Riga (Latvia), Aug 15 (Sports news) Indian Grandmaster S L Narayanan logged seven points from nine rounds to finish second in the tournament 'A' of the 10th Riga Technical University Open here on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Narayanan was in joint lead with Serbia's Luka Budisavljevic after seven rounds, but draws in the eighth and ninth rounds meant he finished half a point behind the champion, Alexander Donchenko of Germany.
Donchenko notched up 7.5 points from nine rounds and sealed the title with a win over Igor Kovalenko of Latvia in the final round.
Narayanan remained unbeaten through the tournament and registered five wins and settled for four draws.
Three others including Karthikeyan Murali finished on seven points but Narayanan took the second place on the basis of a better tie-break score.
He beat Paulius Juknis of Lithuania), Thomas Dionisi of France, Yevgeny Roshka of Ukraine, Kaido Kulaots of Estonia and Budisavljevic.
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Narayanan's compatriot Karthikeyan Murali was the next best Indian, finishing fifth.
India's International Master Arjun Kalyan took the eighth spot with 6.5 points. IM Pranav Anand and teen prodigy R Praggnanandhaa logged 6.5 points and finished 11th and 13th respectively.
Three other Indians — S P Sethuraman, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin — ended 16th, 17th and 18th, respectively, in the 150-player tournament.
Young Chennai-based GM D Gukesh secured the 26th spot after ending with six points. News source: PTI
