Mumbai 1st June: GM Kravtsiv Martyn (ELO 2662) of Ukraine will lead a strong field of more than 200 chess champions from 22 countries in the international open section of the Rs 35 lakh prize money 11th Mumbai Mayor’s International Chess Tournament 2018, which will be hosted by Mount Litera International School, Bandra Kurla Complex from June 3 to 10 June, 2018. Among these will be 20 Grandmasters and 4 International Masters along with 50 title holders.
Organized by Venus Chess Academy under the aegis of Mumbai Suburban District Chess Association, Maharashtra Chess Association & All India Chess Federation, the tournament, with a record prize pool of Rs.35 lakhs, has attracted more than 1200 + entries till date.
GM Kravtsiv Martyn (ELO 2662) of Ukraine who was the winner of the 8th Mayors Chess Cup is the top seed of the tournament, he 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 this tournament. The female challenge will be led by WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (22(94) & WIM Pratyusha Bodda (2269) who are looking to make a mark in this tournament.
The players in the open international section would be vying for the first prize of Rs 3 Lakhs while the runners up will get 2.3 and 1.25 Lakhs respectively from a pool of Rs.13 Lakhs in this 10-round tournament with a classical time-control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds per player. In addition, the players also have a chance to earn the GM/IM norm.
The ‘B’ category event with a prize Rs.11 Lakhs would also be held simultaneously from3-7 June, 2018 while the ‘C’ category event with a prize fund of Rs.11lakh would be conducted from 7-10 June, 2018.
The Chief Arbiter for the tournament is International Arbiter V Anantaraman who is the chief of International Arbiters Commission who will be looking after the technical conduct of the event. The games would be broadcasted live on the official website: www.venuschess.com