Arvind Shastry & Yashas D. wins 17th BNCF-Akshayakalpa Grandprix Qualifier

by Hinduja Reddy - 07/09/2018

The 17th BNCF-Akshayakalpa Grandprix Final Qualifier was held on 26th Aug 2018 at BEL Officers Club, Jalahalli, Bengaluru. 2nd seeded Yashas D. edged out top seed Gahan M.G with a better tie-break score to emerge triumphant in category-A after both had finished with 6/6 points. In category-B, it was Karnataka State Chess Secretary and former state champion Arvind Shastry who won it with perfect 7/7 score. Below is a pictorial report sent to us by Hinduja Reddy.

Grandprix (French for “grand prizes” ) is generally associated with Formula One races. Bangalore North Chess Forum (BNCF), a non-profit organization founded by G.K Muralidhara, Prasanna Kumar L.R, Madhurya and Umadevi have come up with a Grand Prix series for the game of chess. They, in association with Akshayakalpa Organic Diary, have introduced Grand Prix to popularize chess in Karnataka. A series of seven events culminating into a super finale in February!

This was the 17th edition of the Monthly Tourney. | Photo: BNCF

The last month's edition also had the Grand Prix Qualifier and 6 players were chosen from it. They will be seen in action in the Super Finale.

IM Girish Koushik, Gahan M.G, Yashas Devappa, Arnav Muralidhar, Kalki Eshwar and Yashas Donthi have booked their slots for Rs. 1,75,000 cash prize super finale in February! | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

Top three players in each event qualify to the Grand Prix finale. If one of the top three players already gets selected in the previous events the next player get considered.

The venue was large and it was arranged keeping players' comfort in mind. | Photo: BNCF

Arbiter! Checkmate! | Photo: BNCF

Co-Founder of BNCF, Madhurya Murali (right) was also seen in action | Photo: BNCF

Checkmate? Yes and the story starts here: Star in making! | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

BNCF has personally crafted these unique medals for the chess players of the State. | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

The team has also engineered the hall by keeping the comfort of the participants in mind. Result? Comfortable and spacious hall for the players! | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

The Chief Arbiter of the event was IA Vasanth, B H and he was assisted by FA Beig, Saleem and FA Karthik, R.

Yes kid! you are playing me. | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

Wait! I will press it for you. | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

This month’s qualifier tournament had many exciting games. 14-year-old Rakshith Srinivasan caused an upset by defeating Likhit Chilukuri in round 4 in Open-B category. The game ended with a beautiful pin.

The champion of the category-A, Yashas D. | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

Ekalavya Awardee and IM norm holder Yashas Devappa employed the solid Reti Opening against Gahan M.G in the fifth round. He achieved a very pleasant position in middlegame. However, due to time trouble he had to settle for draw.

If you would like to deepen your knowledge of the Reti, do take a look at Victor Bologan's 'Reti - A repertoire for White' in the ChessBase India shop

Arvind Shastry , Karnataka State Chess Secretary and winner of the category-B | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Since, Gahan M.G and Yashas Devappa have already qualified. The next-in-line players according to final standings have earned the right to play in the finale.

This month’s qualifiers: Arvind Shastry, Rakshith Srinivasan, Gavi Siddaya, Santhoshkashyap HG, Yash Abhijit Patil, Gupta Anshurup. | Photo: Hinduja

All age-group winners in one frame. | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

The Prizes were given by Chief Guest Mr. Krishna President BE Officer’s Club and Raghavendra V Treasurer, UKCA. The Sponsor of the event, Akshayakalpa Organic Diary, had provided farm fresh milk for the players at the tournament hall which all the players enjoyed during round breaks.

The milk breaks between the rounds | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

Milk is the secret of my energy! | Photo: Hinduja Reddy

Final standing of Category-B

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	Arvind Shastry		2253	7,0	0,0	25,5	28,5
2	19	Rakshith Srinivasan		1230	6,0	0,0	24,5	25,0
3	2	Gavi Siddayya		2051	5,5	0,5	25,5	28,0
4	14	Shree Krishna Pranama		1317	5,5	0,5	24,0	24,5
5	13	Arhan Chethan Anand		1338	5,0	0,0	28,5	30,0
6	20	Varun Sudarshan		1225	5,0	0,0	28,0	29,0
7	15	Renganayaki V		1286	5,0	0,0	24,5	27,5
8	31	Shreyas Shashi Kumar		1042	5,0	0,0	24,0	26,0
9	5	Anbazhagan		1845	4,5	0,0	28,0	29,5
10	22	Rishabh Kumara		1199	4,5	0,0	25,5	27,5

Full standing: Chess Results

Final standing of Category-A

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	Yashas D.		2113	6,0	0,5	31,0	35,0
2	1	Gahan M G		2308	6,0	0,5	30,5	33,5
3	4	Santoshkashyap Hg		1941	5,5	0,0	28,5	31,5
4	15	Yash Abhijit Patil		1293	5,5	0,0	26,5	28,5
5	12	Gupta Anshurup		1410	5,5	0,0	24,0	24,5
6	7	Sushrutha Reddy		1750	5,0	0,0	29,0	32,0
7	3	Ojas Kulkarni		2028	5,0	0,0	27,0	30,0
8	11	Komal Srivatsav Sajja		1416	5,0	0,0	27,0	29,5
9	16	Keshav Kothari		1271	5,0	0,0	24,0	26,0
10	18	Binni Boyina Penchala Pratap		1242	4,5	1,0	26,0	28,5

Full standing: Chess Results

About the Author

Hinduja Reddy is a 23-year-old Chess Entrepreneur who lives in Bengaluru. She is a former National Women's B bronze medalist, chess writer, and co-founder of ChessMine events. In her free time, she likes to follow the games of her friends GM Nihal Sarin and GM Srinath Narayanan.