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)

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

Links

• Official tournament site
• Delhi Chess Association
• All top games in zipped PGN
• Reports | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |