Gukesh first Indian to win the La Roda Open
GM D Gukesh became the first Indian player to win the La Roda International Open in 48 years. Last year, in the 47th edition, WGM Nandhidhaa had become the first female player from the South Asian country to make a podium finish.
The winner of the event did not leave things to be decided on tiebreaks, as he had missed overall victory at the Indian National Senior Open and the Delhi International Open on tiebreaks. Gukesh took an average of 28 moves to score wins in La Roda. In the last three rounds, the average went down to 24 moves, which illustrates how well Gukesh played in this event.
A total of 183 players, including 7 GMs and 7 IMs, hailing from 13 countries participated in the event. The tournament was organized by the Club Ajedrez Polideportivo La Roda on April 13-17 2022 at La Caja Blanca in La Roda, Albacete. The nine-round Swiss tournament had a time control of 90 minutes for the game, with 30-second increments from the start.
The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
One of the highly anticipated games of the tournament was a rematch between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh from their final round encounter at the recently concluded Kvika Reykjavik Open. This time around, it was Praggnanandhaa who was unable to seize his advantage and Gukesh managed to save the day.
Two of the biggest young talents in India!
In round 9, Gukesh managed to get outright victory by beating Victor Mikhalevski with the white pieces. By playing 5.h4 and 6.h5, the Indian put Black in disarray. Instead of completing the development of pieces with 11…Re8, Black played the strange 11…Nb4. Gukesh was ruthless in the conversion of his advantage.
Master Class Vol. 12: Viswanathan Anand
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep your opponent permanently under press
Finally😅!!!
Not gonna trust tiebreaks🤪— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) April 17, 2022
Final standings
| 1 | GM | Gukesh D | 2637 | 8,0 | 48,5 |
| 2 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 2633 | 7,5 | 51,0 |
| 3 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2624 | 7,0 | 53,5 |
| 4 | GM | Sadhwani Raunak | 2628 | 7,0 | 51,0 |
| 5 | GM | Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel | 2493 | 7,0 | 47,0 |
| 6 | FM | Martinez Reyes Pedro Ramon | 2401 | 7,0 | 45,0 |
| 7 | FM | Domingo Nunez Alejandro | 2311 | 7,0 | 45,0 |
| 8 | GM | Mikhalevski Victor | 2554 | 6,5 | 50,5 |
| 9 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2639 | 6,5 | 46,5 |
| 10 | FM | Buendia Pinar Alvaro | 2295 | 6,5 | 46,5 |
| 11 | IM | Alshameary Puente Ismael | 2344 | 6,5 | 45,5 |
| 12 | IM | Rubio Mejia Luis Ignacio | 2409 | 6,5 | 44,5 |
| 13 | Valdepenas Octavio Javier | 2129 | 6,5 | 41,5 | |
| 14 | Machado Hernandez Junior | 2015 | 6,5 | 41,0 | |
| 15 | Bustos Bernardo Samuel | 2132 | 6,5 | 39,0 |
All available games
