65th Tamilnadu State Open Fide Rated Chess Championship was organized by Erode District Chess Circle, Erode. The tournament attracted 196 players all over from Tamil Nadu. The local star IM P Iniyan’s Participation made the tournament glamour. Out of 196 players, 154 players are FIDE rated chess players. The tournament was held from23rd April 2017 to 27th April 2017, offering a prize fund of Rs.1,00,000/- . IM Iniyan P from Erode was the top seeded.
The tournament was inaugurated by Dr. R Shivakumar IPS, Superintendent of Police Erode District . A chess ‘Kavithai’ in Tamil was written and released by Dr. R Shivakumar IPS, in the inaugural function. Dr. Ramesh the organizing secretary welcomed the gathering.
26th seeded P Yutesh from Tiruvallur District shocked the top seeded, IM Iniyan P of Erode on the 3rd round was the major upset. Harshavardhanan G B and Akash Pc Iyer both from Chennai took the lead with 5 points each at the end of the 5th round. In round six Harshavardhanan lost to Akash Pc Iyer and Akash was in sole lead with six points. In round seven N Lokesh from Krishnagiri held Akash but Akash continued the lead with half a point higher than his nearest rivals. Akash was out played by Iniyan on the penultimate and Iniyan took the lead along with N Lokesh with 7 points. In the final round Iniyan was held by Lokesh. There are five players viz Akash Pc Iyer of Chennai, N Lokesh of Krishnagiri, Pr Hirthickkesh of Cudalore, N Surendran of Chennai, and P Iniyan of Erode scored 7.5 points and tied for the first prize. But better tie break helped Akash Pc Iyer became the Champion and N Lokesh finished second.
Rtn. MD. S Senguttuvan was the Chief guest for the prize distribution function. Shri. V S Elango MD ALFA Switch Gear (I) Pvt.Ltd distributed the prizes to the winners. Shri. A Sekar DSP, Erode and Mrs. J Beulah Jane Susila are the guest of honours. Rtn Ar. K K Vijayachandhran welcomed the gathering, Dr.Ramesh Secretary, Erode Chess Circle proposed the vote of thanks.