TOURNAMENT REPORT
The 1st Citadel International FIDE Rated Chess Tournament was organized by the Citadel Chess World under the aegis of AICF and TNSCA from 24th to 30th October 2009 at the Panigraha Hall in West Mambalam, Chennai. The tournament had attracted around 370 players from all over the country with top billing given to IM M.S.Thejkumar of SW Rlys. 6 IM’s and 6 FM’s hotly contested for the top honours in this one week event.
The prize pool was about Rs.2 lakh rupees in 25 main prizes with the winner richer by Rs.50,000/- plus a glittering trophy. Kaligi Ammal Ranganathan Chettiar Educational Trust had sponsored around Rs.30,000/- for category and special prizes. Phoobalan won the tournament after a nervous last round when three players tied for the first spot. Phoobalan, Praveen Kumar and IM M.R. Venkatesh were tied at the end of the last round. The tie was broken utilizing Buchholtz method.
As expected the games were quite competitive with seasoned players finding it tough to put across the lesser seeds. Top seed IM Thejkumar was held to draw by Sohan Padke of Maharashtra in the 4th round and leaders were changing frequently. Phoobalan of ICF and Ram S Krishnan of BSNL were toppers briefly with 6.5 pts during the 8th round. In between Vinothkumar of Chennai shocked IM Rathnakaran of Railways in a short game in the 7th round and VAV Rajesh held the higher rated IM Thejkumar to a draw in the 9th round.C. Praveen Kumar the recent winner at Trivandrum Open FIDE Chess tournament took the lead in the penultimate round with an emphatic victory over Ram S Krishnan.
Junior players who stole the limelight include Arvind Chidambaram of Madurai, L.Bharath and G. Akash of Chennai and Augustine of Karnataka. Arvind beat Dinesh Kumar and drew with former National A player M B Muralidharan of Kerala . On the other hand Augustin beat T J Suresh Kumar in the 5th round and drew former state champion Gunasekaran in the 9th round.
The organizing secretary and founder of Citadel Chess World, Mr R V.Sathiyanarayanan, was keen on organizing the event in a smooth manner. His family members and friends were totally committed to make this event a grand success. True to its motto “Chess for Everyone” the organizer arranged a simultaneous display by GM R.B.Ramesh on one of the free days. The GM took on 52 players with a lot of rated players given a chance to challenge the GM. The GM endured a marathon 6 hrs of play and few players were able to score at the last hour. The Grandmaster gave an inspiring speech on “Chess Improvement for Youngsters” before the start of the display.
The other free half day was utilized for a blitz tournament with a participation of 70 players. Ramnath Bhuvanesh of SBOA with 7pts won the event ahead of Ram S Krishnan with a better tie break score.
The prize distribution ceremony was a grand success with Chief Guests D.V. Sundar - General Secretary All India Chess Federation, Mr. Sriramulu – Founding Secretary TNSCA, Mr. Dakshinamurty – pillar of chess for Chennai players and Mr. V. Kameswaran gracing the occasion with their presence. The chief guests gave away prizes to the deserving winners.
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