BHUBANESWAR 31-May-2015 31
West Bengal Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda beat overnight joint leader Himanshu Sharma in the 10th and final round to clinch the title in the Elite category of the 8th KIIT International Chess Festival, which concluded at KIIT International School here today.
Last year`s runner-up Chanda thus ended the monopoly of foreign Grandmasters who had been asserting supremacy in this lucrative tournament since its inception in 2009. Chanda, 32, finished with eight points, winning six games and drawing the remaining four. His title triumph fetched him the top prize of Rs 3 lakh.
Russia GM Pavel Smirnov settled with runner-up prize of Rs 2 lakh, while Georgia GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili took home the third prize of Rs 1 lakh. Among Odisha players, IM Swayams Mishra was most successful, finishing 17th with 6.5 points. Debashis Das, the only Grandmaster of the host state, occupied the 37th place with six points.
The Elite category produced one GM, three IM and two WIM norms in the process. Railway IM Himanshu Sharma secured the GM norm, while three IM norms were claimed by Tamil Nadu teenager Vignesh Nr, his brother Visakh Nr and Telengana youngster Harsha Bharathakoti. Tamil Nadu pair of R Vaishali and S Harini picked up the two WIM norms.
