Vitaly Sivuk wins 2nd La Plagne Chess Festival 2022 Masters, Iniyan second and Sayantan third

by Shahid Ahmed - 10/07/2022

GM Vitaly Sivuk (UKR) and GM Iniyan P scored unbeaten 7/9 each at 2nd La Plagne International Open 2022 Masters. They were placed first and second according to tie-breaks. Four players scored 6.5/9 each. IM Sayantan Das and IM Nubairshah Shaikh were placed second and third according to tie-breaks. After tying for second place in two consecutive events - 4th Prague Chess Festival and 15th Teplice Open 2022, tie-breaks finally went to Iniyan's favor as he secured the second place. Had Nubair won his final round game against Sivuk, the top three places would have been dominated by India. Nevertheless, second to fourth is good too. Moreover, Nubair had already won the Blitz event.

Nubairshah wins the 2nd La Plagne Blitz Open

IM Nubairshah Shaikh scored an unbeaten 6.5/7 and finished a half point ahead of the field to win the Blitz Open tournament. This is Nubair's third triumph in 45 days. First he won 5th LBHM All India Open in May, then he won Silver Lake Open last month and now this Blitz Open. The total prize fund in the Classical event was €6600. Top three prizes were €2000, €1200 and €800 each respectively.

Top four (L to R) - 4th IM Nubairshah Shaikh, 2nd GM Iniyan P, 1st GM Vitaly Sivuk (UKR) and 3rd IM Sayantan Das

All prize winners

Blitz Open Top 3 (L to R) - 2nd IM Guillaume Philippe 6/9, 1st IM Nubairshah Shaikh 6.5/9 and 3rd FM Simon Lamaze 6/7

A total of 72 players including 2 GMs and 3 IMs took part from six countries across the world in the Blitz Open. The seven-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 5 mins + 2 seconds each. The total prize fund in the Blitz event was €1000. Top three prizes were €250, €200 and €150 each respectively.

GM Iniyan P is consistently doing well in this summer | Photo: Cercle Échecs Bassin Annemassien

IM Sayantan Das onwards to become India's next Grandmaster | Photo: Cercle Échecs Bassin Annemassien

IM Nubairshah Shaikh had a fantastic tournament 2nd La Plagne International Open in both Classical and Blitz events | Photo: Cercle Échecs Bassin Annemassien

The tournament hall at Sun Valley hotel in La Plagne, France | Photo: Debbiche Samir

A total of 95 players including 9 GMs, 18 IMs, 1 WGM and 2 WGMs took part in the Masters (>1900) tournament from 19 countries across the world. The event was organized by Cercle d'Échecs du Bassin Annemassien from 2nd to 9th July 2022. The time control was 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.