54th Kerala State Senior Fide Rated Chess Championship - 2016
Arjun lifts trophy
5
by M. Ephrame IA, Chief Arbiter
4th Kerala State Senior Fide Rated
Chess Championship was organized
by Chanakkiya Chess Academy Thalassery in association with Kannur District
Chess association from 25th May 2016 to
29th May 2016 at Christ college hall, Thalassery, Kerala. This championship attracted
157 participation from 13 districts. Out of
which 124 players are FIDE rated chess
players. The only absent is the Iddikki District. The tournament offered a prize fund of
Rs,1,25,000/-. M B Muralidharan the former
State Champion from Ernakulam was the
top seeded.
Earlier the tournament was inaugurated by
Shri.Bala Kiran IAS, District Collector Kannur.
The Chief guest appreciated young children
for their appearance in the senior State chess
Championship, quoting their challenging skill
with the seniors.
In the first round 90th seeded, 16 years
old Alex P Joy of Kazarakode caused a major upset, beating the former State Champion U C Mohanan of Ernakulam . Another
upset came from the local girl Ashitha C C
of Kannur beat 30th seeded Pr. Rajeevan of
Kozhikode. Important victories came from 10
years old Jubin Jimmy from Kollam Infant Jesus International school shocked 11th seeded
Chandar Raju of Ernakulam and Rajashree
Rajeev of Thrissur shocked 3rd seeded U S
Satheesan of Ernakulam in the second round.
The top seeded M B Muralidharan lost in
the hands of K A Unas from his own district
in round 3. K Arjun and K R Madhusoodanan
from Kozhikode, Joy Antony from Ernakulam
and O A Raju from Thrissur scored 4 points at
the end of round 4. Arjun's victory in round
5 with Joy Antony helped to lead the championship with 5 points after the 5th round,
as the other two leaders split their points.
Arjun's victory continued in round 6. Arjun
beat Abhijith M of Ernakulam and continued
the sole lead with 6 points out of the possible
six. O A Raju halted Arjun's victory in round
7 but Arjun continued the sole lead with 6.5
points at the end of round 7. Arjun's win
over Lakshimi Narayanan in the penultimate
round helped to maintained the lead with 7.5
points, one point ahead of the nearest rivals
at the end of round 8. O A Raju, P K Suresh,
Joy Antony and K R Madhusoodanan were in
the second spot with 6.5 points.
In the final round K Arjun drew with
Suresh P K and won the championship with
8 points with a clear 1 point lead. K Arjun
lifted the winner's trophy and also received
Rs.20000/- cash prize.
7 players scored 7 points, Joy Antony,
Lakshimi Narayanan, Chandar Raju, A K
Jagadeesh, K R Madusoodanan, O A Raju, P
K Suresh and tied for the second place but
better tiebreak helped Joy Antony became
the runner up Lakshimi Narayanan, Chandar
Raju placed 3rd & 4th respectively. First 4
place winners will represent Kerala State for
AICF CHRONICLE
JUly 2016
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