Eesha, Adhiban make IM norms

Woman Grandmaster Eesha Karavade completed her third and final International Master norm after settling for a quick draw with IM Al Sayed Mohamad of Qatar in the 9th and final round of Dubai International chess championship

Woman Grandmaster Eesha Karavade completed her third and final International Master norm after settling for a quick draw with IM Al Sayed Mohamad of Qatar in the 9th and final round of Dubai International chess championship here today.

A consistent performer throughout the event, Eesha lost one game, won three and drew the remaining five matches to earn her final norm. To become the next International Master of the country, the Pune-based now needs to escalate her rating to ELO 2400 points. Eesha8217;s best result in the event was a victory over former women8217;s world champion Zhu Chen of Qatar.

There was more good news to follow for the Indian contingent as B Adhiban made his second IM norm in a similar style, signing peace with compatriot WGM D Harika in quick time.

Adhiban, who made his maiden norm at the Parsvnath International Open tournament at New Delhi in January, is now just one norm away before qualifying for the coveted IM title.

Of the three Grandmasters he played here, Adhiban drew with two and lost to one. Meanwhile, it turned out to be a four-way tie at the top with Grandmaster Amir Bagheri of Iran and Sarhan Guliev of Azerbaijan joining overnight leaders Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia and Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan on 7 points to share the top spot.

As the tie was resolved, Pantsulaia turned out to have the best tiebreak and was crowned the winner. International Master PDS Girinath emerged as the best Indian performer on 6 points bettering Grandmaster Koneru Humpy and International Master G N Gopal on superior tiebreak with 6 points.

The three players will also get cash prizes for their efforts in the prize giving ceremony slated late on Tuesday.

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The last round was devoid of excitement for the Indians as Humpy and Girinath fought hard for supremacy. Playing white, Girinath however was cautious in his approach and did not allow Humpy to gain much ground. The game was eventually drawn.

In a dramatic encounter GM Tejas Bakre went down to Al Modaihki Mohamad of Qatar. Fighting a lost cause when Modaihki was running short of time on his clock, Bakre suddenly pointed out a flag fall but the Arbiter ruled in favour of Modaihki when he claimed the clock to be faulty.

A stunned Bakre conceded defeat soon after without making an effort to check the clock and only later realised that Modaihki had probably not pressed it properly. As per rules, the ruling would have gone in favour of Modaihki had the clock been proven faulty but in this case it was predetermined.