CHENNAI: Twenty-year-old Ukraine Grandmaster Martyn Kravtsiv emerged champion (9.5 points) in The India Cements Ltd 3rd Chennai Open International Gr andmaster chess tournament with a hard-fought victory over Israeli GM Alon Gree nfeld in the 11th and final round at SDAT Multipurose Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Kravts iv took home the winner’s prize of `2,00,000. Tamir Nabaty (Israel), Ni Hua (China), Alexander Areshchenko (Ukraine) and B Adhiban (India) finished joint second with nine points.
The top board game between Nabaty and top seed Areshchenko ended in an early draw.
Wi th peace signed on the top bo ard, the young and energ e t ic Kravtsiv took up the challe nge and defeated Greenfeld in 60 moves from the white side of Sicilian to emerge champion.
In addition to Adhiban, IMs Sahaj Grover and Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury finished in top 10 taking shared 6-9 places scoring 8.5 points.