Deepan wins the title in a thriller

By Gopakumar

Ahmedabad (23 Aug 17) :- The final round of National Challengers provided the best advertisement for the game as Deepan Chakkravarthy of Railways lifted the champion’s trophy after beating teammate Swapnil Dhopade in a fascinating encounter at Karnavati Club on Wednesday.

Dhopade who lead most part of the championship, started the final round with a half-point cushion but the never-say-die attitude of Deepan made the difference in the end. Swapnil finished as runner up while Himanshu Sharma finished third to make a clean sweep for railway men at top three positions.

Deepan Chakkravarthy, Swapnil Dhopade, Himanshu Sharma, Debashis Das, MR Lalith Babu, Abhijit Kunte, SL Narayanan, S Nitin and RR Laxman qualified for the National Premier, scheduled in November at Patna.
In a colourful closing ceremony, Shri. DV Sundar, Vice President FIDE and Shri. Ajay Patel, President Gujarat State Chess Association gave away the prizes and trophies to the winners in presence of Shri. Jayesh Modi, President Karnavati Club and Shri. Bhavesh Patel, Secretary Gujarat State Chess Association.

Final Standings (Top Ten) :-
1. GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of RLYS (10.5); 2. GM Swapnil Dhopade of RLYS (10); 3. GM Himanshu Sharma of RLYS (9.5); 4. Debashis Das of ODI (9.5); 5. GM MR Lalith Babu of PSPB (9.5); 6. GM Abhijit Kunte of PSPB (9.5); 7. GM SL Narayanan of KER (9.5); 8. IM S Nitin of RLYS (9.5); 9. GM RR Laxman of RLYS (9.5).

Important Results (Round-13) :- GM Swapnil Dhopade of RLYS (10) lost to GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of RLYS (10.5); GM Debashis Das of ODI (9.5) drew with GM RR Laxman of RLYS (9.5); GM Aravindh Chithambaram of TN (9) drew with IM Arghyadip Das of RLYS (9); GM SL Narayanan of KER (9.5) beat WGM Mary Ann Gomes of PSPB(8.5); GM MR Lalith Babu of PSPB (9.5) drew with GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury of PSPB (8.5); GM Sriram Jha of LIC (8.5) lost to GM Himanshu Sharma of RLYS (9.5); GM Abhijit Kunte of PSPB (9.5) beat IM S Ravi Teja of RLYS (8.5); IM S Nitin of RLYS (9.5) beat Fenil Shah of GUJ (8.5); Kaustuv Kundu of WB (8) lost to IM P Shyaamnikhil of RLYS (9); Sammed Jaykumar Shete of MAH (9) beat IM S Satyapragyan of AI (8); Rajesh Nayak of ODI (9) beat Arjun Erigaisi of TEL (8); IM Padmini Rout of ODI (9) beat Deepthamsh Reddy of TEL (8); Dhanjay S of CHAT (8.5) drew with Akash PC Iyer of TN (8.5); Surendran N of TN (9) beat Dinesh Sharma of LIC (8); IM Swayams Mishra of ODI (8) drew with Raja Rithvik of TEL (8.5)