The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Abhijeet Gupta finishes sixth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006

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Sport - Chess

Abhijeet Gupta finishes sixth

NEW DELHI: India's latest Grandmaster-norm holder Abhijeet Gupta was part of an eight-way tie for the runner-up spot behind champion Igor Khenkin of Germany in the Andorra international open chess tournament at Andorra La Vella on Sunday.

Abhijeet's rating performance of 2601 was the best among the Indians after he scored 6.5 points in the nine-round event.

Another teenager S.P. Sethuraman was the highest placed non-titled player in this formidable field after taking the 12th spot, two behind Lanka Ravi, with six points. Sethuraman's rating performance was 2531, on way to his second IM-norm, and not as reported on Monday.

However, technical stipulations left veteran IM Ravi agonisingly short of the GM norm that he reportedly made after drawing his eighth round encounter.

Ravi, part of a huge Indian representation in the tournament, had "celebrated" the making of his second norm with some members of the contingent on the eve of the final round.

Speaking to The Hindu from Balaguer, Spain, a crestfallen Ravi explained the technicalities involved and said, "with a performance rating of 2661after eight rounds, my norm was under no threat. I thought irrespective of the result of my last round, the norm was mine. However, the last-round loss to Israel's Maxim Rodshtein pushed my performance rating down to 2597, just three points short of the stipulated 2600-mark.

"Out of six other likely rivals for the ninth round, I could have lost to any one and yet got the norm. But Rodshtein's rating of 2494 was brought down by rating category to 2474, just two short of the stipulation. Moreover, Rodshtein needed to win for his GM-norm, while a draw would have been enough for me. A victory for me would have given me the title. I reached a better position in the middle game, but thereafter, lost my way," said the disappointed ONGC officer.

Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury was the other Indian in the top-20 after aggregating 5.5 points for the 19th place.

The Indian caravan has since travelled to Balaguer for the 11th Balaguer International Open. Some more norms for the Indians seem a bright possibility in the 10-day event.

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