2019 Gibraltar, Last Round: Artemiev Defeats Yu, Wins the Tournament

Some games are still going, but the first (and second) places in the 2019 Gibraltar Masters have been decided. Youngster Vladislav Artemiev won the tournament, defeating Yu Yangyi in a very complicated battle to take clear first. Yu had some pressure on the white side of an Advance Caro-Kann, and Artemiev did very well to survive what looked like a precarious position. Artemiev had already taken over the initiative, but it wasn't too serious until Yu got his knights jumbled up over moves 31-33. Once that happened he had to sacrifice material to bail out into a pawn-down rook ending, and while there are plenty of rook endings where the defender can escape with a draw, this wasn't one of them. The last two moves were a nice touch to expedite the win, and now Artemiev finished the tournament with 8.5/10 points, the £25,000 first prize, and a gain of 27 rating points (making him #20 in the world and the top-ranked player under 21 years of age) thanks to a 2941 TPR. It's an outstanding result, but whether it's an indication that he will break into the absolute elite remains to be seen.

Taking clear second was 19-year-old Indian GM Murali Karthikeyan. He defeated no less a player than Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the last round and is guaranteed clear second with 8 points. His performance wasn't as stratospheric as Artemiev's - his TPR was "only" 2747, and there were players in lower score groups with comparable and higher TPRs than his. Still, he had a great event, gained 24 points and £20,000 for his troubles - pretty nice for a week and a half's work. (Not counting the thousands of hours of hard work that went into giving him the necessary skill.) According to his Wikipedia page he has a "real" job, so it's even more impressive that he could achieve this. (On the other hand, it's potentially sad that such a talent has to have a non-chess job, but it's only sad in fact if he believes that it's something he must do for the sake of financial security.)

Three players finished with 7.5 points - and now that David Navara has only drawn against Hrant Melkumyan (a game he was winning, but that finished in a way that will make Sam Shankland wince if he sees it - compare this with that) I don't believe that anyone else can join the tie. If that's correct, then Nikita Vitiugov, David Howell, and David Anton Guijarro alone finished tied for third, with a big pile of players behind them tying with 7 points apiece.