National Rapid 2024 R1-4: Seven players make a perfect start 4/4

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/03/2024

GM Mitrabha Guha (WB) was held to a draw by Aditya Bartakke (MAH) in the very first round of National Rapid Chess Championship 2024. The young boy from Maharashtra had a few opportunities, however, he could not convert them into a full point against the newly crowned Commonwealth Open 2023-24 champion. Seven players - IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (MAH), GM Diptayan Ghosh (RSPB), IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB), IM Hari Madhavan N B (TN), GM Raja Rithvik R (TEL), IM Ravi Teja S (AP) and IM Ratnakaran K (RSPB) are at 100% score 4/4. WGM Priyanka Nutakki and WGM Swati Ghate are the highest scoring women currently at 3/4 each. Will we see a sole leader after the end of Round 8? Round 5 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

New champion will be crowned

Since the three-time consecutive National Rapid champion, GM Aravindh Chithambaram is not participating, a new champion is guaranteed to be crowned in both National Rapid and Blitz Championships.

Round 1

Aditya Bartakke (MAH, 1738) held the new Commonwealth Open 2023-24 Gold medalist and the top seed of the event, GM Mitrabha Guha (WB, 2466) to a draw. He had a few chances which he could not capitalize on.

Aditya Bartakke (MAH) - GM Mitrabha Guha (WB) | Video: ChessBase India

Aditya Bartakke (MAH) - GM Mitrabha Guha (WB): 0.5-0.5

Final moments: Swara Lakshmi S Nair (KAR) - GM Sriram Jha (LIC) | Video: ChessBase India

Round 2

FM S Mari Arul (RSPB, 2022) stunned GM Deep Sengupta (PSPB, 2433) in the second round. The GM made a sacrifice which he could not follow through correctly.

Deep - Mari Arul

Position after 30.Bxh6

30.Bxh6 Nd4 31.Qe3? Qf7 32.c3 Nxb3 33.Qg3 Nc5 34.Qg4 Kh7 35.Qf5+ g6 and White lost the bishop without any compensation.

Anish - Karthik

Position after 76.Kd3

GM Karthik Venkataraman (AP, 2427) was winning for the better part of the knight endgame against Anish Gandhi (MAH, 2000). However, he made a terrible mistake 76...Kb4?? in the above position. Find out why it is a blunder. Almost anything would have won the game for Black.

Final moments: Anish Gandhi (MAH) - GM Karthik Venkataraman (AP) | Video: ChessBase India

A painful draw for GM Karthik Venkataraman (AP), a happy escape for Anish Gandhi (MAH)

Prraneeth - Kaustuv, Round 3

Position after 40.Kh2??

Black is winning after 40.Kh2?? Find out what Black missed here when he went for perpetual check 40...Qf4+ 41.Kg1 Qe3+ 42.Kh2 Qf4+ 43.Kg1 Qe3+

Lighting of the lamp

Inaugural first move

Top boards

The tournament hall

For more Inauguration Ceremony and Round 1-4 photos, please click here.

A total of 225 players including 9 GMs, 20 IMs, 3 WGMs and 3 WIMs are taking part in this three-day eleven-round Swiss League Rapid Rating tournament. It is being organized by Nashik District Chess Association from 4th to 6th March 2024 at Shankaracharya Nyas in Nashik, Maharashtra. The time control is 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment.

Replay Round 1-4 games

Round 4 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	22	IM	Shahil, Dey	2235	Assam	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2441	Railways	2	PGN
2	5	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2422	Railways	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	2218	Telangana	24	PGN
3	7	GM	Raja, Rithvik R	2387	Telangana	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Laxman, R.R.	2201	Railways	26	PGN
4	23	IM	Hari, Madhavan N B	2218	Tamil Nadu	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Moksh, Amit Doshi	2330	Gujarat	8	PGN
5	25	FM	Wagh, Suyog	2215	Maharashtra	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Neelotpal, Das	2291	PSPB	10	PGN
6	11	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra	2290	Railways	3	½ - ½	3	FM	Vaz, Ethan	2188	Goa	28	PGN
7	27	IM	Dushyant, Sharma	2198	Punjab	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh	2269	Maharashtra	14	PGN
8	29	IM	Ratnakaran, K.	2186	Railways	3	1 - 0	3	WGM	Priyanka, Nutakki	2255	Andhra Pradesh	18	PGN
9	40	IM	Abhishek, Kelkar	2130	Maharashtra	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Ravi, Teja S.	2252	Andhra Pradesh	20	PGN
10	1	GM	Mitrabha, Guha	2466	West Bengal	2½	1 - 0	2½	FM	Aradhya, Garg	2186	Delhi	30	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	14	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2269	Maharashtra	4	9	11	11,00	0	4	20	16,2
2	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan		IND	2441	Railways	4	9	10,5	10,50	0	4	10	5
3	5	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh		IND	2422	Railways	4	8,5	10,5	10,50	0	4	10	5,1
	23	IM	Hari, Madhavan N B		IND	2218	Tamil Nadu	4	8,5	10,5	10,50	0	4	20	21
5	7	GM	Raja, Rithvik R		IND	2387	Telangana	4	7,5	9,5	9,50	0	4	20	11,6
6	20	IM	Ravi, Teja S.		IND	2252	Andhra Pradesh	4	7,5	9	9,00	0	4	20	13,2
7	29	IM	Ratnakaran, K.		IND	2186	Railways	4	7	9	9,00	0	4	10	8,1
8	6	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala		IND	2416	Telangana	3,5	9,5	12	10,25	0	3	10	-1
9	28	FM	Vaz, Ethan		IND	2188	Goa	3,5	9	11	9,25	0	3	40	13,6
10	25	FM	Wagh, Suyog		IND	2215	Maharashtra	3,5	8,5	10,5	8,75	0	3	20	6,4
11	35		Kaustuv, Kundu		IND	2158	West Bengal	3,5	8,5	9,5	7,75	0	3	20	26
12	17	IM	Raahul, V S		IND	2260	Tamil Nadu	3,5	8	10	8,75	0	3	20	1,8
13	10	GM	Neelotpal, Das		IND	2291	PSPB	3,5	8	10	8,25	0	3	10	3,4
	11	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra		IND	2290	Railways	3,5	8	10	8,25	0	3	20	4,6
15	1	GM	Mitrabha, Guha		IND	2466	West Bengal	3,5	7,5	9	7,75	0	3	10	-3,1
16	16	IM	Sammed, Jaykumar Shete		IND	2262	Maharashtra	3,5	7,5	8,5	7,25	0	3	20	-2,6
17	12	IM	Das, Arghyadip		IND	2289	Railways	3,5	7	9	7,75	0	3	10	0,8
18	13	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.		IND	2287	LIC	3,5	7	8,5	7,25	0	3	10	0,9
	21	IM	Srihari, L R		IND	2236	Tamil Nadu	3,5	7	8,5	7,25	0	3	20	-0,8
20	19	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		IND	2254	West Bengal	3,5	7	8	6,75	0	3	20	-0,6

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2441	Railways	4	4	IM	Hari, Madhavan N B	2218	Tamil Nadu	23
2	14	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh	2269	Maharashtra	4	4	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2422	Railways	5
3	20	IM	Ravi, Teja S.	2252	Andhra Pradesh	4	4	GM	Raja, Rithvik R	2387	Telangana	7
4	6	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	2416	Telangana	3½	4	IM	Ratnakaran, K.	2186	Railways	29
5	17	IM	Raahul, V S	2260	Tamil Nadu	3½	3½	GM	Mitrabha, Guha	2466	West Bengal	1
6	10	GM	Neelotpal, Das	2291	PSPB	3½	3½	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee	2254	West Bengal	19
7	21	IM	Srihari, L R	2236	Tamil Nadu	3½	3½	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra	2290	Railways	11
8	12	IM	Das, Arghyadip	2289	Railways	3½	3½	FM	Wagh, Suyog	2215	Maharashtra	25
9	28	FM	Vaz, Ethan	2188	Goa	3½	3½	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.	2287	LIC	13
10	16	IM	Sammed, Jaykumar Shete	2262	Maharashtra	3½	3½		Kaustuv, Kundu	2158	West Bengal	35

Details

Related news:

	Diptayan Ghosh becomes National Rapid 2024 Champion @ 07/03/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	National Rapid 2024 R5-8: Diptayan and Raja Rithvik are the coleaders @ 06/03/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)