GM Adhiban Baskaran wins Reykjavik Open

Photos Courtesy: WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni

GM Adhiban Baskaran clinched the 33rd Reykjavik Open in his maiden debut at the tournament. Adhiban, who has been in top form scored 5 wins in a row. He just needed a draw in the final round against GM Mustafa Yilmaz to clinch the trophy. Adhiban’s impressive run saw him finish with 7.5 points out of a possible 9. He became the second Indian after GM Abhijeet Gupta to achieve the feat. Abhijeet had won the title back in 2016.

Click Here to view GM Adhiban Baskaran’s post-tournament interview.

In the penultimate round, Adhiban defeated top seed Hungarian GM Richard Rapport in just 27 moves to take the sole lead. “I played the little known Be2 variation in the Geller Gambit of the Slav. I was able to outwit my opponent who seemed off-colour today. With this win, going into the last round I am the sole leader. Last round is going to be fun and I hope I can play my best chess!” he commented.

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13-year-old IM Nihal Sarin had a terrific performance. He successfully scored his second Grandmaster norm by the end of 7th round. However, there was a hiccup in the final round game against French GM Lagarde Maxime where he lost in missed many chances to win. “Have been running on empty cylinders since the last few games, but really wanted to win the tournament. One tends to miss moves and ideas and make mistakes in calculations when you are low on energy,” he commented.

GM Vaibhav Suri had a solid 8th place finish with 6.5/9 points. He drew against higher rated GM Pavel Eljanov in the final round.

IM Praggnanadhaa R. missed his second GM norm by a whisker. He held GM Can Emre of Turkey to a draw and convincingly won the final game against compatriot Niranjan Navalgund. He scored 6.5/9. and finished 10th.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

The GAMMA Reykjavík Open 2018 – Bobby Fischer Memorial was a 9-round Swiss open held in Reykjavik, Iceland from 06-14 March 2018. The total prize fund was €15,000, with €5,000 for first place in the Main category. Players received 90 min for 40 moves + 30 minutes after move 40. And increment of 30 sec. for every move starting from move one. Eleven Indians were in the fray.