World's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi finished his campaign on a positive note defeating Emil Hermansson of Sweden in the 9th and final round of 15th Sigeman & Co International Chess tournament.
Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria finished the formalities of winning the tournament after taking a draw with last year's winner Jan Timman of Holland in his final round.
Cheparinov finished with an impressive tally of 7 points out of a possible 9 to annex the title in this category-13 event by 1.5 points.
The second place was jointly shared by Timman and Swede duo of Emanuel Berg and Tiger Hillarp Persson who all scored an identical 5.5 points each. Finishing a clear fifth was Pontus Carlsson of Sweden on 5 points while Vasilios Kotronias of Greece finished sixth a half point behind.
After a fine start and a rather forgettable middle phase, Negi managed to hold his rating together from the event and finished tied 7th with Erwin L'Ami of Holland on 4 points.
Sharing the last spot were Hermansson and his compatriot Jonny Hector with both scoring just 2 points apiece.
Negi suffered from opening problems in most of the games he lost here. However, against Hermansson in the final round the tide took a turn for the better as the Indian youngster outplayed his rival in quick time.
It was a Polugaevsky Sicilian that appeared on board and Negi was well armed for a fierce battle arising out of one of the main variations.
Hermansson was put under pressure early in the game with a double pawn sacrifice that Negi later topped with a fine piece sacrifice to force matters. The game lasted just 23 moves.
Sigeman Int'l: Negi beats Hermansson
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