Elias Ruzhansky clear first at Groningen Chess Festival Open 2025, Vignesh N R shares second place

Shahid AhmedJanuary 24, 20262 min read

IM Elias Ruzhansky (BEL) scored an unbeaten 7/9 to win Chess Festival Groningen Open A (>2100) 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. GM Valery Kazakouski (LTU), GM Vignesh N R and FM Mykola Korchynskyi (GER) scored 6.5/9 each. They shared second place. The total prize fund in Open A was €8000. The top three prizes were €2500 + 'The Silver Zwanepol', €1500 and €900 each. The ten-day nine-round Swiss league rating tournament was organized by Stichting Schaakfestival Groningen Sportcentrum RUG & Hanze in Groningen, Netherlands from 21st to 30th December 2026. Rest day was on 25th December. GM Prraneeth Vuppala and GM P Shyaam Nikhil are the only two other Indians to make a top ten finish. They scored 6/9 each and shared fifth place four other players. Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

Emmanuel Rajkumar clinches Compact C with a 100% score

Emmanuel Rajkumar scored a perfect 5/5 to win Compact C Rating tournament. He finished a full point ahead of the rest. The prize fund in each Compact group was €550 with the first prize being €250.

Champion - IM Elias Ruzhansky 7/9 | Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

Runner-up (L to R): FM Mykola Korchynski (GER), GM Vignesh N R and GM Valery Kazakouski (LTU) 6.5/9 | Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

GM Prraneeth Vuppala (left) and GM P Shyaam Nikhil (right) scored 6/9 each to share fifth | Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

Champion in Compact C - Emmanuel Rajkumar 5/5 | Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

Emmanuel Rajkumar scored a perfect 5/5, finished a full point ahead of the rest to win Compact C event

The tournament hall at Sportcentrum RUG & Hanze in Groningen, Netherlands | Photo: Groningen Chess Festival

A total of 63 players including six GMs, twelve IMs and a WGM participated from 13 countries across the world. The ten-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Stichting Schaakfestival Groningen at Sportcentrum RUG & Hanze in Groningen, Netherlands from 21st to 30th December 2025. Rest day was on 25th December. The time control for the event was 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay all Open A games

Final standings in Open A

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	10	IM	Ruzhansky, Elias	BEL	2432	7	0	51	38,5
2	1	GM	Kazakouski, Valery	LTU	2585	6,5	1	51	35,5
3	5	GM	Vignesh, N R	IND	2488	6,5	2	52	36
4	12	FM	Korchynskyi, Mykola	GER	2418	6,5	3	50	34,5
5	3	GM	Bernadskiy, Vitaliy	UKR	2522	6	0	53	33,75
6	6	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	IND	2469	6	0	50,5	31,5
7	8	IM	Manafov, Vugar	AZE	2438	6	0	48	30,75
8	4	IM	Babazada, Khazar	AZE	2507	6	0	47	29
9	15	GM	Shyaam, Nikhil P	IND	2400	6	0	46	29
10	7	IM	Martins, David Pires Tavares	POR	2443	6	0	45	27,25

Details

A total of 32 players participated from five countries across the world. The five-day five-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Stichting Schaakfestival Groningen at Sportcentrum RUG & Hanze in Groningen, Netherlands from 26th to 30th December 2025. The time control for the event was 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final standings in Compact C

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	24	Rajkumar, Emmanuel	IND	1551	0	5	15,5	15,5
2	1	Van Den Heuvel, Annelies	NED	1781	1755	4	15,5	10,5
3	5	Gay, Aurore	NED	1658	1712	4	14	11
4	22	Badgujar, Rudra	NED	0	1603	3,5	16	10,75

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details

Elias Ruzhansky clear first at Groningen Chess Festival Open 2025, Vignesh N R shares second place