Mysore’s IM Girish Koushik playing with white pieces on the top board held India’s 50th Grandmaster M. S. Thejkumar in the 10th round, and tied with the latter with 9 points from 10 rounds. Girish took home the glittering trophy, Rs.1,00,000 and the title of Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Champion on the basis of his better progressive tie-break score of 74.5 to the latter’s 73, at the Woodlands hotel in Bengaluru, Karnataka on Wednesday.
The biggest state championship with a prize fund of Rs. 10 lakhs, sponsored by Akshayakalpa Organic Dairy Foods, began on the 14th of April 2018. It was organized by Innovators Chess Academy under the aegis of United Karnataka Chess Association and All India Chess Federation.
In the prize distribution ceremony, Mr. Arvind Shastry, Secretary UKCA, Mr. Shashi Kumar, CEO Akshayakalpa, Mr. Vasanth B.H, Chief Arbiter, Mr. Sushrutha Reddy, Secretary, Innovators Chess Academy, Mr. Nagendra Muralidhar, Secretary, Mysore Chess Centre gave away prizes to the winners.
Four players — IM Girish Koushik, GM Thejkumar , Ojas Kulkarni and N.Sanjay tied with 9 points each, but the basis of their progressive tie-break scores took the places from one to four respectively in the final rankings.
Final Ranking after 10 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 3 | IM | Girish A. Koushik | 2401 | Mys | 9,0 | 0,0 | 65,5 | 74,5 | ||
| 2 | 1 | GM | Thejkumar M. S. | 2493 | Mys | 9,0 | 0,0 | 64,0 | 73,0 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Ojas Kulkarni | 2252 | Blu | 9,0 | 0,0 | 61,0 | 69,0 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Sanjay N. | 2346 | Blu | 8,5 | 0,0 | 63,0 | 71,0 | |||
| 5 | 2 | IM | Stany G.A. | 2493 | Shi | 8,5 | 0,0 | 61,0 | 70,0 | ||
| 6 | 9 | Arvind Shastry | 2175 | Blu | 8,5 | 0,0 | 61,0 | 70,0 | |||
| 7 | 24 | Jagadish P | U16 | 1894 | Blu | 8,5 | 0,0 | 57,0 | 64,5 | ||
| 8 | 12 | Augustin A | 2065 | Kod | 8,5 | 0,0 | 56,5 | 65,5 | |||
| 9 | 14 | Gavi Siddayya | 1993 | Blu | 8,5 | 0,0 | 56,0 | 63,5 | |||
| 10 | 7 | Yashas D. | 2243 | Shi | 8,0 | 0,0 | 62,5 | 71,5 |