Hyderabad: The 2nd edition of prestigious Hyderabad Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament organized by Cyber Chess Academy under the aegis of Hyderabad District Chess Association, Ranga Reddy District Chess Association, Andhra Pradesh Chess Association, All India Chess Federation and World Chess Federation got off to a rousing start here at Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium, Yousufguda on Monday.
This year the event was sponsored by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Andhra Bank, Petronet LNG Ltd and Airports Authority of India split in to two different sections. The premier section for players of 1900 and above rating attracted a total number of 123 players from 14 countries which include 26 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters and 2 Women Internationals.
Grandmaster Ivan Popov of Russia started as top seed in this 10 lakh prize fund premier category in which Rs. 2 lakh reserved for the winner. While the Indian Challenge in the event are spearheaded by Grandmasters Vidit Santosh Gujarathi of ONGC and M R Lalith Babu of Indian Oil.
In major upsets in the opening round, playing white side of Phildor Defence game Delhi based Prince Bajaj stunned seasoned Uzbekistan Grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev in 35 moves while Andhra Pradesh youngsters Dhulipala Bala Chandra Prasad and Chakravarthi Y V K brought cheers to the home crowd as they shocked Indian Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna and Russian Grandmaster Igor Yagupov of Russia respectively in keenly fought first round encounters. Higher rated International Master Jacek Stopa of Poland also suffered first round casualty as he lost his first round match against Chennai teenager Kumaran B.
Meanwhile top seed Russian Grandmaster Ivan Popov started his tournament campaign in style after defeating Fide Master Debaraj Chatterjee of Bangladesh while second seed Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia beat Sameer Kathmale. Third seed Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujarathi defeated K Praneeth Surya and fourth seed Lalith Babu M R made short work of Candidate Master Abhimanyu Puranik.
The other surprises of the round came in the form of draws as Trichy based Kunal M held fifth seed Indian Grandmaster Deep Sengupta and Grandmasters Tornike Sanikidze of Georgia and Sethuraman SP forced to split the point against Vignesh N R and Hemant Sharma respectively. Another Andhra Pradesh youngster in the fray Harsha Bharathakoti held former national champion Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte to a creditable draw.
The second round of this category was still in progress at the time of latest report.
The ‘B’ category of the event with a prize fund of Rs. 5 lakh for the players of 2100 & below rating will start on Thursday.
Earlier in a colourful opening ceremony, Shri. LV Subramanaym IAS, Principal Secretary (Health Medical & Family Wlefare Department) Government of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated the event by making the customary first move in presence of Shri. Lav Agarwal IAS, Secretary Youth Services & Sports Government of Andhra Pradesh, Shri. Asok Kumar IAS, Jt Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation Government of India, Shri. Basanta K Mishra, Senior Vice President Tech Mahindra, Shri. Chandra Sekhar, General Manager Andhra Bank, Shri. VK Mahendru, Member Secretary Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Shri. A Narasimha Reddy, President AP Chess Association, Major Siva Prasad, Vice President AP Chess Association, Shri. Ramalaxmiah, Vice President AP Chess Association, Shri. K Kanna Reddy, Secretary AP Chess Association and International Master Lanka Ravi, Organising Secretary.
Category ‘A’ Important Results (Round-1) (Indian’s otherwise specified) :- GM Ivan Popov of Russia (1) beat FM Debaraj Chatterjee of Bangladesh (0); Sameer Kathmale (0) lost to GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia (1); GM Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (1) beat K Praneeth Surya (0); CM Abhimanyu Puranik (0) lost to GM Lalith Babu M R (1); GM Deep Sengupta (.5) drew with Kunal M (.5); FM Prasenjit Dutta (0) lost to GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia (1); GM Vladislav Borovikov of Ukraine (1) beat Ram S Krishnan (0); CM Prince Bajaj (1) beat GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan (0); GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia (1) beat Niranjan Navalgund (0); Vignesh N R (.5) drew with Tornike Sanikidze of Georgia (.5); GM Sethuraman S P (.5) drew with Hemant Sharma (.5); WFM Raghavi N (0) lost to GM Alon Greenfeld of Israel (1); GM Arun Prasad (1) beat CM Gopal K N (0); Akash PC Iyer (0) lost to GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan (1); GM Levon Babujian of Armeina (1) beat FM Matta Vinay Kumar (0); Gireman Ja (0) lost to Vasily Papin of Russia (1); IM Jacek Stopa of Poland (0) lost to Kumaran B (1); Vikramjit Singh (.5) drew with GM Valeriy Neverov of Ukraine (.5); IM Mikhail Mozharov of Russia (1) beat Safal Bora of USA (0); Dhulipala Bala Chandra Prasad (1) beat GM Vishnu Prasanna (0); IM Ashwin Jayaram (0) lost to FM Ramakrishna J (1); Harsha Bharathakoti (.5) drew with GM Abhijit Kunte (.5); GM Hovik Hayrapetyan of Armenia (.5) drew with FM Raghunandan K S (.5); WIM Ivana Maria Furtado (0) lost to GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (1); GM Sinisa Drazic of Serbia (1) beat Sohan Phadke (0).