Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad wins 1st Leelavathi Memorial Open

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/07/2020

IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad scored an unprecedented 9.0/9 and took a sole lead heading into the final round. He drew his last round game to clinch the championship with a score of 9.5/10. Reigning National Sub-Junior champion IM Raja Rithvik R also played brilliantly, scored sole 8.5/10 to secure second position. GM Diptayan Ghosh was placed third among five other players who finished at 8.0/10, due to his better tie-break score. Y V K Chakravarthy organized this event in memory of his late mother Leelavathi. The tournament had a total prize fund of Rs.30000. There was no entry fee for this event and total 236 players took part from twelve countries across the world including India. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Bala Chandra dominates the field

IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad played fantastic as he took a 9/9 lead requiring just a draw in the final round to clinch the championship. He finished at 9.5/10, a full point ahead of the runner-up. Reigning National Sub-Junior champion IM Raja Rithvik R also delivered a stellar performance as he finished at the first runner-up place with 8.5/10. Five players finished at 8.0/10, they are - GM Diptayan Ghosh, GM Laxman R R, IM Aronyak Ghosh, GM Vugar Rasulov of Azerbaijan and GM Shardul Gagare. Diptayan secured the second runner-up position due to a better tie-break score.

Y V K Chakravarthy organized 1st Leelavathi Memorial in memory of his late mother

Total 236 players including 13 GMs, 15 IMs and 3 WIMs from India, Azerbaijan, Chile, Ireland, Montenegro, Nigeria, Peru, Russia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, USA and Uzbekistan took part in this 10-Round event.

IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad delivered a fantastic performance | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

A Positional Masterpiece

Samudragupta (IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad) scored a fantastic win over IM Terry Renato of Peru with a fantastic display of positional play

Samudragupta - Terryr, Round 8

Position after 24...Rae8

Find out the best plan for white after 24...Rae8

IM Terry Renato finished 8th with 7.5/10

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Uzbektiger95 gets reprogrammed by MasteredUI

MasteredUI (IM Raja Rithvik R) played brilliantly to beat Uzbektiger95 (GM Jakhongir Vakhidov) of Uzbekistan. Despite the fact that Vakhidov is a very strong player, it did not stop the reigning National Sub-Junior champion Rithvik to sacrifice his queen.

Uzbektiger95 - MasteredUI, Round 6

Position after 21.Bc4

Will you play 21...Rfc8 here? Find out what happens if black goes 21...Rfc8 in the above mentioned diagram.

IM Rithvik Raja R scored 8.5/10 and finished second | Photo: Rupali Mullick

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Diptayan wins the race

GM Diptayan Ghosh scored his best win over RACEKING (GM Harsha Bharathakoti) in Round 8. In Round 5, Diptayan got a wonderful opportunity to beat the eventual champion of the tournament, Samudragupta (IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad) but much to his chagrin, he missed it.

Diptayan - RACEKING, Round 8

Position after 17...Qe5

Find out the best continuation for white after 17...Qe5

GM Diptayan Ghosh scored 8.0/10 to finish third

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Final Standings

Main Prize winners (Top 20)

Rank	Name	Score	Prize money
1	IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla	9.5	₹10000
2	IM Raja Rithvik R	8.5	₹5000
3	GM Diptayan Ghosh	8	₹3000
4	GM Laxman R R	8	₹2000
5	IM Aronyak Ghosh	8	₹1000
6	GM Vugar Rasulov	8	₹900
7	GM Shardul Gagare	8	₹800
8	IM Terry Renato	7.5	₹700
9	IM Pranesh M	7.5	₹600
10	Kaustuv Kundu	7.5	₹500
11	GM Dusan Popovic	7.5	₹500
12	FM Aaryan Varshney	7.5	₹500
13	GM Harsha Bharathakoti	7	₹500
14	GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara	7	₹500
15	GM D Gukesh	7	₹500
16	IM S Nitin	7	₹500
17	R Ashwath	7	₹500
18	Dinesh Rajan M	7	₹500
19	IM Bharath Subramaniyam H	7	₹500
20	FM Nikhil Dixit	7	₹500