||
| 10 | Pavlidou Ekaterini | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Vragoteris Antonios | ||
| 11 | FM | Simanjuntak Sebastian | 4½ | 4½ | Kounalakis Evryklis | ||
| 12 | Nikologorsky Matfei | 4 | 4 | FM | Okun Leonid | ||
| 13 | Skoulakis Charalambos | 4 | 4 | WIM | Makka Ioulia | ||
| 14 | Sidiropoulos Nikolaos | 4 | 4 | Matsenko Vadim | |||
| 15 | Jevtic Miroljub | 3½ | 3½ | FM | Galopoulos Panagiotis | ||
| 16 | Tsintsar Zoran | 3½ | 3 | WIM | Polyakova Natalia | ||
| 17 | Aharon Ofir | 3 | 3 | Atababayev Khalid | |||
| 18 | Constantinou Pavlos | 3 | 3 | Demiralp Murat | |||
| 19 | Giankoula Romeo | 3 | 3 | Gymnopoulos Konstantinos | |||
| 20 | Ivanov Borislav | 3 | 3 | Mavreas Dimitrios | |||
| 21 | Manelidou Maria | 2½ | 2 | Hidzos Georgios | |||
| 22 | Verikakis Manolis | 2½ | bye | ||||
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