Iniyan wins AICF World Cup Qualifier and qualifies to the FIDE World Cup 2021
GM Iniyan P started AICF World Cup Qualifier with a draw against GM Sethuraman and that was his sole draw of the event. His aim was to play well and not to lose games and that is exactly what he did. He scored 12 wins and suffered only 3 losses. The most important win of the tournament turned out to be against Gukesh as he had all the momentum with him to cross the finish line. Iniyan will play the biggest FIDE World Cup in history which will have the highest number of participants 206, starting on 10th July 2021.
Iniyan qualified to FIDE World Cup with a round to spare
GM Iniyan P started the final day of AICF World Cup Qualifier with a victory over IM Raja Rithvik R after latter made a tactical error. He won the next game against IM P Saravana Krishnan whose queen and king got completely locked out of the action. This win helped Iniyan secure his place in the FIDE World Cup 2021 as he gained a full point lead. Since he had already Gukesh in Round 14, who was the only one who could tie with his score, the last round result became irrelevant for his chances. Thus losing the last round game to GM Deep Sengupta did not affect his chances.
Iniyan after winning the event shared the following in the ChessBase India live stream, "Thank you. I am feeling really great with the result as well as the games I have played." Iniyan on his chances, "I wasn't expecting this at all. I was just trying to do my best. It's been a long time since I played a tournament of this level. I wasn't sure of how I will do but certainly I didn't expect to get the first place." On his mindset before the tournament, "My aim was to just play well and not lose games. That was the main thing. I just want to keep on playing, play and get a win. I went into the endgames where it was clearly equal in many cases. I just wanted to keep on trying and trying till I get a point."
A loss against Iniyan in Round 14 cost Gukesh dearly. He drew in Round 15 against GM Narayanan S L where Gukesh was better for the majority of the game but in the end Narayanan managed to escape with a draw. Then he scored two fine victories over IM Soumya Swaminathan and GM Vishnu Prasanna.
Sethuraman had a tough day as he started with a grueling draw with IM Rahul Srivasthav, then he lost to IM Nitin S as he made a tactical error in the final moments of the game. He won the final round game against IM Aditya Mittal to finish third with 10.5/17.
Replay Round 15-17 games
Round 15-17 results
| Round 15 on 2021/05/30 at 1000 hrs | |||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 9 | 2478 | IM | Krishna Crg | 0 - 1 | GM | Vasanthan Perumal Vishnu Prasanna | 2476 | 7 |
| 2 | 10 | 2625 | GM | Sekhar Ganguly Surya | ½ - ½ | IM | Swaminathan Soumya | 2351 | 6 |
| 3 | 11 | 2578 | GM | Gukesh D | ½ - ½ | GM | S.L Narayanan | 2624 | 5 |
| 4 | 12 | 2408 | IM | Rithvik R Raja | 0 - 1 | GM | P Iniyan | 2506 | 4 |
| 5 | 13 | 2312 | IM | Krishnan P Saravana | 1 - 0 | IM | Mittal Aditya | 2438 | 3 |
| 6 | 14 | 2527 | GM | Sengupta Deep | 0 - 1 | IM | S. Nitin | 2381 | 2 |
| 7 | 15 | 2644 | GM | S.p Sethuraman | ½ - ½ | IM | Srivatshav Peddi Rahul | 2463 | 1 |
| 8 | 16 | 2660 | GM | Baskaran Adhiban | 1 - 0 | FM | Vinay Kumar Matta | 2305 | 17 |
| 9 | 8 | 2371 | FM | Singhania Vatsal | 0 | bye | 0 | -1 | |
| Round 16 on 2021/05/30 at 1100 hrs | |||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2463 | IM | Srivatshav Peddi Rahul | 0 - 1 | GM | Baskaran Adhiban | 2660 | 16 |
| 2 | 2 | 2381 | IM | S. Nitin | 1 - 0 | GM | S.p Sethuraman | 2644 | 15 |
| 3 | 3 | 2438 | IM | Mittal Aditya | 1 - 0 | GM | Sengupta Deep | 2527 | 14 |
| 4 | 4 | 2506 | GM | P Iniyan | 1 - 0 | IM | Krishnan P Saravana | 2312 | 13 |
| 5 | 5 | 2624 | GM | S.L Narayanan | 1 - 0 | IM | Rithvik R Raja | 2408 | 12 |
| 6 | 6 | 2351 | IM | Swaminathan Soumya | 0 - 1 | GM | Gukesh D | 2578 | 11 |
| 7 | 7 | 2476 | GM | Vasanthan Perumal Vishnu Prasanna | ½ - ½ | GM | Sekhar Ganguly Surya | 2625 | 10 |
| 8 | 8 | 2371 | FM | Singhania Vatsal | 0 - 1 | IM | Krishna Crg | 2478 | 9 |
| 9 | 17 | 2305 | FM | Vinay Kumar Matta | 0 | bye | 0 | -1 | |
| Round 17 on 2021/05/30 at 1200 hrs | |||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 10 | 2625 | GM | Sekhar Ganguly Surya | 1 - 0 | FM | Singhania Vatsal | 2371 | 8 |
| 2 | 11 | 2578 | GM | Gukesh D | 1 - 0 | GM | Vasanthan Perumal Vishnu Prasanna | 2476 | 7 |
| 3 | 12 | 2408 | IM | Rithvik R Raja | ½ - ½ | IM | Swaminathan Soumya | 2351 | 6 |
| 4 | 13 | 2312 | IM | Krishnan P Saravana | 0 - 1 | GM | S.L Narayanan | 2624 | 5 |
| 5 | 14 | 2527 | GM | Sengupta Deep | 1 - 0 | GM | P Iniyan | 2506 | 4 |
| 6 | 15 | 2644 | GM | S.p Sethuraman | 1 - 0 | IM | Mittal Aditya | 2438 | 3 |
| 7 | 16 | 2660 | GM | Baskaran Adhiban | 0 - 1 | IM | S. Nitin | 2381 | 2 |
| 8 | 17 | 2305 | FM | Vinay Kumar Matta | 0 - 1 | IM | Srivatshav Peddi Rahul | 2463 | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | 2478 | IM | Krishna Crg | 0 | bye | 0 | -1 | |
Final Standings after Round 17
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 4 | GM | P Iniyan | IND | 2506 | 12,5 | 1,0 | 91,25 | 12 | 5 |
| 2 | 11 | GM | Gukesh D | IND | 2578 | 12,5 | 0,0 | 88,00 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | 15 | GM | S.p Sethuraman | IND | 2644 | 10,5 | 0,0 | 69,25 | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Sekhar Ganguly Surya | IND | 2625 | 10,0 | 3,0 | 78,75 | 9 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | GM | S.L Narayanan | IND | 2624 | 10,0 | 1,5 | 69,00 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 | IM | S. Nitin | IND | 2381 | 10,0 | 1,0 | 65,50 | 9 | 4 |
| 7 | 12 | IM | Rithvik R Raja | IND | 2408 | 10,0 | 0,5 | 67,50 | 8 | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | IM | Srivatshav Peddi Rahul | IND | 2463 | 9,0 | 0,0 | 67,25 | 8 | 3 |
| 9 | 16 | GM | Baskaran Adhiban | IND | 2660 | 8,5 | 0,0 | 59,00 | 6 | 1 |
| 10 | 14 | GM | Sengupta Deep | IND | 2527 | 8,0 | 0,0 | 51,75 | 7 | 3 |
| 11 | 3 | IM | Mittal Aditya | IND | 2438 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 53,50 | 6 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 | GM | Vasanthan Perumal Vishnu Prasanna | IND | 2476 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 48,00 | 5 | 3 |
| 13 | 9 | IM | Krishna Crg | IND | 2478 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 40,75 | 5 | 2 |
| 14 | 6 | IM | Swaminathan Soumya | IND | 2351 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 32,00 | 3 | 1 |
| 15 | 17 | FM | Vinay Kumar Matta | IND | 2305 | 4,0 | 1,0 | 26,50 | 4 | 1 |
| 16 | 13 | IM | Krishnan P Saravana | IND | 2312 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 22,75 | 3 | 1 |
| 17 | 8 | FM | Singhania Vatsal | IND | 2371 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 9,75 | 1 | 0 |
