Having earned the status of the first International Chess Master in Kongu region with relentless effort, 14-year P. Iniyan, a Standard X student of The Indian Public School here is now on keen pursuit of Grand Master title.
Courtesy to Olirum Erodu Foundation, which has sponsored his participation in tournaments abroad for the last two years to the tune of ₹ 15 lakh, and has committed future support as well, Iniyan has been making quick progress. He was felicitated for his performances by none other than India’s first Grand Master Vishwanathan Anand, during the Foundation Day celebrations at Kumaraguru College of Engineering, Coimbatore, recently.
During this year, Iniyan competed and proved his mettle at the end of three prestigious tournaments: two in Austria and one in Hungary.
In the Lienz Grandmasters Tournament held at Lienz, Austria from February 11 to 18, Iniyan played nine games, rubbing shoulders with one Grand Master, one International Master and two Fide Masters. He scored 5 points from these 9 games. Winning four games, drawing two games and losing three games,Iniyan lost 12 rating points.
Subsequently, in the Graz International Grandmasters Tournament at Graz, Austria from February 20 to 26, Iniyan played nine games, involving two Grand Masters, three Fide Masters and one Women Fide Master, and scores five points.
He won two games, including the one against Iranian FM, drew 6 games with an Argentinean GM, a Croatian IM, German FM and a Hungarian WFM, and lost one game. Here, Iniyan lost 6 rating points.
During March, Iniyan more than made up for the loss by gaining 21 rating points and improving three points overall, at the conclusion of First Saturday Closed Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2017 held at Budapest, Hungary, from March 4 to 14.
Here, he scored 5.5 points from nine games against three Grand Masters, three International Masters and two Fide Masters. Iniyan won 4 games with a Hungarian IM, German FM, Russian FM and French FM; drew three games with a Romanian GM, Hungarian GM and a German IM; and lost two games. He finished in fourth place while gaining the 21 rating points. Iniyan also participated in the Rapid tournament, scoring 6/6 and emerging first.
