Vaibhav Suri dominates Hong Kong Open 2023
GM Vaibhav Suri scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Hong Kong International Open 2023. He won the tournament with a round to spare, finished a staggering one and a half point ahead of others. Four players - Gehua Wen (CHN), GM Rui Gao (CHN), IM Yuanhe Zhao (CHN) and Songliang Cai (CHN) scored 7/9 each. They were placed second to fifth respectively according to tie-breaks.Vaibhav defeated second seeded and eventual second runner-up, Rui. The top three prizes were HK$ 18000 + trophy, $10000 and $6000 along with a medal each. This was Vaibhav's sole tournament triumph in 2023. Photos: IA IO FT Robin Lai
Vaibhav's sole triumph in 2023
GM Vaibhav Suri won the tournament when he defeated Kangmin Zhong (CHN) in the eighth round. He had a 1.5 points lead going into the final round. There was no possibility of anyone catching him mathematically. He drew the last round game against IM Yuanhe Zhao (CHN) as the outcome of the match would not have affected his final standings. Vaibhav plays very few tournaments each other. Out of the four rating tournaments he played in 2023, this was only his second Classical individual rating tournament and he won in a dominant fashion.
Vaibhav - Prin, Round 5
GM Vaibhav Suri's (2588) queen and bishop pair making some deadly threats on Black's kingside. IM Prin Laohawirapap (THA, 2329) blundered 33...Qb3?? 34.Qh6 f6 35.Be6+ finished the game immediately. Taking the bishop 33...gxf5 would not have changed things as 34.Bc7 would have given the win.
Thanks to the Chief Arbiter - IA IO FT Robin Lai, Vice President of Hong Kong Chess Federation for sharing photos of the tournament.
A total of 167 players including 3 GMs, 3 IMs and a WIM took part from 17 countries across the world in the Rating Open tournament. The six-day nine round Rating tournament was organized by Hong Kong China Chess Federation Ltd. at Saint Benedict’s School at Choi Hung, Kowloon in Hong Kong from 24th to 29th December 2023. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Vaibhav, Suri | IND | 2588 | 0 | 8,5 | 0 | 4 | 52 | 2345 | 9 | 8,5 | 7,75 | 0,75 | 10 | 7,5 | |||
| 2 | 15 | Wen, Gehua | CHN | 2137 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 1894 | 8 | 6 | 6,43 | -0,43 | 20 | -8,6 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | GM | Gao, Rui | CHN | 2543 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 50,5 | 2270 | 9 | 7 | 7,92 | -0,92 | 10 | -9,2 | |||
| 4 | 3 | IM | Zhao, Yuanhe | CHN | 2462 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 50,5 | 2173 | 9 | 7 | 7,90 | -0,90 | 10 | -9 | |||
| 5 | 17 | Cai, Songliang | CHN | 2056 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 49,5 | 2001 | 9 | 7 | 5,21 | 1,79 | 20 | 35,8 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | FM | Escobar Medina, Andres F | COL | 2293 | 0 | 6,5 | 0 | 4 | 44,5 | 1953 | 9 | 6,5 | 8,54 | -2,04 | 20 | -40,8 | |||
| 7 | 4 | IM | Laohawirapap, Prin | U18 | THA | 2329 | 0 | 6,5 | 0 | 3 | 52 | 2176 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,48 | 0,02 | 20 | 0,4 | ||
| 8 | 19 | Zhong, Kangmin | U20 | CHN | 1989 | 0 | 6,5 | 0 | 2 | 49,5 | 2071 | 9 | 6,5 | 4,14 | 2,36 | 20 | 47,2 | |||
| 9 | 9 | IM | Li, Bo | CHN | 2216 | 0 | 6,5 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 2006 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,72 | -0,22 | 10 | -2,2 | |||
| 10 | 5 | GM | Villamayor, Buenaventura | S50 | SGP | 2324 | 0 | 6,5 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 2022 | 9 | 6,5 | 8,28 | -1,78 | 10 | -17,8 | ||
| 11 | 28 | Azizbekyan, Haik | ARM | 1828 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 45,5 | 1592 | 9 | 6 | 6,81 | -0,81 | 20 | -16,2 | ||||
| 12 | 55 | Chan, Wang Ip Boris | U14 | HKG | 1589 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 1790 | 9 | 6 | 2,85 | 3,15 | 40 | 126 | |||
| 13 | 20 | FM | Wiwatanadate, Poompong | THA | 1973 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 1887 | 8 | 5 | 4,35 | 0,65 | 20 | 13 | |||
| 14 | 34 | CM | Nisban, Cyrus | SGP | 1787 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 1717 | 8 | 5 | 4,53 | 0,47 | 20 | 9,4 | |||
| 15 | 27 | Li, Yiheng | U12 | HKG | 1844 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 1747 | 9 | 6 | 5,57 | 0,43 | 40 | 17,2 | |||
| 16 | 22 | Du, Yuxin | w | CHN | 1948 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 1718 | 8 | 5 | 5,72 | -0,72 | 20 | -14,4 | |||
| 17 | 131 | Chen, Andrea | U14 | w | USA | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 1415 | 8 | 5 | ||||||
| 18 | 49 | Chen, Zhiyuan | U14 | CHN | 1632 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 40,5 | 1411 | 9 | 6 | 6,48 | -0,48 | 40 | -19,2 | |||
| 19 | 38 | Wang, Zihao | CHN | 1733 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 40,5 | 1405 | 6 | 5 | 5,08 | -0,08 | 40 | -3,2 | ||||
| 20 | 33 | Kannappan, Thanneermalai | U16 | HKG | 1805 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 1513 | 8 | 5 | 6,37 | -1,37 | 40 | -54,8 |