Northern Lights Open: IM Nihal Sarin finishes joint second

Ever since Magnus Carlsen emerged as World Champion. His home country, Norway, is rapidly steering passion towards the game. Recently crowned World Junior Champion Aryan Tari, also hails from Norway. Tournaments in Nordic regions are becoming popular around the world—Reykjavik Open is a famous example.

The second edition of Northern Lights Open organized by Icelandic Chess Federation attracted a fair number of titled players, thus making it a strong event. It ran through November 10 to 15. Chinese Grandmaster Xu Yinglun took home the winner’s prize of 1000 Euros.

13-year-old IM Nihal Sarin missed his second GM norm by a whisker. Nevertheless, he joined the 2500 rating club after this tournament.

Xu Yinglun (2518) showcased a solid performance and grabbed the pole position. He held Nihal Sarin to a draw in the 9th and last round . The half point gain was enough for GM Xu to clinch the victory in the tournament!

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GM Simon Williams (2437) played a thriller against GM Aloyzas Kveinys (2545) on board 2 in the final round.

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Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	3	GM	Yinglun Xu	CHN	2518	6,5	48,0	37,5	33,50	2611	6,5	5,37	1,13	10	11,3
2	4	GM	Stefansson Hannes	ISL	2514	6,0	46,0	36,5	29,00	2551	6	5,48	0,52	10	5,2
3	9	GM	Williams Simon K	ENG	2437	6,0	45,0	35,5	28,75	2545	6	4,66	1,34	10	13,4
4	5	IM	Sarin Nihal	IND	2487	6,0	43,0	34,0	27,75	2575	6	4,94	1,06	10	10,6
5	2	GM	Kveinys Aloyzas	LTU	2545	5,5	49,0	38,5	28,50	2541	5,5	5,51	-0,01	10	-0,1
6	6	IM	Yi Xu	CHN	2465	5,5	48,5	38,5	29,00	2542	5,5	4,52	0,98	10	9,8
7	1	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	ISL	2571	5,5	41,0	32,5	22,75	2442	5,5	6,51	-1,01	10	-10,1
8	11	IM	Thorfinnsson Bjorn	ISL	2395	5,0	44,5	35,5	21,75	2426	5	4,52	0,48	10	4,8
9	10	GM	Hansen Torbjorn Ringdal	NOR	2406	5,0	44,0	34,5	21,50	2421	5	4,82	0,18	10	1,8
10	7	GM	Hebden Mark L	ENG	2460	4,5	45,5	35,5	19,50	2397	4,5	5,22	-0,72	10	-7,2
11	14	FM	Stefansson Vignir Vatnar	ISL	2294	4,5	40,0	30,5	17,75	2358	4,5	3,74	0,76	10	7,6
12	21	FM	Jaksland Tim	DEN	2168	4,5	38,0	29,5	15,50	2360	4,5	2,45	2,05	20	41,0
13	13	FM	Gislason Gudmundur	ISL	2318	4,5	35,5	27,0	15,25	2294	4,5	4,75	-0,25	20	-5,0
14	8	IM	Thorfinnsson Bragi	ISL	2443	4,0	42,0	33,0	15,25	2282	4	5,67	-1,67	10	-16,7
15	12	IM	Jensson Einar Hjalti	ISL	2372	4,0	41,5	32,0	18,00	2305	4	4,78	-0,78	20	-15,6
16	17	WGM	Ptacnikova Lenka	ISL	2232	4,0	32,0	24,0	13,00	2177	3	3,68	-0,68	20	-13,6
17	19	CM	Heimisson Hilmir Freyr	ISL	2190	4,0	31,0	24,0	12,75	2154	3	3,48	-0,48	40	-19,2
18	20		Ingvason Johann	ISL	2172	3,5	33,5	25,0	10,75	2119	2,5	3,07	-0,57	20	-11,4
19	18	CM	Birkisson Bardur Orn	ISL	2198	3,5	33,0	26,0	12,00	2162	3,5	3,99	-0,49	40	-19,6
20	16	IM	Kaufman Raymond	USA	2266	2,5	39,0	30,0	11,00	2137	2,5	4,12	-1,62	20	-32,4
21	22		Birkisson Bjorn Holm	ISL	2002	2,5	36,5	28,0	8,25	2187	2,5	1,26	1,24	40	49,6
22	15	FM	Kumar Nikhil	USA	2274	1,0	32,5	24,5	3,00	2038	1	2,46	-1,46	10	-14,6