SOA IGM Chess Festival: Badamundi wins in category-B

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Tapan Badamundi was crowned Category-B champion in the 1st SOA International Grand Masters Chess Festival at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University here on Wednesday.

He scored 8.5 points out of a possible 10 to take home the trophy and a cash prize of Rs 75,000.

Sudhanshu Ranjan (Bihar) and Akshat Negi (Delhi) claimed the first and second runner-up prize of Rs 50,000 and Rs 40,000 respectively with eight points each.

A total of 181 players from three countries participated in this 10-round competition, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Meanwhile, Vignesh Advaith Vemula (Telangana) and FM Goutham Krishna H (Kerala) emerged joint-leaders in Category A with 4.5 points each after completion of fifth round on Wednesday.

The duo was followed by eight players, including top seed GM Diptayan Ghosh, with four points apiece. Competition in Category C, featuring a total of 304 players, will begin on Thursday.

The lucrative chess festival, offering a total cash prize of Rs 35 lakh, is being organised by the All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) in association with SOA. The International Chess Federation (ICF), All India Chess Federation (AICF), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Government of Odisha are supporting the tournament.