The rising generation of Australian chess stars is coming to the fore in the final rounds of the 2014 Sydney International Open. IM Moulthun Ly leads the tournament on 6.5, ahead of GM Liviu-Dieter Nispeanu, GM Levente Vajda, GM Hrant Melkumyan and FM Junta Ikeda. By drawing the Nispeanu, Ikeda looks to have gained enough rating points to reach 2400 and confirm his IM title. As an added bonus he also has a chance of scoring a GM norm, but needs to beat GM Darryl Johansen in the final round to do so. Ly is also in the running for a GM norm, needing at least half a point against Vajda in their final round game.
The last round pairings sees the leading bunch all play players on different scores, meaning that any of 5 players still has a chance of winning the tournament. The Ly - Vajda game will be the most closely watched, but all the games on the live boards will help determine the final standings.
In the Challengers, Paul Russell holds a half point lead over Tony Weller. The two play in the last round, with the winner taking outright first.
Vajda,Levente - Luke,Li [C54]
2014 Sydney International (8.4), 26.04.2014
1 comment:
Did Ly and Ikeda really have a 'Grandmaster Draw' after 12 moves in the morning round yesterday? Do you know if it was frowned upon? Were they trying to make some kind of statement?
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