Who will win the National Championship 2019?

by Satanick Mukhuty - 10/12/2019

Starting from today, for the next ten days, Sikkim will be the most buzzing hub of chess activity in the country! The all important National Senior Championship 2019 begins at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of technology today and will continue till the 19th of this month. Featuring strong players like Abhijeet Gupta, Aravindh Chithambaram, Sandipan Chanda, Deepan Chakravarthy, and others, this is one of the most exciting national tournaments to follow. So who do you think will win the National Senior Championship this year and what do you think will be his/her score? Comment your guesses below this article and get a chance to win a special prize from ChessBase India!

The National Senior Championship 2019 is an eleven-round Swiss event following a time control of 90 minutes for the first forty moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. Organized by the Sikkim Chess Association under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation, the tournament is taking place from the 10th to the 19th of December in the sprawling campus of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology in Majitar, Sikkim.

The pristine environs of SMIT will turn into a buzzing chess hub for the next ten days!

Who are the players?

A total of 57 titled players are participating in the tournament which include 19 GMs and 23 IMs.With a rating of 2611, the four-time commonwealth champion Abhijeet Gupta is the top seed of the event. While the triple-crown national champion Aravindh Chithambaram follows him closely as the second-seed. Vaibhav Suri, Deep Sengupta, and Lalith Babu M R are among other prominent Grandmasters who are seeded in the top ten of the event. Check the list of players below.

No.		Name	FideID	FED	Rtg	Club/City
1	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	5010608	IND	2611	PSPB
2	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	5072786	IND	2605	Tamil Nadu
3	GM	Vaibhav Suri	5045185	IND	2597	Delhi
4	GM	Sengupta Deep	5008352	IND	2564	PSPB
5	GM	Lalith Babu M R	5024595	IND	2556	Andhra Pradesh
6	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	5045207	IND	2555	West Bengal
7	GM	Chanda Sandipan	5004225	IND	2545	West Bengal
8	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	5011132	IND	2535	RSPB
9	GM	Visakh N R	25012223	IND	2516	Tamil Nadu
10	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	5030692	IND	2493	Tamil Nadu
11	GM	Anurag Mhamal	5024366	IND	2490	Goa
12	IM	Vignesh N R	25012215	IND	2475	RSPB
13	GM	Kunte Abhijit	5002265	IND	2467	PSPB
14	IM	Das Arghyadip	5003610	IND	2459	RSPB
15	IM	Krishna C R G	5018625	IND	2459	RSPB
16	IM	Ravi Teja S.	5017220	IND	2455	RSPB
17	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	5024218	IND	2455	RSPB
18	GM	Bakre Tejas	5004195	IND	2445	Air India
19	GM	Laxman R.R.	5005361	IND	2444	RSPB
20	IM	Das Sayantan	5034426	IND	2440	RSPB

Check complete list of players here.

Some of the best female players will also be seen in action in the event, IM Padmini Rout being the highest rated among them.

Padmini seems to be really looking forward to the event with excitement!

What's at stake?

An impressive amount of rupees 20 lakh will be disbursed as prizes in the event and out of it the champion will receive a whopping rupees 5 lakh. The players managing to finish in the top ten will also return home with handsome cash rewards.

Attractive cash prizes means better participations and stronger competition!

Tournament schedule

The ten-day long event will really be a test of endurance and will make scope for thrilling comebacks and reversals.

A Contest!

Who do you think will win the National Senior Championship 2019 and what will be the winner's score? Comment your predictions below this article. The one who gets both answers correct will receive three months of ChessBase Premium account worth Rs.499/- from ChessBase India. Hurry! the contest ends on 11th of December at 12 noon.

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