PANJIM, Sept. 29 -- Goa's FM Nitish Belurkar created history after he was crowned the champion at Shri. Manohar Parrikar International open Grandmaster online Chess tournament, Category E , chess 960 format , which saw a record participation of 307 players from Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, USA, Canada and host nation India.

In chess 960 format, the complexity is increased by variation in piece structure in the opening and the time limit is 3 minutes with 2 second increment for each game. Nitish scored 10.5 points out of 13 and was awarded the Gold medal. Nitish is a Geno Pharmaceuticals brand ambassador.

IM Taher Theolifus (2455) of Indonesia was crowned the champion and was awarded the gold medal in Category D,...