Kushagra Mohan wins 20th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit 2024
IM Kushagra Mohan and IM Anton Sitnikov (UKR) scored 7/9 each at 20th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2024. Kushagra won the tournament as he defeated Anton in the penultimate round. The direct encounter tie-break went in favor of Kushagra, Anton was placed second. IM David Gochelashvili scored sole 6.5/9 to finish third. The six-day ten-player round-robin tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu Chess Association at Hotel Alankar Grande in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 27th February to 3rd March 2024. Tournament Coordinator - IA R Srivatsan writes the tournament report. Photos: IA R Srivatsan
Kushagra's first rating tournament victory of the year
19-year-old International Master Kushagra Mohan from Telangana won the 20th TN IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament at Hotel Alankar Grande, Coimbatore. Kushagra scored six wins, two draws and lost one game against IM Sevan Buscara (FRA). He scored 7 points. At the end of nine rounds, Kushagra was tied with IM Anton Sitnikov (UKR) on 7 points. In their eighth round encounter, Kushagra had beaten Anton. It turned out to be the deciding factor to win the event.
Kushagra - Anton, Round 8
IM Kushagra Mohan played an excellent move 23.Bc4! making use of his complete control on the g-file. 23...Nxf5 24.exf5 Ne7 25.Ne4 Nxf5 26.Qh3 and White eventually went on to win the game.
Kushagra - Arjun, Round 7
Arjun C Krishnamachari wants to promote his c2-pawn. However, it is not going to be possible as 24...Nd5 drops the pawn. 25.Bxd5 exd5 26.Rd2 Be4 27.Nxe4 dxe4 28.Rxc2 and White converted his advantage into a full point in a little over a dozen moves.
IM Anton Sitnikov (UKR) receiving the second prize from V Vijayaraghavan, Vice President, TNSCA, K Dhanasekar (right), Secretary, CDCA, Organiser, 20th TN IM-norm Tournament, A Muthuswamy, Guest for the day. The organizers provided t-shirt to all players and officials on the penultimate day to wear it for the closing ceremony. Anton participated in seven IM-norm tournaments in Tamil Nadu, won three of them and was placed second in three tournaments. Quite consistent and impressive.
Round 9: Anton - Arjun: 1-0
Anton seemed to have good results with the side variation of exchanging queens early in the opening against the Caro-Kann. In the 19th TN IM-norm tournament at Tirupur, he chose the 3.d3 against Pushkar Dere, allowing the queen exchange as early as fourth move. Here he repeated it against Arjun.
23...Rd5? 24.c4 Rd3 25.Bxa5 Rxb3 26.Red1 b6 27.Nd4 and Black lost an exchange. 23...b6 would have kept the game going.
Anton - Shyam, Round 7
Find out why 23...Nxe4 does not work.
A special mention about IM David Gochelashvili is, he has played all the 20 editions (18 to be precise, 11 and 12, 13 and 14 were held together in Chennai) of TN IM-norm closed circuit tournaments. An astonishing feat considering the matches were conducted every week! without break!
Photo Gallery
The playing hall
Arbiter & Coordinator Team (L to R): R Srivatsan, Coordinator, IA Peter Joseph, Chief Arbiter, FA Ramesh, Dy. Chief Arbiter and IA Vijayaraghavan, Live Coordinator.
About Coimbatore
Coimbatore was called South India’s Manchester and ranked the best emerging city in India. Fourth among Indian cities in investment climate. Coimbatore has been selected as one of the Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Smart Cities Mission by Government of India. Coimbatore regularly features among the top ten best cities to live in India and is among the safest cities in India for women according to National Crime Records Bureau report.
On the second day evening, players were taken to Isha Centre at Coimbatore.
Replay all games
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | IM | Kushagra, Mohan | IND | 2360 | 7 | 1 | 29,50 | 6 |
| 2 | 5 | IM | Sitnikov, Anton | UKR | 2362 | 7 | 0 | 24,75 | 6 |
| 3 | 7 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | RUS | 2225 | 6,5 | 0 | 26,00 | 5 |
| 4 | 6 | FM | Jeet, Jain | IND | 2320 | 6 | 0 | 21,50 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | IM | Shyaamnikhil, P | IND | 2412 | 5 | 0 | 16,75 | 3 |
| 6 | 10 | Arjun, C Krishnamachari | IND | 2229 | 3,5 | 0 | 10,00 | 2 | |
| 7 | 1 | IM | Buscara, Sevan | FRA | 2256 | 3 | 0,5 | 13,00 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 | Aakash, G | IND | 2117 | 3 | 0,5 | 9,25 | 1 | |
| 9 | 9 | IM | Touzane, Olivier | FRA | 2084 | 2 | 1 | 6,75 | 1 |
| 10 | 8 | WIM | Priyanka, K | IND | 2099 | 2 | 0 | 8,00 | 0 |
About the Author
R Srivatsan is a Category A level International Arbiter, Member of Arbiter Commission in both All India Chess Federation and Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. He was also the Tournament Coordinator for the 20th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2024.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
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