Reigning National Champion GM Lalith Babu wins Shanghai Open

2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Chess Open

Grandmaster MR. Rohit Lalith Babu, the reigning National champion in classical and rapid format, won the 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Chess Open which took place from 14th to 22nd October at Xingtai Hebei, China.

The 25-year-old Grandmaster from Andhra Pradesh remained undefeated throughout the tournament by scoring seven points from nine rounds on Monday.

In the fourth round, he was paired against compatriot IM Nitin S. In a complex middlegame which arose from Caron-Kann Defence: Two Knights Variation, Lalith envisaged a deadly kingside attack on White. He, further, sacrificed his Queen to take home the point in 30 moves.

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However, his win against talented young IM Xu Yi consolidated his lead in the tournament.

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In the final round, Lalith’s solid play against top-seeded GM Zvjaginsev Vadim (Russia) fetched him a comfortable draw. Three players tied for the first spot, but Lalith was declared the winner with a better tie-break score.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	6	GM	Lalith Babu M R	IND	2518	7,0	1,0	5	51,0
2	11	IM	Li Di	CHN	2467	7,0	1,0	5	50,5
3	17	IM	Dai Changren	CHN	2433	7,0	1,0	5	49,0
4	1	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	RUS	2644	6,5	0,0	4	49,5
5	20		Xiang Zeyu	CHN	2409	6,0	0,0	4	50,0
6	3	GM	Oparin Grigoriy	RUS	2624	6,0	0,0	4	46,5
7	14	IM	Vokhidov Shamsiddin	UZB	2446	6,0	0,0	3	49,0
8	13	FM	Nigmatov Ortik	UZB	2456	5,5	0,0	5	44,0
9	8	IM	Ma Zhonghan	CHN	2496	5,5	0,0	5	41,5
10	18		Chen Qi B	CHN	2425	5,5	0,0	4	47,0
11	5	GM	Tan Zhongyi	CHN	2527	5,5	0,0	4	41,5
12	16	IM	Bao Qilin	CHN	2434	5,5	0,0	4	40,0
13	2	GM	Zhou Jianchao	CHN	2625	5,5	0,0	3	52,5
14	4	IM	Xu Yi	CHN	2536	5,5	0,0	3	49,5
15	10	IM	Lou Yiping	CHN	2485	5,5	0,0	3	39,0
16	12	IM	Nitin S.	IND	2461	5,0	0,0	5	45,0
17	24	FM	Zou Chen	CHN	2386	5,0	0,0	5	43,5
18	26	WIM	Zhu Jiner	CHN	2360	5,0	0,0	4	44,5
19	25		Lin Yi	CHN	2361	5,0	0,0	4	44,0
20	19	IM	Khoroshev Nikita	UZB	2416	5,0	0,0	4	40,0
21	35		Karimov Alisher	TJK	2182	5,0	0,0	3	45,0
22	15	IM	Das Arghyadip	IND	2437	5,0	0,0	3	44,0
23	21		Zhang Ziji	CHN	2397	5,0	0,0	3	43,0
24	9	GM	Fang Yuxiang	CHN	2490	5,0	0,0	3	37,5
25	7	IM	Liu Yan	CHN	2506	5,0	0,0	2	43,0
26	22	IM	Chu Wei Chao	CHN	2393	4,5	0,0	4	41,0
27	27		Li Hong	CHN	2349	4,5	0,0	4	39,0
28	41	WFM	Zhao Shengxin	CHN	2107	4,5	0,0	4	31,0
29	32		Zhao Chenxi	CHN	2323	4,5	0,0	3	46,5
30	43		Zhou Zirun	CHN	2089	4,5	0,0	3	43,0
31	33	IM	Wang Yu A.	CHN	2308	4,5	0,0	3	40,5
32	42	WFM	Li Yunshan	CHN	2096	4,5	0,0	3	37,0
33	36		Xi Qi	CHN	2182	4,5	0,0	3	37,0
34	28	WFM	Xiao Yiyi	CHN	2346	4,5	0,0	3	37,0
35	23		Zhao Yuanhe	CHN	2389	4,5	0,0	2	44,5
36	38		Wu Huanghui	CHN	2137	4,0	0,0	3	38,0
37	40		Yuan Ye	CHN	2120	4,0	0,0	3	36,5
38	47		Chen Kailin	CHN	2021	4,0	0,0	3	34,5
39	48		Hu Yu A.	CHN	2020	4,0	0,0	3	34,0
40	45		Sun Chao	CHN	2046	4,0	0,0	1	37,5
41	31	IM	Li Bo	CHN	2326	4,0	0,0	1	37,0
42	29		Pang Tao	CHN	2336	4,0	0,0	1	32,0
43	37		Bai Xue	CHN	2149	3,5	0,0	3	37,5
44	30		Xu Minghui	CHN	2335	3,5	0,0	2	44,5
45	34	WIM	Gu Tianlu	CHN	2242	3,5	0,0	2	37,5
46	51		Wang Xiaoyan	CHN	1922	3,5	0,0	2	30,0
47	50		Li Guohao	CHN	1935	3,5	0,0	1	30,5
48	39	CM	Wang Zideng	CHN	2135	3,0	0,0	2	34,5
49	53		Chen Yiru	CHN	1832	3,0	0,0	2	32,5
50	52	CM	Deng Yu Dong Michael	HKG	1844	3,0	0,0	2	31,0
51	55		Yunusov Mukhammad	TJK	1792	3,0	0,0	1	38,0
52	54		Guo Weibao	CHN	1828	3,0	0,0	1	34,5
53	49		Ma Lin	CHN	2001	3,0	0,0	1	34,5
54	44	WCM	Yang Yijing	CHN	2071	2,5	0,0	1	37,5
55	46	WFM	Antonova Nadezhda	TJK	2038	1,5	0,0	0	30,0