GM Moradiabadi Wins the Washington International

Going into the last round of the 5th Annual Washington International, four players were tied with 6/8 (GM Gata Kamsky, GM Conrad Holt, GM Elshan Moradiabadi, and IM Keaton Kiewra), closely followed by five players a half point behind. It looked like, for the first time, there would not be a sole winner of the title. However, in the end, the only player in the top score group able to win their game was GM Moradiabadi, giving him sole first place and $4000. Five players tied for second: GM Ilya Smirin, GM Kamsky, GM Holt, IM Kiewra, and IM Arthur Shen; earning them each $1190. On the title-earning front, two players met their last requirement for their GM titles when their FIDE ratings surpassed 2500, IM Darwin Yang (CA) and IM Razvan Preotu (CAN). The B section (Under 2201) also had a sole winner, also with a score of 7/9, Alan Gu (NJ). Tied for second were Nikhil Kumar (FL) and Juan Obregon (AZ). The blitz tournament on Friday evening was won by IM Akshat Chandra with GM Holt in second place. One of the more interesting games of the tournament occurred in round 2 when IM-elect Nicolas Checa played top seeded GM Ilya Smirin. Nico's attack to end the game is quite devastating.

[pgn]

[Event "5th Washington International"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Checa, Nicholas"]
[Black "Smirin, Ilia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E94"]
[PlyCount "53"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. Be3
h6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. h3 c6 11. Qc1 Kh7 12. Rd1 Qe7 13. c5 Nh5 14. Rd6 Nf4 15.
Bc4 Nf6 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Qxf4 Nd7 18. Qe3 b6 19. Rad1 Nxc5 20. e5 Qc7 21. Ne4
Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Bf5 23. Qh4 Rae8 24. e6 fxe6 25. Rd7 Qc8 26. Ba6 Qxa6 27. Ng5+
1-0[/pgn]

For more information, check out: Final Standings Final Blitz Standings Tournament Photos