Anurag Mhamal emerges champion in UKCA All India tournament

Mangalore, April 3: Second seeded Anurag Mhamal from Goa emerged as champion in the first United Karnataka Chess Association (UKCA) All India Open FIDE Rated Chess Tournament in the city on Wednesday.

After a hard fought final round, Anurag was held to a draw by M KUnal of Tamil Nadu. The 17 year old boy had a tough fight with runner up Raghavendra V (Karnataka) and Akash V Thakur(Railways) who equalled him with 7.5 points each.

The better buchholz rating over others helped the boy to grab his first major tournament. The winner will get Rs 30,000 prize money.

Raghsvendra V from Karnataka won the second prize and Akash V Thakur ( Railways) won the third position. Raghavendra is also the Secretary of United Karnataka Chess Association. Sharing the fourth spot, a further half behind at 7.0 points were Pranav Vijay, M Kunal (both TN), Rohan Ahuja, Ritviz Parab( Both Goa), RajKumar S Singha , Akshay V Halagannavar repectively.

Speaking to the media Anurag Mhamal said that competition was very tough . Raghavendra who is playing chess for the last 15 years said that competition was challenging as most of the players are between the age group of 11-15 years.

Trophies and cash prizes worth Rupees Two Lakhs under various categories were distributed during the presentation ceremony. IOB Senior Regional Manager K Anil, Nagendra and Company Proprietor T A Nagendra ,Sharada Group of Institutions President Prof M B Puranik , UKCA Patron B V Achutananda Reddy, President M S Gururaj and General Secretary V Raghavendra were also present during the function.

Results of Round 9:

Pranav Vijay(TN) drew with Akash Thakur (Rlys) 7.5, Anurag Mhamal(Goa) 7.5 drew with M KUnal(TN)7, V Raghavendra (Kar)7.5 beat Santosh Kashyap HG (kar) 6.5, Bagyashree Thipsay(Mah)6 Lost to Akshay V Halagannavar(Kar)7, A Akshaya(TN) 6.5 drew with Anirudh V Bhat(Goa)6.5, Sharan Rao(Kar)6 lost to Rohan Ahuja(Goa)7, Aditya PaiK (Kar)6 lost to Ritviz Parab(Goa)7, RajKumar S Singha (Kar)7 beat Ojas Kulkarni (Kar)6,Raghav Bagri(Raj)5.5 lost to Vaibhav Bhat(Kar)6.5, Niraj Saripalli(Goa) 6.5 beat Shalon Joanne Pais(Kar) 5.5, Yashaskara Jois K R ( Kar) 6 drew with Arjun Vaira.