Nagpur: R Sailesh of Tamil Nadu concluded his campaign in the 19th GH Raisoni Memorial Chess Festival with a thumping win to emerge champion by a dominant margin of 1.5 points at Shraddha Park, Wadi Hingna Link Road, on Friday.
A day after he was just a draw away from winning the title in the classical format, Sailesh utilised his opening advantage with the white pieces well to prevail over Pradeep Tiwari in the 11th and final round to finish the tournament top, collecting 10.5 points.
At the second position, Sailesh was followed by Rupam Mukherjee of West Bengal, Kishan Kumar of Bihar and Nagpur’s Prerak Darvekar with nine points each. Based on the tie-break score, Prerak finished fourth while Rupam and Kishan registered a podium finish.
Nagpur’s Vedika Pal, who is now studying in Rajasthan, came fifth, collecting 8.5 points and a better progressive score. For his title-winning act, Sailesh received a cash prize of Rs 41,000 and a glittering trophy. Rupam got Rs 30,000 while Kishan and Prerak pocketed prize money of Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.
From Saturday, the rapid tournament of the festival will begin while the event in blitz format will be played on Sunday.
