Akopian emerges champion

UBEDA, JAN. 31. Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian of Armenia made a last-minute dash to beat overnight leader GM Zhang Zong of China to win the Ubeda International chess tournament here on Tuesday.

Akopian, who finished with 8 points out of a possible 10, was followed closely by four players who tied for the second place with 7.5 points.

The saving grace for India was Dinesh Kumar Sharma, who figured in the prize list when he agreed to a quick draw against International Master Perez Rodney of Cuba to finish with 6 points.

The time control was changed for the final round as it was reduced to two hours for the first 40 moves and half an hour each till the end to enable the players to depart on time.

GM Zhang played the Moscow variation as white against GM Akopian but was slowly overpowered in a superior bishop versus a passive knight ending by the Armenian Grandmaster.

IM R.B. Ramesh (5) played the King's Indian defence with black and faced the `G3' system from IM Pilgaard of Denmark. The position remained complicated for a long time and after some manoeuvering by both players, a position was reached with no breaks for either of them and peace was signed in 54 moves.

IM Sandipan Chanda lost his second game in a row after a promising start in the event. Sandipan (4) met IM Gallego Jimenez of Spain from the black side of the Semi-Slav variation and faced a rare plan from his opponent in the opening. Chanda was forced to enter a bad bishop versus good knight ending and lost his queenside pawn. Thereafter, he had to bow out of the game.

IWM Aarthie Ramaswamy (4.5) played the French defence Tarrasch variation and the game followed known lines when the players soon agreed to a draw in an unclear position.

K. Visveswaran (4.5) played the Sicilian Dragon variation as white against IM Gonzalez of Costa Rica and obtained a slight advantage from the opening. The players exchanged minor pieces at regular intervals and reached a rook and knight versus rook and bishop ending where Visveswaran missed a chance to extract advantage and had to settle for a draw in 54 moves.

Sriram Jha (4.5) played a classical game with the white pieces of Bogo Indian defence to defeat van Hoolandt of the Netherlands, while Rahul Shetty also went out on a winning note when he outplayed Millan Urrutia of Spain. Chandra Shekhar Gokhale had to be content with a quick draw with another Spaniard - Fernandez Browne.

lFinal standings: 1. GM Vladimir Akopian (8); 2. GM Zhang Zong (7.5); 3. IM Jobava Baadur (7.5); 4. GM Sakaev Konstantin (7.5); 5. GM Anastasian Ashot (7.5); 6. IM Eljanov Pavel (7); 7. GM A. Fominyh (7); 8. GM Motylev (7); 9. IM Sargissian (7); 10. GM Kobalija (7) ... 40. D.K. Sharma (6).

Important results (10th round): GM V. Akopian bt GM Zhang Zong; P. Eljanov lost to B. Jobava; D.K. Sharma drew with R. Perez; Kim Pilgaard drew with R.B. Ramesh; G. Jimenez bt S. Chanda; R. Aarthie drew with C.Reinaldo; K.Visveswaran drew with B. Gonzalez; S. Jha bt van Hoolandt; C.S. Gokhale drew with F. Browne; R. Shetty bt M. Urrutia.

- PTI

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