Grandmaster Alexei Fedorov of Belarus clinched the title with a round to spare in the seventh Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit chess tournament, organised by the Coimbatore District Chess Association, at the Alankar Grande here on Friday.
He did not worry much going into the ninth and final round as he had already sealed the title. However, Fedorov fought as much, as he did right through, in a drawn encounter against Adireddy Arjun of Telangana.
He was obviously pleased having won his second title on the trot. “I am happy with the win, but I must say the tournament standard was very good, and the Indian youngsters were a tough nut to crack.”
C. Sai Viswesh of Chennai and Adireddy were tied with six points apiece, but the former having got the better of the latter in the earlier round finished second.
Sai looked supreme earlier in the tournament, but let slip the advantage midway through. However, he showed his class yet again in the ninth round with a sound tactical play against the United States GM Raset Ziatdinov in a closed Sicilian defence to earn a point.
Final ranking (after nine rounds): 1. Alexei Fedorov (Blr) 7.5; 2. C. Sai Vishwesh 6; Adireddy Arjun 6; Evgeniy Podolchenko (Blr) 5.5; Asylbek Abdyzhapar (Kgz) 5; Sakshi Chitlange 4.5; David Gochelashvili (Rus) 4.5; G. Gugan 3; Hemanth Raam 2; Raset Ziatdinov (USA) 1.
