Srihari L R superb at 14th Chennai GM Open 2023, Aakash G third

by R R Vasudevan - 18/01/2024

IM Srihari L R scored an unbeaten 8.5/10 to win 14th Chennai GM Open 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Four players - GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE), Aakash G, GM Boris Savchenko and GM Evgeniy Podolchenko scored 8/10 each. They secured second to fifth place respectively according to tie-breaks. 13-year-old Aakash delivered a stellar performance. He is the sole untitled finisher among top ten. The teenager's performance earned him 188.4 Elo rating points. GM Laxman R R is the only other Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 7.5/10 to finish seventh. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹2000000. The top three prizes were ₹400000 + trophy, ₹300000 and ₹175000 each. This was Srihari's six overall, third Classical rating tournament triumph in 2023. Photos: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

13-year-old Aakash G impressive

India's rising International Master Srihari L R held GM Alexei Fedorov to a draw, emerging the champion in the 14th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2023 for Sakthi Group Dr. N Mahalingam trophy at Hotel Ambassador Pallava, Chennai. Srihari takes the winner's cheque of ₹400000 along with a handsome Champion's trophy. Taking the first runner-up spot with 8 points along with a cash award of ₹300000 was GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE).

Champion - IM Srihari L R 8.5/10 | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

L to R: D V Sundar, former Vice President, FIDE, Champion IM Srihari L R, R Srinivasan, Treasurer, TNSCA, Chief Guest - Mr. A X Alexander, IPS (Retired), and P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.

IM Srihari L R with his champion's trophy | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

Champion Srihari played consistently, scoring seven wins and conceding three draws on his way to the title. With two GM-norms to his credit, Srihari needs to touch the ELO rating of 2500 and achieve his third and final GM-norm to complete his Grandmaster title requirements.

Runner-up - GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) 8/10 | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

Second Runner-up - Aakash G 8/10 | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

Sharing the second place behind Srihari were Grandmaster Duc Hoa Nguyen, Aakash G, Boris Savchenko (RUS), Evgeniy Podolchenko (BLR) with 8 points.

Duc Hoa - Srihari, Round 8

Position after 11.Ng5?

GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE, 2335) launched an ambitious attack on the kingside 11.Ng5? fxg5 12.Qh5 Rf5 13.Bxf5 exf5 14.Nxf5 g6 15.Nxe7+ Nxe7 16.Qg5 Nf5 IM Srihari L R (2467) handled the attack quite well and went on to win the game eventually.

IM Srihari L R en route his victory over GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) | Photo: IA Rekhaliga Chandra Mouli

IM Srihari L R defeated GM Boris Savchenko in the penultimate round | Photo: IA Rekhaliga Chandra Mouli

IM Srihari L R scored an unbeaten 8.5/10, finished a half point ahead of the field and gained 4.4 Elo rating points

Youngsters from Tamil Nadu Aakash G and Vijay Shreeram P upset the applecart of many IM and GM on the way to their fine performances. Untitled Aakash G (1935), a former National Under-9 Champion, added 188.4 Elo rating points with his 8/10 show. Remaining undefeated, 13-year-old Aakash won against IMs Sevan Buscara (FRA), P Saravana Krishnan and Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ). He further held GMs Laxman R R and Manik Mikulas (SVK) to draws. His fine display saw him landing the third prize of ₹175000.

Vijay Shreeram P (1828), for his part stunned IMs Ratnakaran K and Murugan Krishnamoorthy. He comfortably drew with GM Laxman R R and IMs Siddharth Ravichandran and P Saravana Krishnan. His unbeaten show earns Vijay 49 precious Elo rating points.

Special mention about the defending Chennai Open champion GM Boris Savchenko is due for jet lagging more than 6000 km in ten days. He is a regular in the Indian GM tournament circuit these days. In mid-December Savchenko played in the 1st Meghalaya GM tournament in Shillong, then travelled all the way to Samarkand 2793 km (approx to play World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2023. On completion, he travelled back from Samarkand to Chennai 3227 km (approx.) to play the Chennai Open. With no let up he continues his chess marathon and won the 2nd Indore GM tournament which recently concluded in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

In a glittering closing ceremony 60 cash prizes to the tune of ₹20 lacs were awarded to the winners by Chief Guest Mr. A X Alexander IPS (Retired), former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu. Present in the dais were Mr. D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE, Mr. B Murugavel ,Vice President, TNSCA, Organising Secretary, Mr. P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA, Tournament Director.

India's first IM Manuel Aaron making the inaugural first move | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

Back row (L to R): D V Sundar, former Vice President, FIDE, R Srinivasan, Treasurer, TNSCA, B Murugavel, Vice President, TNSCA, Dr. M Manickam, President, TNSCA, S Paul Arokia Raj, Coordinator Chennai GM Open, Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA, International Arbiter R Anantharam, Chief Arbiter M Manjunatha.

Front Row: International Master Manuel Aaron making a symbolic first move against Mr. Justice M Nirmal Kumar, Madras High Court.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by India's first International Master and nine times national Champion Manuel Aaron. At just 88 years young, Mr. Aaron appeared all cheerful making the symbolic first move against the Chief Guest of the opening ceremony Mr. Justice M Nirmal Kumar, Madras High Court. Mr. Aaron (DoB: 30th December 1935) was the first recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1961 and is the only player to have played the legendary Bobby Fischer at Interzonal, Stockholm 1962.

4th GM Boris Savchenko 8/10 | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

5th GM Evgeniy Podolchenko 8/10 | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

6th GM Alexei Fedorov | Photo: Tamil Nadu State Chess Association

7th GM Laxman R R 7.5/10 | Photo: IA Rekhaliga Chandra Mouli

Aakash G en route his win against IM P Saravana Krishnan in the penultimate ninth round | Photo: IA Rekhaliga Chandra Mouli

The tournament hall at Hotel Ambassador Pallava in Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Photo: IA Rekhaliga Chandra Mouli

A total of 321 players including 8 GMs, 25 IMs and 2 WIMs took part from 18 countries across the world. The eight-day ten round GM tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Hotel Ambassador Pallava in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 31st December 2023 to 7th January 2024. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

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Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	3	IM	Srihari, L R	IND	2467	Tamil Nadu	8,5	62	67	56,75	7
2	18	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	VIE	2335	VIE	8	63	68	52,00	7
3	44		Aakash, G	IND	1935	Tamil Nadu	8	62	66	51,00	6
4	2	GM	Savchenko, Boris	RUS	2505	RUS	8	58,5	63	49,00	8
5	10	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy	BLR	2376	BLR	8	57,5	62,5	49,25	6
6	4	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2454	BLR	7,5	63,5	67,5	48,25	5
7	17	GM	Laxman, R.R.	IND	2338	I C F	7,5	62	66,5	48,25	5
8	5	GM	Glek, Igor	BEL	2429	BEL	7,5	61,5	66,5	46,25	7
9	16	GM	Manik, Mikulas	SVK	2343	SVK	7,5	61,5	64,5	45,25	6
10	9	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei	KGZ	2384	KGZ	7,5	60,5	65,5	47,50	6
11	7	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	IND	2407	Karnataka	7,5	58,5	63,5	46,75	5
12	11	IM	Shahil, Dey	IND	2368	Assam	7,5	58	63,5	46,25	6
13	20	IM	Avinash, Ramesh	IND	2290	Tamil Nadu	7,5	56,5	61	44,25	6
14	19	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2291	RUS	7,5	55,5	59,5	44,00	6
15	64		Vijay, Shreeram P	IND	1828	Tamil Nadu	7,5	52	56	40,75	5
16	12	IM	Khusenkhojaev, Muhammad	TJK	2366	TJK	7	62,5	67,5	45,50	6
17	1	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	IND	2545	West Bengal	7	60	65	44,00	4
18	43	AFM	Pawar, Harshit	IND	1945	Delhi	7	60	64,5	43,75	5
19	49		Sriram, Adarsh Uppala	IND	1902	Telangana	7	59	63	41,00	6
20	21	IM	Saravana, Krishnan P.	IND	2269	Tamil Nadu	7	58	62,5	41,00	6
21	34	FM	Matta, Vinay Kumar	IND	2146	Union Bank of India	7	58	62,5	40,00	5
22	63		Shah, Jeet	IND	1830	Maharashtra	7	58	62	41,25	5
23	14	IM	Manish, Anto Cristiano F	IND	2349	Tamil Nadu	7	57,5	62	42,50	4
24	29	IM	Abhishek, Kelkar	IND	2204	Maharashtra	7	57,5	62	41,00	5
25	31	IM	Murali, Krishnan B T	IND	2181	Tamil Nadu	7	57,5	62	40,75	5
26	37		Nithin, Babu	IND	2102	Kerala	7	56,5	61	40,25	6
27	47		Kolla, Bhaavan	IND	1917	Andhra Pradesh	7	55,5	60,5	40,25	6
28	45	IM	Ramnathan, Balasubramaniam	IND	1920	Tamil Nadu	7	55,5	59,5	40,00	5
29	23	IM	Murugan, Krishnamoorthy	IND	2238	Tamil Nadu	7	55	59,5	40,50	6
30	48		Gaikwad, Manas	IND	1916	Maharashtra	7	55	59,5	39,00	6