Srinath, Karthik, who's next? Mumbai Mayor's Cup 2018 begins!

by Sagar Shah - 02/06/2018

After two exciting GM events in Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar, we now move on to the financial capital of our country - Mumbai! The 11th edition of the Mumbai Mayor's Cup begins from the 3rd of June 2018 and it promises to be an exciting event. The question on everyone's mind is, can an Indian player make it three in a row? In Kolkata it was GM Srinath Narayanan who finished half a point ahead of the field. In Bhubaneshwar it was IM Karthik Venkatraman who gave no one a chance with a score of 9.0/10. The Mayor's Cup has the first prize of Rs.3,30,000, higher than both the previous events. Who do you think will win? A special prize awaits the person who guesses the right answer.

Usually when International events are held in India, more often than not we see the foreign grandmasters coming out on top and taking home the first prize. However, this trend is changing, and in the last two events we have seen two Indians coming out on top.

GM Srinath Narayanan showed his prowess at the Kolkata GM Open 2018 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

A performance of 2737!

At the KIIT International GM 2018 it was Karthik Venkatraman who bamboozled everyone with his sizzling play and finished on top with 9.0/10 | Photo: KIITKISS Sports

A rating performance of 2740!

And now we come to the city of dreams! The Mumbai Mayor's Cup 2018

The players' list is very interesting. We have a Ukrainian at the top Martyn Kravtsiv with a rating of 2662, followed by Mikheil Mchedlishvili from Georgia and Farrukh Amonatov. You have the two youngsters from Russia and Ukraine - Ivan Rozum and Adam Tukhaev, while the new faces this year are Karen Grigoryan, Kirill Stupak, Mikhail Mozharov. Indian challenge is being led by Sandipan Chanda, while Deepan Chakkravarthy will like to follow up on his runner's up performance at Kolkata GM Open. Can Karthik Venkatraman make another GM norm? Can Arjun Erigaisi prove himself once again? And can P. Karthikeyan makes his final GM norm and become a grandmaster - long awaited! The 11th edition of Mumbai Mayor's Cup promises to be an exciting event.

Starting rank - all players above 2400

No.		Name	ID	FideID	FED	Rtg	sex	Typ	Club/City
1	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	0	14113147	UKR	2662
2	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	0	13600966	GEO	2608
3	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	0	14700077	TJK	2605
4	GM	Rozum Ivan	0	24104272	RUS	2581
5	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.	0	13301004	ARM	2571
6	GM	Sandipan Chanda	0	5004225	IND	2571
7	GM	Paichadze Luka	0	13602934	GEO	2564
8	GM	Stupak Kirill	0	13503758	BLR	2564
9	GM	Mozharov Mikhail	0	4189825	RUS	2558
10	GM	Tukhaev Adam	0	14109476	UKR	2557
11	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	0	5045207	IND	2536
12	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	0	5011132	IND	2531
13	GM	Burmakin Vladimir	0	4105109	RUS	2528
14	GM	Pruijssers Roeland	0	1013068	NED	2514
15	GM	Tran Tuan Minh	0	12401820	VIE	2514
16	FM	Erigaisi Arjun	0	35009192	IND	2505
17	GM	Rahman Ziaur	0	10200037	BAN	2498
18	GM	Neverov Valeriy	0	14100150	UKR	2492
19	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	0	25006479	IND	2475
20	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	0	5078776	IND	2471
21	IM	Visakh N R	0	25012223	IND	2467
22	IM	Karthikeyan P.	0	5018226	IND	2456
23	IM	Nguyen Van Huy	0	12401064	VIE	2451
24	GM	Neelotpal Das	0	5003512	IND	2447
25	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	0	14700247	TJK	2445
26	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	0	14200236	UZB	2434
27	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	0	5027330	IND	2424

Complete players' list

The Mumbai festival is split into three events - A,B and C and the total prize fund is Rs.35,00,000

The event has strong backing from Mount Litera school and LIC

The first place takes home a prize of Rs. 3,30,000!

B-category will conclude in four days and has the first prize of Rs.1,20,000

A very surprising part of the event is that the C-group has a higher first prize than B-group!

GM Hoa Nguyen won the title back in 2017. Who is going to win the 11th Mayor's Cup? Do write down your guesses in the comments section. Last date to submit your answer is 3rd June 2018. The right answer will receive three months of ChessBase Premium Account!

Tournament director Ravindra Dongre speaks about the Mayor's Cup 2017

The atmosphere at the Mumbai Mayors' Cup 2017

Articles from previous editions:

Hoa Nguyen wins Mayor's Cup 2017

Four leaders at the Mayor's Cup 2017

Visakh wins Mayor's Cup 2016