2008 Spice Cup Ends in Four-way Tie for First Place

Written by Jessica Benham

The 2008 Spice Cup International Invitational Tournament culminated on Sunday (Sept. 28) with a four-way tie for first place.

Harikrishna Pentala of India, Alexander Onischuk and Varuzhan Akobian, both of the United States, and Leonid Kritz of Germany tied for first place with 5.5 points each.

Texas Tech's International Master (IM) Gergely Antal and Grandmaster (GM) Alejandro Ramirez of the University of Texas at Dallas were named co-champions of the Spice Cup Open.

GM Sabina Foisor of Romania won the Texas Women's Championship, and IM Bayaraa Zorigt of the University of Texas at Dallas placed second - earning the title of the highest-finishing Texan.

The event brought together 10 grandmasters from around the world and was the highest-rated 10-person International round-robin event ever to be held on U.S. soil.

CONTACT: Paul Truong, director of marketing, SPICE, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2136, or paul.truong@ttu.edu.