CHENNAI: Grandmaster P Iniyan won the Noisiel International Open tournament in Noisiel, Paris on Saturday. The event, held from August 23 to 28, saw Iniyan score 8 points out of 9 rounds. GM Solodovnichenko Yuri of Ukraine finished second with 7.5 points while French IM Kambrath Yannick was third.
“I was able to play a good level of chess and that was very pleasing for me. More importantly, playing over-the-board events keeps you more motivated,” Iniyan told TOI on Sunday.
The tournament was a 9 round Swiss system with Classical time control. A total of 54 players from 9 countries participated in the event.
“It was a very competitive field and I won 7 out of the 9 games which meant that I was always in the hunt for the top spot,” said Iniyan who increased his ELO rating by 13 points.
He is scheduled to be part of events in Norway in the coming days. “The target is to cross the 2600 rating in the coming months. I have plans to play in as many OTB events as possible in the coming weeks,” Iniyan mentioned.
During the pandemic, Iniyan had notched up many top-class performances. He became the first Indian to win the annual World Open chess tournament last year and followed that by clinching silver at the 1st FIDE World University online blitz chess in March this year.
