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Vyom Malhotra wins 1st SOA Category C Below 1600 Rating Tournament 2024

by R Anantharam - 11/02/2024

Vyom Malhotra, Ishan Sinha, Aarit Kapil and Srujan Pranayee Ray scored 8/9 each at 1st SOA International GM Chess Festival Category C Below 1600 Rating Tournament 2024. 10-year-old Vyom won the tournament due to better tie-breaks. The remaining three were placed second to fourth according to tie-breaks. Vyom defeated the sole leader Ishan in the final round to become the champion. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹750000. The top three prizes were ₹75000, ₹50000 and ₹40000 along with a trophy each respectively. The Asian School Under-9 2023 Gold and double Silver medalist, Vyon won his first non-age group rating tournament. The four-day eight round Rating tournament was organized by All Odisha Chess Association at SOA Campus 2 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 1st to 4th February 2024. Photos: IA R Anantharam

Kids dominate the podium

10-year-old Vyom Malhotra of Haryana is the champion in the C category (Below 1600 rating) of the 1st SOA International chess festival, organised by All Odisha Chess Association at SOA University Bhubaneswar. Three more players - Ishan Sinha of West Bengal, Aarit Kapil of Delhi and Srujan Pranayee Ray of Odisha also had eight points, same as that of Vyom and were ranked second to fourth respectively.

Vyom Malhotra of Haryana won ₹75000 for winning the category. Dr. Sanjay Kapoor, President AICF awarded the prize

Ishan Sinha of West Bengal was placed second and received ₹50000

9-year-old Aarit Kapil of Delhi is the second runner-up

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd Ishan Sinha 8/9, 1st Vyom Malhotra 8/9 and 3rd Aarit Kapil 8/9 with Dr. Sanjay Kapoor, President, All India Chess Federation

Vyom Malhotra scored an unbeaten 8/9, defeated the eventual runner-up Ishan Sinha in the final round and gained 62.4 Elo rating points

Vyom was chasing the leaders until the final round. And in the final round, he defeated the sole leader Ishan to pip him at the post in the final round, to clinch the title. He drew with the top seed Chiranjit Manna in the eighth round.

Both Vyom (right) and the top seed Chiranjit Manna seen concentrating more on the neighbouring board than their own

Ishan had a perfect score of eight wins in eight rounds, only to lose the final round game and the title to Vyom. He had the consolation of winning against the eventual second runner-up Aarit Kapil in the penultimate round.

Ishan Sinha (right) recorded the eighth win in eight rounds against the second runner-up Aarit Kapil.

Unrated Srujan Pranayee Ray of the home state registered six wins in a row after a loss in the third round, to tie for the first place, with eight points. Anyhow, he could finish only fourth.

Srujan Pranayee Ray (right) of Odisha defeated Siddhardh B Raman in the eighth round

Four players scored 7.5 points vying for the fifth to eighth place, among whom Dhiman Mitra of West Bengal had the best tiebreak score, to be declared as fifth.

Dhiman Mitra of WB (right) scored 7.5 points to get the fifth place

Tushar Banerjee of West Bengal had six wins and three draws to remain unbeaten in the entire tournament.

Tushar Banerjee of West Bengal (right) remained undefeated to score 7.5/9 and secure sixth rank

Arbiters team

A total of 363 players took part from various states across the country and three from Sri Lanka. The four-day nine round Below 2000 Rating tournament was organized by All Odisha Chess Association at SOA Campus 2 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 28th to 31st January 2024. The time control of the event was 60 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.SNo NameTypsexGrFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
18
Vyom, MalhotraU11IND1551Haryana853,555,549,0007
24
Ishan, SinhaIND1586West Bengal851,555,547,5008
37
Aarit, KapilU09IND1560Delhi851,554,546,5008
4349
Srujan, Pranayee RayIND0Odisha84852,547,0008
511
Dhiman, MitraIND1520West Bengal7,548,551,541,2507
641
Tushar, BanerjeeIND1351West Bengal7,545,549,541,0006
720
Solanki, AbhishekIND1438Madhya Pradesh7,5434638,0007
838
Kota, Kalpak Harsha KeertanU13IND1362Andhra Pradesh7,54047,537,2507
9102
S, K SayeedIND1200Odisha751,55540,5007
1043
Subhash, Kumar MIND1346Telangana7505438,5007
113
Soumyadeep, RahaIND1592West Bengal74952,537,7506
1232
Meher, Bhabanee PrasadIND1373Odisha7475036,5006
1335
Behera, PramodIND1367Chhattisgarh746,55136,5007
1453
Pradhan, LorenceIND1319Odisha7444736,0007
1573
Khatei, SahadebaIND1267Odisha74346,536,7506
1619
Bhoi, GunanidhiIND1476Odisha7434434,0006
171
Manna, ChiranjitIND1597West Bengal6,5545636,5006
1827
Vairaj, SogerwalU11IND1397Haryana6,550,55435,5005
1921
Raman, Siddhardh BU13IND1436Andhra Pradesh6,5505335,2506
20241
Gatikrushna, BhuyanSOAIND0Odisha6,54851,534,5006
21100
Santanu, BaralIND1207Odisha6,54750,531,5006
22106
Advait, DhandeU11IND1190Chhattisgarh6,546,55032,7505
2356
Om, SagarU13IND1308Maharashtra6,5465136,7505
2423
Rohan, KumarIND1425Bihar6,54650,533,7506
2517
Ravi, PalsuleIND1486Madhya Pradesh6,5464831,5006
2654
Shete, SohamIND1319Maharashtra6,545,54933,0005
2759
Ananya, AnamikawIND1306Odisha6,54548,531,7505
2893
Surbhi,wIND1215Haryana6,544,548,532,7506
2936
Prabhman, Singh MalhotraU13IND1366Chhattisgarh6,544,547,532,0006
302
Moharana, Manas RanjanIND1597Odisha6,5444732,2505
3125
Anurag, Pritam MedhiIND1402Assam6,5444528,7505
329
Pattnaik, BishalIND1541Odisha6,5434631,0006
3337
Mohapatra, Ayush AryanIND1365Odisha6,542,546,532,2505
3412
Sanjib, ChatterjeeIND1511West Bengal6,542,54530,7505
3530
Swain, NarayanS60IND1378Odisha6,54144,530,2506

Details

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


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