AUSTRALIAN IM RISHI SARDANA LIFTS GM TROPHY AT EKA I IIFL INVESTMENT MANAGERS 4THMUMBAI INTERNATIONAL CHESS

Obtaining the only win on the top 5 boards of the ninth and final round, Australian-IM-of-Indian-origin Rishi Sardana became the first winner of the GM tournament with 7 points and a tie-break 2 score of 47. Facing fellow IM Muthaiah Al of India on Board 4, Rishi dug in for the long haul and with minutes to spare, delivered the final blow on move 72 (Rgg4) to shoot up the rankings to first place. Along with a glittering silver trophy, Rishi went home with a cash prize of Rs 3,25,000.

On Board 1, tournament favourite GM Tuan Minh Tran of Vietnam settled for a draw against Indian wunderkind IM Gukesh D to finish with 7 points and a slightly inferior tie-break score to take home the second prize.

Indian GM Abhimanyu Puranik, the other challenger to Vietnamese dominance of the event, also had to settle for a draw against Russian GM Ivan Rozum and finished with 7 points and a tie-break score of 43.5 to clinch third place.

Prizes were also awarded to the three best female players: WIM Varshini V with 5 points, WGM Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzbekistan) with 5 points and IM Nisha Mohota with 4.5 points.

In the Open section, Samrat Ghorai required half a point to bring home the top prize which he had no difficulty in coaxing out of Devesh Anand Naik on Board 1. He finished the tournament with 8 points, winning him a shiny trophy and a cash prize of Rs 50,000.

Samrat’s opponent, Devesh, followed him in second place with 7.5 points and received a trophy and cash prize of Rs 40,000.

Third prize was won by Aditya Varun Gampa, also on 7.5 points, who received a trophy and cash prize of Rs 30,000.

As in the GM section, players finishing in positions 4 to 25 also received cash prizes ranging in value from Rs 25,000 to Rs 5,000.

FM Aaryan Varshney became the fourth winner of the Under 13 event since the inception of the EKA | IIFL INVESTMENT MANAGERS MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL CHESS Tournament  when he beat Pranesh M on Board 1 of the ninth and final round. He finished the tournament with an impressive 8 points from 9 rounds, losing out on the remaining point from draws against CM Nikhil Magizhnan and Manish Anto Cristiano. Aaryan wins a cash prize of Rs 200,000 and a glittering trophy for his performance.