Pranesh clear first in Challengers, Adhiban remains undefeated
GM Pranesh M became the champion in the Challengers section as he hoped he would before the final round. The only thing that did not happen as he wanted was a win against IM Harshavardhan G B. The former Asian Junior champion and the first IM to take part in this tournament, defeated the eventual champion, Pranesh in the final round. GM Adhiban Baskaran showed his class in the final round by winning against GM Leon Luke Mendonca to finish second. The reigning National Rapid champion, GM Iniyan Pa finished his campaign with a win over GM Abhimanyu Puranik, still Abhimanyu managed to finish third. Adhiban is the only player to have remained undefeated in the Challengers section, reminding everyone once again why he crossed 2700 a little over a decade ago. The prize fund in the Challengers section was ₹2500000. The top three prizes are ₹700000, ₹400000 and ₹325000.
Jorden - Giri
After eight draws, GM Anish Giri (NED, 2748) made his intentions clear that he wants to finish the tournament with a victory over the reigning Dutch champion, Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2697). 15...e5! was an inkling to that. What followed next is a wild battle 16.exd5 exd4 17.0-0-0 c3 18.Kb1 a5 Black did not waste any time in launching an attack, leaving White no time to launch an attack of his own.
Giri tweeted after his win
twitter.com/i/status/1956318049138565291
Challengers: Harshavardhan beats Pranesh, still he becomes the champion
Photo Gallery
For more Round 9 - part 1 and 2, Prize distribution ceremony part 1 and 2 photos, please at the respective links.
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Masters Round 9 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Club/City | White | Result | Black | Rtg | Club/City | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2776 | India | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 2658 | India | 10 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2696 | USA | GM | Liang, Awonder | ½ - ½ | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2720 | India | 4 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2697 | Netherlands | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 0 - 1 | GM | Giri, Anish | 2748 | Netherlands | 3 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 8 | 2687 | USA | GM | Robson, Ray | 0 - 1 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2730 | Germany | 2 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 9 | 2692 | India | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 1 - 0 | GM | Pranav, V | 2597 | India | 1 | PGN |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2730 | Germany | 7 | 0 | 29,00 | 5 | 3 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Giri, Anish | NED | 2748 | Netherlands | 5 | 1 | 22,00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2776 | India | 5 | 1 | 21,50 | 2 | 0 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | IND | 2658 | India | 5 | 1 | 20,50 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | 9 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2692 | India | 4,5 | 0,5 | 18,25 | 3 | 1 | |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Liang, Awonder | USA | 2696 | USA | 4,5 | 0,5 | 17,75 | 2 | 1 | |
| 7 | 4 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2720 | India | 4 | 0,5 | 18,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 8 | 7 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2697 | Netherlands | 4 | 0,5 | 17,00 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | Pranav, V | IND | 2597 | India | 3 | 0,5 | 13,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | Robson, Ray | USA | 2687 | USA | 3 | 0,5 | 12,75 | 1 | 0 |
Challengers Round 9 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Club/City | White | Result | Black | Rtg | Club/City | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2589 | India | GM | Pranesh, M | 0 - 1 | IM | Harshavardhan, G B | 2454 | India | 10 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2634 | India | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 1 - 0 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2487 | India | 4 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2576 | India | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | 1 - 0 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2476 | India | 3 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 8 | 2586 | India | GM | Iniyan, Pa | 1 - 0 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | 2635 | India | 2 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 9 | 2534 | India | GM | Adhiban, B. | 1 - 0 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2606 | India | 1 | PGN |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | Pranesh, M | IND | 2589 | India | 6,5 | 0 | 26,25 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Adhiban, B. | IND | 2534 | India | 6 | 1,5 | 26,75 | 3 | 1 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | IND | 2635 | India | 6 | 1,5 | 22,00 | 5 | 2 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2606 | India | 6 | 0 | 21,00 | 5 | 2 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Iniyan, Pa | IND | 2586 | India | 5,5 | 0 | 22,25 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | IND | 2576 | India | 4,5 | 0 | 14,50 | 3 | 2 | |
| 7 | 10 | IM | Harshavardhan, G B | IND | 2454 | India | 4 | 0,5 | 13,75 | 3 | 3 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | IND | 2634 | India | 4 | 0,5 | 12,75 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2487 | India | 1,5 | 0 | 4,00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | 3 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2476 | India | 1 | 0 | 5,75 | 0 | 0 |
Prize
The total prize fund is ₹1 Crore, for Masters it is ₹7500000, an increase of 50% from previous edition. The top three prizes are ₹2500000, ₹1500000 and ₹1000000. The prize fund in Challengers section is ₹2500000. The top three prizes are ₹700000, ₹400000 and ₹325000.
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Schedule
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