the goan I network
PANAJI
FM Nitish Belurkar achieved his second International Master norm when he defeated top seed FM Xu Zhihang (2501) of China at GM round robin chess tournament in Novi Sad, Serbia.
The Geno pharmaceuticals brand ambassador achieved his second IM norm with a round to spare as he remained undefeated in the tournament. In earlier games, Nitish defeated GM Damljanovic Branko (2486) of Serbia and CM Rohith Krishna (2358) of India. Nitish also held IM Gorodetzky David (2461) of Israel, GM Brenjo Slavisa (2446 ) of Serbia, FM Danlelyan Vahe (2405) of Armenia, GM Sinisa Drazic ( 2354) of Serbia and IM Ravi Teja (2383) of India to a draw.
Nitish, who started as the lowest seed in this round robin GM tournament, won the tournament scoring 6.0 points in nine rounds with a performance rating of 2541 and a rating gain of 51.6 points. IM Gorodetzky David of Israel emerged second
with 5.5 points.
Nitish will participate in Grandmaster chess tournaments, Mayors Cup in Mumbai and 2nd Goa International Gramdmasters tournament in Goa in June, where he will be on a quest of his
final IM norm.
After these tourneys, Nitish will represent the Indian team in Asian Junior Chess Championship in Solo, Indonesia in July.
