Georgian Grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze won the 2014 Al Ain Chess Classic after edging the opposition on additional criteria.
Gaioz Nigalidze, Tigran Petrosian (Armenia), Vladimir Onischuk (Ukraine) and Sergei Zhigalko (Belarus) finished on top with 7,0/9 points each.
Nigalidze started the event as 28th seed, finally earning 30 elo points and 11,000 USD top prize.
The Al Ain Chess Club held the 3rd Al Ain Chess Classic, a 9-round Swiss open tournament, from 19-26th December 2014 at the Al Ain Rotana Hili Hotel.
151 players from 27 countries, including 52 Grandmasters and 17 International Masters, competed in the event.
Final standings:
1. GM Nigalidze Gaioz GEO 2536 – 7
2. GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2651 – 7
3. GM Onischuk Vladimir UKR 2614 – 7
4. GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2672 – 7
5. GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2688 – 6.5
6. GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2661 – 6.5
7. GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2632 – 6.5
8. GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2625 – 6.5
9. GM Oleksienko Mikhailo UKR 2621 – 6.5
10. GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian ROU 2580 – 6.5
11. GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2580 – 6.5
12. GM Pashikian Arman ARM 2617 – 6.5
13. GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2681 – 6
14. GM Grover Sahaj IND 2505 – 6
15. GM Shankland Samuel L USA 2642 – 6
16. GM Abasov Nijat AZE 2509 – 6
17. GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2599 – 6
18. GM Kovchan Alexander UKR 2577 – 6
19. GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2599 – 6
20. GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil GEO 2625 – 6
21. GM Gopal G.N. IND 2580 – 6
22. GM Ankit R. Rajpara IND 2494 – 6
23. GM Bajarani Ulvi AZE 2494 – 6
24. GM Moskalenko Viktor ESP 2528 – 6
25. IM Lodhi Mahmood PAK 2328 – 6
26. GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2658 – 6
27. IM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2407 – 6
28. GM Malakhatko Vadim BEL 2533 – 5.5
29. GM Arun Prasad S. IND 2482 – 5.5
30. GM Paichadze Luka GEO 2561 – 5.5
31. GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij UKR 2618 – 5.5
32. IM Gagare Shardul IND 2411 – 5.5
33. IM Abdyjapar Asyl KGZ 2385 – 5.5
34. GM Gasanov Eldar UKR 2526 – 5.5
35. IM Karavade Eesha IND 2392 – 5.5
36. WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa IRI 2312 – 5.5
37. GM Rahman Ziaur BAN 2511 – 5.5
38. GM Hayrapetyan Hovik ARM 2441 – 5.5
39. GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2640 – 5.5
40. GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2463 – 5.5
41. IM Galojan Lilit ARM 2275 – 5.5
42. GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2576 – 5.5
43. Nasri Amin IRI 2275 – 5.5
44. GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2611 – 5.5
45. IM Pourramezanali Amirreza IRI 2427 – 5.5
46. IM Sagar Shah IND 2468 – 5.5
47. GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2645 – 5.5
48. GM Sengupta Deep IND 2566 – 5
49. GM Babujian Levon ARM 2471 – 5
50. GM Bakre Tejas IND 2454 – 5
51. GM Shyam Sundar M. IND 2484 – 5
52. FM Tologontegin Semetey KGZ 2391 – 5
53. WGM Abdumalik Zhansaya KAZ 2332 – 5
54. CM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2255 – 5
55. FM Soozankar A.M. IRI 2183 – 5
56. CM Gasimov Parviz AZE 2295 – 5
57. WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2330 – 5
58. Nandhidhaa Pv IND 2177 – 5
59. Mohammed Tarig Elther SUD 2044 – 5
60. WGM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan KAZ 2378 – 5
61. GM Baryshpolets Andrey UKR 2566 – 5
62. IM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman IND 2329 – 5
63. WGM Mirzoeva Elmira RUS 2246 – 5
64. FM Gholami Aryan IRI 2320 – 5
65. FM Thakur Akash IND 2302 – 5
Impressive finish.