Umashankar dominates Visalakshi - Arunachalam 8th SCS Rating Open 2024
Tenth seeded Umashankar A scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 to win 8th Visalakshi - Arunachalam 8th SCS Rating Open 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. FM Prasannaa S made a blazing start 7/7. In the final round, Umashankar defeated him to become a clear champion. Four players - Prasannaa, IM Nitin S, Selvamurugan B and Vijay Shreeram P scored 7/8 each. They were placed second to fifth according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹450000. The top three prizes were ₹70000, ₹50000 and ₹35000 along with a trophy each. The four-day rating tournament was organized by Sivakasi Chess Sparklers and Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu from 8th to 11th June 2024. This is Umashankar's first rating tournament triumph of his career. Photos: IA R Anantharam
Umashankar ends Prasanna's fantastic run to finish clear first
Tenth seeded A Umashankar of Pondicherry pipped FM Prasanna S of Chennai to win the Visalakshi Arunachalam 8th SCS FIDE rated tournament, organised by Sivakasi Chess Sparklers at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi. He scored 7.5 points from eight games, conceding a draw to National Schools Under-17 Open champion - R Shadhursshaan of Aruppukottai.
Four players – Prasanna, International Master S Nitin of Southern Railway, B Selvamurugan of Madurai and P Vijay Shreeram of Chennai scored seven points each and were placed from second to fifth in that order.
Prasanna dominated the field recording seven wins in a row and a draw was needed in the final round to win the title. But he faltered in the final hurdle, losing to the eventual winner Umashankar.
IM S Nitin was held to a draw by 13-year-old Jackson V X of Chennai in the fourth round who has a rating difference of more than 500 points and also to Selvamurugan in the final round, to be declared as the second runner-up.
Top seeded IM Nitin S was placed third. Two draws against much lower rated players cost him the title
Selvamurugan was able to hold IM Nitin to a draw in the final round, to get the fourth place.
Except a loss to Prasanna, Vijay Shreeram won all the games to finish fifth.
Among the 14 players who had a credit of 6.5 points, the local boy Shadhursshaan had the best Buchholz score to attain the sixth place.
Former national rapid champion Ram S Krishnan had six wins, one draw and one loss to claim seventh place.
Former Tamil Nadu champion R Anup Shankar of Trichy also had a similar score to reach the eighth rank.
14-year-old Krishna of Karnataka’s win over the state under-17 runner-up S Gokul Krishna of Tirupur was useful to the former in achieving the ninth place. He gained 68 Elo points in the tournament.
P. Pragadesh, Joint Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and organiser of international norm tournaments, inaugurated the tournament in the presence of IA V Vijayaraghavan, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. N Lokesh, IM-norm holder and Secretary of Krishnagiri DCA and NI P Uma Maheswaran, Secretary of Madurai District Chess Circle.
Mepco Schlenk Engineering College has been consistently supporting chess for several years and their students are regularly representing Anna University in the inter university chess tournaments.
The infrastructure and facilities in the college to organise a tournament of a massive 448 players are extremely good. All the participants were provided free accommodation in the hostel on double sharing basis and non-vegetarian food was provided daily for a very nominal cost. The college looks green everywhere with plenty of trees, including a miyawaki forest inside the campus.
The correspondent of the college, Arunachalam Tenzing evinces a keen interest in promoting sports, especially chess.
A total of 447 players participated from places all over the country in this four-day eight round Rating Open tournament. It was organized by Sivakasi Chess Sparklers and Mepco Schlenk Engineering College at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu from 8th to 11th June 2024. 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Umashankar A | IND | 1941 | PON | 7,5 | 41 | 45 | 41,75 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | FM | Prasannaa.S | IND | 2195 | TLR | 7 | 42,5 | 45 | 37,50 | |||
| 3 | 1 | IM | Nitin S. | IND | 2345 | SLM | 7 | 41 | 43,5 | 37,25 | |||
| 4 | 13 | Selvamurugan B | IND | 1921 | MDU | 7 | 40,5 | 44,5 | 37,75 | ||||
| 5 | 12 | Vijay Shreeram P | IND | 1923 | CHN | 7 | 39,5 | 43 | 36,00 | ||||
| 6 | 15 | CM | Shadhursshaan R | IND | 1913 | TN-V | 6,5 | 42,5 | 46,5 | 36,25 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Ram S. Krishnan | IND | 2004 | BSNL | 6,5 | 41,5 | 46 | 35,50 | ||||
| 8 | 9 | Anup Shankar R | IND | 1948 | TRR | 6,5 | 40 | 44 | 34,75 | ||||
| 9 | 23 | Krishna | U15 | IND | 1838 | KAR | 6,5 | 39,5 | 43,5 | 33,75 | |||
| 10 | 18 | Yashwant B | U15 | IND | 1883 | MDU | 6,5 | 39,5 | 43 | 32,75 | |||
| 11 | 30 | Kavin Oviyan R | IND | 1823 | TNJ | 6,5 | 38,5 | 41 | 32,50 | ||||
| 12 | 16 | Hari Ganesh T | IND | 1897 | CHN | 6,5 | 38 | 42,5 | 33,00 | ||||
| 13 | 11 | Ajjesh J R | IND | 1939 | CHN | 6,5 | 37,5 | 42 | 33,00 | ||||
| 14 | 7 | Kavin Vijayakumar | U15 | IND | 1966 | MDU | 6,5 | 37,5 | 41 | 32,75 | |||
| 15 | 26 | AIM | Muthukumar Mukesh | U15 | IND | 1830 | MAY | 6,5 | 37,5 | 41 | 31,25 | ||
| 16 | 4 | CM | Lakshmi Narayanan M V | IND | 2137 | DGL | 6,5 | 37 | 42 | 34,00 | |||
| 17 | 2 | Lokesh N. | IND | 2231 | KGI | 6,5 | 35,5 | 38,5 | 30,75 | ||||
| 18 | 95 | Nikhil T L | U15 | IND | 1639 | TPR | 6,5 | 35,5 | 38,5 | 30,00 | |||
| 19 | 41 | Mridav M | U15 | IND | 1773 | CHN | 6,5 | 35,5 | 38 | 30,75 | |||
| 20 | 37 | Raaghav Kabil M | IND | 1784 | TNV | 6 | 40 | 43 | 30,00 |
About the Author
Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
