Kishan Gangolli of India wins IBCA Asian Chess Championship for visually challenged
Manipal: Kishan Gangolli of India won the IBCA Asian Chess Championship for visually challenged at the Dr TMA Pai Hall, KMC here on March 31. He emerged victorious with seven points to take home a prize money of Rs 50,000. Finishing second and third were Indians Makwana Ashvin and Soundarya Kumar Pradhan respectively. Both had six points each but taking the ratings into account, the former claimed the silver and the latter the bronze with a purse of Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 each.
Qualifying for the last round, the Karnataka lad needed only a draw to clinch the title, and he did just that. Taking no chances against a much younger player from Maharashtra, Aryan B Joshi, who is fast developing into a fine player, Kishan offered a draw very early in the game, which Aryan accepted. Aryan had a good outing and he finished fourth with five points and took a cash prize of Rs 20,000. In fact, all the first three finishers opted for drawn games.
On the second board, Krishna Udupa of (Karnataka) India played with white pieces against Ashvin Makwana of (Gujarat). Krishna played Kings Pawn opening and Ashvin replied with the Scandinavian defence. The middle game was better for Udupa. But, Ashvin defended calmly and did not allow Udupa to attack. On 36th move, both agreed for a draw.
On the third board, Swapnil Shah of India played with white pieces against Soundarya Kumar Pradhan of India. Soundarya did not want to take a risk and offered to draw very early. Both agreed on the 22nd move to call it quits.
At the prize distribution function held later, Dr Rajgopal Shenoy, Vice President United Karnataka Chess Association read out a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishing the tournament and the players well, while congratulating Manipal University for hosting the Asian Chess Championship for the visually challenged.
Final Standings: Kishan Gangolli (Ind) 7, Makwana Ashvin K (IND) 6, Soundarya Kumar Pradhan (Ind)6, Aryan B Joshi (Ind) 5, Swapanil Shah (Ind) 5, Krishna Udupa (Ind) 5, Husain Ejaz (Ban) 5, Marimuthu K (Ind) 5, Somender B L (Ind) 4½, Samant Milind (Ind) 4½, Sarkar Bappi (Ban) 4½, Yudhajeet De (Ind) 4, PatilShirish (Ind) 4, Prachurya Kumar Pradhan (Ind) 4, Waghmare Sachin Lahu (Ind) 3½. Mrunali Pande F. (Ind) 3½, Jose Antonio M. Maraguinot (Phi) 3½, Rodolfo D. Sarmiento (Phi) 3. Vaishali Nrendra Salavkar F. (Ind) 3, Tuan Rushdi (Sri) 2, Liyana Arachchilage Upul Indrajith (Sri) 1. Hiriyamulla Vithange Sanjeewa Karunarathna (Sri) 0. Arthur M. Letim (Phi) 0.
