Gujrathi, Chanda, Gopal joint fourth in Cappelle Chess

Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi came good when it mattered most and defeated Marius Monalache of Romania to emerge as the best performing Indian in the Cappelle La Grande International Chess tournament that concluded here.
Ending on 6.5 points out of a possible nine, Gujrathi tied for the fourth spot along with compatriots Sandipan Chanda and G N Gopal, who both drew there final round games.
Top seed Li Chao of China won the tournament with a classic and memorable victory over Mikhail Ulybin of Russia.
The Chinese Grandmaster, the lone member of the 2700 club here, tied for the first spot with Vladimir Onischuk of Ukraine but had the better tiebreak to claim the trophy.

Onischuk, defeated Vladimir Burmakin of Russia in his last round game.
The third place was shared by Vladislav Nevednichy of Romania and Tazbir Marcin of Poland, who both ended up on seven points each and then the Indian trio of Gujrathi, Chanda and Gopal was part of a long tie for the fourth spot on 6.5 points each.

For the records, as many as 18 players tied for the fourth spot. The tiebreaker here was not of much relevance as the prizes were divided according to Hort system.
Gujrathi stepped up when it was really needed and also remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. The Indian played the final round game with white pieces and gave little chance to lower-ranked Monalache.

Chanda employed the queen pawn opening but could not dent the confidence of Kaido Kulaots of Estonia. The middle game was slow and the Indian settled for a draw after trying for some time.