The 8th NL Pandiyar Memorial International Open Fide Rating Chess Tournament 2023 was organized by Chess in Lakecity from 15th to 19th Oct 2023 at Orbit Resort, New Bhopalpura, R K circle, Udaipur (Rajasthan), India. This tournament was organized under the aegis of FIDE, AICF and Rajasthan Chess Association.
The opening ceremony was held on 15th of Oct. in presence of Chief Guest Mr. Sanjeev Bhardwaj (Organizing Chairman), Special Guest Mr. Sanjay Bhatnagar Other dignitaries present were Adv. Mr. Praveen Kothari, Chess in Lakecity Chief Patron Mr. Tushar Mehta, IA & FI Rajendra Teli (Vice President RCA, International Arbiter & Fide Instructor), IA & NI Vikas Sahu (Organizing Secretary) and IA Neelesh Kumawat (Chief Arbiter).
The Five day Swiss event carried a prize fund of ₹15, 01,000 and was distributed amongst different category.
The event was conducted in standard 9 round Swiss format, with a time control of 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move. A total of 558 players Including one GM, two IMs, two FMs & one WFM participated in this tournament with players coming from RUS and host federations from 24 different states of India.
GM Swapnil S. Dhopade from RSPB was top seed with a FIDE rating of 2469. There was one big hall where all the players accommodated to play.
At the end of final round games four players ended with 8 points out of 9 but with better tie- break Fifth seeded FM Arvinder Preet Singh (Punjab) bagged the Champion title with cash prize of Rs. 1,11000/- and a beautiful trophy. Tenth seeded Kartik Kumar Singh (Maharashtra) drew with champion of the tournament scoring 8 points grabbed 2nd position with cash prize of Rs. 71,000/- and a trophy and First seeded GM Swapnil S. Dhopade (RSPB) scored same 8 points secured third position received Rs. 41,000/- with trophy.
In the attractive rating category prizes Prithvi Sharma (Haryana) who also scored 8 points in the tournament, grabbed 1st position in 1300-1599 rating category and won 1,01,000/- and a trophy while Sathessh Kumar G (Tamilnadu) scored 6.5 points grabbed 1st position in 1000-1299 rating category and won 100,000/- and a trophy.
The team of arbiter’s was headed by Chief Arbiter IA Neelesh Kumawat & Dy Chief: IA Rajendra Teli, IA Sunil Soni & they were ably assisted by arbiters IA Anupam Bhattacharjee, FA Chandalia, Manish, FA Jain Daksh, FA Bhawesh Pandiyar, FA Nakul Chaudhary, SNA Patel Bhaveshbhai B, SNA Patel Bhupendra, SNA Mukta Sahu, SNA Patel Kushal, SNA Jitesh Sharma, SNA Nisarg Soni , SNA Kailash Chandra Dad, SNA Krishana Chandra Swarnkar, were very much competent and were equipped with full technical knowledge which helped each one of them to tackle every situation efficiently to make the event a grand success.
The prize distribution ceremony was organized in a grand manner. The prizes were distributed at the hands of Chief Guest Sekhar Chandra Sahu (International master, Orissa) , Guest Of honour Mr.Sanjeev Bhardwaj, (Organizing Chariman), Mr Nandkumar Chandel , Mr. Rajendra Teli (Vice President RCA ,International Arbiter & Fide Instructor), Mr. Tushar Mehta (Chief Patron, Chess in Lakecity) , IA Vikas Sahu (Organizing Secretary) & IA Neelesh kumawat (Chief Arbiter).