Arnav Maheshwari of Tamil Nadu wins the 5th IM Norm Tournament

• November 18, 2023
• in Chess, Chess Spotlights, Flash News, Tournament News

5^th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament, Kodaikanal

Arnav Maheshwari of Tamil Nadu wins the 5^th IM Norm Tournament and gets an IM Norm

The 5^th edition of the Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament was organised by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Kodikanal (Kodikanal name in the Tamil language means “The Gift of the Forest”). from 12^th November  to 17^th Novvember in Poppy’s Hotel. Kodaikanal is referred to as the “Princess of Hills” It  was established in 1845),

The ten players were GM Podolchenko Evgeniy (2395) of Belarus, IM Abdyzhapar Asylbek (2326) Kyrgystan, IM Gochelashvili David (2304) of Russia, FM Laddha Shubh Jayesh (2373) and Laddha Yash Jayesh (2171) of USA Federation. Indian players were CM Shaik Sumer Arsh (2273), FM Md Imran (2133),  FM Prasanna S (2120), Arnav Maheshwari (2244) and Surendran N (2174).

Shri D V Sundar, Former Vice President of FIDE, addressing the gathering

The tournament was inaugurated by Shri. D V Sundar, Former Vice President of FIDE, in the presence of Shri. Stephen Balasamy, Secretary of Tamilnadu State Chess Association. In his address, the Chief guest Shri. D V Sundar spoke about the significance of Deepavali festivals celebrated all over India with lights and fireworks and distributed sweets to all the participants. He lauded the efforts of TNSCA in bringing up a sequence of IM Norm Tournaments in Tamil Nadu. Mr Pragadeesh, Joint Secretary of TNSCA, welcomed the gathering. Mr Lokesh Secretary of Krishnagiri District Chess Association delivered the vote of thanks.

The first round of the 5^th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess tournament took a strong note with all the boards producing decisive results. The tournament ELO Rating average 2251 to get a IM norm, player must score 7 points. The closed circuit chess tournament facilitates IM Norms for our Indian players. A total of 9 rounds were played in a round robin format.

In the first round Arnav Maheshwari of Tamil Nadu surprised IM David Gochelashvili of Russia in 39 moves from white side of the King’s Indian. Arnav advantage from the opening forced his opponent to make some inaccurate moves. Further inroads in black’s camp by Arnav Rook and Knight netted the black queen in the 34^th move and the IM tried is best but Arnav grabbed opportunity and smiled with victory. With this result he boosted up himself to perform further. In the second and Third round Arnav drew with GM Podolchenko Evgeniy and FM Md Imran.

The 4^th round was inaugurated by Dr. M Manickam, President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. Arnav Maheshwari of India took the sole lead with 3 points at the end of 4^th round by outplaying IM Asylbek, Abdyzhapar.

At the end of 5^th round 3 players were leading the race with 3.5 points Arnav Maheshwari, GM Podochenko Evgeniy and Surendran N.

In the sixth round, Surendaran lost to FM Md Imran remaining two players continued the lead with 4.5 points. In the seventh round Joint leader of the previous round Arnav Maheshwawri had to settle for a draw, Prasanna who was suffering from half a point of the last 4 games, Faced the Belarus GM Evgeniy took advantage of the inferior variation played by the GM and defeated convincingly. In another game IM Asylbek of Kyrgyzstan played against Ladda Yash, Finished the game in his favor and join the leader Arnav and Asylbek lead the race with 5 points.

The eighth round was inaugurated by Shri. Rajesh R President, Chess Association Kerala and Joint Secretary AICF, In this round Arnav Played against Prasanna. The battle was fought equally by both the players but in the end Prasanna allowed Arnav to play tactically and lost the game. Joint leader IM Abdyzhapar Asylbek played against FM Laddha Shubh, played passively, IM Asylbek took the control over the game and won the game comfortably.

Shri Rajesh R President, Chess Association Kerala, Inaugurating 8th round

In the final round Prasannaa S faced IM Abdzhapar Asylbek. Prasanna blundered a piece in the middle game and lost the game. Surendran N played against Arnav Maheshwari and the  game was equal till the middle game, there after he miscalculated Queen move which allowed Arnav to tactically finished the game. With this win Arnav secured his 1^st IM Norm.

Arnav Maheshwari and IM Abdyzhapar Asylbeck scored 7 points, on better tie breaks Arnav was crowned as champion of  5^th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed circuit Chess Tournament and carried home $500 USD. Asylbek secured second place and GM Podolchenko Evgeniy completed the podium and carried home $300 USD and $200 USD each respectively.

Shri Vijayaraghan V, Vice-president TNSCA distributed the prizes to Prize winners in the presence of Mr. Pragadesh, joint secretary, TNSCA.

Final ranking