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Quang Liem takes crown to Vietnam
There were few surprises in the 10th and final round of the Kolkata Open chess competition. Overnight leader GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam split the point with Indian IM S Satyapragyan after 21 moves on the top board which left him with a tally of eight points, the winner's trophy and Rs 3 lakh.
There were few surprises in the 10th and final round of the Kolkata Open chess competition. Overnight leader GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam split the point with Indian IM S Satyapragyan after 21 moves on the top board which left him with a tally of eight points, the winner's trophy and Rs 3 lakh.
Top-seed GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan overcame a mid-stage slump with a strong finish and displaced GM Viktor Laznicka from the second spot by beating the Czech on the second board. Mamedyarov finished on 7.5 with Uzbek GM Anton Filippov but beat him to the second spot on better tiebreak score to pocket Rs 2 lakh.
There were three Indians in a group of six that finished with seven points and GM Sandipan Chanda was placed best among them on tie-breaker. The fourth-place finish earned him Rs 75,000. Second-seed and English GM Nigel Short was fifth. GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Satyapragyan were eighth and ninth, respectively.
“I was positive before the tournament but never thought of winning it because the field was so strong,” said Liem, the world U-14 champion in 2005.
Results (top 10 boards)
GM Le Quang Liem (8, Vie) drew with IM S Satyapragyan (7, Ind); GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (7.5, Aze) bt GM Viktor Laznicka (7, Cze); GM Sandipan Chanda (7, Ind) drew with GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (7, Ind); GM Ni Hua (6, Chn) lost to GM Anton Filippov (7.5, Uzb).
