Sethuraman wins 39th Cappelle la Grande Open 2023 on his 30th birthday, Harsha Bharathakoti second
GM Sethuraman S P gave himself the best gift on his 30th birthday. He won 39th Cappelle la Grande Open 2023. Both Sethuraman and GM Harsha Bharathakoti scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 each. Sethuraman won the tournament on tie-breaks, Harsha was adjudged second. The game between them in the penultimate round ended in a draw. GM Krishnan Sasikiran is the other Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 7/9 and was placed fifth according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was €12000. The top three prizes were €2000 and a trophy, €1500 and €1200 each respectively. WIM Mounika Akshaya Bommini won the Best Woman prize.
Sethuraman's first rating tournament triumph since August 2021
The last rating tournament GM Sethuraman S P won was Barcelona Open 2021. Last year, he did finish second in his debut Chess960 tournament in Biel, Switzerland. As of this writing, he is a coleader with IM Antoine Bournel (FRA) at 5/5 in the 6th Cappelle la Grande Rapid Open 2023. So, his second triumph could very well be hours away.
Five players were at 6.5/8 heading into the final round. They were - GM K Sasikiran (2619), GM Sergey Fedorchuk (UKR, 2637), GM Sethuraman S P (2635), IM Koen Leenhouts (NED, 2438) and GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2599). Sasikiran drew with Fedorchuk, Sethuraman and Harsha won their respective games against Koen and IM Nico Zwirs (NED, 2460) each respectively.
Sethuramann - Koen, Round 9
When push comes to shove, Sethuraman is not someone who will take an offense, he will fight back with double force. Koen went for an all out attack by exposing his king, Sethuraman took advantage of it. 28.f4 taking advantage of the fact that the black king is much weaker than white. 28...exf3 29.Qg6+ Qg7 30.Rxg5 Black is forced to trade the queens Qxg6 31.Rxg6+ Kf7 32.Rxb6 fxe2 33.Kxe2 and the resultant double rook endgame is winning for White. Trading one rook makes it easier. Sethuraman went on to win the game and the tournament on tie-breaks.
Sethuraman tweeted the following on his victory
Photo Gallery
In case you missed this edition and wish to play the next edition, mark your calendars for the 40th edition of Cappelle la Grand Open which was announced to take place from 2nd to 9th March 2024.
A total of 382 players including 10 GMs, 21 IMs, a WGM and a WIM participated from 20 countries across the world. The nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament took place from 18th to 24th February 2023. It was organized by L'Echiquier Cappellois at Palace of Arts, Bernard Gouvart in Cappelle la Grande, France. The time control was 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment each.
Replay Round 1-9 games
Final standings
| pl | Name | Rating | Cat. | fede | League | Club | Points | Tr. | Perf | Drank. | |
| 1 | g | SETHURAMAN Sp | 2635 F | Sen M |  | macaw | Lyon Olympic Chess | 7½ | 47 | 2670 | 57½ |
| 2 | g | HARSHA BHARATHAKOTI | 2599F | Sen M | | 7½ | 45 | 2665 | 56 | ||
| 3 | g | FEDORCHUK Sergey A. | 2637F | Sen M |  | EAST | The Chalonnais Exchequer | 7 | 45½ | 2628 | 57 |
| 4 | m | DEGRAEVE Remy | 2428F | JunM |  | CAP | Marseille-Chess | 7 | 45½ | 2600 | 55½ |
| 5 | g | SASIKIRAN Krishnan | 2619F | Sen M | | IDF | Evry Grand Roque | 7 | 45 | 2591 | 54½ |
| 6 | f | MOLENDA Marcin | 2381F | Sen M |  | 7 | 43 | 2500 | 53 | ||
| 7 | gf | MAISURADZE Nino | 2219 F | SenF | | EAST | Bischwiller | 7 | 42 | 2451 | 50 |
| 8 | TRAN Thanh Tu | 2403 F | Sen M |  | 7 | 41½ | 2369 | 51 | |||
| 9 | g | VELTEN Paul | 2470F | Sen M | | EAST | The Chalonnais Exchequer | 6½ | 45½ | 2515 | 56 |
| 10 | g | BELLAHCENE Bilel | 2486F | Sen M |  | EAST | Bischwiller | 6½ | 44 | 2435 | 55 |
| 11 | m | SORENSEN Hampus | 2445F | JunM |  | 6½ | 43 | 2521 | 53 | ||
| 12 | m | BUJISHO Benjamin | 2323F | Sen M | | PDL | Nantes Chess Club | 6½ | 42½ | 2422 | 51 |
| 13 | m | CAN Isik | 2509F | CadM |  | IDF | JEAN | 6½ | 42 | 2456 | 51½ |
| 14 | f | KANOV Nikola | 2383F | MinM |  | 6½ | 41½ | 2401 | 51½ | ||
| 15 | m | LICZNERSKI Lukasz | 2459F | Sen M | | 6½ | 41½ | 2400 | 51½ | ||
| 16 | m | LEENHOUTS Koen | 2438F | Sen M |  | 6½ | 41 | 2408 | 50 | ||
| 17 | m | NITIN S. | 2374F | Sen M | | 6½ | 41 | 2405 | 50½ | ||
| 18 | m | JOLLY Jean Francois | 2398F | Sen M | | NOR | Saint-Lô Lambs | 6½ | 41 | 2369 | 51 |
| 19 | g | SUMETS Andrey | 2513F | Sen M | | IDF | Exchequer of Franconville | 6½ | 39½ | 2400 | 49½ |
| 20 | f | TOMASZEWSKI Kacper | 2312 F | Sen M | | 6½ | 39½ | 2288 | 48½ | ||
| 21 | f | CUKROWSKI Filip | 2375F | Sen M | | 6½ | 39 | 2373 | 47 | ||
| 22 | DIE Tom | 2243F | Sen M | | 6½ | 38½ | 2330 | 47½ | |||
| 23 | g | KOVCHAN Alexander | 2444F | Sen M | | EAST | ES Strasbourg | 6 | 44 | 2460 | 54½ |
| 24 | m | BOURNEL Antoine | 2359F | Sen M | | EAST | The Chalonnais Exchequer | 6 | 43½ | 2481 | 54 |
| 25 | m | ZWIRS Nico | 2460F | Sen M | | 6 | 42½ | 2427 | 53½ | ||
| 26 | m | EUGENE Floryan | 2393F | Sen M | | PDL | Chessboard Club Le Mans | 6 | 42½ | 2378 | 53 |
| 27 | g | ENCHEV Ivajlo | 2444F | Sen M | | HDF | The Cappellois Exchequer | 6 | 42½ | 2363 | 52 |
| 28 | m | VIANI ANTONIO DCUNHA | 2377F | Sen M | | 6 | 42 | 2390 | 50 | ||
| 29 | m | SIECIECHOWICZ Marcin | 2384F | Sen M | | 6 | 42 | 2388 | 53 | ||
| 30 | f | THE CORRE Benjamin | 2292F | Sen M | | EAST | French Chess School of Metz | 6 | 41½ | 2325 | 51 |
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