Maha psychology student upsets higher-rated Spaniard in Kerala's biggest GM chess tourney

Saniya Rafique Tadavi of Maharashtra caused one of two big upsets in the first round of the 1st GM International organised by Kottayam Chess Academy at Kanjikuzhi in Kottayam district on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old, starting as the 132nd seed in Category A, stunned Spaniard Daniel Sanz Wawer, who had about 600 Elo points more. Playing black, Saniya launched an ambitious attack on the queenside and forced the Spaniard into a defensive mode.

Sanz Wawer gave up his queen for two rooks hoping to find parity, but Saniya remained calm and played optimum queen moves, eventually forcing a resignation after 50 moves.

She performed decently in the below 2200 category of the recently concluded Maharashtra Chess Festival, finishing with 6.5 points, and stands to gain about 50 rating points from the event.

"I wasn't aiming for anything big in the tournament because I just wrote my final year exams in BA Psychology. So I just wanted to play well," said the 2023 Maharashtra state champion.

Meanwhile, Yeshas H, a 13-year-old from Karnataka with a rating of 1786, was the other giant slayer in round one as he defeated IM Semetei Tologon Tegin of Kyrgyzstan (2358).

A few other players scored notable draws against higher-rated players; Karnataka's Adhrit Das Purkayastha (1795) held Belarusian GM Alexei Fedorov (2396), while Sri Lankan Gnanaseelan Jude Dorison (1776) drew with GM P Karthikeyan (2312) and Karnataka's Sinthia Sarkar (1769) split a point with GM RR Laxman (2290).

The event that offers a total cash prize of Rs 30 lakh features 13 GMs, with Armenian Karen Grigoryan as top seed. Armenian Manuel Petrosyan and Georgian Levan Pantsulaia are the second and third seeds respectively.