Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the Cannes International chess title by a full point after he settled for a quick 10 move draw in the ninth and final round game against Italian GM Pier Luigi Basso in Cannes on Sunday.
The 29-year-old, who went unbeaten through the tournament, won six of the nine games in the Swiss format event. He began with four straight wins before GM Nikita Maiorov of Belarus managed to split points with the Indian, who was playing black in the fifth round.
Gupta, however, won the seventh and eighth rounds comfortably and knew very well that a draw was enough for him to clinch the title and winners purse of 1800 € (approx 145,205 rupees).
Maiorov finished runners up on better tiebreak score in a three way tie for the second spot with 6.5 points.
