Indians dominate Aurionpro chess meet; Lalit, Madhesh win titles
GM M R Lalit Babu and CM Madhesh Kumar clinched top honours at the Aurionpro International Grandmaster and Junior Chess Tournament in Mumbai. Lalit won on tie-break, while Madhesh secured an outright victory. The event offered Rs 40 lakh in prizes
Hyderabad: GM M R Lalit Babu and Candidate Master Madhesh Kumar made it an Indian sweep as they emerged champions in contrasting fashion in the Rs 40 lakhs prize money Aurionpro International Grandmaster and Junior Chess Tournament, which concluded at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai on Wednesday.
While Lalit Babu won his ninth and final round encounter against top-seeded Georgian GM Lavin Pantsulaia to tally eight points, he had to spend anxious moments as Armenian GM Mamikon Gharibyan also finished with eight points, defeating Indian GM Neelotpal Das in the final round.
However, Lalit Babu’s superior tie-break score of 54.5, compared to Gharibyan’s 54, ensured he lifted the glittering trophy and took home the winner’s purse of Rs 4 lakhs.
Gharibyan’s second-place finish fetched him Rs 3 lakhs. Another Indian, Deepan Chakravarthy, finished fifth and earned Rs 1.25 lakhs.
In comparison, teen prodigy Madhesh, who impressed with calm and focused play, won the junior title outright with eight points, scoring a final-round victory over Vyom Malhotra. He bagged Rs 2 lakhs for his stellar performance, while Advik Agrawal finished runner-up and took home Rs 1.5 lakhs.
Top seed Aansh Nerurkar settled for third place and Rs 1 lakh. The fourth and fifth spots went to CM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma (Rs 75,000) and Jagreet Mishra (Rs 50,000) respectively.
Sannidhi Bhat was adjudged the ‘Best Female Player’ and won Rs 45,000 along with a trophy. Rachit Gurnani and Mysha Perwez were named best Mumbai boy and girl respectively, winning Rs 30,000 each and a trophy.
