Grandmasters Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Oleksandr Bortnyk, along with International Master Renato Terry, claimed victories in the three 3+0 Thursday online blitz tournaments on April 30. Each player extended their strong recent form in the weekly events for titled players. Women's prizes went to Milena Kawka, Karina Ambartsumova and Anastasia Avramidou.
The 3+0 Thursday series consists of three 11-round Swiss tournaments each week with a 3-minute time control and a combined $3,000 prize fund for verified titled players. On April 30, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda topped the first event undefeated, scoring 8.5 points from eight wins and three draws. His draws came against past winners IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher, GM Benjamin Bok and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, while he beat GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov in round nine and GM Dmitry Andreikin in round ten to secure first. GM Haik Martirosyan took second with nine points, followed by GM Haowen Xue on tiebreaks. WCM Milena Kawka earned the women's prize with 6.5/11. Duda later completed a hat-trick by winning Freestyle Friday the next day, marking the second time he won both Titled Tuesday and Freestyle Friday in the same week. In the second tournament, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk rallied after finishing one point behind in the opener, posting 9.5 points for first place. He drew with Duda in round nine before defeating Martirosyan to edge out Duda and GM Jose Martinez, both on nine points. IM Karina Ambartsumova claimed the women's prize with 5.5/11, her 14th in the series. IM Renato Terry bounced back from a loss to Bortnyk in the second event, winning the third with 9.5 points. He defeated Bortnyk in round seven, reached 8.5/10, then beat GM Bardiya Daneshvar in the final round to clinch victory ahead of FM Havard Haug and GM Aravindh Chithambaram in second and third. FM Anastasia Avramidou took the women's prize with 7.5/11. Terry's win marked his 12th 3+0 Thursday title, a series record, and Bortnyk's second straight weekly victory for his sixth overall.
