Gritty Swiercz triumphant

India's Grover clinches bronze; Deysi pockets Junior girls title

In a fitting final-round encounter in the World Open, Swiercz scored a hard-fought 92-move win against Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus, while Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia was held to a draw on the top table by Vasif Durarbeyli of Azerbaijan. Both Swiercz and Hovhannisyan finished with 10.5 points each but the Polish GM won on a better progressive score.

Grover, who had upset the applecart of GM B Adhiban on Sunday, outclassed Grandmaster Ter Sahakyan Samvel of Armenia to clinch the bronze medal. In an anti-Meran game, Sahaj, playing white, displayed his grit and determination in grinding down the Armenian Grandmaster in a rook ending in 66 moves.

In the girls’ event, India’s best bet WGM Padmini Rout played her part as a spoiler to WGM Girya Olga of Russia’s chances of winning the title. Rout defeated Olga in a top board game lasting 58 moves in a Bishop ending. Olga had to be content with the silver medal.

On the second table, Deysi quickly crushed Georgian WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili to move to 11 points.

Important results (final round):
Open: Vasif Durarbeyli (Aze, 9) drew Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm, 10.5); Dariusz Swiercz (Pol, 10.5) bt Vladislav Kovalev (Blr, 8.5); Sahaj Grover (Ind, 9.5) bt Ter Sahakyan Samvel (Arm, 8.5); Sanaj Sjugirov (Rus, (8.5) drew B Adhiban (Ind, 8.5); Jan Krejci (Cze, 8) lt to Ivan Lopez Salgado (Esp, 9); Aleksandr Shimanov (Rus, 8) lt to SP Sethuraman (Ind, 9).
Final standings: Swiercz 1; Hovhannisyan 2; Grover 3; Ray Robson (USA) 4; Salgado 5.
Girls: Girya Olga (Rus, 10.5) lt to Padmini Rout (Ind, 9); Keti Tsatsalashvili (Geo, 7.5) lt to Cori T Deysi (Per, 11); Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 8.5) lt to Ozturk Kubra (Tur, 9); Anastasia Savina (Rus, 7.5) lt to Nazi Paikidze (Geo, 9.5); Julia Dogodkina (Rus, 7.5) lt to Bhakti Kulkarni (Ind, 8.5).
Final standings: Cori Deysi 1; Girya Olga 2; Nazi Paikidze 3; Padmini Rout 4; Ozturk Kubra 5.