P Lokesh of Viyugam Chess Academy won the ALL INDIA CHESS GRAND PRIX GML’s 1st All India Rapid Fide Rated Chess Tournament, scoring 6.5 points out of the possible 7. The one day event was held on 23rd February, 2020 at Hindusthan College of Arts & Science here at Coimbatore. The Tournament was inaugurated by International Arbiter R Srivatsan, Treasurer TNSCA, Member Arbiter Commission AICF, Rating Officer AICF, Assistant Manager National Insurance Company. Other guests on the dais were IA Vijayaraghavan, Chief Arbiter, Mr. SK Vijaya Kumar, Vice President CDCA, Mr. K Dhanasekar, Secretary, CDCA.
The GMLs Grandprix is the final leg of the 5 Series in this rapid events. Others were held previously were in Tiruvarur, Sivakasi, Karaikudi, Madurai & now in Coimbatore. Each series had a similar prize structure of Rs.1.25 lakhs with winner getting richer by Rs.15000/-. The top 10 players are allotted Grandprix points which is accumulated to choose top 10 players from the five grand prix series to play in a super final with a cash prize similar to the existing one, on 22nd April 2020. The tournament had strong participants like top seed IM B T Muralikrishnan of Southern Railways, Syed Anwar Shazuli of ICF, Senthil Maran and IM A Ra Harikrishna to name a few. A total of 282 participants took part eagerly.
The event was organized by Mr. Arasu, Organising Secretary, GMLs Academy with an eye-catching hall and other facilities provided meticulously. Lokesh, Selvamurugan & Senthil Maran tied on 6.5 points with former getting better on tie breaks. A huge tie on 6 points happened from 4th to 14th place and IM Harikrishna was better and took the 4th place.
The Prizes were distributed by Dr. J P Satish Prabhu, Executive Director, Hindusthan Hospitals. He praised the parents for their patience and was happy that young chess players are staying well away from cell phones. IA Srivatsan, the guest of honour for the PD distributed the prizes for the ELO category along with IA V Vijayaraghavan, Jt. Secy. of TNSCA & Chief Arbiter of the event and Mr. K Dhanasekar, Secy, CDCA, Mr. B Arasu, Secy, GML Academy & Dr. S Karunanidhi, P.Ed, HICAS.
| 01) Main Prize | ||||||||||
| Prize | Rank | Player Name | Prize Amount Rs. | Rating | Type | Club | Points | BH. | BH. | SB |
| 1 | 1 | Lokesh N. | 15000 | 2170 | TN | 6½ | 35½ | 32½ | 32.25 | |
| 2 | 2 | Selvamurugan B | 12000 | 1816 | TN | 6½ | 34 | 31½ | 30.75 | |
| 3 | 3 | Senthil Maran K | 10000 | 2175 | TN | 6½ | 32½ | 29½ | 30 | |
| 4 | 4 | Harikrishnan.A.Ra | 8000 | 2081 | TN | 6 | 35 | 31½ | 28.5 | |
| 5 | 5 | Surendran N | 6000 | 2056 | TN | 6 | 34 | 30 | 28.75 | |
| 6 | 6 | Ram S. Krishnan | 5000 | 2169 | BSNL | 6 | 33½ | 30½ | 27 | |
| 7 | 7 | Murali Krishnan B T | 4000 | 2283 | S.Rly | 6 | 33 | 29½ | 27.5 | |
| 8 | 8 | Sa Kannan | 3000 | 1896 | TN | 6 | 32 | 29 | 26 | |
| 9 | 9 | Manigandan S S | 2500 | 2012 | TN | 6 | 32 | 28 | 27 | |
| 10 | 10 | Sharan Rao | 2000 | 1873 | KAR | 6 | 31½ | 29½ | 26 | |
| 11 | 11 | Barath Kalyan M | 1500 | 1887 | TN | 6 | 31½ | 29½ | 25 | |
| 12 | 13 | Syed Anwar Shazuli | 1500 | 2178 | ICF | 6 | 31 | 28½ | 25.25 | |
| 13 | 15 | Sibi Visal R | 1500 | 1988 | TN | 5½ | 34½ | 31½ | 25.25 | |
| 14 | 17 | Eshwanth Dev Kumar J | 1500 | 1812 | TN-CBE | 5½ | 33 | 29½ | 24.75 | |
| 15 | 18 | Shreyas M | 1500 | 1675 | TN-CBE | 5½ | 32½ | 29½ | 23.25 | |
| 16 | 20 | Bala Kannamma P | 1000 | 1978 | TN | 5½ | 30½ | 27½ | 21.75 | |
| 17 | 24 | Ganesh R | 1000 | 2019 | TN-CBE | 5 | 31½ | 28½ | 21 | |
| 18 | 28 | Peter Anand A | 1000 | 1843 | PUD | 5 | 30½ | 29½ | 19 | |
| 19 | 29 | Dhanasekar K. | 1000 | 1794 | TN-CBE | 5 | 30½ | 29 | 18 | |
| 20 | 31 | Subramanian R M | 1000 | 1799 | TN | 5 | 30 | 27 | 18.5 | |
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