CHENNAI: Top seed and Russian Grandmaster Pavel Ponkratov had the last laugh at the Chennai Open chess tournament for the Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy. For the first time in the 12-year history of the competition, eight players finished on top with eight points each after 10 rounds. Ponkratov’s superior tie-breaker score handed him the first prize of `3 lakh.
India’s V Vishnu Prasanna beat Aleksey Goganov of Russia in the last round on Saturday to finish in the group of eight. But he was placed eighth following the tie-break. Seven players finished on 7.5 points. NR Visakh (ninth), Jubin Jimmy (10th), S Rohit Krishna (11th), Mitrabha Guha (12th) and P Karthikeyan (15th) were the Indians in this lot. Winner of the top-board game between Ponkratov and fellow-Russian Ivan Rozum would have become the champion. But this game ending in a draw meant an opportunity for others to catch up with the top two in terms of points. Peruvian GM Jose Martinez Alcantara benefited and bagged the first runner-up prize of `2 lakh. Rozum was pushed to the fifth spot.
For Indians out to gain from playing against higher-rated players, it was not a very profitable outing. None of them secured GM norms. GB Harshavardhan, Jimmy, V Pranav and Rohith Krishna got IM norms, while K Priyanka got a WIM norm. Jimmy’s performance was one of the highlights of the events, considering that the player from Kerala is just 13. Final standings: 1-8 Pavel Ponkratov (Rus), Jose Martinez Alcantara (Per), Sergei Yudin (Rus), Aleksej Aleksandrov (Blr), Ivan Rozum (Rus), Stanislav Bogdanovich (Ukr), Stupak Kirill (Blr), V Vishnu Prasanna (Ind). 9-15: NR Visakh, Jubin Jimmy, S Rohith Krishna, Mitrabha Guha (all Ind), Alexei Fedorov (Blr), Neverov Valeriy (Ukr), P Karthikeyan.