Record entries for Mumbai Mayor chess tournament

Mumbai: GM Kravtsiv Martyn of Ukraine will lead a strong field in the international open section at the 11th Mumbai Mayor’s International Chess Tournament starting here on June 3.

Among the competitors will be 20 Grandmasters and four International Masters along with 50 title holders from 22 nations in the Rs 35 lakh prize money event, a media release said today.

Organised by the Venus Chess Academy under the aegis of the Mumbai Suburban District Chess Association, the Maharashtra Chess Association and the All-India Chess Federation, the tournament has attracted more than 1,200 entries.

GM Kravtsiv Martyn (ELO 2662), who was the winner of the 8th Mayors Chess Cup, is currently placed 80th in the world ranking among all the players.

GM Amonatov Farrukh (ELO 2605) of Tajikistan is the 2nd seed, while IM Nguyen Van Huy (ELO 2462) of Vietnam will be looking to defend his title this year.

Leading the Indian challenge will be Grandmasters Sandipan Chanda (2573), Diptayan Ghosh (2536) and FM Erigaisi Arjun (2488), who will be looking to secure his IM norm in the tournament.

The female challenge will be led by WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (2294) and WIM Pratyusha Bodda (2269), who are looking to make a mark in the competition.

The players in the open international section would be vying for the first prize of Rs 3 lakh, while the runners-up will get Rs 2.3 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh, respectively, from a pool of Rs 13 lakh in the 10-round tournament with a classical time-control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds per player.

In addition, the players have a chance to earn the GM/IM norm.

The `B’ category event, with a prize of Rs 11 lakh, would be held simultaneously, while the `C’ category meet, with a prize fund of Rs 11 lakh, would be conducted from June 7.

The chief arbiter for the tournament is international arbiter V Anantaraman, the release added.