WASHINGTON — With no defeats, Mariam Mkrtchyan ended up winning the silver medal in the World Chess Championship that was taking place in India in the first two weeks of June. On June 13, the chess masters played their final round of the games.
One of Armenia’s top chess players, Mariam Mkrtchyan defeated India’s Rakshitta Ravi. This was Mariam’s 8th victory at the tournament; in the other three games, she tied. However, India’s Divya Deshmukh gained nine victories, including on June 16 a somewhat expected success against Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva. As a result, Miriam became the vice-champion of the world, and Divya won the gold. ChessBase India’s YouTube channel covered the awarding ceremony that included videos of Mariam Mkrtchyan.
The Open Tournament, a pinnacle of men’s chess championship, saw two Armenians in promising positions before the final round: Mamikon Gharibian was leading, closely followed by a talented chess player from Kazakhstan, Nogerbek Kazybek. Emin Ohanyan was in the third position. Despite a setback in the final round, where Mamikon lost to Nogerbek and dropped to the fourth place, Ohanyan’s strategic moves and quick thinking propelled him to the second place. In a swift 40-moves game against a player from the Philippines, Ohanyan seized his opponent’s queen, leading to the latter’s resignation. Only tie-breaks prevented Ohanyan from claiming the gold, as both he and the Kazak player had amassed the same number of 8.5 points. Rudik Makarian of Russia secured the 8th position, while Armenia’s Arsen Davytan finished 36th.
Armenia was the only country in the championship to win two medals.