Levan Pantsulaia clinches 1st Meghalaya GM Open 2023, Aronyak Ghosh second and Ratnakaran third

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/01/2024

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) scored an unbeaten 8.5/10 to win 1st Meghalaya GM Open 2023. Levan finished a half point ahead of the competition. IMs Aronyak Ghosh and Ratnakaran K scored 8/10 each. They were placed second and third respectively according to tie-breaks. Both Levan and Aronyak remained undefeated. They maintained their seeding order in the final standings. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹3001000, ₹2000000 in Category A. The top three prizes were ₹301000 + trophy, ₹201000 and ₹150000 each respectively. Nithin Babu became the sole untitled player to make a top ten finish. He scored an impressive 7.5/10 to finish fourth. IM Soumya Swaminathan is the sole woman among top ten. She scored 7.5/10 to secure tenth place. Photo: Meghalaya Chess Association

Top two seeds finish in top two, remain undefeated

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO), IM Aronyak Ghosh and IM Ratnakaran K were the three leaders 7.5/9 heading into the last round. Aronyak drew against Ratnakaran, Levan defeated IM Soumya Swainathan to become clear champion. Category B Below 1600 Rating tournament report will be published separately.

Champion - GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) 8.5/10 | Photo: Meghalaya Chess Association

Runner-up - IM Aronyak Ghosh 8/10 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Second Runner-up - IM Ratnakaran K 8/10 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) scored an unbeaten 8/10, finished a half point ahead of the rest and maintained his rating

Group photo of various prize winners | Photo: Meghalaya Chess Association

Prizes were distributed by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya - Conrad K Sangma with Sports Minister, Govt. of Meghalaya, Shakliar Warjri and President, All India Chess Federation, Dr. Sanjay Kapoor in presence of MCA President - Khijar Mehraj Warjri and General Secretary - Khrawkupar Pajat amongst others.

Thanks to Khrawkupar Pajat, General Secretary of Meghalaya Chess Association for sharing photos and info about the tournament.

A total of 160 players including 6 GMs, 10 IMs and 3 WIMs took part from eight countries across the world in the Category A section. The eight-day ten round Rating Open tournament was organized by Meghalaya Chess Association at SAI STC Indoor Sports Stadium in Shillong, Meghalaya from 12th to 20th December 2023. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	1	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan			GEO	2561	Georgia	8,5	63,5	69	57,50	7
2	2	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh			IND	2545	RSPB	8	63,5	67,5	52,25	6
3	13	IM	Ratnakaran, K.			IND	2232	RLYS.	8	63,5	67	50,75	7
4	25		Nithin, Babu			IND	2102	Kerala	7,5	61	65,5	47,25	6
5	4	GM	Savchenko, Boris			FID	2505	FIDE	7,5	59,5	64,5	48,00	7
6	5	IM	Neelash, Saha			IND	2458	West Bengal	7,5	58,5	63	45,75	7
7	11	GM	Karthikeyan, P.			IND	2298	Tamil Nadu	7,5	58,5	63	45,25	6
8	6	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri			IND	2400	Madhya Pradesh	7,5	57	61	42,50	6
9	16	IM	Elgabry, Mohsen			EGY	2215	Egypt	7,5	52	56	41,00	6
10	12	IM	Soumya, Swaminathan		w	IND	2267	PSPB	7	58,5	63	42,75	6
11	8	IM	Shahil, Dey			IND	2368	Assam	7	55,5	59	37,25	6
12	75		Rohith, Yadav B R			IND	1746	Telangana	7	54,5	57	34,50	5
13	28		Dhrupad, Kashyap			IND	2014	Assam	7	54	56,5	39,25	6
14	39		Chandar, Raju			IND	1901	Kerala	7	53,5	57,5	37,50	5
15	49		Reyan, Md.	U15		IND	1842	Bihar	7	52,5	56,5	36,00	7
16	36		Jani, Kushal R			IND	1920	Gujarat	7	52	55	35,25	6
17	9	GM	Neelotpal, Das			IND	2350	West Bengal	6,5	61	64,5	39,00	4
18	21	FM	Md, Imran	U15		IND	2174	Andhra Pradesh	6,5	60	64	37,50	6
19	22	FM	Matta, Vinay Kumar			IND	2146	Union Bank of India	6,5	59	64	38,00	5
20	61		Kumaresh, A			IND	1806	Tamil Nadu	6,5	57,5	60,5	35,50	5

Details

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