IM Vikramditya Kulkarni staved off a grim challenge from top-seeded IM Aditya Udeshi in the final round of Kotak Mahindra Bank International Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament to win the championship with a score of 7.5 points.
Playing White, Vikramaditya went for the solid set-up of English opening and a draw was sufficient for him to become the champion. IM Aditya Udeshi used all his experience but Vikramditya was equal to the task and draw was agreed after 44 moves.
IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni became richer by Rs.75,000/- and also bagged the prestigious B.M. Zaveri Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the winners of this tournament.
IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni receiving the trophy from Mr.Rishi Gupta, President of Mumbai Suburban Chess Association
IM Sameer Kathmale from Sangli bagged the 2nd position and cash prize of Rs.50,000 whereas the top-seeded, IM Aditya Udeshi had to be content with the 3rd prize of Rs.25,000/- Cash prizes worth Rs.3,00,000/- in total were disbursed to the winners.
The prize distribution function was presided over by Mr.Rishi Gupta, President, Mumbai Suburban Chess Association & Ms.Laxmi Iyer, CIO, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund.
The four best players in the Under-12 & Under-19 category (One boy and girl each) from Mumbai Suburban Chess Association were also awarded special prizes in the form of Iball Tablets by Mr. Rishi Gupta. The winners were: Adishree Krishnan (U-12 Girls), Vedant Panesar (Under-12 Boys), Parnali Dharia (U-19 Girls) & Kunal Modi (Under-19) Boys.
Report by Praful Zaveri
Congratulations!