CHENNAI: Lu Shanglei upstaged higher-ranked players like Vladimir Fedoseev and Wei Yi to win the Open section of the World Junior Chess Championship in Pune on Sunday. With this victory, Lu Shanglei emulated compatriot Yu Yangyi (last year’s winner) and helped China triumph for the second straight year.
The 19-year-old secured 10 points to clinch the title by half a point. Wei Yi, one of the favourites, pipped Fedoseev (both 9.5 points) in the tie-break to make it one-two for China. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, tied for the second spot securing the same number of points, missed out on the podium because of lesser tie-break. India missed out on medals as Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Padmini Rout finished fifth and fourth in the Open and girls’ section.
Going into the 13th round, Lu Shanglei, Fedoseev, Wei Yi and Duda were in contention for the title being the joint leaders. The top two board games between Wei Yi and Duda and Kamil Dragun and Fedoseev ended in draws, while Lu Shanglei posted a crushing victory over higher-ranked Serb Alexander Indjic with the black pieces to conjure up a memorable finish.
Playing confidently and aggressively, Lu Shanglei remained the only undefeated player in the event, scoring seven wins and six draws. The 13th seed with a rating of 2533 had the satisfaction of inflicting the only defeat on top-seeded Russian Fedoseev, besides gaining a whopping 33.2 rating points.
Having two players on the podium again demonstrated the fact that China have become one of the powerhouses in chess alongside Russia, Armenia and Ukraine.
A loss in the penultimate round to Fedoseev and a draw in the final game meant third seed Wei Yi had to be content with a silver. Wei Yi had the second best rating performance (2679) and gained 7.8 rating points. Fedoseev, who recovered from his 10th round loss, besides defeating Wei Yi in the penultimate round, could not break through the defences of Dragun, and had to settle for the bronze medal.
Duda, one of the most talented players to come out of Poland, had a brilliant spurt in the second half (5.5/6) but still ended up fourth.
Vidit, the highest-ranked player, turned out to be India’s best performer with nine points even though he couldn’t equal last year’s bronze medal showing. Six draws against lesser-ranked players was the reason for him not making a serious bid for the title. Narayanan Srinath (9, 7th) was the second best performer for India, gaining 19.5 points. Karthikeyan Murali (9, 8th) and Diptayan Ghosh (8.5, 9th) were the other Indians to finish in the top 10.
Russian Encore
Alexandra Goryachkina of Russia turned in a dominant show to win back-to-back titles in the girls’ section. The 16-year-old stayed unbeaten, hardly had a minus position, and triumphed with a 1.5 points margin (11/13). Her ability to positionally outplay her opponents was the hallmark of her victory.
Sarasadat Khademelsharieh of Iran and Pervuian Ann Chumpitaz (both 9.5) bagged the silver and bronze medals.
India’s Padmini Rout (9) posted an emphatic win in the final round over Marina Brunello but couldn’t get a medal. Three straight draws from rounds 10 to 12 prevented her from a higher placing.
Srija Seshadri, was the other best performer from the hosts, finishing 10th with eight points. Her rating will improve in a big way in the next list, having made a gain of 80.8 points.
Placings: (top 10) Open: 1. Lu Shanglei (Chn) 10 points, 2-4: Wei Yi (Chn), V Fedoseev (Rus), J K Duda (Pol) 9.5, 5-8: Vidit Gujrathi (Ind), K Dragun (Pol), N Srinath, Karthikeyan Murali (both Ind) 9, 9-10: Diptayan Ghosh (Ind), Bai Jinshi (Chn) 8.5. Girls: 1. A Goryachkina (Rus) 11, 2-3: K Sarasadat (IRI), A Chumpitaz (Per) 9.5, 4. Padmini Rout (Ind) 9, 5-9: Zhai Mo (Chn), A Iwanow (Pol), S Ibrahimova (Aze), M Arabidze (Geo), S Kurbonboeva (Uzb) 8.5, 10. Srija Seshadri (Ind) 8.
