Narrowly misses GM?norm by half-a-point
PANJIM: IM elect Anurag Mhamal scored 6.5 points out of nine rounds including five wins and three draws but narrowly missed his GM norm by half-a-point in the recently concluded Sant Marti International open chess tournament in Spain.
Anurag punched above his weight in the tournament and finished 11th in the prize list ahead of several GMs and IMs. He will gain 9 ELO points from this tournament.
Anurag, who played five tournaments in his European tour, will return with an IM title to his credit. He achieved his final IM norm in the tournament held at Bulgaria.
Anurag defeated three International Masters, IM Dukaczewski Piotr of Poland, IM Guerrero Sierra Juan Carlos of Colombia, IM Satyapragyan Swayangsu of India and drew with 2 GMs and one IM, GM Grigoryan Karen of Armenia, GM Cuartas Jaime Alexander of Colombia and IM Dvirnyy Danyyil of Italy.
Anurag, who is the highest rated player in Goa with a rating of 2418 is aiming to cross the rating of 2500. Though it is not an easy task Anurag is optimistic about scaling the task. “My aim is now to reach 2500 rating and the remaining two norms will come simultaneously”. He is now focusing only on international tournaments and will play in such tournaments to improve his rating and grab the highest title in chess that of a Grand Master.
