Nandhidhaa P V makes a historic shared first place finish at 47th La Roda International Open 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/12/2021

WGM Nandhidhaa P V makes a historic shared first place finish at 47th La Roda International Open 2021. In 46 editions of the tournament, no woman had ever shared first place or finished in top three of the event. That changed yesterday when Nandhidhaa, GM Boris Chatalbashev (DEN) and Karen Grigoryan H (ARM) scored 7.5/9 each. Boris won the tournament, Karen secured second place and Nandhidhaa was adjudged third according to the tie-breaks. They won €2500, €1500 and €1000 cash and a trophy each respectively as their prize. The total prize fund of the tournament was €12500. Photo: La Roda Open

Aniruddh scores an unbeaten 6.0/9

A total of 238 players including 5 GMs, 3 IMs, a WGM and a WIM took part from ten countries across the world. Only four Indian players took part in the event. Aniruddh Chatterjee, Ojas Kulkarni and Sudarshan Bhat, all three of them scored 6.0/9 each. Only Aniruddh remained undefeated throughout the tournament. He secured 25th place and gained 41.6 Elo rating points, the only Indian player to finish in top 25 after Nandhidhaa.

Nandhidhaa secured a historic shared first place at 47th La Roda Open 2021 | Photo: La Roda Open

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd GM Karen Grigoryan H (ARM), 1st GM Boris Chatalbashev (DEN) and 3rd WGM Nandhidhaa P V | Photo: La Roda Open

Nandhidhaa, after suffering a loss, bounced back well by winning her next four games

Round 6: Nandhidhaa - Santiago: 1-0

Nandhidhaa exploited the dark square weakness on the kingside of her opponent, Santiago Ano Tafall (ESP).

Position after 25.Nh6+

Black was almost forced to give up the dark squared bishop 25...Bxh6 26.Qxh6 and White eventually transferred the bishop from the long diagonal to h6 where it is much more effective and played a key role in getting the win.

Position after 35.Nxe6

34...Be8?? made way for White to play 35.Nxe6! and gain a lot of pawns.

Round 7: Fernando - Nandhidhaa: 0-1

In the seventh round, Nandhidhaa recovered well from a slightly uncomfortable position, waited for the right opportunity to strike against Fenando Fernandez Estremera (ESP).

Position after 34.Nc4

Try to think like Nandhidhaa after 34.Nc4 and find out the winning continuation for Black.

Round 8: Nandhidhaa - Ruben: 1-0

In a sharp game, just when it seemed like things Nandhidhaa's opponent Ruben Fernandez Lopez (ESP) has equalized everything, he made a mistake.

Position after 30...Qe3

Find out why 30...Qe3 is a mistake and what Black could have done instead.

Nandhidhaa en route her victory against Ruben Fernandez Lopez | Photo: La Roda Open

Round 9: Larino Nieto - Nandhidhaa: 0-1

GM David Larino Nieto (ESP) went wrong early in the opening against WGM Nandhidhaa P V.

Position after 11...Nd3

Black getting to bring her knight at d3 and keeping it there comfortably for the rest of the game means White has gone terribly wrong in the opening and could not make the correct strategy of getting rid of it immediately.

Photo Gallery

Aniruddh Chatterjee scored an unbeaten 6.0/9 and gained 41.6 Elo rating points | Photo: La Roda Open

The tournament hall | Photo: La Roda Open

View from the other side of the hall | Photo: La Roda Open

WGM Nandhidhaa P V receives her prize | Photo: La Roda Open

Spain no.3 IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez making the inaugural first move at the top board | Photo: La Roda Open

Replay Nandhidhaa's games

Replay Round 1-9 games

The tournament took place at La Caja Blanca at La Roda, Albacete in Spain from 4th to 8th December 2021. Every day there were double rounds, except the last round, which starts at 1:30 p.m. IST. Time control for the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 minutes increment per move starting from move 1.

Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.	2645	6½	1 - 0	6½	GM	Cabrera Alexis	2481	4
2	9	FM	Alonso Garcia Aaron	2367	6½	½ - ½	6½	GM	Martinez Duany Lelys Stanley	2520	2
3	8	IM	Carrasco Martinez Juan M.	2382	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Chatalbashev Boris	2517	3
4	5	GM	Larino Nieto David	2454	6	0 - 1	6½	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2313	12
5	6	IM	Tejedor Fuente Enrique	2430	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Renteria Jorge	2272	18
6	7	IM	Martin Duque Jesus	2416	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Castellanos Gomez Alejandro	2259	20
7	13	WIM	Forgas Moreno Yaniela	2310	6	½ - ½	6	CM	Villar Perez Samuel	2218	25
8	36		Munoz Avila Jose Luis	2186	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Perez Guerra Raul	2286	16
9	17	FM	Fernandez Barrera Victor	2281	6	0 - 1	6		Rodriguez Garcia Manuel Fco	2162	43
10	14	FM	Cabezas Ayala Ivan	2299	5½	½ - ½	5½		Llavador Moron Juan Jose	2121	49
11	19	FM	Ortin Blanco Inigo	2262	5½	½ - ½	5½		Iglesias Ferreira Andres	2104	58
12	21		Fernandez Lopez Ruben	2244	5½	½ - ½	5½		Aniruddh Chatterjee	2112	54
13	48		Bringas Gomez Artai	2135	5½	½ - ½	5½		Labiano Hernandez Juan	2210	27
14	57		Ereza Vizcarra Fernando	2107	5½	½ - ½	5½	FM	Buenafe Moya Javier	2208	28
15	29		Vergara Anton Diego	2207	5½	½ - ½	5½		Hernandez Leon Sergio	2099	60

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	3	GM	Chatalbashev Boris			DEN	2517	0	DINAMARCA	7,5	51,0	55,0	40,5	44,25	0,0
2	1	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.			ARM	2645	2637	AND	7,5	50,0	54,5	39,5	44,25	0,0
3	12	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V		w	IND	2313	0	INDIA	7,5	45,5	49,5	36,5	40,75	0,0
4	2	GM	Martinez Duany Lelys Stanley			CUB	2520	2545	GAL	7,0	51,5	56,0	37,5	42,50	0,0
5	9	FM	Alonso Garcia Aaron			ESP	2367	2391	MUR - Lapuerta	7,0	49,5	53,5	37,5	40,50	0,0
6	6	IM	Tejedor Fuente Enrique			ESP	2430	2437	CNT	7,0	49,5	53,5	37,5	39,75	0,0
7	7	IM	Martin Duque Jesus			ESP	2416	2438	MAD - Collado Villalba	7,0	46,5	50,5	34,0	39,25	0,0
8	36		Munoz Avila Jose Luis			ESP	2186	2191	VAS	7,0	45,0	49,0	36,0	35,00	0,0
9	43		Rodriguez Garcia Manuel Fco			ESP	2162	2191	EXT - Merida	7,0	45,0	48,5	33,5	37,50	0,0
10	4	GM	Cabrera Alexis			ESP	2481	2470	VAL - Mislata	6,5	50,5	55,0	38,0	37,50	0,0
11	38		Fernandez Estremera Fernando	1		ESP	2179	2194	MAD - Jaque Mate	6,5	47,5	51,5	32,5	34,25	0,0
12	8	IM	Carrasco Martinez Juan M.			ESP	2382	2370	EXT - Casareño	6,5	46,5	51,0	35,0	35,00	0,0
13	25	CM	Villar Perez Samuel			ESP	2218	2224	GAL	6,5	45,5	49,5	34,0	33,25	0,0
14	98		Horcajuelo Rocamora Martin			ESP	1976	2006	MAD - Diagonal Alcorcon	6,5	45,5	47,5	31,0	31,00	0,0
15	13	WIM	Forgas Moreno Yaniela		w	CUB	2310	0	CUBA	6,5	43,0	47,5	33,5	34,00	0,0

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details

Related news: