The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Ratnakaran lifts RSC title

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Monday, Nov 05, 2007
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Sport - Chess

Ratnakaran lifts RSC title

Principal Correspondent

Winner decided on the basis of progressive score
Four players tie for top position

— Photo: H. Vibhu

K. Ratnakaran.

KOCHI: After being unbeaten till the penultimate round, Southern Railway’s K. Ratnakaran lowered his guard a little on the final day of the Sunny Diamonds-RSC all-India FIDE-rated chess tournament here on Sunday.

The Kozhikode-based International Master lost to ICF’s Syed Anwar Shazuli in the final round at the Regional Sports Centre but still won the title with a superior progressive score.

“I didn’t notice the counter coming,” said Ratnakaran, the top seed.

“We exchanged queens early but in the middle game my position was slightly weak. And when I was supposed to defend, I attacked and lost.”

Four players tied for the top position at the end of the nine-round event and with the progressive scores settling the issue, Tamil Nadu’s second-seeded R.R. Laxman finished runner-up while Kerala’s M.B. Muralidharan and Syed Anwar Shazuli took the next two positions.

Tamil Nadu’s 21st seed Vinoth Kumar, who was on a giant-slaying run in the last few rounds, finished a creditable sixth while M.V. Lakshmi Narayanan upset third-seeded B.S. Shivananda, a result which carried the 20th seed to the seventh spot in the final list.

A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, Ernakulam District Collector, gave away the prizes.

The results (final round): K. Ratnakaran lost to Syed Anwar Shazuli, Vinoth Kumar lost to R.R. Laxman, M.B. Muralidharan bt K. Gunasekaran, M.V. Lakshmi Narayanan bt B.S. Shivananda, P. Karthikeyan drew with P. Saravana Krishnan, Prasanna Rao lost to P. Shyam Nikhil, P.V. Gireesh lost to R. Balasubramanian, A. Shankar drew with C. Natarajan, T.J. Sureshkuamr drew with K. Haridas, Vishwas Saralaya drew with E.P. Nirmal.

Final standings: 1. K. Ratnakaran (S. Rly, 7.5 pts), 2. R.R. Laxman (TN, 7.5), 3. M.B. Muralidharan (Ker, 7.5), 4. Syed Anwar Shazuli (ICF, 7.5), 5. R. Balasubramanian (ICF, 7), 6. Vinoth Kumar (TN, 7), 7. M.V. Lakshmi Narayanan (TN, 7), 8. P. Shyam Nikhil (TN, 7), 9. C. Natarajan (ICF, 6.5), 10. P. Karthikeyan (TN, 6.5).

Best player awards: Arjun Bharat (Karn, u-8 boys), C.H. Meghna (Ker, under-8 girls); M. Manu (Ker, u-10 boys), C.K. Varsha (TN, u-10 girls); Tejas Ravichandran (TN, u-12 boys), Anjana Krishna (u-12 girls); K.S. Anand Reddy (AP, u-14 boys), Alka Raj (u-14 girls); M. Kunal (TN, u-16 boys), Manasa (Karn, u-16 girls); A. Niji (Ker, women), U.C. Mohanan (Ker, veterans), V.N. Noordeen (Ker, senior citizens), Paulsoe Paul Vadassery (Ker, most promising youngster).

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