Melkumyan wins O2C Doeberl Cup, Deep and Kunte finish tied third
Top seed of the tournament, Armenia no.3 GM Hrant Melkumyan won O2C Doeberl Cup Premier 2019 in Canberra, Australia. He scored 7.5/9 to finish a half-point ahead of the runner-up FM Raymond Song of Australia. Indian GMs Deep Sengupta and Abhijit Kunte finished tied at the third place along with GM Anton Smirnov of Australia at a score of 6.5/9 . The only other Indian to participate in this tournament, reigning Asian Continental Women's Champion IM Padmini Rout scored 5.5/9 and finished at 10th position. She won the 'Best Female player' prize. The tournament was first organized in 1963. The report contains games, photos and interviews. Photo: Chesslife
Hrant Melkumyan triumphs in the land Down Under
In the penultimate round Melkumyan faced Deep Sengupta and he equalized with Black pieces easily out of the opening Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence. However in a seemingly equal endgame, Deep missed a small trick which Melkumyan also missed and eventually he won.
After finishing joint first in 19th BCC Open, Deep continued his momentum in Australia and finished at the 2nd runner-up position. His best clinical win was in round 3 against Matthew Clarke of Australia.
In round 3 against Brodie McClymont of Australia, Kunte played a very instructive game with black pieces in Sicilian Kan and earned a victory.
Padmini made a brilliant start with a score of 3.5/4 and she got into five-way lead. However consecutive losses in round 6 and 7, prevented her from a better finish. Her best win was against IM Xie George Wendi in round 3 when she trapped her opponent's queen in the middle of the board.
Final Standings after 9 Rounds
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
1 | 1 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2658 | 7,5 | 39,0 | 50,5 | 40,00 | 0,04 | 10 | 0,4 |
2 | 16 | FM | Song Raymond | TPE | 2329 | 7,0 | 42,0 | 52,0 | 38,75 | 3,62 | 20 | 72,4 |
3 | 3 | GM | Sengupta Deep | IND | 2551 | 6,5 | 42,0 | 54,5 | 37,50 | 0,10 | 10 | 1,0 |
4 | 2 | GM | Smirnov Anton | AUS | 2567 | 6,5 | 40,5 | 51,5 | 34,25 | 0,04 | 10 | 0,4 |
5 | 4 | GM | Kunte Abhijit | IND | 2485 | 6,5 | 35,0 | 45,0 | 30,00 | -0,31 | 10 | -3,1 |
6 | 6 | IM | Bjelobrk Igor | AUS | 2386 | 6,0 | 39,0 | 50,0 | 31,50 | 1,06 | 10 | 10,6 |
7 | 9 | IM | Tao Trevor | AUS | 2364 | 6,0 | 35,0 | 44,5 | 26,25 | -0,06 | 10 | -0,6 |
8 | 24 | Clarke Matthew | AUS | 2113 | 6,0 | 30,5 | 39,5 | 23,50 | 0,78 | 40 | 31,2 | |
9 | 12 | IM | Lane Gary W | AUS | 2357 | 5,5 | 39,5 | 50,0 | 27,75 | 0,39 | 10 | 3,9 |
10 | 8 | IM | Padmini Rout | IND | 2364 | 5,5 | 38,0 | 49,5 | 25,75 | 0,51 | 10 | 5,1 |
11 | 7 | GM | Johansen Darryl K | AUS | 2364 | 5,5 | 38,0 | 49,0 | 26,25 | 1,11 | 10 | 11,1 |
12 | 18 | FM | Puccini Jack | AUS | 2261 | 5,5 | 34,5 | 45,5 | 26,00 | 0,03 | 20 | 0,6 |
13 | 28 | Pirotais Jerome | FRA | 2075 | 5,5 | 32,0 | 41,0 | 22,50 | 1,27 | 20 | 25,4 | |
14 | 5 | IM | Ikeda Junta | AUS | 2441 | 5,0 | 38,5 | 48,5 | 23,00 | -1,36 | 10 | -13,6 |
15 | 36 | CM | Lam Ross | AUS | 2000 | 5,0 | 35,5 | 44,5 | 23,00 | 1,75 | 20 | 35,0 |