IM R Balasubramaniam of TN won the Riverside 1st International FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament with 7 points. The event was held from 22nd to 25th December and 2 lakh rupees of cash prize was distributed among various rating categories. Apart from the cash prizes around 100 trophies were given to young talents of different age groups. The first ever rated tournament in this lovely hill station of Nilgris District. 160 players ranging from Maharashtra to West Bengal and Jharkand to all southern states eagerly participatedin this event.
The event was inaugurated by the Chairman of Mangalam Educational Trust Mr. C. K. Kandasamy, along with the Secretary Mrs. SelvamaniKandasamy, Chief Administrative Officer Mr. Arangasamy, Mr. Kavin Kumar Kandasamy, the Managing Director, Mr. Francis Xavier, the Principal of Riverside Public School, Mrs. Jaya Haridas the Vice Principal, Chief Arbiter V. Vijayaraghavan & Mr. Bashir Ahmed Secretary of the Nilgiris District Chess Association. The Chief Guest Mr. C. K.Kandasamy inaugurated the event by cutting the ribbon followed by playing the first move in the tournament.
Each round was inaugurated by important people & sport achievers of Nilgris districts. Special invitees like Hittukkal Bojarajan, a philanthropist and charter president of Lions club of Kotagiri, H.T.Kumar, District Sports Officer, J.R.Natarajan and B.Ganesh, International Hockey Players, Rajesh Nahar, M
D, Nahar group of hotels, H S Moorthy, Coach of Indian Deaf & Dumb, Table Tennis Olympics Team 2017,Chandramohan an International volleyball player, visited the tournament hall and inaugurated the rounds.
SS Manigandan of TN took the sole lead with 5 points from 5 rounds, while IM Bala was on 4.5 points. In their 6th round individual encounter Bala outplayed Manigandan to take the lead and continued it till the final round. In a 5 way tie for the 2nd place on 6.5 points Swaraj Palit of Jharkand finished runner up followed by A Abhishek & MAbhijith of Kerala, Yuvan Bharathi of TN & OT Anil Kumar of Kerala.
The prize distribution function started with a Bharatnatyam dance by the home brewn talents of Riverside, followed by distribution of prizes by Kavin Kumar Kandasamy, Managing Director, Mangalam Educational Trust.
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