Express: Aravindh Chithambaram wins Sunway Sitges 2017
The Sunway Sitges International 2017 was an extremely strong event with players from 43 countries, 26 grandmasters, 35 International Masters and 40 Fide Masters. India's Aravindh Chithambaram started as the 14th seed of the event. However, he played some sublime chess and went on to win the event with a half point margin scoring 7.5/9. After finishing second in National Premier, third in World Juniors, Aravindh has finally managed to clinch the top spot! He wins the tournament and takes home the first prize of 5000 euros! Express report.
Aravindh Chithambaram and Kozul Zdenko were leading the Sunway Sitges International 2017 with 6.5/8. Going into the last round Aravindh was up against Kozul in the last round with the white pieces. He played a fantastic game and emerged as a clear champion with half a point.
Aravindh's performance in the tournament:
| Rd. | Bo. | SNo | Name | RtgI | RtgN | FED | Club/City | Pts. | Res. | |
| 1 | 14 | 107 | FM | Larsen Karsten | 2224 | 0 | DEN | Skakforeningen Øbro | 4,5 | s 1 |
| 2 | 12 | 65 | FM | Kaasen Tor Fredrik | 2347 | 0 | NOR | 4,5 | w 1 | |
| 3 | 11 | 49 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 2397 | 0 | MGL | 6,0 | s 1 | |
| 4 | 3 | 11 | GM | Predke Alexandr | 2599 | 0 | RUS | 6,0 | w ½ | |
| 5 | 4 | 31 | IM | Saduakassova Dinara | 2460 | 0 | KAZ | 5,5 | s 1 | |
| 6 | 2 | 21 | IM | Dann Matthias | 2517 | 0 | GER | 7,0 | w ½ | |
| 7 | 3 | 1 | GM | Motylev Alexander | 2675 | 0 | RUS | 6,5 | s 1 | |
| 8 | 1 | 2 | GM | Shankland Samuel | 2662 | 0 | USA | 7,0 | w ½ | |
| 9 | 1 | 8 | GM | Kozul Zdenko | 2607 | 0 | CRO | 6,5 | w 1 |
Rank after Round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 14 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2586 | 0 | 7,5 | 49,0 | 53,0 | 39,0 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | GM | Shankland Samuel | USA | 2662 | 0 | 7,0 | 49,5 | 53,5 | 36,0 | ||||
| 3 | 21 | IM | Dann Matthias | H | GER | 2517 | 0 | 7,0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 36,5 | |||
| 4 | 3 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2638 | 0 | 7,0 | 43,5 | 48,0 | 35,0 | ||||
| 5 | 27 | IM | Gascon Del Nogal Jose Rafael | VEN | 2479 | 0 | Madrid | 7,0 | 41,5 | 44,5 | 33,5 | |||
| 6 | 4 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2633 | 0 | 6,5 | 50,0 | 53,5 | 37,5 | ||||
| 7 | 8 | GM | Kozul Zdenko | CRO | 2607 | 0 | 6,5 | 49,0 | 53,5 | 36,0 | ||||
| 8 | 1 | GM | Motylev Alexander | RUS | 2675 | 0 | 6,5 | 45,5 | 50,0 | 33,5 | ||||
| 9 | 5 | GM | Zubov Alexander | UKR | 2626 | 0 | 6,5 | 44,5 | 48,0 | 32,5 | ||||
| 10 | 19 | IM | Santos Latasa Jaime | H | ESP | 2536 | 0 | Extremadura | 6,5 | 44,0 | 47,5 | 34,0 | ||
| 11 | 36 | IM | Cernousek Lukas | CZE | 2456 | 0 | 6,5 | 38,0 | 41,5 | 30,0 | ||||
| 12 | 11 | GM | Predke Alexandr | RUS | 2599 | 0 | 6,0 | 49,0 | 52,5 | 34,0 | ||||
| 13 | 29 | IM | Hambleton Aman | H | CAN | 2474 | 0 | 6,0 | 47,5 | 50,5 | 36,0 | |||
| 14 | 6 | GM | Edouard Romain | FRA | 2621 | 0 | Club de Ajedrez Sestao | 6,0 | 46,5 | 51,0 | 33,0 | |||
| 15 | 33 | IM | Bilguun Sumiya | H | MGL | 2459 | 0 | 6,0 | 46,5 | 50,0 | 32,5 |
Our 12-year-old author Avathanshu Bhat is at the Sunway Sitges and he will bring the full report.