Ikrom Ilhomzoda suffers setback in Grand Master quest
Dubai-based chess prodigy can only finish fifth in Tajikistan’s National Championship
By Ashley Hammond, Staff Reporter
Published: 14:41 June 28, 2012

Dubai: Dubai-based Ikrom Ilhomzoda may have experienced “the worst moment of his chess career” this week, but his fifth-place finish in Tajikistan’s National Championship has still allowed him to sneak into his country’s Chess Olympiad squad.

Having blundered the queen in his last game of nine in a ten-player round-robin, Ikrom, the defending champion, fell from second — his pre-tournament national rank — to fifth, winning five, drawing three, and losing one of his games.

The 19-year-old Canadian University of Dubai student therefore lost three points on chess’ Elo rating system, leaving him on 2,220, 280 short of his lifelong ambition to become a Grand Master.

His points haul was also ten short of his career best of 2,230, achieved after a third-place finish in the 2008 Asian Youth Championships.

Source: http://gulfnews.com

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