Kolkata, February 28, 2023

 Shri Sayantan Das, a Metro Railway employee has become the 81st Grandmaster of India. Shri Das, a staff of Personnel Department of Metro Railway has become the 11th Grandmaster of West Bengal by winning the Cannes Open 2023 in France on Sunday. By winning this tournament he crossed 2500 elo point barrier which is mandatory along with three norms to get the Grandmaster title. He already had four norms prior to this tournament.

 Twelve Grandmasters participated in this tournament which was organised at Cannes from February 20 to 26, 2023. The Russian Grandmaster Alexander Motylev with 2624 elo points was the top rated player who participated in this tournament. Sayantan defeated him in the last round.

 In Cannes he scored 7.5 points at the end of nine rounds and became the sole champion of the tourney. Prior to this, Sayantan stunned all by winning the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 National Championships in a calendar year in the year 2013. He was also the World Under-12 Champion in 2008 at Vietnam. After lifting the trophy at Cannes, Sayantan thanked all the Metro officers, colleagues along with his parents and coaches for believing in his ability.

 Shri Arun Arora, General Manager, Metro Railway has congratulated Sayantan for this amazing feat and expressed his hope that in future tourneys also he will be able to come out with flying colours. After Cannes, Sayantan will be participating in a Grandmaster tournament in Germany this week.

 He will return to the city on March 15, 2023.

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