PANAJI
Goa's FM Nitish Belurkar created history when he was crowned the champion at Manohar Parrikar International Open Grandmaster online chess tournament in Category E (chess 960 format), which saw a record participation of 307 players from Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, USA, Canada, and host nation India.
In chess 960 format, the complexity is increased by variation in piece structure in the opening and the time limit is 3 minutes with 2-second increment for each game. Nitish, a Geno Pharmaceuticals brand ambassador, scored 10.5 points out of 13 and was awarded the gold medal. GM Diptiyan Ghosh (2541) of West Bengal won silver while FM Aaryan Varshney (2277) of Delhi won the bronze medal.
IM Taher Theolifus (2455) of Indonesia was crowned the champion and was awarded the gold medal in Category D, which is a bullet format. This category saw a record participation of 373 players also from the aforementioned nations. Bullet format is a faster version of the game with a time limit of 1 min and an increment of 1 second. GM Sindarov Zavokhir (2557) of Uzbekistan won silver while IM David Grodetzky (2489) of Israel won the bronze medal in the D category.
Among the other Goan players, IM Ameya Audi was placed 15th and Ritviz Parab 16th in the main prize list in category E while Ritviz Parab, Mandar Lad, and Devesh Naik were placed 18th, 19th and 20th respectively in the main prize list in category D.
A total of five categories A, B, C, D, and E, are scheduled in the tournament organised by Goa Chess Association. While B, C, D, and E categories have already been conducted, Category A, which is the main Grandmaster event for players above ELO 2000, will be held on October 2.
