Ganguly Wins Parsvnath Open At Delhi

By Arvind Aaron

Six-time Indian champion Grand Master Surya Shekhar Ganguly of Kolkata won the 7th Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament at Modern School in Barakhamba in Delhi on January 19. Ganguly had the higher tie-break score than Mikhail Ulibin of Russia after both players tied for the first place on 8.5/10 each.

The event was in the news right from the start. Nine year old Hetul Shah of Gujarat shocked a grandmaster and became the youngest to do so in the history of world chess. Strange, Ganguly, who was in 1995 the youngest to defeat a grandmaster at eleven years and eleven months became a winner on 8.5 points.

"My best game was my win over Deep Sengupta," said Ganguly. Ganguly took home over Rs.200,000 and a trophy. His parents also attended the closing ceremony. The total prize fund was Rs.11,50,000. Organiser and AICF Treasurer Bharat Singh Chauhan said there will be an eighth edition in 2010 and the prize fund will be Rs.12,50,000. Players welcomed it with a good applause.

Events are remembered for the quality of games and for the GM norms. Three GM norms were made. Three IM norms were also made. Arindham Mukherjee, Shashikant Kutwal, Joydeep Dutta made IM norms. This year 426 players from 17 countries took part. GM Norms were completed by three Indians: S.P. Sethuraman (maiden) and P. Karthikeyan (second GM norm) of Chennai and Prathamesh Mokal (maiden) of Pune. Twenty GMs took part. Details on www.delhichess.com The best veteran player went to GM P.M. Thipsay (Mumbai). Best woman player went to Shalmali Gagare (Shirdi, Mah). Various other best prizes were given.

Highlights of the speeches at the closing:
D.V. Sundar, Honorary Secretary, AICF: Every year this event is getting better than the previous one. The year 2008 was a great year for Indian chess thanks to the players. Sameer Salgaocar, Vice President, AICF: This is the best open tournament in India with 20 GMs and 65 overseas players. The Gurgaon event and Parsvnath offer players to make back-to-back norms. Chief Guest Air Marshal J.N. Burma: We gave this game to the world and took a nap for some centuries. We have woken up now to win titles. Bharat Singh Chauhan: We expected 300 entries after Mumbai 26/11 but got 426 entries. Principal of Modern School: Chess is a desirable activity rather than watch TV or play video games for children.

Final placings (tie-break order): 1-2. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (Ind), GM Mikhail Ulibin (Rus) 8.5/10 each; 3-9. GM Petr Kostenko (Kaz), IM P. Karthikeyan (Ind), IM S.P. Sethuraman (Ind), GM Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr), GM Neelotpal Das (Ind), IM R.R. Laxman (Ind), GM Anuar Ismagambetov (Kaz) 8 each; 10-23 GM Abhijit Kunte (Ind), etc 7.5 each...426 players.

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Home                                                      Published on 20^th January ,  2009