Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Iniyan Pa of Tamil Nadu, the top seed, lived up to his billing, dominating proceedings from start to finish to emerge Champion in the Masters Category of the Global Chess Festival, which concluded at the World Trade Centre.

Already in sight of the title after the penultimate round, the composed 24-year-old National champion settled for a quick and short draw against Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy to claim one of the biggest chess titles in the country in his debut appearance and the winner’s purse of Rs 8 lakh.

Nithin Babu clinched the Challenger Category, and Madhvendra Pratap Sharma triumphed in the Junior Master Category. Both Nithin and Madhvendra have directly qualified to play the Masters Category in the 10th season scheduled for next year.

The Erode-based GM Iniyan amassed 7.5 points to emerge Champion, maintaining an unbeaten stint, conceding only three draws. Boris Savchenko had to settle for a draw against Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi and finished second with 6.5 points.

The 26-year-old Nithin Babu, seeded sixth, defeated Ashirwad Swain in an intense battle on the top board of the Challenger section. Viresh Sharnarthi, who had been leading the event with a stupendous start of six wins from six matches, crashed to defeat in the last two rounds and finished 10th.

Nithin took home Rs 3 lakh and a trophy, while the 13-year-old Madhvendra Pratap Sharma, the top seed, also had the luxury of indulging in another quick draw against A. Amanlal and tallied 8 points for the title. Madhvendra earned Rs 2 lakh and a trophy in this event, touted as the richest prize money event for kids in the World.

In the Junior Masters, Balananda Ayyappan finished second with 7.5 points, while Amanlal pipped Aahna Gulati and Eeshwar Veerappan Aiyappan to finish third after a tie-break was applied to resolve the tie after all three scored 7 points each.

In an Irregular Pawn Opening, the tension was quite high on the top board between Nithin Babu and Swain as both needed a win to be crowned Champion. Nithin Babu played a good attacking game to be in the driver’s seat throughout this crucial game. Nithish first was a rook up for a bishop, and Swain resigned on the 32nd turn when his position worsened, and he was in danger of either losing pawns or getting checkmated.

Masters Category- Final standings

1. GM Iniyan Pa (2573) -7.5

2. GM Boris Savchenko (2476)- 6.5

3. IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy (2503)- 6

4. IM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi (2402)-6

5. IM Harsh Suresh (2435)-6

6. IM Apoorva Kamble (2431)-6

7. GM Alexei Federov (2388)-5.5

8. IM Ayush Sharma (2440)-5.5

9. IM Soham Kamotra (2405) -5.5

10 Manoj Kashish Jain (2365)-5.5

11 Sammed Jaykumar Shete (2400)-5.5

10. GM Luka Paichadze (2492)- 5.5

11. IM Nitish Belurkar (2479) -5.5

12. Alexandro Alekseej (2433) -5.5

13. IM De Silva LMST (2382) -5.5

CHALLENGERS CATEGORY-Final Standings)

1. IM Nithin Babu (2291) -8

2. Madhesh Kumar S (2315)- 7.5

3. Arun Anand S P K (2158)-7.5

4. Samyek Dharewa (2232) -7.5

5. Jaiveer Mahendru (2310) -7

6. Swain Ashirwad (2205)- 7

7. Anustoop Biswas (2197)- 7

8. Vivaan Sardana (2064) -7

9. Reyan MD (2180) -7

1. Viresh Sharnarthi (2361) -6.5

JUNIOR MASTERS- TOP TEN PLACINGS

1. Madhvendra Pratap Sharma (2373)- 8

2. Balnanda Ayyappan (1880) -7.5

3. A Amanlal (1899) – 7

4. Aahna Gulati (1837) -7

5. Eshwar Veerappan Aiyappan(1775)-7

6. Ankit Das (2038) -6.5

7. R Nijesh (2036)-6.5

8. Venkatanaga Karthik Malladi (1939) -6.5

9. Vinayak Kolluru (1778)- 6

10.Aradh Roy (1896) -6

–IANS

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