Krishnan Sasikiran clinches Capablanca memorial chess title

The World No. 83 from Chennai emerged as the champion, finishing the six-player, double round-robin event with 6.5 points from 10 rounds.

Krishnan Sasikiran finished unbeaten in the tournamen

India’s Krishnan Sasikiran emerged as the champion at the Capablanca memorial chess tournament at Varadero, Cuba. The World No. 83 from Chennai finished the six-player, double round-robin event with 6.5 points from 10 rounds.

Sasikiran, seeded third, finished unbeaten and scored three wins, against second seed Samuel Shankland of the United States, Kacper Piorun of Poland and Emilio Cordova of Peru. It was his victory against the Peruvian in the penultimate round that took him closer to the title.

He had seven draws, the last of which came in the final round, with Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez of the host. In the other games on the concluding day, Shankland defeated top seed Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, while Cordova lost to Piorun. Ivanchuk, however,took the runner-up spot, with 5.5 points, the same as Shankland, who had to settle for the third place on account of an inferior tie-breaker score.

The standings:

1. Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind) 6.5; 2-3. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) & Samuel Shankland (U.S.) 5.5; 4. Kacper Piorun (Pol) 5; 5. Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez (Cub) 4; 6. Emilio Cordova (Per) 3.5.