The country’s youngest Grandmaster D. Gukesh, 15, improved upon his two runner-up finishes in March with a resounding title-triumph in the 48th La Roda International Open chess tournament in Castile-La Mancha, in Spain.
In the ninth and final round, joint overnight leader Gukesh stopped Israel’s Victor Mikhalevski in just 26 moves to finish with eight points.
Earlier, aiming for the runner-up spot, R. Praggnanandhaa did Gukesh a favour by holding the other overnight leader Armenia’s Haik Martirosyan in 37 moves. Martisroyan (7.5 points) finished runner-up and Praggnanandhaa topped a five-way tie for third place at seven points. Raunak Sadhwani was part of those at seven points and took the fourth spot.
