Naim Sahitaj was Ga’s 1st round opponent who at the moment has no rating on the FIDE list. Where did they get a rating of 2193 from especially who had a rating of 1562 just a year ago! A young junior you may think but that’s not the case here. Mr Sahitaj is from Albania, which is one of the federations who don’t make the rating payments to FIDE hence the variety in his rating. So the first round opponent had beaten several 2400s+ which made Ga nervous for his encounter but his worries were eased at the board when he went to win is 20 moves.
I on the other hand continued to explore around Aix (pronounced “x”) and found something délicieux!
This round Ga is playing a fellow Englishman, Terry Chapman who proceeded to beat GM rated 2598 yesterday! I’ll pop over the the venue soon (and may pick up a few religieuses)