Grandmaster RB Ramesh pipped top seed Surya Sekhar Ganguly to clinch his first Commonwealth Chess title at Siri Fort Sports complex in New Delhi on Monday.
Ramesh, who was sharing the four-way lead after the penultimate round on Sunday, thrashed International Master Vikramaditya Kamble while Ganguly outplayed IM K Ratnakaran on the other board to be tied at the top with 8.5 points after the 10th and final round.
Ramesh was declared champion owing to his better progressive score and got the gold medal and trophy. He had to share the winner's purse with Ganguly, who had to be content with the silver medal. Both got richer by Rs 1,37,500 each.
Abhijeet Gupta, who became the 17th Gransmaster of the country after completing the formality to touching the ELO 2500 on Sunday, finished third to claim the bronze medal and prize money of Rs 75,000. Ramesh dedicated the win to his employers Indian Oil Corporation.
"I dedidate this award to my employers IOC as we have a long association now," he said. "I had no psychological pressure. I was enjoying my games during the tournament."
On his final round game, the 31-year-old former British Open champion said he had a good record against Kamble.
"I have a good score against him in last 3-4 years even though I lost to him with black pieces in our last encounter at Dubai Open earlier this year," Ramesh said.
Among women, IM Dronavalli Harika won top honours ahead of local star Tania Sachdev and Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota.
