Arvind Shastry & Yashas D. wins 17th BNCF-Akshayakalpa Grandprix Qualifier
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!
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.
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 Chief Arbiter of the event was IA Vasanth, B H and he was assisted by FA Beig, Saleem and FA Karthik, R.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.