International Master Karthikeyan wins Sri Lanka IM tournament

Friday, 05 September 2008 07:45

The International Master and top seed from India, P. Karthikeyan won the Inaugural International Master of Sri Lanka yeaster day at Pannala after recieving a draw with FIDE Master, Akshat Kampari also from India in the final round. This international Master round robin Chess tournament which we had in the 1st time of the Sri Lankan history was conducted by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka and hosted by the MAS Holdings, Pannala. MAS holdings had made an excelent job to make the enviornment ideal for Chess with all facilities to the participants.

Three International Masters P. Karthikeyan, Dinesh K. Sharma, R. Balasubramanium and two FIDE masters, Akshat Khamparia and Shyam Nikhil from India, FIDE Master, NK Nazir Ahmed and the top six players from Sri Lanka participated in this grand event which was heald from 29th August to 3rd September 2008.

The International Master Karthikeyan scored a total of 9 points ot of possible 11 to win the title and Rs. 50,000/= in cash while three players, Akshat Khamparia, Dinesh Sharma and Shyam Nikhil also from India tied for the second place with 8 points and shared Rs. 22,300/= each. Unfortunately, no player could achieve the magical 8.5 points, which is the requirement for an International Master norm. Athula Russell, the Sri Lanka National chess Champion was the highest among Sri Lankan players with 5 points.

Final standings:

Rk	Title	Name	FED	Pts
1	IM	Karthikeyan, P	IND	9
2	IM	Shyam, Nikil P.	IND	8
3	FM	Akshat, Khamparia	IND	8
4	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.	IND	8
5	IM	Ramnathan, Balasubramaniam	IND	6.5
6		M.K.Athula Russell,	SRI	5.5
7		Anuruddha G.C.	SRI	4.5
8	FM	Ahmed, Sk. Nasir	BAN	4
9		Peiris, T.G.M.	SRI	4
10		Wijesuriya, G. Luxman	SRI	3.5
11		Weerawardane, R.	SRI	3
12		Rajapakse, R.M.C.M.	SRI	2.5