Thej makes second GM norm!

It was another proud day for Karnataka chess as
M.S. Thejkumar made his second 9 round GM norm in
the National 'A' Championship being played
in Chennai.

He needed just a draw in the last round and
proposed it to his opponent GM Barua before the
game. Barua refused but had to sign the peace
treaty later after 46 moves of a hard fought game.
Earlier Thej had beaten B. Adhiban in the eighth
round to bring himself within striking distance
of the norm.

Through 10 rounds, he has given a performance of
2560 and is gaining 24 ELO points for his efforts.
He stands sixth in the current rankings and a strong
finish may see him in the top 3.

Adhiban,B (2401) - Thejkumar,M S (2382) [B04]
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 c6 6.c4 Nb4
7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nd3 e5 9.Nxb4 Bxb4+ 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qb3 exd4
12.Bxd4 Na6 13.Be2 0-0-0 14.Be3 Nc5 15.Bxc5 Bxc5 16.0-0 Rd2
17.Rac1 Re8 18.Bf3 Qb6 19.Qxb6 axb6 20.Na4 Bd4 21.g3 Bh3
22.Bg2 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Ree2 24.Rcd1 Rxf2+ 25.Rxf2 Rxf2+
26.Kh1 Bc5 27.a3 Rc2 28.Rf1 f6 29.Re1 Kd7 30.Rd1+ Kc7
31.Re1 Bd6 32.Re8 Rxc4 33.Rc8+ Kxc8 34.Nxb6+ Kc7
35.Nxc4 b5 36.Nd2 Kb6 37.Kg2 Ka5 38.Kf3 Ka4 39.Ne4 Be7
40.Nd2 f5 41.Kf4 Bf6 42.b3+ Kxa3 43.Kxf5 Bc3 44.Ne4 Kxb3
45.Ke6 Kc4 46.Kd6 b4 47.Nc5 Bd4 48.Ne4 Kd3 0-1