1st KPK International FIDE rated open chess tournament
Tirupur District Chess Association the recently formed body joined hands with KPK Chess academy to organise the first ever FIDE rated chess tournament in Tirupur. The prize pool of around 1 lakh rupees has attracted around 219 entries from different parts of our country. The winner takes the first prize of Rs.25000/- followed by Rs.15000/- for the runner up in the first 25 main prizes and various category prizes were also offered. C Praveen Kumar of Chennai was the top seed , with T U Navin Khanna of Chennai and P.Phoobalan of ICF & Vijay Keerthi of Karnataka following the suit. Earlier the the tournament was inaugurated by the Chief guest Shri Sudhanand, Correspondent of Erode Sengunthar Engg College.
S.Ganesh Babu of Madurai defeated C Praveen Kumar in the 3rd round and at the end of the 5th round joined the lead with Vijay Keerthi of Karnataka , Dr Linda Rangarajan of Puduchery and M.V.Lakshmi Narayanan of TN. Linda took lead in the 6th round only to hand over to Vijay Keerthi who was either sole in the leader or among the joint leaders till the end. At the end of 10th round 5 players including the top 4 seeds C Praveen Kumar , Navin Khanna , Phoobalan , Vijay Keerthi alongwith Lakshmi Narayanan were jointly leading the table with 8 pts apiece. The top board games in the final round was a treat to watch with all the players displaying their level best and try to win their respective games.
VijayKeerthi of Karnataka won the title with 9 pts , half a point ahead of 7 players headed by C Praveen Kumar who took the runner up spot.
The tournament was conducted in a excellent manner and the organizer Shri KPK Selvaraj took a keen interest in providing good playing conditions for the players. A vending machine was procured to provide Tea, Coffee and Lemon tea for players at free of cost on all days. Also he opined the second edition of the event will be conducted in a far better manner.
The prize distribution function was graced by the presence of Shri Chola Appukutti, President of TN Spinning Mills Association and the Chief guest of the day . Shri Muralimohan , Gen Secy of TNSCA distributed the prizes. Shri KPK Balasubramaniam , Vice President KPK Chess Academy delivered the vote of thanks.
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