
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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