The Indian Grandmaster, S. P. Sethuraman, won the Barcelona Open chess event while the Indian teammate Murali placed in the third place. After Daniil Yuffa of Russia ended equal with Sethuraman (Elo 2644) after nine rounds, Sethuraman (Elo 2644) emerged victorious based on a higher tie-break score. In the ninth and final round, Sethuraman defeated Hakobyan in a Catalan Closed variant game, which was played late on Thursday.
Sethuraman, the top seed, was undefeated in the first nine rounds, winning six and drawing three. In his final three rounds, he ended strong, with victories against fellow Indian N R Visakh and Armenian Aram Hakobyan. He tweeted after the triumph, “I’m ecstatic to win the Barcelona Open 2021.” After the win, Sethuraman got 8.5 Elo points, while Murali (Elo 2606) gained 6.4 points. The fifth round had ended in a tie between Sethuraman and Murali.
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Murali won six games, drew two, and lost in the sixth round against Hakobyan. He tied for third place with four other players on seven points, including fellow Indian Aravindh Chithambaram, but claimed third place based on a superior tie-break score.
Murali defeated WGM R Vaishali in the final round in 30 moves. After several players finished with 6.5 points, Chithambaram claimed fifth place, followed by Arjun Kalyan (6.5 points) in ninth and Visakh in tenth. N R Vignesh, an Indian International Master, and Vaishali, an Indian International Lady, finished 15th and 16th, respectively, with six points.
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