Agnivo Chakraborty dominates Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 Under-19 Rapid
Agnivo Chakraborty scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 All India Under-19 Rapid. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Soham Bhattacharyya and IM Mayank Chakraborty scored 8/9 each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. Agnivo defeated the defending champion and eventual runner-up, Soham in the penultimate round, and second runner-up, IM Mayank in Round 6. The total prize fund was ₹51000 + trophies. The top three prizes were doubled since last year, ₹10000 + trophy, ₹6000 and ₹4000 each respectively. This was the first time this event became an All India event from All Bengal. Thus, the participation increased from 160 to 243. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Top ten: Arshiya Das sole girl, Narendra Agarwal youngest for the second consecutive year
This was the first time, this Under-19 Rapid tournament, part of Tata Steel Chess India Festival, became an All India Open event from All Bengal. The venue was announced to be Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, a relatively new venue. Thus, it became possible to accommodate more players. A total of 255 players registered for the event, only 243 participated among them from various places all over the country. WCM Arshiya Das became the only girl to make a top ten finish. She scored 7.5/9 to finish fourth and also won the first prize in the Girls category. 9-year-old Narendra Agarwal became the youngest top ten finisher for the second consecutive year. He scored 7/9, same as last year, and finished at seventh place.
Since 2022, one of the perks of winning the tournament is, receiving the prize on the final day of the main event - Tata Steel Chess India 2024 Rapid and Blitz. Apart from getting the prize from the legend and India's second GM in history - GM Dibyendu Barua, one gets to share the stage with another legend - Vishy Anand on the final day. Receiving the prize in front of star-studded world-class players is an added bonus apart from the usual cash and trophy prize. No wonder, every year, the festival events reach its capacity in no time once it is announced. Unfortunately, Agnivo missed that opportunity as he had a plan to play another tournament which was in a different city.
Agnivo - Soham, Round 7
The defending champion, Soham Bhattacharyya (2224) went wrong early in the Advance Caro-Kann opening 9...Bf5 10.g6 fxg6 11.Bd3 Kf7 and we reached the above position. Agnivo Chakraborty (1820) had no trouble seizing his opportunity 12.Rg1 Rh6? 13.Nxg6 Rxg6 14.Qxh5 it wasn't exactly a smooth conversion into a victory. However, White did not get into any kind of trouble. The game featured two draw offers, both were rejected of course. Find out all in the video below.
For more photos, please check out the album here.
Video Gallery
A total of 243 players including two IMs took part from various places in this two-day nine round Swiss-league Under-19 Rapid tournament which was organized by Dhanuka Dhunseri Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, West Bengal on 13th and 14th November 2024. The time control of the event was 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move no.1.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Agnivo Chakraborty | IND | 1820 | 8,5 | 52 | 52 | 48,25 | 0 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Bhattacharyya Soham | IND | 2224 | 8 | 55,5 | 57 | 48,50 | 0 | |||
| 3 | 3 | IM | Mayank Chakraborty | IND | 2170 | 8 | 54 | 60 | 51,50 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 7 | WCM | Arshiya Das | w | IND | 1867 | 7,5 | 54 | 59 | 46,75 | 0 | |
| 5 | 1 | IM | Shahil Dey | IND | 2227 | 7,5 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 44,00 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 22 | Shourya Paul | IND | 1674 | 7 | 54 | 57,5 | 41,00 | 0 | |||
| 7 | 13 | Narendra Agarwal | U10 | IND | 1794 | 7 | 51 | 54,5 | 39,50 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Priyanshu Barua | IND | 1896 | 7 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 40,50 | 0 | |||
| 9 | 11 | Shankhadeep Maity | IND | 1811 | 7 | 50 | 55,5 | 40,50 | 0 | |||
| 10 | 10 | Puspal Datta | IND | 1819 | 7 | 49,5 | 54 | 38,50 | 0 |