chessbase india logo

Nihal Sarin to lead the Indian charge at 8th Sunway Sitges Open starting today

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/12/2021

Sunway Sitges Chess Festival is one of the most anticipated events in Spain in the month of December. Apart from fantastic organization, beautiful location, plethora of events for everyone and huge prize fund of €27155, a strong line-up attracts players from all over the world, making it a must-play event for all. A total of 281 players including 35 GMs, 50 IMs, 8 WGMs and 13 WIMs are slated to take part from a staggering 45 countries across the world in Group A. Group B is slated to witness the participation of 113 players from 17 countries for players rated below 2000. ChessBase India Hindi head, FI Niklesh Jain will be present at the venue who will bring you beautiful photos. Photo: Lennart Ootes

India will be the biggest contingent in Group A

The eighth edition of Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival starts tonight from 9 p.m. IST. A total of 70 Indian players are supposed to take part in the Group A which makes it almost 25% of players from India in the same group. The second-highest contingent is the host country Spain, 47. There are 12 players who are rated above 2600, 31 players rated above 2500. The average rating of Group A is 2204.

Nihal Sarin is the highest rated Indian at the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Karthikeyan Murali would definitely like to continue his momentum from 2nd elllobregat Open 2021 | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

Arjun Erigaisi has had a great 2021, he would certainly like to end the year on a high note | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6th Sunway Sitges Open 2019 winner - GM Anton Korobov (UKR) is the top seed of this year's 8th edition

Last year's winner, Ivan Cheparinov (BUL) will be the second seed | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

IM Vaishali R will be the highest rated Indian woman in the field | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WGM Mary Ann Gomes would like to have another great event at Sitges after a historic Silver medal at the World Women's Team Championship in October | Photo: Niki Riga/FIDE

ChessBase India Hindi head, FI Niklesh Kumar Jain will play and bring you beautiful photos from the venue. He is travelling there with his wife WIM Angela Franco Valencia and baby boy Shresth.

Indian players list

No.NameFideIDFEDRtgRtgNClub/CityName
3GMNihal Sarin25092340IND26620Group A
7GMKarthikeyan Murali5074452IND26300Group A
8GMErigaisi Arjun35009192IND26290Group A
11GMSethuraman S.P.5021596IND26130Group A
12GMPuranik Abhimanyu5061245IND26040Group A
17GMIniyan Panneerselvam25002767IND25550Group A
22GMArjun Kalyan35018701IND25370Chess GurukulGroup A
28GMKarthik Venkataraman25006479IND25060Group A
29IMSankalp Gupta5097010IND25040Group A
32GMHarsha Bharathakoti5078776IND24890RACE chess clubGroup A
36IMBharath Subramaniyam H46634827IND24790Chess GurukulGroup A
47IMAditya Mittal35042025IND24590All India Chess FederationGroup A
50IMPranesh M35028600IND24370Chess GurukulGroup A
51IMMohammad Nubairshah Shaikh5053196IND24290Group A
58IMPranav Anand46626786IND24160All India Chess FederationGroup A
62GMNeelotpal Das5003512IND24100Group A
66IMVaishali R5091756IND24010Group A
77CMPrraneeth Vuppala46622373IND23770RACE chess clubGroup A
78Bhambure Shantanu5025931IND23770Group A
80IMMoksh Amit Doshi25064967IND23680Group A
83IMSidhant Mohapatra5028698IND23600Group A
84FMManu David Suthandram R35019562IND23600Mastermind Chess AcademyGroup A
88WGMGomes Mary Ann5013623IND23540Group A
90IMSoumya Swaminathan5016193IND23510Group A
95IMPadmini Rout5029295IND23450Group A
96IMChakravarthi Reddy M25009532IND23420Group A
97IMSrijit Paul5094798IND23400Group A
99IMManish Anto Cristiano F25095927IND23360All India Chess FederationGroup A
105IMMullick Raahil35080350IND23230ChessBase IndiaGroup A
107FMSamant Aditya S35080580IND23180Group A

Complete list

Players list

No. NameFideIDFEDRtgRtgNsexClub/City
1
GMKorobov Anton14105730UKR26990Beskydská Šachová Škola
2
GMCheparinov Ivan2905540BUL26640Club de Ajedrez Magic
3
GMNihal Sarin25092340IND26620
4
GMNiemann Hans Moke2093596USA26450
5
GMTabatabaei M. Amin12521213IRI26430
6
GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek14204118UZB26330
7
GMKarthikeyan Murali5074452IND26300
8
GMErigaisi Arjun35009192IND26290
9
GMKollars Dmitrij12909572GER26220
10
GMVocaturo Daniele813192ITA26210C.E. Mollet
11
GMSethuraman S.P.5021596IND26130
12
GMPuranik Abhimanyu5061245IND26040
13
GMCornette Matthieu620084FRA25830Asnières - Le Grand Echiquier
14
GMSafarli Eltaj13402129AZE25790
15
GMFier Alexandr2107139BRA25720
16
GMKadric Denis14403803BIH25720
17
GMIniyan Panneerselvam25002767IND25550
18
GMMegaranto Susanto7101384INA25480
19
IMLivaic Leon14531534CRO25470
20
GMKelires Andreas5900727GRE25430O.F.I Chess Club
21
GMMaze Sebastien613762FRA25410Cercle d'Echecs de Bischwiller
22
GMArjun Kalyan35018701IND25370Chess Gurukul
23
GMSuleymanli Aydin13413937AZE25370
24
GMDardha Daniel240990BEL25330SK Moretus Hoboken
25
GMVan Foreest Lucas1039792NED25300
26
GMKulaots Kaido4500261EST25190Kaido Külaotsa Malekool
27
GMNarciso Dublan Marc2201500ESP25190C.E. Ateneu Colon
28
GMKarthik Venkataraman25006479IND25060
29
IMSankalp Gupta5097010IND25040
30
IMMuradli Mahammad13409301AZE25030

Complete list

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

23rd December - 1:30 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules