Bengal players shine in GM meet

KOLKATA: Bengal players left a mark in the third Gujarat International GM Open that concluded in Ahmedabad on Thursday. While Grandmaster Neelotpal Das fell just short of winning the title, ending up as the second best, Women International Master (WIM) Arpita Mukherjee emerged as the best female performer in the event. A total of 374 players that included 14 GMs, 30 IMs and three WIM from 14 countries took part in this 10-round Swiss league tournament.
Das, who stayed among the leading pack from early in the tournament, grabbed the sole lead by beating Paraguay's No.1 player GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez in the eighth round.However, he lost the half-a-point advantage when he was held by IM LR Srihari in the penultimate round. The Kolkata boy, who faced IM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan in the last round, needed a win to annex the title. But in spite of pushing for success, Nigmatov managed to hold on for a draw. Although the two ended up with the same number of points (8.5), the Uzbek player emerged champion by buchholz tiebreak method.
Das, however, took the result in his stride. "I'm happy but a bit disappointed too as I thought I might finish first," Das later stated. "But performance-wise my games were good. I also defeated three GMs," he added. The veteran player, who ended undefeated, won seven and drew three games to gain 23 Elo points.
Mukherjee meanwhile maintained a steady run to end at 16th position with 7.5 points. The former Asian Youth Under-18 and Commonwealth Under-20 Girls gold medallist won six games, drew three and lost one.