Akshay Borgaonkar dominates 26th Tamil Nadu IM-norm CC 2024, Harshit Pawar second and Harshad third
FM Akshay Borgaonkar scored an unbeaten 7/9 to win 26th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2024. He finished a full point ahead of the competition and also scored an IM-norm. FM Harshit Pawar scored sole 6/9 to secure second place. Harshit's sole loss of the event was against the eventual champion, Akshay. IM-elect FM S Harshad scored 5.5/9 to finish third. His sole loss was against Harshit. The seven-day ten-player round-robin tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Hotel Alankar Grande in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 30th August to 5th September 2024. Tournament Coordinator and Chief Arbiter - IA V Vijayaraghavan writes the tournament report. Photo: IA V Vijayaraghavan
Akshay scores an IM-norm, No tie-breaks needed for top five
Akshay Borgaonkar scored 7 point out of 9 rounds and won the 26th TN IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2024. Three FM's Akshay, Harshit Pawar, Harshad claimed the top honors. Akshay beat GMs Manik Mikulas (SVK), Orazly Annageldyev (TKM), IM David Gochelashvili, FMs Harshit Pawar and Rohit S, Daakshin Arun and drew the rest. In the process he obtained an IM-norm. The 26th editiion was inaugurated by Stephen Balasamy. In his address he expressed his gratitude to Dr. M Manickam, Chairman, Sakthi Group and President, TNSCA for this long chain of events. He also appreciated the support of Committee members of TN IM-norm.
Akshay took the lead in the fourth round and maintained till the end, with David chasing behind. David lost to Harshit Pawar in the seventh round and was out of the race. Harshit Pawar scored 2.5 points in the last three rounds to finish on 6 points, became the sole runner-up. Similarly, Harshad scored 2.5 points in the last three rounds and finished third with 5.5 points. Prizes were distributed by GM-elect V S Rathanvel, who is from Coimbatore and is a former World U-10 Bronze medalist, 2011 in Brazil.
Akshay - Manik, Round 1
Akshay Borgaonkar (2412) made a thematic sacrifice 13.Nxg5! against GM Manik Mikulas (SVK, 2320). He won the game in nine more moves.
Replay all games
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | FM | Borgaonkar, Akshay | IND | 2412 | 7 | 0 | 29,25 | 5 |
| 2 | 3 | FM | Pawar, Harshit | IND | 2284 | 6 | 0 | 23,25 | 4 |
| 3 | 10 | FM | Harshad, S | IND | 2275 | 5,5 | 0 | 21,50 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | FM | Rohit, S | IND | 2311 | 5 | 0 | 19,00 | 3 |
| 5 | 9 | GM | Manik, Mikulas | SVK | 2320 | 4,5 | 0 | 18,00 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | RUS | 2230 | 4 | 2,5 | 14,50 | 3 |
| 7 | 7 | GM | Vahidov, Tair | UZB | 2345 | 4 | 1,5 | 18,00 | 1 |
| 8 | 8 | Lokesh, N. | IND | 2222 | 4 | 1,5 | 15,75 | 2 | |
| 9 | 1 | FM | Daakshin, Arun | IND | 2290 | 4 | 0,5 | 16,00 | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | GM | Annageldyev, Orazly | TKM | 2271 | 1 | 0 | 4,25 | 0 |
About the Author
V Vijayaraghavan is an International Arbiter and Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. He was also the Tournament Coordinator for 24th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Tournament.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
