Kunal bags chess title

Overnight leader Kunal M of Tamil Nadu remained undefeated to clinch the second MDCA all-India Open FIDE-rated chess tournament here Teresian Higher Primary School auditorium on Wednesday.

In the 10th and final round match, Kunal agreed to a draw against State-mate Vinoth Kumar to secure the title with 9.5 points. Vinoth (8.5) finished second.

Another player from Tamil Nadu, Ram S Krishnan who drew his final match with State-mate Aravindh Chithambaram, grabbed the third spot on a better tie-break score after locked at eight points with six other contestants.

Winner Kunal was richer by Rs 25,000 while Vinoth collected a purse of Rs 15,000.   
Results (Round X): Vinoth Kumar M (TN, 8.5) drew Kunal M (TN, 9.5); Gireman Ja (TN, 8) drew Arvind Shastry (Kar, 8); Ram S  Krishnan (TN, 8) bt Aravindh Chithambaram VR (TN, 8); Abhishek A (Ker, 7) lt to Alex Thomas K (Ker, 8); Vijendra YG (Kar, 7.5) drew Bala Kannamma P (TN, 7.5); Prasannaa S (TN, 8) bt Dhanasekar K (TN, 7); Rajarishi Karthi (TN, 7) lt to Gavi Siddayya (8, Kar); Ashwini U (TN, 6.5) lt to Manigandan SS (TN, 7.5); Roshan Rangarajan (Mah, 7) drew Naren N Kumar (Kar, 7); Varsha CK (TN, 6.5) lt to Augustin A (Kar 6.5).