AICF Greets Chess Players

N.Sudhakar Babu of Indian Bank started with three draws. That was when all thought that the oldest player of the meet is going to struggle to make points in the midst of youthful champions and the rising summer heat. But, in the fourth round, the second seed Babu offered a draw which top seed R.R.Laxman declined. That was the turning point for Sudhakar Babu. He beat Laxman and also went on to win the tournament with a splendid 75% score.

The tournament was a 11-player all-play-all organised by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and the TNSCA. It was held to remember the services of S.K.Narasimhan (1918-1982) who was secretary of both the TNSCA and the AICF. He was the first Indian to serve as Vice President in FIDE. Until his death in 1982 he was the Chess Columnist in The Hindu.

"I would be gaining less than five Elo," said Sudhakar Babu with a big smile and lots of relief. Normally younger players are worth more than their actual Elo number and this event simply confirmed that school of thought. T.U.Navin Kanna of Chennai finished second.

"I would be losing 15 points for sure," said top seed IM R.R.Laxman who finished third. Then, he would be gaining five Elo in Mumbai last month. It was a tough event for the favourites who were pitted against young talents of Tamil Nadu.

The closing ceremony was dominated by a debate on whether chess is a spectator sport or not. The 87-year old chief guest, A.V.Sriramalu, former secretary of the Tamil Nadu Chess Association opined that chess was not a spectator sport. GM R.B.Ramesh believed that chess could be made a spectator sport and disagreed.

In the closing ceremony, organiser Manuel Aaron explained how the matches against the Mongolian and Australian organised by S.K.Narasimhan helped him become India's first International Master. India's first International Arbiter, V.Kameswaran also spoke about S.K.Narasimhan.

The tournament of champions had the following final standings: 1. N.Sudhakar Babu 7.5/10; 2. T.U.Navin Kanna 7; 3-5. R.R.Laxman, K.Gunasekaran, B.Adhiban 6.5 each; 6. Ashwin Jayaram 6; 7. M.Shyam Sundar 5.5; 8. Pon N. Krithika 4; 9. Ajay Srikanth 2.5; 10. P.Uthra 2; 11. Ja Gireman 1.

It is a season of triumph for Kerala players. Only a day before K.Ratnakaran had won the Karwar FIDE Rating Tournament in Karnataka. Nimmy George of Aluva, Kerala had won some age group events and represented India in the World and Asian Age Group events. She scored 9.5 points from eleven rounds. Her father George John is a national arbiter and her sisters also played good chess.

Several prominent players took part and were part of this 240-player field. M.B.Muralidharan of Kerala finished second with nine points. Players from six states took part in this 72,800 Rupees prize fund event. Nimmy George cashed Rs.15,000. Chief arbiter R.Anantharam of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu said the first edition of this event was organised by the Karur District Chess Association at a spacious and well equipped Kongu Kalyana Mandapam in Karur.

Final placings: 1 Nimmy George (Ker) 9.5, 2-4 M.B.Muralidharan (Ker), B.T.Muralikrishnan (Rly), R.Balasubramanian (ICF) 9 each, 5 K.Chakravarti (TN), 8.5, 6-13 D.Prabhaharan (TN), S.C.Subramanian (Rly), M.Paramasivam (TN), P.Phoobalan (TN), K.Gopalakrishnan (TN), N.Vigneswaran (TN), R.K.Ranjith (TN), M.V.Lakshmi Narayanan (TN) 8 each, 14-20 S.Venkat Sundaram (TN), G.S.Sreejith (Ker), R.A.Pradeep Kumar (TN), K.V.Ven Prakash (TN), K.Narayanan (TN), P.Maheswaran (TN), N.Surendran (TN) 7.5 each.