Praveen Kumar Triumphs
By Arvind Aaron

C. Praveen Kumar of Chennai won the 1st Trivandrum FIDE Rating Open Tournament that concluded at the  Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on October 8. 

In a 129-player ten round Swiss, Praveen Kumar scored 8.5 points to win State Bank of India sponsored 1 lakh prize money tournament. Praveen Kumar and top seed IM K. Ratnakaran of Kozhikode remained undefeated. Ratnakaran and Lokesh of Chennai finished second-third on eight points.

The event attracted four IMs and all of them lost rating except D.P. Singh who gained Elo. Organisers were happy with the titled players but the entry numbers expected was in the 175 range and it fell short. Players from nine states participated. "People from Nepal also enquired," said the organiser.

This was the first time that a FIDE Rated Tournament took place in Thiruvananthapuram and that is significant. "Our city is very small comparing Kochi or Kozhikode," said Hari T Pillai, President of the Chess Association Trivandrum. Bharat Chougule of Kolhapur (Mah) was the chief arbiter.

The Secretary of the Chess Association of Kerala, P. Venugopal from Kozhikode was personally present to cheer up the first time organisers. The tournament had the Kerala Sports and Youth Affairs Minister B. Vijaya Kumar to inaugurate. It is likely to be on the annual calendar of Kerala and Indian chess year after year.

Final placings: 1 C. Praveen Kumar (TN) 8.5/10; 2-3. IM K. Ratnakaran (Ker), P. Lokesh (TN) 8 each; 4-7. IM B.T. Muralikrishnan (TN), P. Phoobalan (TN), IM D.P. Singh (TN), M.A. Joy Lazar (Ker) 7.5 each; 8-15. FM M.B. Muralidharan (Ker), A. Shankar (TN), Pv. Nandhidhaa (TN), O.T. Anilkumar (Ker), IM R. Balasubramaniam (TN), V. Ranjith (Ker), Linda Rangarajan (Pon), Malla Nooka Raju (AP) 7 each...129 players.