Thematic chess in honour of Adhiban

The tournament was held in honour B.Adhiban. who showed utter disdain for playing well known openings at the Tata Steel 2017. 

It was not just the third place that Adhiban won in Wijk aan Zee. He also won the Fairplay Award, which was doubly sweet. It was based on how I presented myself for interviews, live commentary etc and it was given by Gashimov’s brother Sarkhan in honour of Vugar Gashimov who passed away due to tumour in January 2014. 

“It was a great honour to receive the Fairplay Award, Gashimov was a great player and hence this awards means a lot to me. It was lot of fun to analyse with American GM Yasser Seirawan since he is one of the most sought after commentators in the chess field and he is really passionate about chess. It was really special to talk about the game and share your views with him and also learn from him,” said Adhiban. 

Adhiban says he will remain a chess professional. “I am very grateful for Indian Oil Corporation for providing the basis of my chess career meaning, I could fully focus on my chess for the past few years now that I have broken through the world elite and my current world ranking is No.58. So to make the next step like building a team, training sessions etc. I am looking for further sponsorship to elevate my game to the next level. 

A fitting tribute to Adhiban’s game is from Anish Giri who drew his game against Adhiban.”In general I know Adhiban’s preference for chess positions and women. I think I was on my way but I got seduced by a pawn endgame.. I thought the pawn ending is winning but apparently, I saw some ghosts there.”