Sasikiran sensational at Fagernes Open 2022, Aryan Chopra second
GM Krishnan Sasikiran won his first Classical tournament of the year at Fagernes Open 2022. Both him and GM Aryan Chopra scored 7.0/9 each. Sasikiran remained undefeated throughout the event. Due to his better tie-break score, he clinched the championship and Aryan had to settle for second place. GM Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (NOR) and GM Aram Hakobyan (ARM) scored 6.5/9 each. They were placed third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. Ten players scored 6.0/9 each. GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Nihal Sarin and GM Sethuraman S P were placed fifth, ninth and tenth according to the tie-breaks. Top three prizes in the GM section were €2400, €1600 and €800. Photo: SjakkTromsø
India claims four out of top 10
GM Aryan Chopra lead the better part of the second half of the tournament. However, Sasikiran won his last two games which made a lot of difference. The field was very strong as top eleven places were claimed only by GMs. WIM Rakshitta Ravi secured second place in Fagernes Blitz 2.
Sasikiran - Trost, Round 4
CM Edvin Trost (SWE, 2342) played 17...Nc5 which is a mistake. Find out the winning continuation for White. Sasikiran found a very nice way to wrap things up in another eight moves.
Donchenko - Sasikiran, Round 9
Sasikiran needed a win in the last round to have a chance at winning the tournament. Aryan Chopra was a half point ahead of him. GM Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2619) played 25.Nd5 in the above position. He just needed to trade the rooks 25.Rxd7 Qxd7 26.Rd1 and things would have been fine. Sasikiran correctly found 25...Qg8 which allowed him to liquidate the position into a same color bishop ending with an extra pawn and also a superior king position. His king zoomed down the board to d5 without any resistance and rest was just a matter of time and technique, something Sasikiran can convert with ease.
Sasikiran tweeted his thoughts on his triumph
A total of 70 players including 15 GMs, 5 IMs, 3 WGMs and 2 WIMs took part from 13 countries across the world in the GM section. The open section witnessed the participation of 57 players from four countries. The tournament was organized by IO Hans Olav Lahlum and Innlandet Sjakkrets from 10th to 17th April 2022 at Scandic Valdres hotel in Fagernes, Norway. The nine-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 100 minutes/40 moves + 40 minutes/rest with 30 seconds increment from move no. 1.
Replay Round 1-9 games
Round 9 results
Final standings
