Augustin of Kodagu (Rating 2063), with 8.5 points from 9 rounds, clinched the title in the Karnataka State Open Rapid Chess Tournament 2018, conducted by Velapuri Chess Association at Sudhanva Gowda Vokkaligara Kalyana Mantapa, Belur, on Aug.11 and 12.

Grand Master M.S. Thejkumar finished runner-up with 8 points from 9 rounds.

Augustin won a cash prize of Rs.15,000 and a trophy. He had wins over H.V. Hemanth, Simret M. Kotian, S. Manasvi, Krishnamurthy, S.M. Shaswat and Nachiket Adiga. He was held to a draw in the fourth round by Mysuru lad Vinayak B. Hariwal.

GM M.S. Thejkumar of South Western Railways, Mysuru, with 8 points from 9 rounds took the second place and won a cash prize of Rs.11,000 and a trophy. Thejkumar had wins over Harsha, Ritwik, Dheenram Shastry, B.R. Aravinda, V.P.S.Darshan, Anbazhagan, Sharan R. Setty and Sharan Rao. He lost to IM Ravi Gopal Hegde in the seventh round.

IM Ravi Gopal Hegde secured the third place with 7.5 points and took home a cash prize of Rs.8,000 and a trophy. Mysuru lad V.P.S. Darshan with 7.5 points finished fourth and secured a cash prize of Rs.6,000 and a trophy. H.N. Nishanth of Hassan finished fifth with 7.5 points and received a cash prize of Rs.5,000 and a trophy.

Winners from the 6th to the 25th place were given away cash prizes. Trophies were given away to the first five place winners in the U-7, U-9, U-11, U-13 & U-15 (boys & girls).

Other Mysuru players L.Vivekananda (7th), M.P. Ajith (8th), Sharan Setty (10th), Vinayak B. Hariwal (14th), Aryan Anand (Mandya-15th), Rakesh (Mandya-17th), K.M. Shashidhar 925th), Manjunath Jain (Mandya-26th), M.D. Chiranth (30th), L. Seshadri (36th), Prasiddhi Bhat (41st), M.S. Kishore (46th), C. Abhishek (50th), L. Vaishnavi (60th), M.U. Thejas 964th), Dhatri Umesh (65th), Jayanth P. Sarathy (68th) and M. Madhuri (Mandya-69th) fared well.

Final Placings

A. Augustin (8.5), 2. GM M.S. Thejkumar (8), 3. IM Ravi Gopal Hegde (7.5-58.5), 4. V.P.S. Darshan (7.5-54.5), 5. H.N. Nishanth (7.5-51), 6. Ramachandra Bhat (7.5-50), 7. L. Vivekananda (7.5-49), 8. M.P. Ajith (7-57.5), 9. Devi Das Suresh Pai (7-56), 10. Sharan R Setty (7-5-56).