Railway International Master K Rathnakaran proved himself the swiftest chess player of the country by winning the title in the National Blitz Championship, garnering 8.5 points out of possible 11 at Rourkela Club here today.

Despite being beaten by Grandmasters Debashis Das (Odisha) and Neelotpal Das (WB), Rathnakaran emerged champion with a round to spare, winning eight games and drawing one. He received a cash prize of Rs 20,000. Neelotpal finished runner-up with eight points.

FINAL STANDINGS (Top 10): K Rathnakaran (8.5), 2-3: Neelotpal Das, Diptayan Ghosh (8 each); 4-6:  Debashis Das, Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad, Swayangsu Satyapragyan (each 7.5); 7-9: SV Srinath Rao, Utkal Ranjan Sahoo, Suvrajit Saha (7 each), 10. G Hema Chandra Mouli (6.5).
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PHOTO: K Rathnakaran (Left) receives the trophy in Rourkela on April 29, 2015.