Thej Kumar clinches the AIOC title

Thej KumarThe International Master Thej Kumar has won the title of the Karnataka Bank 3rd Fide Rated All India Open Chess Tournament after holding the Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay at a draw in the final round at Mangalore on Monday.

The second seeded Thej Kumar settled with a draw against the third seeded Thipsay after 21 moves on the top board of Caro Kan defense and clinched the title with a total of 9.5 points.

Thipsay settled with fourth position while IM B T Muralikrishnan of Southern Railways finished at the second spot in the tournament with a total of 9 points after defeating Navalgund Niranjan.

IM Rathnakaran of Southern Railways registered victory over G A Stany of Karnataka in 29 moves to finish at the third position and Syed Anwar Shazuli of ICF finished at fifth spot after defeating IM Dinesh Kumar Sharma of LIC.