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Maharashtra IM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi justified his top billing by winning the title and the top prize of Rs 50,000 in the 1st Keshabananda Das Memorial All India Open Fide Rating Chess Tournament, which concluded here at Hotel Empires today. Gujrathi along with T Purushothaman (AP) and Railway IM C Praveen Kumar tied for the top spot with eight points each from 10 rounds.
However, Gujarathi emerged champion on the basis of Buchholz Tie-break method, while Purushothaman settled with the runner-up prize of Rs 30,000. Praveen Kumar, who finished third, became richer by Rs 20,000. LIC Grandmaster Sriram Jha occupied the 13th position with seven points.
Only two players from Odisha could secured places among the top 20 finishers. Of the duo, IM Swayams Mishra finished ninth with 7.5 points, while Sidhanth Mohapatra occupied the 18th position. Former Odisha Ranji team captain L I Parija graced the closing ceremony as chief guest and handed over the prizes in the presence of All Orissa Chess Association president Sekhar Chandra Sahu, host Khordha District Chess Association secretary Subhasis Patnaik and organising committee chairman Suryakanta Das.
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Former and current state senior chess champions were felicitated on the occasion. Altogether 192 players, including one GM, nine IMs, one WGM and five FMs joined the 10-round tournament, which carries a total prize fund of Rs 2.5 lakhs.
FINAL STANDINGS (Top 20): 1. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Mah, 8), 2. T Purushothaman (AP, 8), 3. C Praveen Kumar (Rlys, 8), 4. Atanu Lahiri (LIC, 7.5), 5. Himal Gusain (Chnd, 7.5), 6. P Praveen Prasad (AP, 7.5), 7. Suvrajit Saha (Rlys, 7.5), 8. MS Thejkumar (Rlys, 7.5), 9. Swayams Mishra (Odi, 7.5), 10. Sayantan Das (WB, 7.5), 11. J Ramakrishna (AP, 7.5), 12. CRG Krishna (AP, 7.5), 13. Sriram Jha (LIC, 7), 14. Laltu Chatterjee (WB, 7), 15. Niladri Shekhar Bhattacharya (WB, 7), 16. S Ravi Teja (AP, 7), 17. Anup Deshmukh (LIC, 7), 18. Sidhant Mohapatra (Odi, 7), 19. P Karthikeyan (PSPB, 7), 20. Swathi Ghate (LIC, 7).
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TOP: Champion Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Left) and runner-up T Purushothaman with their trophies in Bhubaneswar on August 23, 2012.
RIGHT: Age-group prize winners and guests at the closing function in Bhubaneswar on August 23, 2012.
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