Tournament Report of 2nd Bhiwani FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament by Pradeep Gupta

The second edition of Bhiwani Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament was held at Preksha Vihar, Kirorimal Park, Bhiwani from 24th Dec to 30th Dec 09 and a total number of 134 players from different parts of India and Nepal participated in this prestigious chess tournament which included five International Masters and sixty nine internationally rated players. 

The tournament was inaugurated by Rao Dan Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary in presence of Sh. Lalit Agarwal and Sh. Pawan Buwaniwala, Industrialist, Sh. Pradeep Gupta, Secretary, Haryana Chess Association and CA Naresh Garg in a colorful opening ceremony on 24th Dec 09.

Tournament was played under Swiss system with 10 rounds and Grandmaster in waiting International Master Sriram Jha started as top seed in this 2.25 lakh Cash prize money tournament.  International Arbiter MS Gopakumar from Delhi officiated successfully as Chief Arbiter and tournament concluded without any protests or appeals.

The tournament started in surprising note as seventh seed O T Anilkumar of Kerala held by unrated Aneesh R of Andhrpradesh in the first round match.  The first halves of the tournament saw the dream run of Souvik Chakrabory of West Bengal. Chakraborty shocked International Masters   R Balasubramainam and Atanu Lahiri.  He also got better off seasoned campaigner OT Anilkumar and held top seed Sriram Jha in the fifth round. In the second half, Chakraborty handed over the baton to young Sumit Grover from Jammu, who overcame three International Masters R Balasubramaiam, Atanu Lahiri and Anup Deshmukh on the way to a creditable tenth spot finish. 

With an unbeaten record in the tournament, top seed Sriram Jha of LIC with eight and half points won the 2nd Bhiwani Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament after settling for quick draw against team mate and International Master Anup Deshmukh in the tenth and final round and pocketed a cash prize of fifty five thousand along with coveted trophy.  International Masters Anup Deshmukh  and Saptarshi Roy of West Bengal were tied for the second spot but better Buchholz tie break score helped later to finish second and Deshmukh satisfied with third spot.

Divyasri Ch of  Andhrapradesh was adjudged as best women player and Sumit Kumar Jha as best sub junior player.  Krishan Soni, Nasir Ali Syed and Shweta Priyadharshini secured best Haryana Player, Best Veteran player and best unrated player awards respectively.

The Prize Distribution Function was also very ceremonial and Local M.L.A. Sh. Ghansyam Saraf was the chief guest besides other guests like Sh. R.P. Singh, retired I.A.S., Sh. Devraj Toshamia, Sh. Vijaykishan Dhareduwala, Sh. Anil Sangahi in the presence of Pradeep Gupta, Sanjay Goel, Banke Bihari Gupta, Umed Sharma, Rajkumar Jalan, M. P. Saraf, Sharmender Singh, Naresh Sharma, Rakesh Kataria, M.P. Saraf, Rajpal Chauhan, Sushil Buwaniwala etc.

The tournament was organized in a befitting manner and all the rounds of tournament were inaugurated by eminent personalities of Bhiwani and various cultural activities during the tournament encouraged and entertained the players of 64 squares.  Moreover mementos were presented to all players and officials as token of love by the organizers.