Abhijeet Gupta to lead Indian challenge at Delhi I'ntl

New Delhi: 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 Parsvnath Delhi International Grandmasters Chess Tournament starting here tomorrow.

One of the strongest events in the annals of Indian opens 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 have an unprecedented over 1000 entries 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 lakh and laptops for the winners. There will be 10 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.

Into its 12th edition, the Parsvnath Delhi International tournament remains a favourite among Indian players.