Indian Express: Second spot solace for Sasikiran

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Second spot solace for Sasikiran

AGENCIES

HAMPSTEAD (ENGLAND), AUG 25: India's K Sasikiran finished second in the Hampstead International Grandmaster Chess Tournament after his final round opponent failed to appear for the tie here last night.

International Master Sasikiran (10.5 points), who was awarded one full point when his opponent Miroslav Houska did not show up for the match, finished joint second with Boris Kreiman of the United States.

Briton Jim Plaskett (11) clinched the title after beating Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden with black pieces.

Sasikiran, who scored two straight wins in his previous encounters after losing the chance of earning final GM norm following a loss in the 12th round to Persson, was expecting a good match in the last round.

Much to his disappointment, Houska failed to show up at the venue, but he was awarded one full point since there were no cash prizes involved and only IM and GM norms available.

Ironically, none of the players could earn GM norms, which was put at 11.5 points in the 15-round tournament involving 16 players.

The top seed of the tournament Neil McDonald, one of the few GMs in the field, finished low down on the 12th place with 6.5 points.

Though second place is a consolation for Sasikiran, who had his eyes on the GM title, the Indian should be pleased with his performance here and at the British Open which earned him valuable ELO rating points.

Final Standings

1 Jim Plaskett (11 points); 2 K Sasikiran and Boris Kreiman (10.5); 4 Tiger Hillarp Persson (9.5); 5 Larry Kaufman (9); 6 Danny Gormally, M Szekely (8); 8 Miroslav Houska (7.5); 9 A Dunington, E Dearing, R Burnett (7); 12 N McDonald (6.5); 13 D Ippolito (6); 14 J Agaard (5.5); 15 D Kopec (5); 16 Ray Kaufman (2).

Indian trio impress

TEHERAN: Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua capitalised on a blunder by Mohammed al Modiakhi of Qatar for a lucky win to maintain his third place after the ninth round of the Asian Chess Championships here.

IM V Saravanan (5 points) bounced back after his loss to Rustam Kasimdhzanov, to beat S Mansour of Jordan in a marathon 71-move game while GM Pravin Thipsay notched his fourth win by defeating Karim Aliev as the Indian trio had a fine day at the Marlik Hotel here.

Overnight leader Kasimdhzanov cemented his firm grip on the tournament with a win over fellow Uzbek Mikhail Saltaev to take his tally to eight points. Top seed Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, who beat A Kakageldye, was following closely behind with seven points.

Barua, who squeezed past Amir Bagheri in the eighth round, was helped by his opponent's errors to escape from a difficult position for the second straight game.

Playing black against Modiakhi in a Petroff defence game which was transposed to Philador defence, the National `A' champion did not have an easy time. He was a pawn down and struggling but the Qatari player, who has played well in patches here, blundered under time pressure and lost.

Thipsay, despite being under time trouble, managed to carve out a victory against Aliev who put up a spirited display to salvage half a point. Thipsay's fine show in the early part of the game, which involved a sacrifice with a rook for bishop, saw him through.

Important Results

GM R Kasimdzhkanov (8) bt GM M Saltaev (4.5); GM Dao Thien Hai (7) bt IM A Kakageldiev (4.5); IM Al-Modiahki (5) lost to GM D Barua (6.5); GM P Thipsay (5.5) bt K Aliev (4.5); GM S Zagrebelny (5.5) bt Al-Rakib (4.5); S Mansour (3.5) lost to V Saravanan (5).

Net Express

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