16-year old M Pranesh wins Rilton Cup to become India's 79th Grandmaster

by André Schulz
1/6/2023 – With a score of 8.0/9 (+8, -1, =0) the 16-year-old Indian M Pranesh finished clear first at the 50th Rilton Cup in Sweden, a success that made him India's 79th Grandmaster. Kaan Kucusari and Nikita Meshkovs shared second and third place with 7.0/9. The well-known Swedish streamer Anna Cramling played in the B-tournament and entertained her 250,000 YouTube followers with daily streams. | Photos: Lars OA Hedlund

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Almost 140 players took part in the latest Rilton Cup in Stockholm. With its 50th edition the traditional tournament, played at the turn of the year from 22 December 2022 to 5 January 2023, celebrated a jubilee, and in addition to the main tournament, a number of other tournaments were organised. In parallel to the tournaments the Swedish top player Nils Grandelius and the Egyptian Grandmaster Bassem Amin played a rapid chess match.

In round 2 the eventual winner M Pranesh suffered an early setback when he lost to IM David Eggleston from England, but then Pranesh won all his remaining seven games and finished one full point ahead of the field.

Pranesh during the winner's ceremony

Before the tournament,  Pranesh, who hails from Tamil Nadu, had already made three GM-norms but with his performance at the Rilton Cup he jumped the 2500 mark and became the 79th Grandmaster from India. A few days ago, the 19-year-old Koustav Chatterjee became India's 78th Grandmaster thanks to his performance in the National Chess Championship of India.

Winning the Rilton Cup brings Pranesh 6.8 points in the new FIDE Circuit, in which the best tournament performances decide who gets a place in the next Candidates Tournament in 2024. Pranesh M is trained by the well-known Indian coach RB Ramesh.

Behind the Indian, Kaan Kucusari (Sweden) and Nikita Meshkovs (Latvia) tied for second and third place, but thanks to his better tiebreak Kucusari won silver.

Kaan Kucusari 

The number one seed, GM Krishnan Sasikiran from India, made too many draws and suffered a defeat in the penultimate round. He finished 21st.

The rapid match between Nils Grandelius and Bassem Amin started with four draws but then Grandelius won game five.

But then Bassem Amin won game six and the match ended in a 3:3 tie.

Anna Cramling-Bellon shares the passion of her parents for chess - in a slightly different way. She does not play as strong as her parents who are both Grandmasters, but in her streaming shows she demonstrates great entertainment qualities.

At the Rilton Cup she played in the B-tournament, where she finished ninth, but round after round she entertained her fans with an after game show.

Anna Cramlings YouTube Channel...

A bookstall and the opportunity to chat or play casual games also contributed to the festival atmosphere.

Final standings Open

1 22 IM Pranesh M IND 2475 2475   8 39,5 41 37 2775 9 8 5,11 2,89 10 28,9
2 18 IM Kucuksari Kaan SWE 2492 2492   7 46 49,5 35,5 2656 9 7 5,17 1,83 10 18,3
3 4 GM Meshkovs Nikita LAT 2566 2566   7 37 39 30,5 2570 9 7 6,82 0,18 10 1,8
4 8 GM Urkedal Frode Olav Olsen NOR 2536 2536   6,5 45 47,5 36 2601 9 6,5 5,72 0,78 10 7,8
5 9 GM Galperin Platon UKR 2530 2530   6,5 44 47 32,5 2579 9 6,5 5,89 0,61 10 6,1
6 25 IM Gorshtein Ido ISR 2469 2469   6,5 43,5 47 32,5 2553 9 6,5 5,47 1,03 10 10,3
7 42 IM Sokolovsky Yahli ISR 2415 2415   6,5 43 45,5 31 2600 9 6,5 4,24 2,26 10 22,6
8 30 GM Raja Rithvik R IND 2453 2453   6 46,5 48,5 34,5 2564 9 6 4,69 1,31 10 13,1
9 23 IM Parkhov Yair ISR 2470 2470   6 46 49,5 33 2544 9 6 5,10 0,90 10 9
10 46 IM Souleidis Georgios GRE 2410 2410   6 43,5 47,5 30 2504 9 6 4,89 1,11 10 11,1
11 3 GM Livaic Leon CRO 2572 2572   6 43,5 47 32 2561 9 6 6,13 -0,13 10 -1,3
  12 GM Thybo Jesper Sondergaard DEN 2515 2515   6 43,5 47 32 2527 9 6 5,87 0,13 10 1,3
13 11 IM Abdrlauf Elham NOR 2518 2518   6 43,5 46,5 34 2551 9 6 5,57 0,43 10 4,3
14 16 IM Horvath Dominik AUT 2502 2502   6 43,5 45 35 2533 9 6 5,61 0,39 10 3,9
15 85 FM Olsson William SWE 2290 2290   6 42,5 45,5 30 2578 8 5 2,04 2,96 20 59,2
16 68 IM Sidhant Mohapatra IND 2337 2337   6 42 44 30,5 2525 9 6 3,38 2,62 10 26,2
17 35 GM Petursson Margeir ISL 2437 2437   6 41 44,5 31 2554 9 6 4,58 1,42 10 14,2
18 13 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2513 2513   6 40 43 30,5 2501 9 6 6,14 -0,14 10 -1,4
19 69   Ilamparthi A R IND 2336 2336   6 34 35,5 21 2418 9 6 5,05 0,95 20 19
20 37 IM Prraneeth Vuppala IND 2427 2427   5,5 47,5 51,5 34,5 2546 9 5,5 4,01 1,49 10 14,9
21 1 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2635 2635   5,5 45,5 50,5 30 2484 9 5,5 7,09 -1,59 10 -15,9
22 2 GM Smirin Ilia ISR 2596 2596   5,5 42,5 46,5 30 2495 9 5,5 6,62 -1,12 10 -11,2

...136 players

Games - Main Tournament

 

Games - Match Grandelius vs Bassem

 

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.