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Gukesh glorious at 48th La Roda Open 2022, Praggnanandhaa third

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/04/2022

GM D Gukesh won his first Classical tournament of the year at 48th La Roda International Open 2022. He scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 and finished a half point ahead of the competition. He did not leave things to be decided on tie-breaks. He missed MPL 58th National Senior Open and 19th Delhi International GM Open on tie-breaks. GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM) secured second place 7.5/9. Five players scored 7.0/9. GM Praggnanandhaa R and GM Raunak Sadhwani were placed third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. Top three prizes were €3000, €2000 and €1000 along with a trophy each. Total prize fund of the tournament was €14000. Photo: Official site

Gukesh becomes the first Indian to win La Roda Open

GM D Gukesh became the first Indian player to win La Roda International Open in 48 years. Last year in the 47th edition, WGM Nandhidhaa became the first woman to make a podium finish. Gukesh took an average of 28 moves to score wins in this tournament. In the last three rounds, the average went down to 24 moves. It only shows how well Gukesh played in this event.

Top three (L to R) - 3rd Praggnanandhaa R, 1st D Gukesh and 2nd Haik Martirosyan | Photo: Official site

Champion - GM D Gukesh 8.0/9 |  Photo: Gukesh's twitter

Very nicely crafted prize and memento for the winner, GM D Gukesh | Photo: Gukesh's twitter

GM Raunak Sadhwani, GM D Gukesh and GM Praggnanandhaa R with the tournament officials and organizers | Photo: Gukesh's twitter

Praggnanandhaa - Gukesh, Round 6

Position after 24.Rc1

One of the highly anticipated game of the tournament was a rematch between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh from their final round encounter at the recently concluded Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022. Black went 24...Nb5 25.Kg2 Nd4 26.Nxd4 exd4 27.Bf4 Bd6 28.fxg6 Bxf4 29.Qxf4 fxg6 giving White a huge decisive advantage. This time it was Praggnanandhaa who was unable to seize his advantage and Gukesh managed to save the day.

Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh another exciting encounter within a week | Photo: Official site

Gukesh - Mikhalevski, Round 9

Position after 11...Nb4

White going 5.h4, 6.h5 put Black in disarray. Instead of completing the development of pieces 11...Re8, Black played the strange 11...Nb4. White continued 12.Bd2 c5 13.Rc1 b6 14.a3 Nd5 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Rxc5 White is completely dominating the position. Gukesh won the game in another ten moves.

GM D Gukesh won the must-win final round game to win the tournament | Photo: Official site

Gukesh scored an unbeaten 8.0/9, gained 11.1 Elo rating points, taking his live rating to 2646.5

Gukesh tweeted his thoughts on his victory

Praggnanandhaa congratulated Gukesh

Praggnannadhaa drew with Haik Martirosyan in the final round, thus ensuring Gukesh' victory | Photo: Official site

GM Raunak Sadhwani defeated FM Lim Zhuo Ren (MAS) to secure fourth place | Photo: Official site

The tournament hall at La Caja Blanca | Photo: Official site

A total of 183 players including 7 GMs and 7 IMs took part from 13 countries across the world. The tournament was organized by Club Ajedrez Polideportivo La Roda from 13th to 17th April 2022 at La Caja Blanca in La Roda, Albacete, Spain. The nine-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes each with 30 seconds increment from move no. 1.

Replay Round 1-9 games

Round 9 results

Bo.No.NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtgNo.
12GMGukesh D263771 - 0GMMikhalevski Victor25546
25GMPraggnanandhaa R2624½ - ½7GMMartirosyan Haik M.26333
319FMBuendia Pinar Alvaro22956½ - ½6GMSargsyan Shant26391
44GMSadhwani Raunak262861 - 06FMLim Zhuo Ren231717
514FMDomingo Nunez Ruben240160 - 16GMLopez Martinez Josep Manuel24937
627Alfaya Marcelo Roberto222960 - 16FMMartinez Reyes Pedro Ramon240113
78IMMartin Duque Jesus24210 - 16FMDomingo Nunez Alejandro231118
810IMBernal Moro Luis Javier2415½ - ½FMBuenafe Moya Javier219930
932FMSantos Antonio P21920 - 1IMRubio Mejia Luis Ignacio240911
1041Valdepenas Octavio Javier21291 - 0FMGavarrete Nahun234915

Details

Final standings

Rk.SNoNamesexFEDRtgRtgNClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
12GMGukesh DIND26370India8,048,553,540,546,250,0
23GMMartirosyan Haik M.ARM26330Armenia7,551,055,541,044,500,0
35GMPraggnanandhaa RIND26240India7,053,558,538,544,000,0
44GMSadhwani RaunakIND26280India7,051,056,036,542,500,0
57GMLopez Martinez Josep ManuelESP24932496CAT7,047,051,036,538,750,0
613FMMartinez Reyes Pedro RamonVEN24012404MAD7,045,050,036,038,500,0
718FMDomingo Nunez AlejandroESP23112330GAL7,045,049,034,037,000,0
86GMMikhalevski VictorISR25542613CAN6,550,555,036,537,250,0
91GMSargsyan ShantARM26390Armenia6,546,551,034,036,250,0
1019FMBuendia Pinar AlvaroESP22952297CTM - Excalibur6,546,550,034,533,750,0
1116IMAlshameary Puente IsmaelESP23442348AND - P. A. Oromana6,545,549,534,532,500,0
1211IMRubio Mejia Luis IgnacioESP24092421MAD6,544,549,534,035,250,0
1341Valdepenas Octavio JavierESP21292132VAL6,541,545,031,530,500,0
1460Machado Hernandez JuniorESP20152012CTM - Excalibur6,541,044,529,530,250,0
1539Bustos Bernardo SamuelESP21322154CTM - Getafe6,539,042,031,029,000,0

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations