Laxman, Deepan among top GMs for Chennai Open

In fact, Deepan with a rating of 2475 and RR Laxman with a rating of 2434 are the heavyweights among the Indians. Chennai’s P Karthikeyan too is among the top 20 seeds in the tournament, which will have 10 rounds. 

Karthikeyan has completed three GM norms but he has to complete one more with enough foreign participation as the previous three were all Indian norms. The Chennai Open will give him a good chance to complete his GM title requirements.

Timur Gareyev of US, with a rating of 2605, is the top seed for the tournament which has attracted 270 entries. “There may be 10 more as we have not closed it yet,” said technical director Anatharam. 

Fifth seed Adam Tukhaev of Ukraine is the defending champion. Tamil Nadu’s International Masters NR Visakh and S Nitin too figure among the top 20 seeds. Praveen Kumar, R Balasubramaniam and Michelle Catherina (Woman International Master) are other prominent names from the city. 

The total purse for the event is Rs 11 lakh with Rs two lakh for the winner. There are 50 prises for the players. Nitin Shenvi of Maharashtra is the chief arbiter of the event.