Himal Gusain triumphs in 4th Dalmia Cements All India Open 2019

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/01/2020

IM Himal Gusain scored 8.5/9, remained undefeated and finished a full point ahead of the field to become champion in 4th Dalmia Cements All India Open 2019. Local talent Priyanka Kumari and 13-year-old Arya Bhakta both finished at 7.5/9. They were placed second and third according to their tie-break score. While, Himal received a beautiful trophy and got richer by ₹50000 cash, Priyanka and Arya received ₹30000 and ₹20000 cash prize each respectively. Total 239 players participated from eight states across the nation from 26th to 30th December 2019, organized by All Jharkhand Chess Association at Sarala Birla University. A detailed report of the tournament containing photos, games and video. Photo: Ajay Kumar

Top seed finishes a full point ahead

Starting out as the top seed of the tournament, IM Himal Gusain of Chandigarh scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 and finished a full point ahead of the competition to win 4th Dalmia Cements All India Open 2019. Local talent Priyanka Kumari and 13-year-old Arya Bhakta both finished at 7.5/9 and remained undefeated. Priyanka and Arya were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-break score.

Champion IM Himal Gusain receives a beautiful trophy and ₹50000 cash as prize for his efforts | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Himal Gusain's unbeaten championship run

Runner-up Priyanka Kumari scored 7.5/9 and won ₹30000 cash prize | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Second runner-up 13-year-old Arya Bhakta also scored 7.5/9 and bagged home ₹20000 cash prize | Photo: Ajay Kumar

In the very first round, Naman Agarwal (1017), a twelve-year-old kid from Jharkhand was almost on the verge of making an upset at the top board against IM Himal Gusain (2412) as the game went into a completely drawn position but due to a lack of experience the little was unable to hold it.

Himal's experience made sure that he scored a full point in the first round | Photo: Ajay Kumar

The third round of the tournament witnessed another surprise as another twelve-year-old local boy Ishant Kumar (1472) defeated Sudhir Kumar Sinha (2033) of Bihar. Akash Tiwari (1639) of West Bengal drew the game with the veteran Y P Srivastava (2114) of Bihar in the fourth round.

Top seed, IM Himal Gusain (2412) was held to a draw by Priyanka Kumari (1874) in the fifth round.

Final moments of the game between Himal Gusain and Priyanka Kumari | Video: Ajay Kumar

Despite making a draw in round 5, the top seed IM Himal Gusain (2412) played an aggressive game against Mohit Kumar Soni (1859) and defeated him in just 25 moves to take sole lead at the conclusion of round 7.

On the fourth board Akash Tiwari (1639) defeated Pritam Singh (1953) with a fantastic finish with the black pieces in the same round.

Akash Tiwari en route his victory over Pritam Singh | Photo: Ajay Kumar

IM Prince Bajaj also made a strong comeback as he was unable to play the fifth and sixth round of the event due to health issues. In the penultimate round IM Himal Gusain (2412) maintained his sole lead of the event with a score of 7.5/8 points. He won his final round game to finish at 8.5/9, a full point ahead of the rest of the field.

Photo Gallery

The extremely spacious and well-lit tournament hall | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Ground view of the tournament hall | Photo: Ajay Kumar

The Arbiters team | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Eventual second runner-up 13-year-old Arya Bhakta (left) in action | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Chief Arbiter IA Jayant Kumar Bhuyan reads the tournament report | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Youngest participant of the tournament | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Rajeev Kumar Sinha, Head of the Corporate Affairs, Dalmia Bharat Cements, Jharkhand Circle (left) and Richa Sanchita, Execute President, All Jharkhand Chess Association | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Hony. Secretary of All Jharkhand Chess Association, IM and FI Neeraj Kumar Mishra giving away one of the prizes | Photo: Ajay Kumar

Total 239 players participated from eight states all over the country in this five-days nine rounds Swiss league tournament organized by All Jharkhand Chess Association from 26th - 30th December 2019 at Sarala Birla University. The event was sponsored by Dalmia Bharat Cements group.

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	IM	Gusain Himal			IND	2412	CHD	8,5	0,0	50,0	55,0	51,25	8
2	8		Priyanka Kumari		w	IND	1874	JHar	7,5	0,5	53,5	56,0	44,50	6
3	5		Arya Bhakta	U13		IND	2013	WB	7,5	0,5	50,0	53,0	43,25	6
4	2	IM	Prince Bajaj			IND	2390	Delhi	7,0	0,0	49,0	54,0	40,50	7
5	3		Srivastava Y.P.	S50		IND	2114	Bihar	7,0	0,0	49,0	53,0	39,00	6
6	4		Sinha Sudhir Kumar			IND	2033	Bihar	7,0	0,0	49,0	53,0	38,50	7
7	21		Ankit Kumar Singh			IND	1665	Jhar	7,0	0,0	48,5	52,0	37,25	6
8	40		Uddipan Roy	U11		IND	1412	WB	7,0	0,0	43,5	46,5	34,00	6
9	9		Mohit Kumar Soni			IND	1859	Bihar	6,5	0,0	53,0	58,0	38,50	6
10	22		Akash Tiwari			IND	1639	WB	6,5	0,0	52,5	54,5	35,50	5
11	15		Sudhakar Prem Dutt			IND	1729	Jhar	6,5	0,0	49,0	52,5	35,50	5
12	11		Verma Sanjay			IND	1855	WB	6,5	0,0	49,0	52,0	36,50	4
13	14		Alka Das		w	IND	1759	Jhar	6,5	0,0	49,0	50,5	34,00	6
14	10		Rajesh Kumar			IND	1856	Jhar	6,5	0,0	48,5	51,5	36,00	4
15	7		Singh Pritam			IND	1953	Jhar	6,5	0,0	48,5	51,5	35,75	6
16	24		Swapnil Raj			IND	1615	UP	6,5	0,0	47,5	49,0	32,50	5
17	28		Mrittika Mallick	U11	w	IND	1542	WB	6,5	0,0	47,0	51,5	36,00	5
18	25		Soumalya Mondol	U13		IND	1596	WB	6,5	0,0	47,0	51,0	32,75	6
19	46		Nitin Kumar	U15		IND	1386	Bihar	6,5	0,0	45,0	47,5	31,75	6
20	29		Anurag Panigrahi	U15		IND	1522	Jhar	6,5	0,0	43,5	46,0	30,75	6

Complete standings

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