Lalit Babu of India clinched the Mumbai International Grandmaster Chess tournament title after defeating Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia on the basis of higher tie-break score on Wednesday. He won his ninth and final round match against top seeded Georgian Grandmaster (GM) Lavin Pantsulaia to accumulate eight points. However, there was uncertainty with GM Babu keeping his fingers crossed as Gharibyan also tallied eight points after winning his final match against Indian GM Neeloptal Das.
Babu’s higher tie-break score of 54.5 as compared to Gharibyan’s 54 ensured the title for the Indian, who won a cash prize of Rs 4 lakh. Gharibyan’s second-place finish won him a cash award of Rs 3 lakh. Another Indian, Deepan Chakravarthy, finished fifth place and won Rs 1.25 lakh.
In the juniors’ section, India’s Candidate Master Madhesh Kumar emerged champion after scoring a last-round win over Vyom Malhotra to collect eight points in all. Teen prodigy Madhesh, who impressed with his calmness and focus, won the title outright and earned Rs 2 lakh.
Advik Agrawal was runner–up and pocketed Rs 1.5 lakh. Top seed Aansh Nerurkar had to settle for third place. The fourth and fifth places were secured by CM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma and Jagreet Mishra, respectively. Sannidhi Bhat was adjudged the best female player, while Rachit Gurnani and Mysha Perwez emerged the best among the Mumbai boys and girls.
Results: Grandmasters: Levan Pantsulaia 6.5 lost to Lalit Babu 8; Mamikon Gharibyan 8 bt Neelotpal Das 7; Van Huy Nguyen 7 drew with Manuel Petrosyan 7 Juniors: Madhesh Kumar 8 bt Vyom Malhotra 6.5; Advik Agrawal 7.5 bt Aansh Nerurkar 7.
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