Dubai: Fide Master (FM) Sadhwani Raunak of India won his final assignment to finally break away from his closest rival and win the Dubai Juniors Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Raunak, the tournament top-seed, defeated Thailand’s Faris Rashid Alriyami in Tuesday’s round nine to up his tally to 8.5 points, half-a-point clear of runner-up FM Ahmad Ahmadzada, the second-seed from Azerbaijan.
Ahmadzada, who shared the lead with Raunak entering the final round, could only manage a draw with fourth-seed Eduard Hakobyan of Armenia to finish with eight points.
Raunak received $2,000 and the championship cup, while Ahmadzada won $1,600 and a silver medal.
Hakobyan finished clear third with 7.5 points and received $1,400 and a bronze medal.
Hamdan Edrees Alhamed and Anood Ahmad won the top awards in the UAE boys’ and girls’ categories respectively, while Ebrahim Ahmed Ebrahim and Ahlam Rashed were the top Dubai players.
Finishing at joint fourth to seventh with seven points each were Khazar Babazada and Farid Mustafayev of Azerbaijan, Anoop Hadimani of India and Tigran Ghazaryan of Armenia.
Choudary Vishal of India, Arlan Assanov of Kazakhstan and Aziz Salaev of Uzbekistan had the highest tie-break scores among 6.5-pointers to round out the top 10 finishers.
The nine-round annual tournament attracted some 140 players from 18 countries and offered cash prizes totalling $10,000.
