Search
 
Home | About Us | Career | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Editor Sanatan Pani
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NEWS :

Back to Previous Page
  Gagunashvili wins Elite title; Swayams finishes 3rd
31 May 2014 BHUBANESWAR
 

Georgia GM Merab Gagunashvili won the title in the Elite category (Rating 2000 & above) of the 6th KIIT International Chess Festival here at KIIT International School today. The 29-year-old former World junior silver medallist beat Tajikistan GM Farrukh Amonatov in the 10th and last round to finish with eight points. He received a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh.

Indian players did well by securing the next three positions. West Bengal GM Sandipan Chanda (7.5) held Georgia GM Luka Paichadze to a draw to settle as first runner-up. He took home the second prize of Rs 2 lakh.

Odisha International Master Swayams Mishra, who secured his maiden GM norm with a stunning win against top seed GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Georgia) earlier in the ninth round, finished second runner-up with 7.5 points. He drew his last-round duel with Delhi GM Vaibhav Suri to remain unbeaten till the end.

 

A student of KIIT University, Swayams became richer by Rs 1 lakh. Maharashtra IM Prasanna Raghuram Rao, who also achieved a GM norm, checkmated Bangladesh GM Ziaur Rahman in the last round to finish a creditable sixth.

As many as five players secured IM norm in the eight-day tournament, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 11 lakhs. They were: V Karthick, S Ravi Teja, GV Sai Krishna (all AP), SL Narayanan (Kerala) and Rishi Sardana (Australia). The eight-day festival featured competition in three categories. Altogether 147 players form 19 countries, including 22 GMs and 21 IMs participated in the Elite category.

Sumit Grover (J&K) beat local teenager and overnight sole leader Baivab Mishra (Odisha) in the 10th and final round to win the title in the Platinum category (Rating 1999 & below). As many as four players tied for the top spot with eight points each. But Grover pipped the other three in Buchholtz tie-break method to take home the top prize of Rs 50,000.

S Raju (TN) defeated Ashirwad Swain (Odisha) to pocket the runner-up prize of Rs 40,000. Sharang Sanjeev Kapoor (Maharashtra) and K Srikanth (AP) received Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000, finishing third and fourth respectively.

A total of 255 players from four countries participated in the Platinum category, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 4 lakhs. Only three players from Odisha could find places among top finishers.

Tamil Nadu`s K R Prasath emerged champion in the Premium category (Rating 1599 & below), garnering nine points from 10 rounds. He pocketed Rs 50,000. Abijit Mistry (WB) and Siva Kuamr Badireddy finished second and third respectively.

KIIT University founder Achyuta Samant, Bhubaneswar North MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, host All Odisha Chess Association president Sekhar Chandra Sahu and secretary Vevek Kumar Tibarewal were present in the closing function.

FINAL STANDINGS:
Elite category (Top 20):
1. GM Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 8), 2. GM Sandipan Chanda (Ind, 7.5), 3. IM Swayams Mishra (Ind, 7.5), 4. GM Vaibhav Suri (Ind, 7.5), 5. GM Luka Paichadze (Geo, 7.5), 6. IM Prasanna Raghuram Rao (Ind, 7.5), 7. GM Levan Pantsulaia (Geo, 7.5), 8. GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (Blr, 7), 9. GM Sahaj Grover (Ind, 7), 10. GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Geo, 7), 11. GV Sai Krishna (Ind, 7), 12. Murali Karthikeyan (Ind, 7), 13. GM Farrukh Amonatov (Taj, 6.5), 14. IM Sayantan Das (Ind, 6.5), 15. GM Gevorg Harutjunyan (Arm, 6.5), 16. GM Valeriy Neverov (Ukr, 6.5), 17. SL Narayanan (Ind, 6.5), 18. IM Swapnil Dhopade (Ind, 6.5), 19. IM Arghyadip Das (Ind, 6.5), 20. GM Papin Vasily (Rus, 6.5).
Platinum category (Top 20): 1. Sumit Grover (J&K, 8), 2. S Raju (TN, 8), 3. S S Kapoor (Mah, 8), 4. K Srikanth (AP, 8), 5. Baivab Mishra (Odi, 7.5), 6. S Rohit Vassan (TN, 7.5), 7. Sarbojit Paul (WB, 7.5), 8. P Kranti Kumar (AP, 7.5), 9. Rabindra Kumar Ojha (Odi, 7.5), 10. T Selvabharathy (TN, 7.5), 11. Subham Kaushik (Har, 7.5), 12. Suvradeepta Das (WB, 7.5), 13. R Prajesh (TN, 7.5), 14. P Mythyreyan (TN, 7), 15. Vishal Iyer (TN, 7), 16. Soumyaditya Saha (WB, 7), 17. S Kumar (TN, 7), 18. NLV Anusha (AP, 7), 19. Priyanka Nutakki (AP, 7), 20. Ashirwad Swain (Odi, 7).
Premium category (Top 10): 1. KR Prasath (TN, 9), 2. Abijit Mistry (WB, 8), 3. Siva Kumar Badireddy (AP, 8), 4. Lochan Kumar Das (Odi, 8), 5. Dhiraj Patil (Mah, 8), 6. Sambit Panda (Odi, 8), 7. Souvik Kar (WB, 8), 8. Madhusudan Sahu (Odi, 7.5), 9. Pradhan Mohan Das (Odi, 7.5), 10. Subhendu Sekhar Kar (Odi, 7.5).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Elite champion Merab Gagunashvili (C) with runners-up Sandipan Chanda (R) and Swayams Mishra (L) with their trophies in Bhubaneswar on May 31, 2014.
RIGHT: Platinum champion Sumit Grover (Middle) with runner-up S Raju (Left) and third-placed SS Kapoor in Bhubaneswar on May 27, 2014.

 
   

Copyright @ Orisports.com Powered by: KDC TECHNOLOGIES