Chennai school boy gains IM Norm, in Aerofloat Open

Chennai, Feb 22 (UNI) Chennai lad R Arun Karthik, a 16 year-old, has achieved his first International Master (IM) Norm in Group II of the Aeroflot International Open Chess Tournament at Moscow.

In the final round, Arun Karthik defeated GM Hatan Baatar Bazar of Mongolia, which paved the way for him to attain the IM Norm, according to coach of the Indian Junior Chess Team, Mr Ebenezer Joseph.

In a message from Moscow he said the Chief Arbiter of the tournament had confirmed that Arun had gained the norm by claiming more than the required 1.5 points.

Apart from the Mongolian Grand Master, Arun had also defeated IM Alexander Filipenko, Andrei Kuznetsov and Andrei Okarev of Russia, Yu Lie of China and Florian Dinger of Germany. He drew with Michal Langer of USA, Vasif Durabeyli of Azerbaijan and fellow countryman and IM Suvrajit Saha.

So far only senior teams were sent for such tournaments. The Government of India's support to AICF's pioneering move in sending an additional youth team has produced dividends.

UNI