Chess: GM Iniyan wins silver at FIDE World University meet; Haik Martirosyan wins gold

Times of India

GM Iniyan wins silver at FIDE World University meet

Prasad RS | TNN | Updated: Mar 21, 2021, 21:04 IST
TNN

CHENNAI: The 1st FIDE World University online blitz chess saw India's P Iniyan win silver in the open section. Armenian GM Haik Martirosyan won gold while Russia Mikhail Antipov bagged bronze. The event saw 960 student players from 84 countries featuring in it. The results of the event, which concluded on March 18, was officially announced on Sunday after a fair play analysis conducted by the organisers.

Grandmaster Iniyan, representing Bharathiar University, scored 8.5 points from 10 games to top his group and qualify for the final stage of the event. The 8-player final phase saw Iniyan start with a loss in round 1 to Chinese GM Xu Yinglun. The 18-year-old, who hails from Erode, quickly regrouped to notch up 5.5 points in the last 6 games. "The start in the final phase wasn't great but I was able to set aside the loss and focus on the next set of matches. It feels great to be winning a medal in this prestigious event," Iniyan told TOI on Sunday. Iniyan is currently pursuing his BBA at PSG College in Coimbatore, affiliated toBharathiar University.After the conclusion of the final phase, Iniyan was tied for the first place with Martirosyan, but the latter won gold due to better tie-break scores.

The women's section of the tournament was won by Armenia's Anna Sargsyan.

The event didn't start the way it was planned. Due to technical problems the organizers had to nullify the results of the first four rounds played on Day 1 and restart the blitz championship the next day after slightly changing the format.