13-year-old Woman International Master Divya Deshmukh with 8.0 points emerged the Champion after the final round of the Velammal – AICF Women International Grandmaster Round Robin Chess tournament 2019 at Hotel Abu Sarovar Portico, Chennai here today. Divya takes home a handsome trophy and the winner’s cheque of Rs. 150000 (Rupees One lakhs fifty thousand only).
The second place was shared by Osmak Iulija (Ukraine) and Michelle Catherina (India) at 7.5 points. Osmak and Michelle were awarded cash prizes for Rs 1.25 lakhs and Re. 1 lakh respectively.
In the final round, overnight leader Michelle Catherina went down to Osmak Iulija (Ukraine). Michelle loss, saw her being overtaken by Divya Deshmukh who sailed to 8.0 points scoring over fellow Indian Chandreyee Hajra. The tournament saw Divya Deshmukh achieveing an International Master Norm and a Woman Grandmaster Norm, while Michelle Catherina P made her maiden Woman Grandmaster Norm.
Cash Prizes to the tune of Rs. 750000 (Rupees Seven Lakhs fifty thousand only) were distributed by Chief Guest Shri D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE with other dignitaries in the dais were International Master Manuel Aaron, R Anantharam, Chairman Arbiter’s Commission, AICF, Shri Stephen Balasamy P, Gen. Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Shri B Murugavel, Vice President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.
In this unique round robin chess tournament, six Woman International Masters from India took up the challenge against six foreign titled players. The tournament was a novel initiative by the All India Chess Federation to bring out the talents and also give opportunities to our young Women International Masters to obtain Woman Grandmaster Norms under home conditions.
| Round 11 on 2019/02/04 at 09.30 am | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 6 | IND | 2175 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | 0 – 1 | IM | Osmak Iulija | UKR | 2394 | 12 |
| 2 | 7 | IND | 2168 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 1 – 0 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | IND | 1925 | 5 |
| 3 | 8 | IND | 2198 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | ½ – ½ | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | IND | 2259 | 4 |
| 4 | 9 | MGL | 2428 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 1 – 0 | WGM | Babiy Olga | UKR | 2275 | 3 |
| 5 | 10 | IND | 2171 | WIM | Varshini V | 0 – 1 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | MGL | 2314 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | COL | 2107 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | ½ – ½ | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | KAZ | 2336 | 1 |
Final Ranking after 11 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 7 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | w | IND | 2168 | 8,0 | 0,0 | 38,25 | 7 | 3 |
| 2 | 12 | IM | Osmak Iulija | w | UKR | 2394 | 7,5 | 1,0 | 38,00 | 6 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | w | IND | 2175 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 35,25 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 9 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | w | MGL | 2428 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 34,25 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | 4 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | w | IND | 2259 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 36,50 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | 3 | WGM | Babiy Olga | w | UKR | 2275 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 25,00 | 5 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | w | MGL | 2314 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 27,25 | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | w | KAZ | 2336 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 25,75 | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | 8 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | w | IND | 2198 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 19,75 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 11 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | w | COL | 2107 | 3,5 | 0,0 | 19,25 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | 10 | WIM | Varshini V | w | IND | 2171 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 14,00 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 5 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | w | IND | 1925 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 8,25 | 1 | 1 |
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