India’s teenage Grandmaster P Iniyan finished second in the La Plagne International Open Chess Tournament 2022 at La Plagne in France. The 19-year-old GM scored 7 points from nine rounds to tie for top spot with Ukraine GM Vitaly Sivuk early on Sunday. The Ukrainian, however, won the first prize on the basis of a better tie-break score. India’s Sayantan Das with 6.5 points took the third place. Iniyan remained unbeaten through the nine rounds, winning five games and drawing four. One of the draws came against Sivuk, in round six.

He started with a win and had a score of 4.5 after five rounds but three straight draws in rounds six, seven and eight pegged him back.

A win over Austrian GM Andreas Diermair helped Iniyan reach seven points and also gain 10 rating points.

Promoted

Das, on the other hand, registered four wins and five draws including against Iniyan and Sivuk and finished half a point behind the duo.

The field for the Tournament comprised 95 players from 19 countries including 9 GMs and 18 International Masters.