Kuzubov wins Grugaon Open in India

1/29/2009 – Gurgaon is just a short highway drive south west of New Delhi. The city of 250,000 is the sixth largest in the state of Haryana and has become a center of outsourcing and real estate. It is considered one of the poshest areas of Delhi. The Gurgaon International Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament was held in Suncity World School and won by Ukrainian GM Yuriy Kuzubov. Big pictorial report.

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Gurgaon International Open Grandmaster’s chess tournament was played from January 21st to 29th, 2009, at Suncity World School. It was formally inaugurated by the Honorable Minister of State Home Affairs Sh. Shri Praksh Jaiswal. This prestigious tournament had more than 250 players from 10 countries which include 16 grandmasters and 26 International Masters.

Gurgaon (Hindi: गुड़गांव) is the sixth largest city in the Indian state of Haryana, with a population of over a quarter of a million. The city has grown extensively during the last decade due to its proximity to West Delhi and South Delhi – it has become a major outsourcing destination and a real estate market in northern India. It has also become the poshest area of Delhi, with numerous Villas and condominiums and many malls with multinational brands.

Kuzubov wins the Gurgaon Open GM Tournament

Second seed Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukriane won the Gurgaon International Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament with eight points at Suncity World School today. Kuzubov tied for the top spot along with countrymate and top seed Alexander Areshchenko, Indian Grandmaster Neelotpal Das, Kazak Grandmaster Anuar Ismagambetov and International Master RR Laxman. But better tie break score helped Kuzubov to take the top position and winner’s trophy.


The winner of Gurgaon, Ukrainian GM Yuri Kuzubov

In the final round, Kuzubov settled for a quick draw against National Under-25 champion RR Laxman in just 8 moves while Areshchenko had the same results against Neelotpal Das. Anuar Ismagambetov defeated T. U. Navin Kanna in the final round encounter and tied for the pole position with eight points. The five ways tie resolved by bucholz score and Kuzubov edged out rest four. Areshenchenko finished second while Laxman, Anuar and Neelotpal secured third, fourth and fifth position respectively. But all the five pocketed Rs.1,12,000 (1,765 Euros or US $2,300) as prize money as the prize money shared among the tied players as per the tournament rules.

Laxman, Girinath and Shivanda achieved their grandmaster norms while Shashikant Kutwal and Akash Thakur achieved International Master Norms. Uzbek girl, Muminova Nafisa declared as the best women player of the tournament and she also achieved her Women International Master Norm from this tournament. A P Joshua finished first among unrated players while in the veteran category International Master Boris Arkhangelsky finished at the top.

Final standings (top finishers: 7.0 points or higher)

Rnk Sd  Ti. Name Rtg FED Pts BH.
1 2 GM Kuzubov Yuriy 2626 UKR 8 69
2 1 GM Areshchenko Alexander 2673 UKR 8 68½
3 14 IM Laxman R R 2478 IND 8 65
4 6 GM Ismagambetov Anuar 2523 KAZ 8 64
5 12 GM Neelotpal Das 2490 IND 8 63½
6 15   Lalith Babu M R 2477 IND 7½ 67½
7 9 GM Ulibin Mikhail 2511 RUS 7½ 66½
8 4 GM Gleizerov Evgeny 2544 RUS 7½ 66½
9 19 IM Sengupta Deep 2445 IND 7½ 65
10 31 IM Girinath P D S 2404 IND 7½ 65
11 28 GM Ibrayev Nurlan 2407 KAZ 7½ 61
12 45   Shivananda B S 2347 IND 7½ 60
13 65   Anwesh Upadhyaya 2269 IND 7½ 59½
14 62   Thakur Akash 2281 IND 7½ 59
15 29 IM Himanshu Sharma 2405 IND 7½ 57½
16 76   Mehar Chinna Reddy 2246 IND 7½ 57½
17 26 IM Sethuraman S P 2415 IND 7 67½
18 3 GM Solodovnichenko Yuri 2571 UKR 7 67
19 30 IM Das Arghyadip 2404 IND 7 64
20 78   Saravana Krishnan P 2243 IND 7 63½
21 24 IM Shyam Sundar M 2426 IND 7 63½
22 18 GM Thipsay Praveen M 2453 IND 7 63
23 35 IM Narayanan Srinath 2397 IND 7 63
24 27 IM Saptarshi Roy 2410 IND 7 62
25 10 IM Adhiban B 2504 IND 7 61½
26 16 IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy 2462 IND 7 61½
27 49   Sangma Rahul 2322 IND 7 60
28 37 IM Suvrajit Saha 2368 IND 7 60
29 59   Shashikant Kutwal 2285 IND 7 59½
30 21 IM Rathnakaran K 2431 IND 7 59
31 54   Navin Kanna T U 2302 IND 7 59
32 25   Thejkumar M S 2424 IND 7 58½
33 43 FM Djuraev Sokhib 2353 TJK 7 58½
34 97 FM Mohammad Javed 2188 BAN 7 57
35 91   Anilkumar O T 2207 IND 7 54
36 72   Jain Shreyansh Daklia 2250 IND 7 53

Picture Gallery


New Delhi – Gurgaon Expressway: anyone can reach Gurgaon from New Delhi in no time


Suncity World School, which hosted the event


Chess players on the cricket ground, loosening up after a tough round


Players relaxing in the afternoon sun on the School grounds


Younger players taking a break on the soccer field of the School


A shopping mall of Gurgaon: "Mini Singapore"


Another popular mall: the "Indian Singapore"


C yber city, Gurgaon


The playing venue in the Suncity World School


IM RR Laxman, India, 2478, 14th seed, finished third


GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan, 2523, sixth seed, finished in fourth place


GM Neelotpal Das, India, 2490, 12th seed, finished in place five


IM Saptarshi Roy, India, 2410, 27th in the final rankings


IM Deep Sengupta, India, 2445, 19th seed, finished in ninth place


GM Praveen Thipsay, India, 2453, 18th seed, finished in place 22


Shashikant Kutwal, India, 2285, beat GM Petr Kostenko in the sixth round


1.e4 e5 2.d4 – a young participant in deep thought


WGM Soumya Swaminathan in a colourful cap


One of the youngest participants

All pictures kindly provided by Gopakumar Sudhakaran

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