Triple Grandmaster Norm holder Swapnil Dhopade excelled in defeating GM Mozharov Mikhail (Russia) in the seventh round of the Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament at Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.
Maharashtra star Swapnil moves into sole lead with 6.5 points and is followed by International Master Cruz Jonathan (Peru) at 6.0 points. Seven players share the third spot viz., Dzhumaev Marat (Uzbekistan), Ramnath Bhuvanesh R (India), Popov Ivan (Russia), Cruz Cristhian (Peru), Mozharov Mikhail (Russia), Karthikeyan Murali (India) and Gasanov Eldar (Ukraine) at 5.5 points.
GM Mozharov Mikhail (Russia) in deep thought, GM Brunello Sabino (Italy) in the rear
The top board game Grunfeld game between Swapnil Dhopade and Mozharov Mikhail had all the thrills, spills and excitement loaded to it. Mozharov sacrificed a pawn as early as the seventh move, but found Swapnil a tough nut to crack. Queens were off the board by 21st move, while a series of exchanges left Mozharov a pawn down in an opposite colored bishop ending. In the fourth hour of play, Mozharov missed Swapnil’s stunning 37.Bf7 which effectively decided the game in favor of the Indian.
With an ELO 2765 performance Swapnil stands to gain 23 rating points, so far. Three rounds remain to be played in the ten round Swiss event.
GM Dzhumaev Marat (Uzbekistan) playing top seed GM Popov Ivan (Russia)
Category “A” – Main Results Round 7 (Indians unless specified) :
Swapnil S Dhopade (6.5) bt Mozharov Mikhail (Rus) 5.5, Dzhumaev Marat (Uzb) 5.5 drew with Popov Ivan (Rus) 5.5, Cruz Jonathan (Per) 6 bt Brunello Sabino (Ita) 5, Karthikeyan Murali (5.5) bt Karthikeyan P (5), Cruz Cristhian (Per) 5.5 bt Ravi Teja S (4.5), Stany G A (5) bt Evdokimov Alexander A (Rus) 5, Rathnakaran K (4.5) lost to Gasanov Eldar (Ukr) 5.5, Ravichandran Siddharth (5) drew with Prasanna Raghuram Rao (5), Krishna CRG (4.5) lost to Ramnath Bhuvanesh R (5.5), David Alberto (Ita) 5 bt Kumaran B (4), Gahan MG (4.5) drew with Baryshpolets Andrey (Ukr) 4.5, Nguyen DUc Hoa (Vie) 5 bt Harsha Bharathakoti 4, Shivananda B S (4) lost to Neverov Valeriy (Ukr) 5
Anilkumar wins Chennai International Open “B” Chess Tournament
Kerala player O T Anilkumar won the 7th Chennai Open FIDE Rating Tournament (Category B) with 8.5 points from nine rounds pocketing the winner’s purse of Rs. 30000 (Rupees Thirty thousand only).
The second place was shared by Dusthageer Ibrahim M (TN), Toshali V (AP) and Harshini A (TN) at 7.5 points. 372 players played in this nine round Swiss event, including two FIDE title holders.
Mr V Hariharan, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Mr T Chandrasekar, Stadium Officer, Nehru Stadium, Dr V R Newbegin Chellappa, General Manager, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, Champion O T Anilkumar, Rotarian R Tamil Selvan, District Rotract Chairman, Rotary District 3230
Total cash prizes for Rs 200000 (Rupees Two Lakhs only) were distributed by Dr V R Newbegin Chellappa, General Manager, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. Present in the dais were Guest of Honor Rotarian R Tamil Selvan, District Rotract Chairman, Rotary District 3230, Mr T Chandrasekar, Stadium Officer, Nehru Stadium and Mr V Hariharan, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.
Category “B” – Final Placings:
1. Anilkumar O T 8.5, 2-4 Dusthageer Ibrahim M, Toshali V, Harshini A 7.5, 4-10 Raju S, Manigandan S S, Bathula Abhinav Reddy, Sadhu S Adithya, Yuvan Bharathi K S, Sahu Rajendra Kumar 7.0 points (372 players)
R R Vasudevan
Press Officer
