Martyn Kravtsiv lifted the India Cements Chennai International Open chess title with a decisive win over Alon Greenfeld in the eleventh and final round, here on Wednesday.
The title was to be decided between the top two boards where the four overnight leaders were gathered. Alexander Areshchenko (9.0 pts) played out a short draw with Tamir Nabaty (9.0) on board one, which meant that a result on the second board would guarantee the winner the title.
Kravtsiv (9.5), who was placed 119th in the tournament at one point, manned the white pieces and across him was Alon Greenfeld (8.5), captain of the Israeli Olympiad team.
The 20-year old Ukrainian opened with his king pawn and Greenfeld replied with the Classical variation of the Sicilian. With the result on the adjacent board coming in, both players knuckled down for the win. Soon Kravtsiv was able to exploit the passivity of Greenfeld's pieces to force a series of exchanges which left him better off by a pawn.
The advantage was soon compounded and black was down by another pawn. By then, Greenfeld had little time on his clock and white's passed ‘h' pawn was the final straw that broke black's resistance. The match ended after more than four hours and 60 moves.
Though the title had proved beyond reach, the Indian contingent enjoyed a fairly fruitful final day. B. Adhiban (9.0) got the better of R.A. Pradeep Kumar (8.0) with black pieces while Sahaj Grover (8.5) upset Abhijeet Gupta. Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (8.5) completed the trio of Indians in the top-ten with a win over Mikhailo Oleksienko (7.5). A total of eight norms (1 GM, 6 IM and 1 WIM) were achieved during the course of the tournament. At a ceremony in the evening, V.M. Mohan, Joint President, Corporate Finance, India Cements gave away the prizes.
Also present at the function were S. Ganesan, Chairman, Organising Committee, D.V. Sundar, Honorary Secretary, AICF, Bharat Singh Chauhan, President, Commonwealth Chess Association and R.M. Dongre, President, Asian Zone 3.7.
Important results (Round 11, Indian unless stated): Tamir Nabaty (Isr, 9.0 pts) drew with Areshchenko Alexander (Ukr, 9.0), Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 9.5) bt Alon Greenfeld (Isr, 8.5), S. Kidambi (8.0) lost to Ni Hua (Chn, 9.0), R.A. Pradeep Kumar (8.0) lost to B. Adhiban (9.0), Sahaj Grover (8.5) bt Abhijeet Gupta (7.5), Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (8.5) bt Mikhailo Oleksienko (Ukr, 7.5), Niaz Murshed (Ban, 8.0) drew with J. Deepan Chakkravarthy (8.0), Ashwin Jayaram (7.5) lost to Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 8.0), Evgeny Postny (Isr, 7.0) lost to Zeng Chongsheng (Chn, 8.0), Yaroslav Zherebukh (Ukr, 7.5) drew with B.S. Shivananda (7.5), S. Arun Prasad (7.5) drew with B.T. Murali Krishnan (7.5), M.S. Thej Kumar (7.5) drew with Abhishek Das (7.5), P. Phoobalan (7.0) lost to Yang Kaiqi (Chn, 8.0), P. Shyam Nikil (8.0) bt Sohan Phadke (7.0), Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (7.5) drew with Suvrajit Saha (7.5).
Final Placing (after 11 rounds): 1. Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 9.5 pts), 2-5, Tamir Nabaty (Isr, 9.0), Ni Hua (Chn, 9.0), Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr, 9.0), B. Adhiban (9.0), 6-9 Alon Greenfeld (Isr, 8.5), Sahaj Grover (8.5), Henrik Danielsen (Isl, 8.5), Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (8.5), 10. Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 8.0).
