KOLKATA: City-based Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly emerged as the eventual winner with 7.5 points, in the battle of nerves on the final day of the 2nd LIC International Grandmasters chess tournament here on Tuesday.
With three players — Nigel Short of England and Lu Shanlei of China apart from Ganguly — vying for top honours at 6.5 points each, it was expected that the overnight leaders would play energetically and go for a win at the ICCR.
Much to the local chess connoisseurs' delight, Ganguly opened up the kingside in a Sicilian defence and his two bishops ensured an attack which fetched him a pawn, after which it was a matter of technique for the Indian grandmaster.
For his triumphant efforts, Ganguly was richer by `2 lakhs.
Four players — Short, Lu, Deep Sengupta and Sandipan Chanda — tied for second place with seven points apiece. However, Short took second on better Buchole tie breaking points and was awaded `1.6 lakh prize money.
Lu finished one rung down the ladder to win `1.3 lakh, while Sengupta and Chanda had to be content with fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Sengupta pocketed `80,000 and Chanda got `50,000.
On the top board, the Short-lu duel was a quiet affair, with both players content to manoeuvre their pieces in a Catalan set up. With neither side getting any breakthrough, a peace treaty was signed on the 41st move where both had a rook and knight and four pawns left on the board.
WGM Swati Ghate was declared as best women of the tournament after scoring five points.