The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Gopal finishes runner-up

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Thursday, Apr 17, 2008
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Gopal finishes runner-up

NEW DELHI: Grandmaster G.N. Gopal maintained his impressive unbeaten run and finished runner-up to USA’s Gregory Kaidanov in the Gausdal Classics chess tournament at Gausdal, Norway, on Wednesday. In the ninth and final round, Gopal played black and drew in 38 moves against USA’s Irina Krush to tally six points.

Earlier, Kaidanov drew with Sandipan Chanda in just 18 moves to make sure of the top spot with seven points.

Gopal drew the first five rounds and won the next three, including the eighth round battle against Chanda in 43 moves on Tuesday evening, before signing off with a draw. The Kochi-lad won 1,000 euros for his splendid effort. Chanda was joint fourth with five points in the 10-player round-robin league.

In the concurrently played nine-round Swiss league, International Masters S. Arun and S. Kidambi finished with six and 5.5 points, respectively.

The results (ninth round): Irina Krush (USA) drew with G.N. Gopal; Sandipan Chanda drew with Gregory Kaidanov (USA); Bartlomiej Macieja (Pol) lost to Vasilios Kotronias (Gre); Kjetil Lie (Nor) lost to Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (Rus); Eric Moskow (USA) lost to Oystein Hole (Nor); (eighth round): Gopal bt Chanda; Kaidanov bt Lie; Hole lost to Macieja; Kotronias drew with Irina; Ikonnikov bt Moskow.

Final standings: 1. Kaidanov (7), 2. Gopal (6), 3. Kotronias (5.5), 4-6. Chanda, Macieja, Ikonnikov (5 each), 7. Lie (4.5), 8. Irina (3.5); 9. Hole (2.5), 10. Moskow (1).

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