Iran’s Maqsoudlou finishes third in Int’l President Cup
Iranian chess grandmaster Parham Maqsoudlou settled for a third-place finish in the 3rd International President Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Maqsoudlou, who captained the Iranian gold-winning team in last year’s Asian Games, defeated the host’s international master Saidakbar Saydaliev to finish his campaign with seven points.
This was a sixth win for the Iranian second-seed in Tashkent, with his sole loss coming against Uzbek international master Ortik Nigmatov in the second round.
Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin tallied 7.5 points to win the tournament, which was held in a nine-round Swiss format, with Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov standing runner-up with seven points.
Seyyed Mohammad-Amin Tabatabaei was the other Iranian in the tournament, scoring 5.5 points, courtesy of four wins, three draws, and two losses, to finish 26th in the final standing.
Compared to its previous two editions, this year’s tournament was the biggest and strongest yet, with 120 players participating in the A Open tournament that boasted a 2401 average rating, with 24 grandmasters among that group.