Al Ain: GM Wang Hao of China handled the challenge of GM Abhijeet Gupta of India to win with one round to spare in the fourth Al Ain Chess Classic at the Hili Rayhaan by Rotana Hotel. Wang scored an impressive 7.5 points out of 8 rounds, out of reach of the second runners-up with 6 points. He thus clinched the trophy and the first prize of $13,000 (Dh47,735).
The former Chinese national champion crushed the Gruenfeld Defense of Gupta, the 2013 Al Ain Classic champion, in 41 moves. Wang controlled the centre and Gupta had to exchange two Bishops for a Rook in order to free his position but lost in the endgame.
“I’m very happy as this is my second time in Al Ain and my fifth tournament in the UAE. The organisation is good and it is very nice weather here in December. Now in Beijing it is really cold,” Wang said after the round.
Fighting for the rest of the total prize fund of $57,000 are four players in second slot and 18 players a half point behind them.
Tied with 6 points each are former world championship finalist GM Alexei Shirov of Latvia, GM Arman Pashikian of Armenia, and top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko and GM Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko of Ukraine.
Shirov and Kryvoruchko drew in 26 moves of a Ruy Lopez, the minimum number of moves required before a draw can be agreed on. Pashikian, 28, former Armenian national champion, drew with Alexander Arehchenko of Ukraine in a marathon 72 moves of a Gruenfeld Defense. Oleksienko used the Sicilian Defense to beat Walter Arencibia of Cuba in 41 moves.
Tied at 5.5 points each are Gupta, Areshchenko, Vladimir Onischuk, Yuriy Kuzubov, Zahar Efimenko and Martyn Kravtsiv of Ukraine, Levan Pantsulaia and Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia, Hovhannes Gabuzyan, Robert Hovhannisyan and Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, Ahmed Adly of Egypt, Alexander Motylev and Sergey Volkov of Russia, Sergei Zhigalko and Sergei Azarov of Belarus, Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova and Alexander Rakhmanov of Russia. A record 56 GMs and 5 WGMs are among the 127-man field from 33 countries.
An Al Ain Amateur tournament is held concurrently for players rated below 2,000 with 72 players from 15 countries competing for $7,000 in cash prizes. Anisweud Sasikumar, 15, of India leads the amateur event with 7.5 points followed within striking distance by Saji Adarsh of India with 6.5 points. Tied at 6 points each are local bets FM Marshool Hamdan and Marshool Mohammad, Raffi Ghazaryan of Armenia and Ahmad Saeed Bondok of Egypt.
Watch top games live at the official site www.alainclassic.com. Visit chess-results.com for results, standings and games download.