Nalan Arumugam wins Kamaraj College Below 1800 Rating Tournament 2025

by R Anantharam - 19/12/2025

Nalan Arumugam S and Dhevarsh Sagar V P scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 each at Kamaraj College Below 1800 Rating Tournament 2025. Nalan won the tournament due to better tie-breaks, Dhevarsh secured second place. They finished a full point ahead of the rest. Ashwath Ram U S, Akhil Vijayakumar, Akil Sethu G and Dhanyashree R scored 7.5/9 each. They secured third to sixth place respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹50000 + trophy, ₹35000 and ₹25000 each. The three-day nine round Below 1800 Rating tournament was organized by Thoothukudi District Chess Association and Kamaraj College, Thoothukudi at Kamaraj College in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu from 29th November to 1st December 2025. This is Nalan's second overall, first rating tournament triumph of his career. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Nalan's first rating tournament triumph of his career

12-year-old Nalan Arumugam of the host town Thoothukudi won the Kamaraj College International FIDE Rated Tournament (Below 1800), organized by Thoothukudi District Chess Association at Kamaraj College, Thoothukudi held from 29th November to 1st December 2025. He and Dhevarsh Sagar V P of Kanyakumari scored 8.5 points each, but Nalan had a better tie-break score, to win the title and a cash prize of ₹50000. Dhevarsh won ₹35000 to his credit.

Champion - Nalan Arumugam 8.5/9 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Nalan Arumugam receives the trophy from Mr. Rahulraj, Assistant Director, DCTP, Dr. T Karpagavalli, Secretary, TDCA, R. Anantharam IA, Dr. Vaseekaran, Dr. Bhanumathi, Principal Kamaraj College and Mr. PSPSKJ Somu, Secretary, Kamaraj College are in the picture.

Runner-up - Dhevarsh Sagar V P 8.5/9 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Four players tied for the third to sixth places with a score of 7.5 points, among whom Ashwath Ram U S of Kanyakumari had the best Buchholz to win the third place and ₹25000.

Second Runner-up - Ashwath Ram U S 8/9 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Nalan Arumugam S scored an unbeaten 8.5/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 106.4 Elo rating points

Akhil Vijayakumar of Kerala lost to Dhevarsh in the eighth round, but bounced back to beat PG Ashwin in the final round to be declared fourth.

Though Akhil VIjayakumar (left) lost the encounter to Dhevarsh in the eighth round, he won the final round to be declared fourth | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Former Tamil Nadu under-9 champion and 11-year-old G Akil Sethu of Satur lost to Nalan in the sixth round, and had a draw in the final round to end the tournament with 7.5 points and fifth place.

G Akil Sethu lost to Nalan in the sixth round but recovered to finish fifth

After the loss to Akhil in the seventh round, R Dhanyashree recorded two wins to score 7.5 points and earn sixth place.

R Dhanyashree drew with B Vel Murugan in the sixth round, which helped her to secure the sixth place. Vel cemented the seventh rank | Photo: IA R Anantharam

11-year-old Ishaan Bhansali of Karnataka met with two losses against the champion Nalan and third ranked Ashwath; still managed to achieve the eighth rank.

Ishaan Bhansali of Karnataka defeated Arun R in Round 7 and claimed eighth place eventually | Photo: IA R Anantharam

K Dhinesh Babu, an organiser who owns Miracle Chess Academy at Coimbatore had three different results – a draw, a loss and a win in the final three rounds, struggling to achieve the ninth spot.

A draw with Caris Jeshurun in the seventh round was a setback to K Dhibesh Babu, pushing him to the ninth place | Photo: IA R Anantharam

B Siddhartha recorded three wins in a row from the sixth round, but lost to Nalan in the ninth round, to be relegated to the tenth rank.

B Siddhartha’s (right) last round loss to Nalan landed him the tenth rank | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Top seed K Vigneshwaran started with two wins but drew in the third round and could not recover | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Eleventh seeded 11-year-old Akil Sethu G upset the second seed P Sai Sri Saran in the fifth round | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Round 8: Nalan Arumugam S - Ishaan Bhansali: 1-0 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Round 8: Vel Murugan B - Muthuraman Kesavamoorthy: 1-0 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Round 8: Balan Vairavan - Siddhartha B: 0-1 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Round 8: Yathrish N - Akil Sethu G: 0-1 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

R Dhanyashree upset Carris Jeshurun A in the fourth round | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Round 4: Ashwath Ram U S - Nalan Arumugam S: 0-1 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Thoothukudi DCA’s sustained efforts to develop the game of chess in the district bearing fruits, which is evident from the fact that the last two tournaments organized by the district association were won by the district players themselves, a unique achievement.

Before Nalan of Thoothukudi winning this tournament, B Selvamurugan also of Thoothukudi won the previous one - Port City Rating Open, organized by TDCA | Photo: IA R Anantharam

90-year-old first International Master of India and nine times national champion Manuel Aaron is from Thoothukudi district. The day is not far off, when his vision to produce more International Masters in the district materializes.

90-year-old first International Master of India, Manuel Aaron is from Thoothukudi district

The playing hall at Kamaraj College, which has witnessed several rating tournaments, arbiter seminars, trainer's seminars and fair play workshops in chess | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Arbiters and Officials of Kamaraj College Below 1800 rating tournament | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	10		Nalan, Arumugam S	U13		7326TUT2025	IND	1730	TN-TNT	8,5	54	57	52,75	8	4
2	5		Dhevarsh, Sagar V P	U15		5055KKI2025	IND	1771	TN	8,5	49	52	47,75	8	4
3	36		Ashwath, Ram U S	U13		5145KKI2025	IND	1604	TN	7,5	53,5	58,5	46,25	7	4
4	18		Akhil, Vijayakumar			NA	IND	1661	KL	7,5	52	55,5	43,5	7	4
5	11		Akil, Sethu G	U11		9240VNR2025	IND	1728	TN	7,5	50,5	52,5	40,25	7	3
6	12		Dhanyashree, R	F11	w	24455TUT2025	IND	1699	TN-TNT	7,5	47,5	51,5	40,5	7	3
7	6		Vel, Murugan B			9706TUT2025	IND	1765	TN-TNT	7	53,5	58	42,75	6	3
8	7		Ishaan, Bhansali	U11		NA	IND	1753	KA	7	50	51	35	7	2
9	9		K., Dhinesh Babu			4410CBE2025	IND	1738	TN	7	49,5	53,5	39	6	4
10	17	AFM	Siddhartha, B			7513TNV2025	IND	1676	TN	7	47,5	49,5	35,75	6	3
11	40		Arun, R			26532KKI2025	IND	1597	TN	7	47	51	37	7	4
12	23		Muthuraman, Kesavamoorthy			7319TUT2025	IND	1648	TN-TNT	7	46	50	37,5	6	2
13	8		Marimuthu, K			9752VNR2025	IND	1752	TN	7	45,5	50,5	38,5	6	4
14	27		Sanil, S			NA	IND	1630	KL	7	45,5	47,5	36	7	3
15	49		Navaneetha, Madhavaa M M	U11		7465TUT2025	IND	1577	TN-TNT	7	44,5	48,5	36,5	6	2
16	33		Meha, Arin A	F11	w	1548VNR2025	IND	1612	TN	7	44	47,5	33	7	2
17	65	AFM	Akshat, K	U13		9573CHE2025	IND	1545	TN	7	42,5	45,5	33,5	6	2
18	4		Caris, Jeshurun A			7315TUT2025	IND	1776	TN-TNT	6,5	50	54	36,5	6	3
19	48		Ravi, Shankar S	U13		9178VNR2025	IND	1581	TN	6,5	49,5	52,5	35,75	5	2
20	145	AFM	Rian, F	U15		5219KKI2025	IND	1404	TN	6,5	49,5	52	34,75	6	3
21	26		Aswin.P.G,			NA	IND	1638	KL	6,5	48	50	33,5	6	4
22	60		Ajay, Harshiv Kannan	U15		2360CHE2025	IND	1563	TN	6,5	45,5	48,5	31	6	3
23	3	AIM	Abishek, E	U15		7546TNV2025	IND	1776	TN	6,5	45	50	35,75	6	4
24	42		Sri, Hari A S	U15		9200VNR2025	IND	1596	TN	6,5	45	48,5	32,25	6	4
25	30		George, Fernandaz Benjamin			37972VPM2025	IND	1623	TN	6,5	44	49	34	6	4
26	1		Vigneshwaran, K			9210VNR2025	IND	1788	TN	6,5	44	48,5	34	6	3
27	32		Charan, Krishna	U15		17658RAN2025	IND	1614	TN	6	49	52	31,5	5	4
28	66		Mahilesh, R	U15		58644TNV2025	IND	1540	TN	6	47,5	52,5	34,25	5	2
29	55		Sourav, Krishna V S	U11		NA	IND	1569	KL	6	47,5	51	31,5	4	1
30	69		Manojkumar, R			28997CBE2025	IND	1527	TN	6	47	51	31,75	5	2

Details

Links

Kamaraj College: Official site, fb page, linkedin, instagram, twitter and youtube

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.

The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed