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Indians finish top in Spain chess

Neelotpal Das has some reason to feel aggrieved at team-mate P Konguvel.

In Belaguer, Spain, Das missed his third international master norm when he lost to Konguvel, and in the process failed to top the table.

This apart, the Indian contingent had much to cheer about, with six Indians figuring in the final prize list -- a feat even the host country, with a much larger contingent, could not match.

International Master Sasikaran defeated Rahul Shetty to join Konguvel in the tie for the first seven places.

Neelotpal, Rahul, Sandipan Chanda and V Saravanan finshed on six apiece, to tie for the 11th to 16th places. Roktim Bandhopadyay managed six points, but was unlucky to drop out of the list on the tie-break.

While Sasikaran ground out a slow win over Shetty in an irregular queen pawn opening, outfoxing his team-mate in a knight ending, Neelotpal Das's Sicilian Schereingen was met by an English Attack from Konguvel. In a chaotic middlegame, Neelotpal managed to ward off Konguvel's kingside attacks, but lost in the sudden death play, missing good winning opportunities.

Konguvel and Shetty will now move over to Koszalin, Poland, to participate in the MK Cafe Cup, while Sashikaran flies to Torquay (Britain) to participate in the British Championships.