Srinath clinches Kolkata Open title

N. Srinath ensured a quick draw against M. Shyam Sundar to end with 7.5 points and walk away with the title.

File Photo: N. Srinath (in picture) was tied on points with Deepan Chakkravarthy, but won on tie-breaker score.

GM N. Srinath’s quick draw against M. Shyam Sundar helped him emerge as the champion in the LIC Kolkata Open International here on Tuesday.

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Overnight leader Srinath agreed for the draw after 27 moves to gather 7.5 points. He was tied with Deepan Chakkravarthy, who recorded a crushing victory over Deep Sengupta, but became champion on tie-breaker scores.

Nigel Short finishes third

Nigel Short drew with Erigaisi Arjun, who earned his maiden GM norm, to finish third.

Srinath bagged ₹3 lakh as prize money. Chakkravarthy collected a cheque of ₹2 lakh, while Short got ₹1.6 lakh.

Priyanka Nutakki scored her maiden Women International Master norm.

• Important results (ninth round) : N. Srinath 7.5 drew with M. Shyam Sundar 7; Nigel Short (Eng) 7 drew with Erigaisi Arjun 7; Deepan Chakkravarthy 7.5 bt Deep Sengupta 6; Abhijeet Gupta 6.5 drew with Vladimir Burmakin (Rus) 6.5; Harsha Bharathakoti 7 bt Sandipan Chanda 6; Nihal Sarin 6.5 drew with Nguyen Van Huy (Vie) 6.5; R.K. Srihari 6 lost to Adam Tukhaev (Ukr) 6.5; Karthikeyan Murali 6.5 bt Muhammad Khusenkhojaev (Tjk) 5.5; Farrukh Amonatov (Tjk) 6.5 bt Neelotpal Das 5.5; Ivan Rozum (Rus) 6.5 bt Sayantan Das 5.5.
• Final standings: 1. N. Srinath 7.5, 2. Deepan Chakkravarthy 7.5; 3. Nigel Short (Eng) 7; 4. M. Shyam Sundar 7; 5. Erigaisi Arjun 7; 6. Harsha Bharathakoti 7; 7. Adam Tukhaev (Ukr) 6.5; 8. Ivan Rozum (Rus) 6.5; 9. Vladimir Burmakin (Rus) 6.5; 10. Farrukh Amonatov (Tjk) 6.5.