Kerala GM Nihal Sarin clinches Menorca Open chess title in Spain

Malayali GM Nihal Sarin outwitted World Champion D Gukesh and a handful of other leading stars to win the Menorca Open chess tournament in Spain on Sunday.

The 21-year-old from Thrissur in Kerala finished on 6 points from 10 rounds, while Ukraine's Ruslan Ponomariov and Hungary's Richard Rapport ended on 5.5 points each. Gukesh was placed fourth in the six-player field in the Masters category on 4.5 points.

Nihal secured his title with a draw against Ponomariov in the final round, while the two other Indians, Gukesh and Pentala Harikrishna, lost to Richard Rapport and Leinier Dominguez Perez respectively, in their 10th round games. Nihal lost just two games in the tournament and famously upset Gukesh twice.

Nihal is the third GM from Kerala after G N Gopal and S L Narayanan. With a classical rating of 2723, he is the highest-rated Malayali ever.

In January this year, Nihal clinched the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid title, edging five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand.