Kravtsiv Martyn wins 1st Gujarat GM International Open Tournament

IM Stany G.A (second runner-up), GM Kravtsiv Martyn (Winner) & IM Vignesh N.R (Runner-up).

Photos: Niklesh Jain/ ChessBase India

A strong prize fund, a fabulous venue and a dedicated set of officials always mean a great chess tournament, which is precisely what 1st Gujarat International Grandmaster Open turned out to be! GM Kravtsiv Martyn became the 1st Gujarat GM Open winner while India’s IM Vignesh N.R (Tamil Nadu) and IM. Stany GA (Karnataka) secured second and third place respectively.

The tournament witnessed many twists and turns on the leaderboard. Twelfth-seed IM Stany’s phenomenal performance assured him a Grandmaster norm by the end of seven rounds. With 7.0/7 points, he seemed unstoppable.

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Stany’s dream run came to an end after an unexpected loss to IM Vignesh N.R in the eight round and GM Predke Alexandr in the ninth round. However, a timely final round comeback victory against GM Malakhatko Vadim secured him 3rd place.

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Vignesh defeated GM Sivuk Vitaly of Russia in the penultimate round to become the overnight leader. In a dramatic finale, he had faced top seed of the tournament GM Kravtsiv Martyn.

Vignesh needed a draw to capture the title. His opponent and top-seed GM Kravstsiv Marytn, however, proved to be superior in ensuing Sicilian middlegame. The game ended in 48 moves.

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A relatively high prize fund, an ambient venue in the form of Karnavati Club, a dedicated team of organising and technical support officials supported by a decent set of arbiters — the 1st Gujarat Grandmaster International Open Tournament was well-received by all players.

Prize Distribution

L to R: Mayur Patel (Vice President, Gujarat State Chess Association), Sekhar Chandra Sahu (Vice President, All India Chess Federation), Jayesh Modi (President, Karnavati Club), Ajay Patel (President, Gujarat State Chess Association), Bhavesh Patel (Secretary, Gujarat State Chess Association) & Samir Shah (Treasurer, Gujarat State Chess Association)

L to R: Nitin Shenvi (Chief Arbiter), Tejas Bakre (Vice President, Gujarat State Chess Association), Stany G.A. (India, 2nd Runner-up), Mayur Patel (Vice President, Gujarat State Chess Association), Sekhar Chandra Sahu (Vice President, All India Chess Federation), Jayesh Modi (President, Karnavati Club), Kravtsiv Martyn (Ukraine, Champion), Ajay Patel (President, Gujarat State Chess Association), Bhavesh Patel (Secretary, Gujarat State Chess Association), Samir Shah (Treasurer, Gujarat State Chess Association) & Vignesh N.R. (India, 1st Runner-up)

L to R: Jayesh Modi (President, Karnavati Club), Vignesh N. R. (India, 1st Runner-up), Ajay Patel (President, Gujarat State Chess Association) & Bhavesh Patel (Secretary, Gujarat State Chess Association)

L to R: Jayesh Modi (President, Karnavati Club), Kravtsiv Martyn (Ukraine, Champion), Ajay Patel (President, Gujarat State Chess Association) & Bhavesh Patel (Secretary, Gujarat State Chess Association)

Final Ranking after 10 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn		UKR	2654	UKR	8,5	0,0	63,5	68,0	55,25	8
2	20	IM	Vignesh N R		IND	2447	TN	8,0	0,0	64,5	68,5	52,50	7
3	12	IM	Stany G.A.		IND	2502	KAR	8,0	0,0	64,0	69,0	52,50	8
4	7	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy		UKR	2547	UKR	8,0	0,0	62,0	66,5	51,75	6
5	3	GM	Predke Alexandr		RUS	2615	RUS	8,0	0,0	60,5	64,5	49,75	6
6	13	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti		IND	2492	TEL	7,5	0,0	63,0	68,0	47,25	7
7	9	GM	Sivuk Vitaly		UKR	2545	UKR	7,5	0,0	61,5	66,5	44,00	7
8	2	GM	Amonatov Farrukh		TJK	2615	TJK	7,5	0,0	60,5	66,0	47,75	7
9	14	GM	Neverov Valeriy		UKR	2488	UKR	7,5	0,0	60,5	65,0	44,25	7
10	8	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel		ARM	2547	ARM	7,5	0,0	59,0	63,5	45,25	7
11	10	IM	Karthik Venkataraman		IND	2525	AP	7,5	0,0	59,0	63,0	45,75	5
12	4	GM	Popov Ivan		RUS	2611	RUS	7,5	0,0	58,5	63,5	42,50	6
13	31	IM	Rakesh Kumar Jena		IND	2388	ODI	7,5	0,0	52,0	56,5	38,75	7
14	6	GM	Malakhatko Vadim		BEL	2552	BEL	7,0	0,0	62,5	67,0	43,75	6
15	17	GM	Babujian Levon		ARM	2456	ARM	7,0	0,0	60,0	64,5	42,00	6
16	23	IM	Akash G		IND	2424	TN	7,0	0,0	58,0	61,5	39,75	6
17	58		Pranav V	U15	IND	2263	TN	7,0	0,0	56,0	59,0	37,75	6
18	45		Raahul V S	U15	IND	2294	TN	7,0	0,0	55,5	59,5	38,75	6
19	15	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2473	BAN	7,0	0,0	52,5	57,5	39,00	5
20	18	IM	Gukesh D	U15	IND	2456	AP	7,0	0,0	51,0	55,5	37,50	6