Pune: Lu Shanglei of China defeated Serbia’s Aleksander Indjic to win the World Junior Chess title here Sunday.
In the concluding 13th round, the race for the title was wide open with four players — Wei Yi of China, Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland, Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia and Lu Shanglei — in contention with nine points apiece.
There was a four-way tie from second to fourth position where Wei Yi secured silver, Fedoseev bagged bronze while Krzysztof was a trifle unfortunate to go without a medal, finishing fourth after the resolution of the tie-break by the Bucholz system. All four players had scored 9.5 points.
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi was the best Indian finisher with nine points and was placed fifth. Shardul Gagare was the best performer from Maharashtra and was awarded the Pune Mayor Cup in the Open section.
In the girls section, 16-year-old Alexandra Goryachkina had successfully defended her title with a round to spare Saturday and settled for a short draw with Anna Iwanova Sunday to raise her points tally to 11.
Ann Chumpitaz of Peru also drew with Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva while Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran defeated Srija Seshadri of India to bag the bronze, both tallying 9.5 points each. After the tie-breaks, Sarasadat secured the silver medal and Chumpitaz had to settle for bronze.
Padmini Rout was the best Indian finisher with nine points and was placed fourth. Rucha Pujari was the winner of the Pune Mayor’s Trophy for girls as the best performer from Maharashtra.
Both Lu Shanglei and Aleksandra Goryachkina earned a qualification slot for the 2015 World Cup for Open and Women respectively. The World Cup is a part of the World Championship Cycle. Both players also received a cash Prize of Rs.1.5 lakh. The silver medallists were richer by Rs.1 lakh and the bronze medallists earned Rs.50,000.
Important results (Indians unless specified):
Open: Wei Yi (Chn) 9.5 drew Duda Jan Krzysztof (Pol) 9.5; Kamil Dragun (Pol) 9 drew Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus) 9.5; Aleksander Indjic (Srb) 8 lost to Lu Shanglei (Chn) 10; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (9) bt Quinten Ducarmon (Ned) 8; Jorge Cori (Per) 8 lost to Karthikeyan M. (9); Grigoriy Oparin (Rus) 8 lost to N. Srinath 9; Bai Jinshi (Chn) 8.5 drew Gosh Diptayan 8.5; Benjamin Bok (8.5) bt Aryan Tari (8); Robin Van Kampen (Ned) 8.5 bt Aravindh Chitharambaram (7.5); Prasanna Raghuram Rao (8) drew Karen Grigoryan (Arm) 8.
Girls: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) 11 drew Anna Iwanow (Pol) 8.5; Ann Chumpitaz (Per) 9.5 drew Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzb) 8.5; Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri) 9.5 bt Srija Seshadri 8; Padmini Rout (9) bt Marina Brunello (Ita); Daria Pushtovoitova (Rus) 7.5 lost to Arabidze Meri (Geo); Irina Petrukhina (Rus) 7.5 lost to Zhai Mo (Chn) 8.5; Ivana Maria Furtado 7.5 lost to Sabina Ibrahimova 8.5; Ni Shiqun (Chn) 8 bt Mahalakshmi M. 7.5; P.V. Nandhidhaa 7 lost to Maria Gevorgyan (Arm) 8; Monisha G.K. 7 lost to Joana Gelip (Rou) 8.
Final standings:
Open: 1. Lu Shanglei (China) 10 points; 2. Wei Yi (China) 9.5 (106.5 Bucholz), 3. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) 9.5 (105.5 Bucholz), 4. Dida Jan-Krzysztof (Poland) 9.5 (99.5 Bucholz), 5. Vidit Gujrathi (India) 9 (94.5 Bucholz), 6. Kamil Dragun (Poland) 9 (92.5 Bucholz), 7. Srinath Narayanan (India) 9 (91.5 Bucholz), 8. Murali Karthikeyan (India) 9 (85.5 Bucholz), 9. Diptayan Ghosh (India) 8.5 (97 Bucholz), 10. Bai Jinshi (China) 8.5 (95.5 Bucholz).
Girls: 1. Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) 11 points, 2. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran) 9.5 (98.5 Bucholz), 3. Ann Chumpitaz (Peru) 9.5 (97 Bucholz), 4. Padmini Rout (India) 9, 5. Zhai Mo (China) 8.5 (95.5 Bucholz), 6. Anna Iwanow (Poland) 8.5 (95 Bucholz), 7. Sabina Ibrahimova (Azerbaijan) 8.5 (92 BUcholz), 8. Meri Arabidze (Georgia) 8.5 (89.5 Bucholz), 9. Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzbekistan) 8.5 (81 Bucholz), 10. Srija Seshadri (India) 8 (91 Bucholz).