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Tajikistan Grandmaster Farrukh Amonatov emerged champion in the Elite Category (rating 2200 & above) of the 5th KIIT International Chess Festival, which concluded here at the KIIT International School on today. He drew his 10th and last-round game with Georgia Grandmaster Merab Gagunashvili and both the players tied for the top spot with eight points each.
However, on the basis of Buchholz tie-break rule, Amonatov lifted the trophy, which fetched him a cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs, while Gagunashvili settled with runner-up prize of Rs 2 lakhs. Armenia Grandmaster Zaven Andriasian finished third with 7.5 points to take home Rs 1 lakh.
Among the Indians, four _ Swapnil S Dhopade, Vaibhav Suri, Abhijit Kunte and Ankit R Rajpara _ secured places among the top 10. But no one from Odisha player could find a place among the top 30 finishers in the Elite category.
IM Swayams Mishra proved to be the best performer, finishing 32nd with six points. He was followed by WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (45 th, 5.5), WGM Padmini Rout (45th, 5.5), Sidhant Mohapatra (55 th, 5), Rakesh Kumar Nayak (96th, 4), FM Rakesh Kumar Jena (101st, 3.5), Baivab Mishra (108th, 3.5), Sunyasakta Satpathy (111th, 3), Sekhar Chandra Sahu (119th, 2).
Altogether 123 players from 13 countries vied for honours in the Elite category. There were 63 titled players in the fray, including 22 Grandmasters, 23 International Masters, two Woman Grandmasters and as many Woman International Masters.
Five top Odisha players did not participate in the tournament for different reasons. They were IMs Swayangsu Satyapragyan, Debashis Das, Anwesh Upadhyaya, FM Soumya Ranjan Mishra and Utkal Ranjan Sahoo. As many as five players secured norms in the tournament, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 17 lakhs.
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V Pranavananda of Andhra Pradesh emerged champion in the Platinume cetetory (2200 & below rating) which concluded earlier on May 23. He garnered nine points from 10 rounds to receive the top prize of Rs 40,000.
S Prasanna (Tamil Nadu) finished runner-up with 8.5 points. He became richer by Rs 20,000, while his statemate M Vinoth Kumar pocketed Rs 20,000, ending third with eight points. Rajendra Kumar Sahu was the only player from host Odisha to secure a place among the top 20 finishers. He occupied the 18th position, which fetched him Rs 3,000.
The top three finishers in Premium category pocketed Rs 60,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.
Jajpur girl Sradhanjali Jena was the only one from Odisha to secure a place among the top 10 in the Premium category.
R Muralidharan (Tamil Nadu) won the title in the Premium category (Below 1800 rating), garnering nine points from 10 rounds. He received the top prize of Rs 60,000, while Maharashtra`s Sammed Jaykumar Shete became richer by Rs 30,000, finishing runner-up with eight points.
Jajpur girl Sradhanjali Jena was the only player from Odisha to secure a place among the top 10 in the Premium category, the lowest of the three categories, involving a total of 275 players.
Odisha Energy minister Arun Kumar Sahu handed over the trophies at the closing ceremony. International Chess Federation vice-president DV Sundar, All India Chess Federation secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, host AOCA president Sekhar Chandra Sahu and secretary Vivek Kumar Agarwal were present on the occasion.
FINAL STANDINGS (Top 10):
Elite category: 1. Farrukh Amonatov (Taj, 8pts), 2. Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 8), 3. Zaven Andriasian (Arm, 7.5), 4. Levan Pantsulaia (Geo, 7.5), 5 Swapnil S Dhopade (Ind, 7), 6. Vaibhav Suri (Ind, 6.5), 7. Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Geo, 7), 8. Georgy Timoshenko (Ukr, 7), 9. Abhijit Kunte (Ind, 7), 10. Ankit R Rajpara (Ind, 7).
Platinum category: 1. V Pranavananda (AP, 9), 2. S Prasanna (TN, 8.5), 3. M Vinoth Kumar (TN, 8), 4. S Harini (TN, 8), 5. Santu Mondal (WB, 8), 6. Anurag Jaiswal (WB, 8), 7. Pradip Ghosh (WB, 7.5), 8. M Chakravarthi Reddy (AP, 7.5), 9. Arpan Das (WB, 7.5), 10. Kaustuv Kundu (WB, 7.5).
Premium category: 1. R Muralidharan (TN, 9), 2. Sammed Jaykumar Shete (Mah, 8), 3. V Vignesh (TN, 8), 4. Gaurav Kumar (Bih, 8), 5. Aishwin Daniel (MP, 8), 6. Parag Ravindra Patil (Mah, 8), 7. SVC Chakravarthi 1798 (AP, 8), 8. Aryan (Bih, 7.5), 9. PG Aswin (Ker, 7.5), 10. Sradhanjali Jena (Odi, 7.5).
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TOP: Elite champion Farrukh Amonatov (L) and Premium title winner R Muralidharan with their trophies in Bhubaneswar on May 28, 2013.
RIGHT: Top three finishers (L to R) V Pranavananda, S Prasanna and M Vinoth Kumar in the Platinum category of the KIIT International Chess Festival in Bhubaneswar on May 23, 2013.
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