GM Aravindh Chithambaram Wins Chess Triumphs Over COVID-19 Event

GM Aravindh Chithambaram scored 9.5/11 and won the first prize of ₹ 21000/- in the Chess Triumphs Over COVID-19 Jahnvi Shah's 'Nirmaan Charitable Trust' & VJ Jindal Cocoa event. He conceded three draws and won eight games in the event. 

The total prize fund was ₹ 1.07,500 making it the highest prize money event for an online event in India on Chess.com 

Organized by Jahnvi Shah and her team, this historic event had a star-studded field with some of the top GM's participating in the event. Big names include GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek, GM Parham Maghsoodloo and prodigies from India - GM Nihal Sarin and GM Praggnanandhaa R. 


Young Grandmasters -  Arjun Erigaisi, Abhimanyu Puranikm, Murali Karthikeyan, Vaibhav Suri, Gukesh D, Raunak Sadhwani who are the regulars on Chess.com tournaments were also part of this event. 
Senior players, Arjuna awardees - GM Praveen Thipsay and WIM Bhagyashree Thipsay also played in the event.  

International Master Soumya Swaminathan and popular WIM's Vantika Agarwal, Divya Deshmukh, Rakshittha Ravi were the female stars of the tournament. 


The event attracted participation of 327 players where 89 players bagged prizes in various categories. 

Congratulations to all the prize winners. The complete list of winners can be found here in PDF

GM Aravindh Chithambaram edged out GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek on a better tiebreak score. Six players tied for the 3rd to 8th places with GM Arjun Erigaisi claiming the best of the lot. 

The final round win against GM Parham Maghsoodloo was crucial for Aravindh. The latter had more time in the critical moments of the game which helped him to steer the game and clinch the victory. 

Can you checkmate white like Aravindh did in this game?

About the Organizer

Jahnvi Shah is primarily a chess player with a FIDE rating of 1518. She is currently studying in the 10th Grade at Dhirubhai Ambani International School. Apart from being a player, Jahnvi has imparted chess training at basic and intermediate level through Teach For India foundation for two years. Most of the students that learnt chess were 5th - 7th graders. 

While the whole world is going through the pandemic, Jahnvi thought that she could do her bit to the society and decided to organize a chess event through her foundation - Nirmaan Charitable Trust, thereby encouraging people to stay at home and also giving them an opportunity to challenge the best players of the country. All the registration proceeds went to PM-Cares Fund. 

Speaking to GM Priyadharshan K, Jahnvi shared that chess is a very common topic in her house and her brother Dev Shah has won a gold medal at the Commonwealth event.  You can watch the short interview below:

We congratulate Jahnvi on her noble initiative and wish her the best in her future endeavors!
Special thanks to the team of arbiters who helped in successful conduct of the event.