Young Indian GM Gukesh wins title at Cannes Open chess tourney

India's 13-year old Grandmaster D Gukesh emerged champion in the 34th Cannes Open in Cannes, France on Saturday, beating Harutyun Bargseghyan of the host nation in the final round to end with 7.5 points.

Gukesh (Elo rating 2542), who last year became the world's second youngest Grandmaster ever, beat the Frenchman in 50 moves to emerge clear winner.

He had started the event as the fourth seed and Chongsheng Zeng, the top seed, took the second place.

The Tamil Nadu player had last week won his first open tournament, bagging top honours in the Hillerod 110th Anniversary Open event in Denmark.

He remained unbeaten in the tournament and posted wins over Chongsheng Zeng of China and Bargseghyan among others.

He also had three draws including one against compatriot G B Harshavardhan who finished with 5.5 points and took the 18th spot.

Siva Mahadevan was the next best Indian performer after Gukesh, taking the 10th place with six points.

Gukesh had recently taken part in coaching camps conducted by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand.