Zero to Hero

Here is something you do not see very often. In a Swiss tournament in Italy, with several grandmasters taking part, a 2149 rated untitled player ties for first place ,takes the trophy on tie-breaks and makes a IM norm in the process.

Pos	Title	Name	Rtg	PRtg	Fed	Pts
1	--	Herman Matthew J	2149	2571	USA	6.5
2	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2563	2570	UKR	6.5
3	GM	Tratar Marko	2492	2464	SLO	6.5
4	GM	David Alberto	2587	2438	LUX	6.5
5	GM	Salvador Roland	2527	2515	PHI	6.5
6	IM	Bellia Fabrizio	2399	2496	ITA	6
7	IM	Colovic Aleksandar	2457	2513	MKD	6
8	GM	Marin Mihail	2562	2426	ROU	6
9	IM	Saric Sinisa	2452	2395	SRB	6
10	--	Mertens Heiko	2320	2472	GER	6
11	IM	Tesic Dragan	2403	2395	SRB	6
12	GM	Drazic Sinisa	2524	2459	SRB	5.5
13	IM	Borgo Giulio	2414	2363	ITA	5.5
14	FM	Damia Angelo	2302	2382	ITA	5.5
15	IM	Vezzosi Paolo	2379	2266	ITA	5.5
16	--	Garano Nicola	2171	2270	ITA	5.5
17	--	Lapiccirella Daniele	2225	2344	ITA	5.5
18	--	Iudicello Giovanni	2158	2283	ITA	5.5
19	FM	Sbarra Marco	2312	2221	ITA	5.5
20	--	Gagliardi Christian	2188	2291	ITA	5.5

His list of opponents -

Rd	Colour	Title	Opponent	Rating	Result
1	W	GM	David Alberto	2587	1
2	B	IM	Manca Federico	2405	0
3	W	--	Agrifoglio Fabio	1999	1
4	W	--	Garano Nicola	2171	1
5	B	IM	Saric Sinisa	2452	1
6	W	IM	Borgo Giulio	2414	1
7	B	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2563	0.5
8	B	GM	Marin Mihail	2562	0.5
9	W	GM	Tratar Marko	2492	0.5

Unfortunately for him, this was only an IM norm result as he played two low rated players in the third and fourth round. Nevertheless, this kind of performance is every 2200 rated player dream. I really hope our Malaysian players can read this and be inspired to achieve something similar.