Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa emerged winner in the Norway Chess Group A Open chess tournament in Stavanger after logging 7.5 points from nine rounds.
The 16-year-old top seed was in fine form and remained unbeaten through the nine rounds. He finished the tournament with a victory over fellow-Indian V Praneeth, an International Master, late on Friday.
Praggnanandhaa (Elo 2642) finished a full point ahead of second-placed IM Marsel Efroimski (Israel) and IM Jung Min Seo (Sweden).
Praneeth, with six points, was joint-third, but placed sixth due to an inferior tie-break score.
Apart from beating Praneeth, Praggnanandhaa posted victories over Victor Mikhalevski (in Round 8), Vitaly Kunin (Round 6), Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (Round 4), Semen Mutusov (Round 2) and Mathias Unneland (Round 1). He drew his other three games.
The Indian teenaged star has come up with impressive performances in recent times and beaten world number one Magnus Carlsen for a second time in the Chessable Master online event and lost a close final to China's Ding Liren.
He will be part of the India B team in the open event of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai next month.
Praggnanandhaa's coach R B Ramesh congratulated him after the triumph and said it will help boost his confidence.
"Congratulations to him for the victory. He was the top seed, so it is not a surprise that he won the tournament. He played well in general, drew three games with black pieces and won the remaining games. It will help boost his confidence," Ramesh said.
