Nagpur, Aug 16
Gowrichander U of Tamil Nadu won the title in the Nagpur International Below 1600 FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 2022 which concluded on Tuesday at the Blind Relief Associations Mundle Hall, Near Deekshabhumi Nagpur. Gowrichander scored eight points to win the title. Akshat Mahobiya of Chhatisgarh, Saket Atul Kumar of MP, Sahil Ghoghate of Maharashtra, Sumedh Ramteke of Nagpur and Prateek Chandwani of MP also scored eight points but they were placed 2nd to 6th in the merit list based on Bucholz score. The tournament was organised by Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation and recognised by the Chess Association Nagpur, MCA, AICF and FIDE.
The matches were very fiercely fought and till the last round no player could establish conclusive lead. In the seventh round held on Tuesday. Akshat Mahobiya(FIDE Rating 1394) of Chhatisgarh took the sole lead by defeating Sushant Tiwari of Delhi. The second overnight leader Nishaan Pohane of Maharashtra lost to Chiranjit Channa of West Bengal. In the eighth round Akshat who had sole lead till seventh round drew his game against Chiranjit, however Saket Atul Kumar scored a fine victory over Top Seed Jatin Deshpande of Aurangabad. The last round saw two overnight leaders Akshat Mahobia and Saket Atul Kumar with seve and half points pitted against each other. Their long-fought game ended in a draw. Meanwhile, Nagpur’s Sumedh Ramteke scored a stunning victory against 7th seed Chiranjit Channa of West Bengal to reach 8 points.Prateek Chandwani of MP scored over Ravi Palsule of MP and Sahil Ghorghate of Maharashtra scored over M Koteshwar Rao of Maharashtra to also reach 8 points. The well fought game between U Gowrichander of Tamil Nadu and Nihaan Pohane of Maharashtra went in favour of Gowrichander who also reached the tally of 8 points and on the basis of Best Buchold Tie Break Score he was declared winner.
Gowrichander got a glittering trophy and cash prize of Rs. 51,000 whereas Akshat got Rs. 30,000 as second prize. Saket Atul Kumar who led the tournament till seventh had to be content with third prize of Rs. 25,000.
Prizes were distributed at the hands of and CAN president Adv Nishant Gandhi, former national player Jayant Katdare, and chief arbiter IA Promodraj Moree was also present on the dias. The programme was conducted by S.S.Soman who also proposed vote of thanks. CAN secretary Bhushan Shriwas Prayas Ambade, Amit Tembhurne, Amit Bhongare and Prathamesh Machave along with officials of Chess Association Nagpur worked hard for success of the event.