Kaustuv Kundu prevails at 1st Royal Rivals Rating Open 2024

IM Kaustuv Kundu and Debayan Ray scored an unbeaten 8/9 each at 1st Royal Rivals Rating Open 2024. The top seed, Kaustuv won the tourament due to better tie-breaks, 14-year-old Debayan secured second place. Four players - Saptorshi Gupta, CM Kunal Chatterjee, Gopal Chandra Biswas and Arijit Ghosh scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively. The total prize fund was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹50000 + trophy, ₹30000 + trophy and ₹20000 each. The six-day nine-round Swiss league rating tournament was organized by Classical Chess Academy at Eastern Railway Sports Academy Complex in Kolkata, West Bengal from 26th to 30th December 2024. This is Kaustuv's fifth tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Shahid Ahmed