Grand Master (GM) M.S. Thejkumar of Mysuru, with 9 points from nine rounds, won the title in the Karnataka State Level Open Rapid Chess Tournament conducted by Mysuru District Chess Association (MDCA), under the aegis of UKCA at the University Gymnasium Hall here yesterday.

Thejkumar won his last round tie against M.D. Chiranth and clinched the title with a cash prize of Rs.15,000 and a trophy.

Ojas Kulkarni (7.5-46), D. Yashas (7.5-44.75) and M. Shivanth (7.5-44.75) tied with 7.5 points each and on the basis of their tie-break score, secured the places from second to fourth and took home cash prizes of Rs.10,000, Rs.5,000 & Rs.4,000 respectively with the trophies. V.P.S. Darshan with seven points secured the fifth place and took home a cash prize of Rs.3,500 and a trophy.

The top five players in the U-7, U-9, U-11, U-13 & U-15 (boys & girls) were given trophies. Special prizes to the Best Veteran, Best youngest players were also given. The prizes were given away by Dr. C. Krishna, retd. Director, Dept. of Physical Education, UoM, Dr. Vishwanath Baligar, Vice-President, UKCA, M. Nagendra, Vice-President, UKCA, N. Sudharshan, President, MDCA and K.R. Shivarame Gowda, Hon. Secretary, MDCA.

Final Placings: Open

GM M.S. Thejkumar (9), 2. Ojas Kulkarni (7.5-46), 3. D. Yashas (7.5-44.75), 4. M. Shivanth (7.5-44.75), 5. V.P.S. Darshan (7-42.50), 6. Arjun Adappa (7-41.50), 7. M.D. Chiranth (7-41.50), 8. A. Augustin (7-39), 9. N. Rakesh (7-38.50) and 10. Ravi Hegde (7-38).

Category prizes

Boys — U-7: 1. R. Nivaan (5-20.5), 2. Aarush Gowda (5-19), 3. V.G. Vihaan (4-18.5), 4. S. Bhavish (4-18), 5. Shishir Suhasa (4-17.5); U-9: 1. S. Vishwajit (5.5), 2. P. Ishanth (5-19), 3. N.C. Gambhir (5-18.5), 4. G. Akshay (5-18), 5. Ashith Kumar Gowda (5-17.5); U-11: 1. P. Karthik (6-20.5), 2. Dharmik B. Gowda (6-20), 3. Pritam S. Rao (5-17), 4. S. Sujan Bharadwaj (5-16.5), 5. Tejasvi Prabhu (5-16); U-13: 1. M.H. Akash (6), 2. I. Kalal (5.5-19), 3. Sankha Ghosh (5.5-18.5), 4. P. Manish Kumar (5.5-18), 5. M. Shiva Prasad (5.5-17.5); U-15: 1. V. Avinash (6-20.5), 2. Abhi Nayak (6-20), 3. R. Raju Prasad (6-19.5), 4. Aryan Anand (6-19), 5. M.U. Thejas (5).

Girls — U-7: 1. K.R. Ghanashree (5), 2. K.R. Sara (4-18), 3. S.R. Apeksha (4-17.5), 4. Dhrithi Madhusudhan (4-17), 5. Anvitha S. Kumar (4-16.5); U-9: 1. WCM A.N. Shefali (5-19), 2. Yashika R. Joshi (5-18.5), 3. L. Vaishnavi (4-18), 4. K. Deeksha (4-17.5), 5. Adya Premkumar (4-17); U-11: Vindya Sridhar (6), 2. Anuja Anand (5-19), 3. Nithyashree Lokesha (5-18.5), 4. Dhatri Umesh (5-18), 5. M.N. Eshanvi (4); U-13: 1. P. Dhanyashree (5.5), 2. S. Meghana (5-19), 3. H.K. Harshitha (5-18.5), 4. G. Diya Salal (5-18), 5. Manasa Narayan (5-17.5); U-15: 1. Nesha Kavya Gowda (5), 2. S.D. Kushala (4.5-18), 3. Aditi S. Bharadwaj (4-17), 4. C.T. Anamika Menon (4-16.5), 5. Ramitha S. Raj (4-16).

Best Veteran: T.V. Venkatesh Upadyaya (6.5 ); Best Youngest: S.K. Suhanth & S. Nisargashree; Special prizes: Fiero Jain, Jayanth Sarathy, Lingaraju & K.M. Shashidhar (Blind), T.M. Natraj (Deaf) and S.D. Kushala.