Iniyan is World Open chess star
Close on the heels of India’s historic gold at the Olympiad, another chess player has achieved a unique feat. Tamil Nadu’s P. Iniyan emerged champion in the 48th annual World Open chess tournament. The online event — a nine- round classical time control format — concluded on August 9, but the results were declared on Thursday after a thorough ‘ fairplay’ analysis.
A total of 122 players from 16 countries took part in the event that had more than 30 Grandmasters in the fray. The 17- year- old Erode boy scored sevenanda- half points out of a possible nine. He had six victories and three draws. Iniyan and Russian GM Sanan Sjugirov were tied for the top spot, but the Indian had a better tiebreak score.
Iniyan said the World Open was the most memorable event since becoming India’s 61st GM last year.
“The game against Georgia’s Jobava Baadur was a special one. Jobava, with an unconventional style, is a unique player and the win against him was a great achievement,” Iniyan said.
En route to the title, Iniyan also defeated GMs Sam Sevian and Sergey Erenburg of the USA and Nyzhyk Illia of Ukraine. Since the event was happening in US time, Iniyan had to burn midnight oil. “I was playing from 9.30 pm to 6 am every day. I had to prepare specifically by practising all night for a few days before the tournament,” said Iniyan. who had pulled off a stunning win over World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana in an online blitz event.