Sethuraman, Harikrishna tie for third in Gibraltar

Indian Grandmasters S P Sethuraman and P Harikrishna finished joint third in the masters section of Tradewise Gibraltar International Chess Festival following draws against Etienne Bacrot of France and Li Chao B of China respectively in the final round here.
It turned out to be a good finish for both Indians although Harikrishna was a touch unlucky not to find himself in tied first place despite being better for the major part of the game against Li Chao.
In a gruelling finale, Hikaru Makamura of United States retained the Gibraltar title for the second time running after winning the tiebreaker against second seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France. After beating David Anton Gujarro of Spain in a crushing fashion, Nakamura was at his best in speed chess and won the title winning by a 3-2 margin.

Vachier had to be content with the second place after tying for first in one of the strongest tournament of the world. The Frenchman accounted for compatriot Sebastian Maze in the final round to set up a match for the winner with Nakamura.
Harikrishna pressed hard for a victory and Li Chao had his back to the wall for most of the game. However, the Chinese did not give up and came up with many only moves to eventually find some counter play.
It was a six way tie for the third spot and Bacrot had the best tiebreak to back him for the third place. Sethuraman ended fourth while Harikrishna was fifth as the tie was resolved but the prize money was equally shared between all tied six players.

Among other Indians in the fray, Abhijeet Gupta won his final round game against Eylon Nakar of Israel to finish tenth on seven points. Vidit Gujrathi was the other Indian to reach seven points and finished among prizes after drawing with higher ranked Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand ended his campaign on a positive note defeating Erik Blomqvist of Sweden. Anand ended on 6.5 points in all after a forgettable campaign.