2nd RWF International: 801 participants, flawless organization

The 2nd Rail Wheel Factory International FIDE rating tournament held in Bangalore was a 9-round Swiss tournament that witnessed record participation. 801 player took part to make this one of the most successful tournaments in our country. There were also players from foreign countries like US, Japan New Zealand and Nepal. 445 out of these 801 were rated players.

The brand new Utsava hall

The massive opening ceremony

O. P. Agrawal, General Manager Rail Wheel Factory inaugurated the tournament. Shri. Hanumantha, Jt. Secy. All India Chess Federation. Shri. Arvind Shastry, Secy. United Karnataka Chess Association, were the special invitees of the inaugural function of tournament.

International Master Shyaamnikhil P (ELO Rating 2434) of Tamilnadu was top seed followed by Iniyan (2405), IM Krisha CRG (2392) of AP, IM Rajesh VAV (2341) of Airport authority of India, Women Grand Master Bhakti Kulkarni of Air India. There were a total of 16 titled players. Many visually challenged, differently abled and senior citizens also participated.

WGM Bhakti Kulkarni makes the opening move against O.P. Agarwal, General Manager Rail Wheel Factory

Top seed P.Shyaamnikhil crushed the field to score 8.5/9 and emerge as the champion. He went back home with the first prize of Rs.70,000

It's not very often that you get to see the soft-spoken and humble Shyaamnikil addressing a huge gathering!

IM CRG Krishna has made a decision to play continuous rating tournaments in India. He played well and finished second.

Evergreen Anup Deshmukh finished third

Many people start playing a lot of tournaments after they retire from their jobs. But not many can play chess as strongly as IM Ravi Hegde. The experienced IM from Karnataka finished fourth scoring 8.0/9.

Amardeep Bartakke ended with the fifth spot. He was not present and his friend Ketan Boricha went to take the prize for him!
A strong player, excellent writer and a wonderful coach Rucha Pujari finished sixth

Twelfth: WGM Bhakti Kulkarni

ChessBase India author Atul Dahale who has written some beautiful reports in the past for our newspage finished sixteenth  

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk. SNo   Name Typ sex FED Rtg Club/City Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 1 IM Shyaamnikhil P     IND 2434 TN 8,5 0,0 54,0 49,0
2 3 IM Krishna C R G     IND 2392 SWR 8,0 0,0 54,5 49,0
3 11 IM Deshmukh Anup     IND 2221 MAH 8,0 0,0 54,5 49,0
4 14 IM Hegde Ravi Gopal S55   IND 2161 KAR 8,0 0,0 50,0 45,0
5 20   Bartakke Amardeep S.     IND 2101 MAH 8,0 0,0 49,5 45,0
6 18 WFM Pujari Rucha   w IND 2116 MAH 8,0 0,0 49,5 44,0
7 15 FM Matta Vinay Kumar     IND 2159 Andra Bank 7,5 0,0 53,5 48,5
8 26   Balkishan A.     IND 1975 KAR-B 7,5 0,0 51,5 47,0
9 4 IM Rajesh V A V     IND 2341 AAI 7,5 0,0 51,5 46,5
10 10   Yashas D.     IND 2296 KAR 7,5 0,0 51,0 46,5
11 49   Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma U     IND 1828 AP 7,5 0,0 50,5 45,5
12 6 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti   w IND 2311 AI 7,5 0,0 49,5 44,5
13 32   Joy Lazar M.A.     IND 1960 KER 7,5 0,0 49,5 44,5
14 72   Shiva S     IND 1700 KAR-B 7,5 0,0 46,5 42,0

Complete list of final rankings

Chief Arbiter IA Vasanth BH did a commendable job. It is never easy to take care of so many participants at the same time.

G.K. Muralidhara, an avid supporter of Indian chess, ensures that registration of all the participants is done smoothly 

Sushrutha Reddy is a famous coach in Bangalore and has brought a positive change in the chess culture through his enthusiasm and professionalism

Some people are in real hurry to finish off their games!

Adhering to the concept of make in India and organizing a high class tournament

Message by the five-time World Champion Vishy Anand

801 participants, excellent playing hall and great conditions made this one of the best organized events in India

Heartiest congratulations to Rajeev Bhat and his team for the successful completion of the 2nd RWF International tournament.

About the Author

 

Halsagar Chincholimath is a chess lover. His highest Elo was 2212. He is currently a coach in Bangalore and also the Playchess admin for ChessBase India. He conducted a ChessBase workshop at the 2nd RWF International tournament.