Negi gets 2nd IM norm

Grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov, who was working with Negi prior to this event was also pleased with the performance of his prodigy, “I expected this from Parimajan here and he should now set his sights on GM title,” Vladimirov said.

Eesha Karavade became the eighth Women Grandmaster of the country after settling for an easy draw with Adel Omearat of Syria in the final round. Eesha clocked a rating performance of 2433 points, quite above the 2401 mark that is required for the WGM title.

Amongst Indians in the fray, GMs Abhijit Kunte, R B Ramesh and Humpy were the pick of the lot scoring 5.5 points apiece.

But it was the day of Eesha, who followed in the footsteps of WGMs S Vijayalakshmi, Aarthie Ramaswamy, Koneru Humpy, Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate, D Harika and S Meenakshi.