Vipal Subhashi with the winner’s cheque at Agrasen Bhavan in Jamshedpur on Saturday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Aug. 6: Bihar’s Vipal Subhashi claimed the top slot at the All India Open Rating Chess Championship, which concluded at Agrasen Bhavan in Sakchi today. The money up for grabs at the tourney was Rs 5 lakh.

Subhashi, who showed immense promise in all the 11 rounds of the meet, continued his run to annex the crown. He walked home with Rs 1 lakh while three contestants — Md Rafiq Khan from Madhya Pradesh, Y.P. Srivastava from Bihar and Vikrant Kakkad from Chhatisgarh — finished a joint second. The trio was richer by Rs 36,666.

Jadda Malleswara Rao of Andhra Pradesh, who shared the slot with Subhashi till round 6, Hari Om Sharma from Uttar Pradesh, Praful Mehta from Gujarat, M.K. Alagaruma from Tamil Nadu and Harmol Mandal from Bengal shared the third slot. They received Rs 10,883 each.

Subhashi maintained his lead from round six onwards by foxing his opponents with elan. He used his experience to reign supreme even as a clutch of other prominent players tried their best to upset him.

Congress Jamshedpur West MLA Banna Gupta handed over the prizes at the prize distribution ceremony.

The event was jointly organised by Jharkhand Chess Association and Prachi Foundation, a city-based NGO and was funded by Chess Association of India.

Bihar's Vipal Subhashi claimed the Rs 5 lakh prize money All India Open Rating Chess Championship, which concluded at Agrasen Bhavan in Sakchi today.

Subhashi, who showed immense promise in all the 11 rounds of the meet, continued his run to annex the crown. He walked home with Rs 1 lakh as prize money while three contestants Ä Md Rafiq Khan (MP), YP Srivastava (Bihar) and Vikrant Kakkad (Chhatisgarh) Ä finished joint second. Each of them grew richer by Rs 36,666

Jadda Malleswara Rao of Andhra Pradesh, who was shared the top slot with Subhashi till round 6, Hari Om Sharma (UP), Praful Mehta (Gujarat), MK Alagaruma (Tamil nadu) and Harmol Mandal (Bengal) stood joint third. They received Rs 10,883 each for their effort.

Subhashi maintained his lead from round six onwards by foxing his opponents with elan. He used all his experience to reign supreme even as a clutch of other prominent players tried their best to upset him.

Congress Jamshedpur West MLA Banna Gupta handed over the prizes to the players at the prize distribution ceremony.

The event was jointly organised by Jharkhand Chess Association and Prachi Foundation, a city-based social organisation. The event was funded by Chess Association of India.