With an Elo rating of 2452, Haowen Xue started the Arona Open in Tenerife as the 29th seed, behind 26 grandmasters and 2 international masters. But that didn't stop him from winning the event with 8 points from 10 games and an Elo performance of 2677.
In the penultimate round, he scored an important win against Lithuanian GM Titas Stremavicius.
1.c4 e6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Ne5 c5 8.dxc5 Qc7 9.Nxc4 Rd8 10.Qc2 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qh5 12.Rd1 Rxd1+ 13.Qxd1 Nc6 13...Ng4 14.h3 Nxe3 15.Nxe3 14.Nc3 e5?! 14...Ng4 14...Rb8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Nb4 17.Bf3 Bg4 18.Bxg4 Qxg4 19.Nxe5 19...Qe6 20.Nd3 Rd8 21.Qa4 Nxd3 22.exd3 a6 22...Rxd3 23.Qe8+ Bf8 24.Qxe6 fxe6 25.Bxa7 23.Qe4 Qd7 24.Rc1 Bf6 24...Qxd3 25.Qxd3 Rxd3 26.Rc7 Kf8 27.Rxb7 25.Bb6 Rc8 26.Rxc8+ Qxc8 27.b4 Qd7 28.d4 g6 29.d5 h5 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.h4 Bc3 32.Qc4 Be5 33.Bd4 Qf5 34.Bxe5+ Qxe5 35.Qd3 Kf8 36.d6 Ke8 37.d7+ Kd8 38.Qf3 1–0
The 16-year-old Chinese player is still untitled, but has already achieved a number of remarkable results in his career. For example, he won gold with the Chinese team at the 2023 World U16 Team Championship in Eindhoven with 7 points from 9 games (+5, =4) on the top board.
However, his eighth place at the strong Dubai Open 2023 attracted even more attention, not least because Xue won a spectacular game against Hans Niemann.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Nbd2 d6 7.e5 d5 8.h4 h5 9.b3 Nf5 10.Bb2 a5 11.a4 c4 12.bxc4 Rb8 13.Ba3 c5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Nb3 Qc7 16.0-0 Be7 17.d4 c4 18.Nc5 Rb6 19.Re1 Rg6 20.e6 f6 21.Bc1 Rg4 22.c3 0-0 23.Be3 Bxc5 24.dxc5 d4 25.Bxd4 Bb7 26.Rb1 26...Rxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Nxh4+ 28.Kf1 Bxf3 29.Be5 Qc6 30.e7 Bxd1 31.exf8Q+ Kxf8 32.Bd6+ Kg8 33.Rbxd1 Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Qf3+ 35.Kf1 Kh7 36.Rd4 Qg2+ 37.Ke2 Nf3 38.Rxc4 Nxe1 39.Kxe1 Qc6 40.Rf4 Kg6 41.Kd2 Kf7 42.Kd3 g5 43.Re4 Kg6 44.Kd4 h4 45.Re7 h3 46.Rc7 Qxa4+ 47.Kd5 Qb3+ 48.Kc6 a4 49.Rb7 Qxc3 50.Kd7 h2 51.Bxh2 Qxc5 0–1
The 15-year-old Shreyas Royal, who finished second at the Arona Open, also caused a stir. Royal was born on 9 January 2009 and is England's youngest International Master. He made his first GM norm in November 2022 at the Tegernsee Open in Germany, which was also a record, as no English player of that age had ever made a GM norm.
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On his way to the Grandmaster title: Shreyas Royal | Photo: Olympics.com
In December 2023 Royal made his second GM norm at the London Chess Classic, but with an Elo performance of 2575, Royal narrowly missed his third norm in Tenerife, though he still has a good chance of becoming the youngest English grandmaster of all time. This record has been held for over 17 years by David Howell, who became grandmaster at the Rilton Cup in Stockholm in 2007 at the age of 16.
Final standings Arona Open
Rk. |
Snr |
|
|
Name |
Country |
Elo |
Pts. |
Tb1 |
Tb2 |
Tb3 |
1 |
29 |
|
|
Xue, Haowen |
CHN |
2452 |
8 |
1 |
2691 |
60 |
2 |
24 |
|
IM |
Royal, Shreyas |
ENG |
2483 |
7,5 |
1 |
2526 |
54,5 |
3 |
27 |
|
IM |
Zhao, Yuanhe |
CHN |
2463 |
7,5 |
2 |
2563 |
56 |
4 |
5 |
|
GM |
Gorshtein, Ido |
ISR |
2563 |
7 |
1 |
2608 |
59 |
5 |
8 |
|
GM |
Sankalp, Gupta |
IND |
2552 |
7 |
1 |
2594 |
57,5 |
6 |
1 |
|
GM |
Pichot, Alan |
ESP |
2640 |
7 |
1 |
2593 |
59 |
7 |
4 |
|
GM |
Gupta, Abhijeet |
IND |
2589 |
7 |
1 |
2552 |
55 |
8 |
10 |
|
GM |
Stremavicius, Titas |
LTU |
2538 |
7 |
1 |
2538 |
56,5 |
9 |
15 |
|
GM |
Kantor, Gergely |
HUN |
2528 |
7 |
1 |
2523 |
56 |
10 |
13 |
|
GM |
Sosa, Tomas |
ARG |
2535 |
7 |
1 |
2499 |
54,5 |
11 |
3 |
|
GM |
Kazakouski, Valery |
LTU |
2603 |
7 |
1 |
2471 |
55,5 |
12 |
2 |
|
GM |
Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel |
CUB |
2614 |
7 |
1 |
2465 |
51,5 |
13 |
78 |
|
|
Rappazzo, Johannes |
SUI |
2169 |
7 |
1 |
2331 |
49,5 |
14 |
17 |
|
GM |
Raja, Rithvik R |
IND |
2511 |
7 |
3 |
2455 |
53,5 |
15 |
19 |
|
GM |
Lalit, Babu M R |
IND |
2509 |
7 |
3 |
2394 |
51 |
16 |
21 |
|
GM |
David, Alberto |
ITA |
2502 |
6,5 |
1 |
2567 |
60,5 |
17 |
26 |
|
GM |
Bilguun, Sumiya |
MGL |
2466 |
6,5 |
1 |
2516 |
56,5 |
18 |
6 |
|
GM |
Peralta, Fernando |
ARG |
2562 |
6,5 |
1 |
2494 |
55,5 |
19 |
7 |
|
GM |
Socko, Bartosz |
POL |
2556 |
6,5 |
1 |
2483 |
56,5 |
20 |
54 |
|
FM |
O`gorman, Tom |
IRL |
2337 |
6,5 |
1 |
2413 |
56,5 |
21 |
23 |
|
GM |
Pakleza, Zbigniew |
POL |
2489 |
6,5 |
1 |
2402 |
52,5 |
22 |
32 |
|
GM |
Prraneeth, Vuppala |
IND |
2436 |
6,5 |
1 |
2398 |
53,5 |
23 |
16 |
|
GM |
Blohberger, Felix |
AUT |
2527 |
6,5 |
1 |
2378 |
51,5 |
24 |
22 |
|
GM |
Quparadze, Giga |
GEO |
2494 |
6,5 |
1 |
2299 |
48 |
25 |
12 |
|
GM |
Pantsulaia, Levan |
GEO |
2535 |
6,5 |
2 |
2460 |
54 |
26 |
11 |
|
GM |
Krysa, Leandro |
ARG |
2535 |
6,5 |
2 |
2452 |
55,5 |
27 |
36 |
|
IM |
Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad |
IND |
2420 |
6,5 |
2 |
2406 |
54,5 |
28 |
20 |
|
GM |
Paichadze, Luka |
GEO |
2504 |
6 |
1 |
2519 |
59 |
...157 participants
Games
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.Ba4 a6 5.c4 Ngf6 6.0-0 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.d3 0-0 9.h3 b6 10.Be3 Bb7 11.Qd2 Qc7 12.Rab1 Rac8 13.Bh6 Rfd8 14.Bxg7 14.Nh4 b5 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Bxb5 d5 17.Rbe1 14...Kxg7 15.Nh2 Ne5 15...b5= 16.Bc2 16.cxb5 d5= 16...Nf8 16.f4± Nc6 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 18.f5 b5 19.Rbe1 Rb8 20.Rf3 bxc4 21.dxc4 Qb7 21...Qd7± 22.b3 Ng8 22.b3!+- 22.fxg6 Qxb2 22...Bxe4? 23.Nxe4 Qxb2 24.Qxb2+- 23.Qf4 fxg6= 22...Nxe4? 22...Bxe4 23.Nxe4 Nxe4 24.Qb2+ f6 25.fxg6 25.Qe2 gxf5 26.Rxf5 Ng5± 22...Rf8 23.Nd5 Ng8 24.Qb2+ f6 23.Nxe4 Bxe4 24.f6+! Kh8 25.fxe7 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Pichot,A | 2640 | Rappazzo,J | 2169 | 1–0 | 2024 | B51 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.1 |
Mamani Beltran,D | 2162 | Albornoz Cabrera,C | 2614 | ½–½ | 2024 | B23 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.2 |
Kazakouski,V | 2603 | Rempe,J | 2161 | ½–½ | 2024 | E71 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.3 |
Cacciola,A | 2159 | Gupta,A | 2589 | 0–1 | 2024 | B66 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.4 |
Gorshtein,I | 2563 | Gruzman,I | 2149 | 1–0 | 2024 | E16 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.5 |
Hernandez Leon,S | 2144 | Peralta,F | 2562 | 0–1 | 2024 | C01 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.6 |
Socko,B | 2556 | Vega Gutierrez,B | 2135 | 1–0 | 2024 | D77 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.7 |
Prudhvi Kumar V | 2102 | Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | 0–1 | 2024 | A47 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.8 |
Erdos,V | 2539 | Narva,T | 2079 | 1–0 | 2024 | D43 | Arona Festival 2024 | 1.9 |
Yip,C | 2402 | Pichot,A | 2640 | ½–½ | 2024 | C45 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.1 |
Gupta,A | 2589 | Barria Santos,J | 2410 | 1–0 | 2024 | E90 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.2 |
Kulon,K | 2380 | Gorshtein,I | 2563 | ½–½ | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.3 |
Peralta,F | 2562 | Kochavi,O | 2394 | 1–0 | 2024 | E41 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.4 |
Garcia Blanco,O | 2365 | Socko,B | 2556 | 0–1 | 2024 | C11 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.5 |
Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | Vega Gutierrez,S | 2368 | ½–½ | 2024 | D41 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.6 |
Savitha Shri B | 2356 | Erdos,V | 2539 | 0–1 | 2024 | B28 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.7 |
Stremavicius,T | 2538 | Khayrullin,D | 2359 | ½–½ | 2024 | A20 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.8 |
Ortega Hermida,D | 2351 | Krysa,L | 2535 | 0–1 | 2024 | C77 | Arona Festival 2024 | 2.9 |
Bilguun,S | 2466 | Gupta,A | 2589 | 1–0 | 2024 | B23 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.1 |
Tsolakidou,S | 2421 | Peralta,F | 2562 | ½–½ | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.2 |
Socko,B | 2556 | Xue,H | 2452 | ½–½ | 2024 | B13 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.3 |
Erdos,V | 2539 | Omelja,A | 2435 | ½–½ | 2024 | A17 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.4 |
Krysa,L | 2535 | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2420 | ½–½ | 2024 | E04 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.5 |
Sosa,T | 2535 | Van der Lende,I | 2415 | 1–0 | 2024 | C04 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.6 |
Paichadze,L | 2504 | Baenziger,F | 2410 | ½–½ | 2024 | C02 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.7 |
O`Gorman,T | 2337 | David,A | 2502 | ½–½ | 2024 | E27 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.8 |
Royal,S | 2483 | Ritviz,P | 2334 | 0–1 | 2024 | E11 | Arona Festival 2024 | 3.9 |
Ritviz,P | 2334 | Sosa,T | 2535 | ½–½ | 2024 | C16 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.1 |
Pichot,A | 2640 | Bilguun,S | 2466 | 1–0 | 2024 | B41 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.2 |
Samant Aditya S | 2469 | Kazakouski,V | 2603 | ½–½ | 2024 | C64 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.3 |
Xue,H | 2452 | Gorshtein,I | 2563 | ½–½ | 2024 | A37 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.4 |
Peralta,F | 2562 | Kovchan,A | 2455 | 1–0 | 2024 | D36 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.5 |
Omelja,A | 2435 | Socko,B | 2556 | ½–½ | 2024 | E18 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.6 |
Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | Admiraal,M | 2451 | 1–0 | 2024 | B11 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.7 |
Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2420 | Erdos,V | 2539 | ½–½ | 2024 | | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.8 |
Socko,M | 2416 | Krysa,L | 2535 | ½–½ | 2024 | D02 | Arona Festival 2024 | 4.9 |
Kantor,G | 2528 | Pichot,A | 2640 | ½–½ | 2024 | D37 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.1 |
Paichadze,L | 2504 | Peralta,F | 2562 | 1–0 | 2024 | C02 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.2 |
David,A | 2502 | Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | ½–½ | 2024 | B13 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.3 |
Sosa,T | 2535 | Baenziger,F | 2410 | ½–½ | 2024 | C07 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.4 |
Kazakouski,V | 2603 | Ritviz,P | 2334 | 1–0 | 2024 | A27 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.5 |
Prraneeth Vuppala | 2436 | Gupta,A | 2589 | 0–1 | 2024 | B92 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.6 |
Gorshtein,I | 2563 | Omelja,A | 2435 | 1–0 | 2024 | D58 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.7 |
Socko,B | 2556 | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2420 | ½–½ | 2024 | C45 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.8 |
Erdos,V | 2539 | Socko,M | 2416 | ½–½ | 2024 | D38 | Arona Festival 2024 | 5.9 |
Gorshtein,I | 2563 | Paichadze,L | 2504 | 1–0 | 2024 | E11 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.1 |
Pichot,A | 2640 | Sosa,T | 2535 | ½–½ | 2024 | C84 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.2 |
Xue,H | 2452 | Kazakouski,V | 2603 | 1–0 | 2024 | A13 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.3 |
Gupta,A | 2589 | David,A | 2502 | 0–1 | 2024 | E12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.4 |
Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | Kantor,G | 2528 | 1–0 | 2024 | C54 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.5 |
Stremavicius,T | 2538 | Goutham Krishna H | 2324 | ½–½ | 2024 | B07 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.6 |
Baenziger,F | 2410 | Krysa,L | 2535 | ½–½ | 2024 | E01 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.7 |
Peralta,F | 2562 | Admiraal,M | 2451 | 1–0 | 2024 | D40 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.8 |
Tsolakidou,S | 2421 | Socko,B | 2556 | ½–½ | 2024 | C72 | Arona Festival 2024 | 6.9 |
David,A | 2502 | Gorshtein,I | 2563 | ½–½ | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.1 |
Xue,H | 2452 | Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | 1–0 | 2024 | A29 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.2 |
Paichadze,L | 2504 | Pichot,A | 2640 | ½–½ | 2024 | B53 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.3 |
Goutham Krishna H | 2324 | Peralta,F | 2562 | ½–½ | 2024 | A08 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.4 |
Kochavi,O | 2394 | Stremavicius,T | 2538 | ½–½ | 2024 | C70 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.5 |
Krysa,L | 2535 | Zhao,Y | 2463 | 0–1 | 2024 | E71 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.6 |
Sosa,T | 2535 | Ayush Sharma | 2325 | ½–½ | 2024 | B22 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.7 |
Bilguun,S | 2466 | Baenziger,F | 2410 | ½–½ | 2024 | C07 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.8 |
Kuegel,T | 2416 | Albornoz Cabrera,C | 2614 | ½–½ | 2024 | B55 | Arona Festival 2024 | 7.9 |
David,A | 2502 | Xue,H | 2452 | ½–½ | 2024 | B30 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.1 |
Zhao,Y | 2463 | Gorshtein,I | 2563 | ½–½ | 2024 | A38 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.2 |
Pichot,A | 2640 | Royal,S | 2483 | 0–1 | 2024 | C55 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.3 |
Omelja,A | 2435 | Kazakouski,V | 2603 | 0–1 | 2024 | A46 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.4 |
Peralta,F | 2562 | Bilguun,S | 2466 | ½–½ | 2024 | D31 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.5 |
Samant Aditya S | 2469 | Socko,B | 2556 | ½–½ | 2024 | C42 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.6 |
Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | Paichadze,L | 2504 | ½–½ | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.7 |
Stremavicius,T | 2538 | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2436 | 1–0 | 2024 | D37 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.8 |
Pantsulaia,L | 2535 | Kochavi,O | 2394 | ½–½ | 2024 | E17 | Arona Festival 2024 | 8.9 |
Xue,H | 2452 | Stremavicius,T | 2538 | 1–0 | 2024 | E05 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.1 |
Kazakouski,V | 2603 | David,A | 2502 | ½–½ | 2024 | B48 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.2 |
Gorshtein,I | 2563 | Royal,S | 2483 | ½–½ | 2024 | A16 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.3 |
Balakrishnan,P | 2510 | Zhao,Y | 2463 | 0–1 | 2024 | D90 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.4 |
Paichadze,L | 2504 | Albornoz Cabrera,C | 2614 | ½–½ | 2024 | B53 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.5 |
Raja Rithvik R | 2511 | Peralta,F | 2562 | ½–½ | 2024 | A14 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.6 |
Socko,B | 2556 | Martinez Ramirez,L | 2449 | 1–0 | 2024 | D78 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.7 |
Bilguun,S | 2466 | Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | ½–½ | 2024 | B30 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.8 |
Goutham Krishna H | 2324 | Pantsulaia,L | 2535 | ½–½ | 2024 | A40 | Arona Festival 2024 | 9.9 |
Zhao,Y | 2463 | Xue,H | 2452 | ½–½ | 2024 | A13 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.1 |
Sosa,T | 2535 | Kazakouski,V | 2603 | ½–½ | 2024 | B53 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.2 |
Gorshtein,I | 2563 | Kantor,G | 2528 | ½–½ | 2024 | A22 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.3 |
Royal,S | 2483 | Socko,B | 2556 | 1–0 | 2024 | E11 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.4 |
Albornoz Cabrera,C | 2614 | David,A | 2502 | 1–0 | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.5 |
Socko,M | 2416 | Pichot,A | 2640 | 0–1 | 2024 | E91 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.6 |
Gupta,A | 2589 | Goutham Krishna H | 2324 | 1–0 | 2024 | E73 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.7 |
Peralta,F | 2562 | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2436 | ½–½ | 2024 | D27 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.8 |
Sankalp Gupta | 2552 | Kochavi,O | 2394 | 1–0 | 2024 | B12 | Arona Festival 2024 | 10.9 |
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