Shortly a month after becoming India’s 61st Grandmaster, P. Iniyan added another feather to this cap. He tied for first place with 7 other players in 21st Dubai Open 2019.
The tournament was held in the Dubai Chess & Culture Club from 1-9 April. The prize fund was $50,000, with $13,000 for first place.
Iniyan commented, “It was a competitive field and I am happy with the way the tournament panned out for me.”
He registered victories over Thrish Karthik, Ukraine’s Sergey Naboka and V Pranav to be placed in the leader’s board. In the seventh round, Iniyan got the better of Argentine GM Mareco Sandro and went on to finish the event in style by beating compatriot and higher-rated GM SP Sethuraman in the final round. “It is always satisfying when you defeat players of the quality of Sethuraman,” Iniyan added.
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The 16-year-old Grandmaster from Erode was tied for the first place with 7 points along with 7 others. However, in the tie-breakers that followed, Iniyan ended up on 8th position. GM Maxim Matlakov of Russia emerged as the winner while Ukraine’s Yuriy Kuzubov and Uzbekistan’s Nodibek Abdusaatorov settled for second and third spot respectively.
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 2 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | RUS | 2692 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 43,0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 6,4 | |
| 2 | 15 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | UZB | 2578 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 49,0 | 42,0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 14,3 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2711 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 48,0 | 41,0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0,7 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | UKR | 2653 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 48,0 | 41,0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 8,5 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | VEN | 2633 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 40,5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 11,0 | |
| 6 | 27 | GM | Sanal Vahap | TUR | 2513 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 40,0 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 15,8 | |
| 7 | 14 | GM | Indjic Aleksandar | SRB | 2592 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 45,0 | 38,0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 13,5 | |
| 8 | 28 | IM | Iniyan P | IND | 2512 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 42,5 | 36,0 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 13,7 | |
| 9 | 9 | GM | Adly Ahmed | EGY | 2620 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 40,0 | 6 | 4 | 10 | -3,1 | |
| 10 | 11 | GM | Mchedlishvili Mikheil | GEO | 2610 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 40,0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -1,1 | |
| 11 | 20 | GM | Deepan Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2534 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 38,5 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14,2 | |
| 12 | 13 | GM | Can Emre | TUR | 2599 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 37,5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | -1,0 | |
| 13 | 12 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2602 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 36,5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | -4,2 | |
| 14 | 19 | GM | Debashis Das | IND | 2538 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 36,0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 8,2 | |
| 15 | 36 | IM | Vignesh N R | IND | 2457 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 41,0 | 34,5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4,8 | |
| 16 | 56 | IM | Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari | IND | 2370 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 43,0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 29,7 | |
| 17 | 10 | GM | Tabatabaei M.Amin | IRI | 2612 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 46,5 | 39,5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -4,6 | |
| 18 | 4 | GM | Mareco Sandro | ARG | 2651 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,0 | 38,5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | -9,8 | |
| 19 | 31 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | 2495 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,0 | 38,0 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5,3 | |
| 20 | 33 | IM | Nguyen Anh Khoi | VIE | 2481 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 37,5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 4,3 |
Day 2:1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament, Chennai 
Fide Arbiter Seminar in Pune 28 Feb -02 March 2026 & Thoothukudi 07-09 March 2026 
First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament in form Chennai from 02 February to 11 February 2026. 
Live games link for First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Chennai on 27 & 28 February 2026. 
21-year-old Aaryan Varshney from Delhi has become India’s 92nd Chess Grandmaster