Kolkata: City boy Mitrabha Guha claimed his maiden National Blitz chess title with a dominating show in Ranchi on Sunday. The Grandmaster ended the 11-round tournament unbeaten with 10.5 points, a full point ahead of the field. It was a great comeback for Guha, who did not fare well in the rapid section that preceded this tournament. "The rapid did not go well for me as I finished 13th. I was not very hopeful actually as I could never end well in the national blitz before. My best was when I ended third in 2017," Guha told TOI on his return to the city on Monday.
However, the third-seeded player crushed through his opponents in every round. "I enjoyed the game against top seed M Pranesh (of Tamil Nadu) in the 10th round the most where I defeated him with black," Guha stated. The 23-year-old ended with 10 wins and a sole draw against national champion Karthik Venkataraman to gain 18.8 rating points. His live blitz rating now stands at 2549.
Guha is going through a dream run as earlier this month he defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Freestyle Friday, an online event also.
The former national champion became the first GM to be on the hot seat at the popular television show Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan where he won Rs 4,80,000. "It was a very different experience for me," Guha, who had to stay in Mumbai for a week for the shoot, said. "It all happened at a short notice and I got to interact with Mr Bachchan only during the shoots. But I was amazed to see his energy level even at this age," Guha stated.