Aravindh Chithambaram wins 41st Villa de Benasque Open 2022, Raunak Sadhwani third

by Shahid Ahmed - 16/07/2022

Ten players including GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Raunak Sadhwani scored 8/10 each. Aravindh, GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) and Raunak were placed first, second and third according to tie-breaks at 41st Benasque International Open 2022. Aravindh made a good recovery after a seventh round loss against GM Vojtech Plat (CZE). He won the last two crucial games to finish first. The final round win featuring a queen sacrifice is truly a fantastic one. The solid unbeaten performance for Raunak just days before 44th Chess Olympiad is surely going to give him the much-needed momentum for the biggest stage. Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

Aravindh's fourth triumph of the year

This is GM Aravindh Chithambaram's fourth tournament victory of 2022. Earlier he successfully defended both his National Rapid and Blitz title and won 1st Rejoice CTF Rapid Rating Open. Top three prizes at 41st Benasque International Open were €4000, €3000 and €2000 along with a trophy each.

Top 3 (L to R) - 2nd GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM), 1st GM Aravindh Chithambaram and 3rd GM Raunak Sadhwani | Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

Champion - GM Aravindh Chithambaram 8/10 | Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

Karen Movsziszian - Aravindh, Round 10

Position after 20...Bf8

The veteran GM Karen Movsziszian (ARM) was playing the last round with only one result in mind, win. He knew a draw would not be enough, so he went for an all out attack. It did not work out the way he wanted. 19.Rf1 Qd4 20.Qxb7 Bf8! What an amazing backward move, something which most of the time gets overlooked by the human eye. 21.Ne2 and now comes a fantastic move 21...Bxh6!! yes it is the final round, Aravindh also wanted to win the game and if it meant he needed to sacrifice his queen, so be it. 22.Nxd4 Bxe3+ 23.Kh1 cxd4 and White resigned as there is not much to go on for White.

GM Aravindh Chithambaram won the tournament in a fantastic manner | Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

GM Aravindh Chithambaram bounced back well after a loss in the seventh round

Runner-up - GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) 8/10 | Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

GM Raunak Sadhwani scored an unbeaten 8/10 and gained 9.4 Elo rating points | Photo: WIM FT Raluca Sgircea/Benasque Open

Sosa - Martinez, Round 1

Final position after 48.exf4

23-year-old IM Tomas Sosa (ARG, 2520) quite possibly played one of the best games of his career. It is undoubtedly one of the best games of the year so far and it will certainly make it to various chess books in the future. Yes, that much instructive the game is. His play would have certainly made Mikhail Tal proud. There are multiple brilliancies throughout the game and lots of moments which can be turned into a diagram to solve. However, the final position is certainly a pleasant one. The game is like J R R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings movies, first 20 moves might seem like just another game, it starts to get interesting soon after.

A total of 375 players including 19 GMs, 18 IMs, 2 WGMs and 6 WIMs took part from 23 countries across the world in this ten-day ten rounds Swiss League rating tournament. The tournament was organized by Ayuntamiento de Benasque (Municipality of Benasque) at Benasque Sport Pavillion, Benasque, Huesca in Spain from 6th to 15th July 2022. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Replay all games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.				IND	2608	0		8,0	54,25	2414	2362
2	6	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert				ARM	2591	0		8,0	50,50	2394	2344
3	3	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	U18			IND	2611	0		8,0	49,50	2449	2393
4	7	GM	Forcen Esteban Daniel				ESP	2568	2574	Ara	8,0	49,50	2432	2377
5	8	GM	Quesada Pérez Yasser				CUB	2568	0		8,0	49,00	2364	2316
6	13	IM	Sosa Tomas				ARG	2520	2513	Val	8,0	48,50	2374	2325
7	15	IM	Laurent-Paoli Pierre				FRA	2481	0		8,0	48,25	2416	2375
8	19	IM	Holm Kristian Stuvik				NOR	2463	0		8,0	47,50	2374	2323
9	11	GM	Quesada Pérez Luis Ernesto				CUB	2549	0		8,0	46,50	2361	2327
10	9	GM	Albornoz Cabrera Carlos Daniel				CUB	2566	2570	Cat	8,0	45,75	2401	2364
11	14	IM	Garriga Cazorla Pere				ESP	2505	2501	Cat	7,5	47,50	2355	2307
12	2	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.				ARM	2643	2640	Gal	7,5	47,25	2436	2382
13	5	GM	Peralta Fernando				ARG	2591	2576	Cat	7,5	47,00	2425	2372
14	18	IM	Costachi Mihnea				ROU	2463	0		7,5	45,00	2249	2211
15	23	GM	Stella Andrea				ITA	2443	2448	And	7,5	41,00	2316	2264
16	25	IM	García Ramos Daniel				ESP	2438	2440	Cat	7,5	40,75	2224	2186
17	22	IM	Plazuelo Pascual Juan				ESP	2448	2447	Mad	7,5	40,00	2273	2246
18	1	GM	Pichot Alan				ARG	2647	2573	Cat	7,0	47,00	2432	2379
19	17	GM	Movsziszian Karen				ARM	2463	2485	Cat	7,0	45,50	2400	2347
20	24	GM	Álvárez Pedraza Aramis				CUB	2440	2486	Cat	7,0	44,00	2339	2290