Abhijeet Gupta needed barely 25 minutes of thinking time to inflict a crushing 24-move defeat on Australia’s veteran International Master Aleksandar Wohl in the ninth and final round as India virtually monopolized the medals in the Commonwealth chess championship here on Monday.
The 27-year-old Grandmaster also completed a hat-trick of titles and fourth in all to become the most successful player in the history of Commonwealth championship. Before this resounding triumph, Abhijeet shared the record of three titles with England’s Nigel Short.
For the record, Abhijeet scored 7.5 points from nine rounds. Vaibhav Suri and Tejas Bakre followed with seven points and finished in that order.
As expected, India dominated the event, winning 16 gold, 16 silver and 16 bronze medals. The three medals that eluded the grasp of the host were gold and bronze in senior (over-60) and the silver in under-8 section.
Among the ladies, Swati Ghate deservedly won the crown by beating Kumar Gaurav in the final round. Swati’s superior tie-break score kept her ahead of Mary Ann Gomes and Tania Sachdev after the trio tied at six points.
Leading ninth-round results:
Abhijeet Gupta (7.5) bt Aleksandar Wohl (Aus, 6.5); Abhijit Kunte (6.5) drew with Vaibhav Suri (7); M. S. Thej Kumar (6) lost to Tejas Bakre (7); Arjun Egaisi (6.5) drew with P. Shyam Nikhil (6.5); Shardul Gagare (6) drew with Ziaur Rahman (Ban, 6); Swapnil Dhopade (6) drew with Tania Sachdev (6); Deepan Chakravarthy (5.5) drew with Mary Ann Gomes (6); Swati Ghate (6) bt Kumar Gaurav (5).
Top-three standings:
Open: 1. Abhijeet Gupta (7.5), 2-3. Vaibhav Suri and Tejas Bakre (7 each).
Ladies: 1-3. Swati Ghate, Mary Ann Gomes and Tania Sachdev (6 each).
Boys (under-20): 1-2. Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh, Shardul Gagare (5.5 points each), 3. Kushager Krishnater (5); (under-18): 1. S. Jayakumaar (6.5), 2. Ameya Audi (5.5), S. Adhithya (5); (under-16):1. Vatsal Singhania (6), 2. Pruthu Deshpande (5.5), 3. Mitrabha Guha (5); (under-14): 1-2. Arjun Erigaisi, Sankalp Gupta (6 each), 3. Ashutosh Banerjee (5.5); (under-12): 1. S. Rohith Krishna (6.5), 2-3. Adarsh Tripathi and Sreeshwan Maralakshikari (5.5 each); (under-10): 1-2. Raahil Mullick, Soyamsree Mohanty (6 each), 3. Bhavik Ahuja (5.5); (under-8): 1. Sriansh Das (6), 2-3. Reja Neer Manon (Ban) and K. Sai Tanish (5.5 each).
Girls (under-20): 1. Arpita Mukherjee (6), 2-3. Parnali Dharia and Sakshi Chitlange (5 each); (under-18): 1. Aakanksha Hagawane (6), 2. Ananya Suresh (5.5), 3. Chandreyee Hajra (under-16): 1-3. K. Priyanka, Samriddhaa Ghosh and V. Toshali (5.5 each); (under-14): 1. Saina Salonika (6), 2. L. Jyothsna (5.5), 3. D. Jishitha (5); (under-12): 1. Divya Deshpande (6.5), 2-3. Bhagyashree Patil and Dhyana Patel (5.5 each); (under-10): 1. M. Sahithi Varshini (6), 2-3. Snithia Sarkar and Savitha Shri (5.5 each);(under-8): A. N. Shefali (6), 2-3. Hiya Panchal and Suhaani Lohia (5.5 each).
Seniors (over-60) : 1. Hanif Mollah (Ban, 4), 2-3. Wazeer Ahmad Khan (India) and Lim Kian Hwa (Mas) (3.5 each).
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