Mitrabha Guha dominates Armageddon Challenge, Laxman second and Jval third
We have seen tournaments of many chess variants. But have you heard about Armageddon chess tournament? Chess Federation of Sri Lanka organized a one-day Sri Lanka Chess Classic (Armageddon Chess Challenge) tournament on 23rd February, a day before the rest day of Commonwealth Championships 2023-24. Every game is Armageddon which means White must win and Black needs just a draw to win the match. Time is also same as usual - 5 minutes for white against 4 minutes for black. GM Mitrabha Guha won the tournament with a perfect 7/7. Four players - GM Laxman R R, Jval Saurin Patel, FM Villanueva Nelson (PHI) and WCM K M Dahamdi Sanudula (SRI) scored 6/7 each. They secured second to fifth place according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was RM700. This was Mitrabha's fourth tournament triumph in 2024. Photos: Chess Federation of Sri Lanka
Indians claim six out of top ten
Sneha Halder, CM Velavaa Ragavesh and WCM Prishita Gupta are the remaining three Indians to make a top ten finish. They scored 5/7 each to secure sixth, eighth and tenth place respectively according to tie-breaks.
A total of 85 players including 2 GMs and 7 IMs took parts from six countries across the world. The one-day seven round Armageddon tournament was organized by Chess Federation of Sri Lanka in Melaka, Malaysia on 23rd February 2024. The time control of the event was like a usual Armageddon, 5 minutes for white and 4 minutes for black where black has draw odds to win the game.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | IND | 2534 | 7 | 0 | 31,5 | 2565 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Laxman, R.R. | IND | 2379 | 6 | 0 | 35 | 2011 |
| 3 | 7 | Jval, Saurin Patel | IND | 1772 | 6 | 0 | 33,5 | 1973 | |
| 4 | 3 | FM | Villanueva, Nelson | PHI | 2257 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 1805 |
| 5 | 9 | WCM | Sanudula, K M Dahamdi | SRI | 1715 | 6 | 0 | 29 | 1745 |
| 6 | 11 | Sneha, Halder | IND | 1696 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 1766 | |
| 7 | 4 | AGM | Nik, Nik Ahmad Farouqi | MAS | 1985 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 1806 |
| 8 | 8 | CM | Velavaa, Ragavesh | IND | 1745 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 1750 |
| 9 | 32 | AFM | Teo, Hong Kai Javier | SGP | 1440 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 1710 |
| 10 | 13 | WCM | Prishita, Gupta | IND | 1642 | 5 | 0 | 30,5 | 1775 |
