Fresh from his victory at the Al-Ain Classic, Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta will spearhead the Indian challenge in the 12th edition of Parsvnath Delhi International Grandmasters Chess Tournament that gets underway at the Ludlow Castle sports complex here Thursday.
One of the strongest in the annals of Indian opens, the tournament will see a total of 24 Grandmasters in the premier 'A' group that has 130 entries thus far. There are 24 International Masters in the fray apart from one Woman Grandmaster taking the title holders' tally to 50 in all.
The event will see an unprecedented over 1,000 entries in the festival that surpasses the previous record of 899 participants in the previous edition of this annual event. The event is also the highest prize money tournament of the country offering Rs. 23 Lakhs and Lap tops for the winners. There will be ten rounds in all.
Grandmaster Martyn Kravitsiv of Ukraine starts as the rating favourite in the premier group while Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia is the second seed. Gupta, who recently won the Al Ain Classic ahead of many fancied names, will be seeded third.
The event will also see local stars Grandmaster Vaibhav Suri and Sahaj Grover in action in the premier event. The tournament will be played under FIDE's Swiss rules and there will be 10 rounds in all spread over eight days.
The 'B' section is open to players below the rating of 2000 and the 'C' section is reserved for players rated below the 1600 mark.
In its 12th edition, the Parsvnath Delhi International tournament remains a favourite among Indian players.
"The number of entries is indication enough that this is amongst the most loved events of the country," said Bharat Singh Chauhan, CEO of All India Chess Federation (AICF) and President of Delhi Chess Association (DCA).
--Indo-Asia News Service
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