Apoorv Kamble dominates Sakthi Group 31st Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit 2025, Nandish third
FM Apoorv Kamble scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win 31st Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2025. He finished a staggering 1.5 points ahead of the competition and also scored an IM-norm. IM Wilson Guillermo Palencia Morales (COL) scored sole 6/9 to secure second place. FM V S Nandish scored 5.5/9 to finish third. Apoorv drew against both runners-up in the last two rounds. The seven-day ten-player round-robin tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Hotel Chennai Le Palace in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 5th to 11th October 2025. Tournament Coordinator and Chief Arbiter - IA V Vijayaraghavan writes the tournament report. Photo: IA V Vijayaraghavan
Apoorv scores an IM-norm, wins the tournament with a round to spare
Karnataka lad FM Apoorv Kamble won the Sakthi Group 31st Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament. The third phase of IM-norm Closed Circuit Tournaments, organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, had started on 5th of October. 31st-35th tournaments will be held at Hotel Chennai Le Palace and 36th-40th will be held in Coimbatore.
Apart from Indian contingent, players from Argentina, Belarus, Colombia and Peru had participated. Apoorv scored an impressive 7.5/9 and achieved an IM-norm in the process. He raced to 6.5/7 and drew the last two rounds comfortably to clinch the title. In fact, he won the event with a round to spare, since the second placed Colombian IM Palencia was 1.5 points behind him. He remained undefeated throughout.
Apoorv - Oblitas, Round 3
Apoorv started his quest with his third round victory over IM Carlomagnos Oblitas (PER). A tangible advantage in the Accelerated Dragon by Apoorv, was further enhanced by 19...f6? 20.e5! Qf8 21.exf6 exf6 22.Nd5 Re8 23.Qc3 Re2? 24.Rxe2 Bxe2 25.Re1 Ra2 26.Nb4! 1-0
Apoorv faced Manigandan's London System and was gifted with a pawn early. Mani's last retort of an exchange sacrifice of rook was well handled by Apoorv who notched the point.
Surendran - Apoorv, Round 6
An interesting game evolved when Surendran made a pseudo sacrifice on the 19th move to force a draw. A cautious Apoorv declined and came with a good sacrifice later to finish the game in 27 moves.
A complex game occurred between FM Apoorv Kamble and IM Raul Claverie (ARG). Apoorv's opening advantage was nullified by the exchange of queens, but he was persistent in two rooks and minor piece ending. Thanks to the white’s b2 bishop, in spite of Claverie's resistance, time pressure forced his king to a mating net.
IM Wilson Guillermo Palencia Morales (COL), finished runner-up with 6 points. Like the winner, he also remained undefeated. He won three and drew six games. In the following game against Manigandan he built an advantage through exchange sacrifice.
The fifth round game was quite exciting with mutual errors. The experienced IM had an advantageous position in the middle game, threw it, now Suredran got better only to return the favour.
FM V S Nandish finished at a creditable third place. He started with an excellent win over GM Evgeniy Podolchenko.
In the sixth round. Nandish beat IM Carlomagno Oblitas (PER).
The tournament was inaugurated by Mr. Irudayarajan Selvanathan, Assistant Commissioner CGST and Customs in presence of Dr. M Manickam, President, TNSCA, GM R B Ramesh, Dronacharya Awardee, WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy, Former World Under-18 Girls champion, Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA, Murugavel, VP, TNSCA, Srinivasan, TNSCA and participants.
Replay all games
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | FM | Apoorv, Kamble | IND | 2365 | 7,5 | 0 | 29,8 | 6 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | IM | Palencia Morales, Wilson Guillermo | COL | 2206 | 6 | 0 | 25,3 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | 10 | FM | Nandish, V S | IND | 2251 | 5,5 | 0 | 23,8 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | 7 | CM | Sarveshwaran, V | IND | 2290 | 5 | 0 | 17,8 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 8 | IM | Oblitas, Carlomagno | PER | 2379 | 4 | 1 | 15,5 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | GM | Podolchenko, Evgeniy | BLR | 2321 | 4 | 2 | 17,3 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 2 | Surendran, N | IND | 2158 | 4 | 3 | 15,8 | 3 | 1 | |
| 8 | 6 | WIM | Mrudul, Dehankar | IND | 2244 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | Manigandan, S S | IND | 2156 | 2,5 | 1 | 8,5 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | 3 | IM | Claverie, Raul | ARG | 2185 | 2,5 | 2 | 12,5 | 1 | 0 |
About the Author
V Vijayaraghavan is an International Arbiter and Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. He was also the Tournament Coordinator for 24th, 26th, 27th and 31st Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Tournament.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
