The 51st National Challengers (National ‘B’) Chess Championship 2013 took place from 12th to 22nd October at the T.T.Nagar Stadium, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The event was organized by the Academy of Chess Education Bhopal, M.P. State Level Chess Association, Sports & Youth Welfare Dept. Govt., on behalf of All India Chess Federation.
272 players competed in the 13-round Swiss open tournament.
International Masters Thejkumar M. S. and Ashwin Jayaram tied the first place with 10,5 points each, leaving the nearest followers a full point behind.
Debashis Das, who shared third place, completed the requirements for the GM title and becomes first Grandmaster from Odisha state.
Top 9 finishers of this Championship qualify for forthcoming National Premier (National ‘A’) Championship. It is curious that only one Grandmaster in the field, Deepan Chakkravarthy, succeeded.
Final standings:
1 IM Thejkumar M. S. 2421 Rlwys – 10.5
2 IM Ashwin Jayaram 2461 TN – 10.5
3 IM Akshat Khamparia 2384 Rlwys – 9.5
4 IM Debashis Das 2497 Odisha – 9.5
5 IM Vishnu Prasanna. V 2496 TN – 9.5
6 IM Shyam Nikil P. 2412 TN – 9.5
7 IM Stany G.A. 2388 AAI – 9.5
8 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. 2476 TN – 9.5
9 IM Rathnakaran K. 2428 Rlwys – 9.5
10 GM Adhiban B. 2587 PSPB/IOC – 9
11 GM Lalith Babu M.R. 2583 PSPB/IOC – 9
12 GM Laxman R.R. 2424 Rlwys – 9
13 IM Swayams Mishra 2434 AAI – 9
14 IM Karthikeyan Murali 2444 TN – 9
15 GM Sengupta Deep 2589 PSPB – 9
16 Roy Prantik 2238 WB – 9
17 GM Kunte Abhijit 2487 PSPB – 8.5
18 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2566 PSPB(ONGC) – 8.5
19 Sagar Shah 2373 MAH – 8.5
20 GM Neelotpal Das 2455 PSPB – 8.5
Impressive.