Pune: 32nd PSPB Inter-Unit Chess Tournament: IOC-A wins team championship
Pune, 10th March 2023: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)-A defeated Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)-A in the summit clash to win the team championships of the 32nd Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Inter-Unit Chess Tournament, being played at the PYC Gymkhana, on Friday.
IOC-A defeated ONGC-A with the score of 2.5-1.5.
In the final, on the top Board, Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa of IOC-A defeated Grandmaster Vidit Gujathi of ONGC-A in the only decisive encounter between the two teams. In a Queen’s Gambit Declined Variation, Praggnanandhaa obtained a slight advantage and played flawlessly to score an important victory.
On the second Board, the game between Grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan of IOC -A and Grandmaster Koneru Humpy of ONGC-A ended in a draw when both players could not make any progress in a Queen-Pawn opening.
On the third Board, Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani of IOC-A drew with Grandmaster Mitrabha Guha of ONGC-A. On the fourth Board, Grandmaster Adhiban B of IOC-A also drew with Grandmaster Sethuraman SP of ONGC-A in Queens Indian Defence.
Earlier in the semi-finals, ONGC-A got the better of ONGC-B with a score of 3-1 to advance to the finals. On the top Board, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi of ONGC-A was held to a draw by International Master V S Raahul of ONGC-B.
In the second Board, Woman International Master Isha Sharma held Grandmaster Mitrabha Guha to a draw. However, in the third and fourth Boards, Grandmasters S P Sethuraman and Deep Sengupta (both ONGC-A) prevailed over Grandmaster Neelotpal Das and International Master P Konguvel (both ONGC-B), respectively.
In the other semi-final IOC-A won against Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) with the score of 2.5-1.5 to move into the finals. On the top Board, Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta of BPCL played a very dynamic game to score over Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa of IOC-A in a Kings Indian Defence. On the second Board, Grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan of IOC-A signed the peace treaty against Grandmaster M R Venkatesh of BPCL in a Queen Ending.
On the third Board, Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani of IOC-A scored against Grandmaster Vaibhav Suri of BPCL when the latter lost a piece in time pressure from a complex Sicilian encounter.
On the fourth Board, Grandmaster B Adhiban of IOC-A employed the French defence and strategically outplayed Grandmaster G N Gopal of BPCL, which helped IOC-A in reaching the final.
In the team championship, BPCL finished third by scoring a massive 3.5-0.5 victory over ONGC-B.
While the final began in presence of Dr Dipak Ripote, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, the semi-finals had started in presence of former first-class cricketer Vinayak Dravid.
RESULTS:
FINAL:
IOC-A DEFEATED ONGC-A WITH THE SCORE OF 2.5-1.5
GM R PRAGGNANANDHAA (IOC-A) defeated GM VIDIT GUJRATHI (ONGC-A) 1-0
GM MURALI KARTHIKEYAN (IOC-A) drew with GM KONERU HUMPY (ONGC-A) ½-½
GM RAUNAK SADHWANI (IOC-A) drew with GM MITRABHA GUHA (ONGC-A) ½-½
GM ADHIBAN B (IOC-A) drew with GM SETHURAMAN SP (ONGC-A) ½-½
Semi-Final 1:
ONGC A WON AGAINST ONGC-B WITH THE SCORE OF 3-1
GM VIDIT GUJRATHI (ONGC-A) drew with IM VS RAAHUL (ONGC-B) ½-½
GM MITRABHA GUHA (ONGC-A) drew with WIM ISHA SHARMA (ONGC-B) ½ -½
GM SETHURAMAN SP (ONGC-A) defeated GM NEELOTPAL DAS (ONGB-B) 1-0
GM DEEP SENGUPTA (ONGC-A) defeated IM P KONGUVEL (ONGB-B) 1-0
SEMI-FINAL 2:
IOC-A WON AGAINST BPCL WITH THE SCORE OF 2.5-1.5
GM R PRAGGNANANDHAA (IOC-A) lost to GM ABHIJEET GUPTA (BPCL) 0-1
GM MURALI KARTHIKEYAN (IOC-A) drew with GM M R VENKATESH (BPCL) ½- ½
GM RAUNAK SADHWANI (IOC-A) defeated GM VAIBHAV SURI (BPCL) 1-0
GM B ADHIBAN (IOC-A) defeated GM G N GOPAL (BPCL) 1-0.
