Neelash Saha triumphs at 1st BNKU Chess Festival Rating Open 2024
Top seed of the tournament - IM Neelash Saha scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 1st Bharatiya Naveena Kreeda Utsav Chess Festival Rating Open 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Seven players - IM Kaustuv Kundu, GM Venkatesh M R, Alekhya Mukhopadhyay, Lokesh N, GM Saptarshi Roy, Siddhant Salunke and FM Ayushh Ravikumar scored 7.5/9 each. They secured second to eighth place respectively according to tie-breaks. Neelash drew with both runners-up. The total prize fund of the festival was ₹1500009, for Classical rating it was ₹1000009. The top three prizes were ₹110003, ₹60000 and ₹40000 along with a trophy each. This was Neelash's seventh overall, sixth rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: BNKU Foundation
Top two seeds finish in the same order
IM Neelash Saha was the sole leader 7.5/8, heading into the final round. Four players - IM Kaustuv Kundu, GM Venkatesh M R, Alekhya Mukhopadhyay and Siddhant Salunke were trailing him by a half point. Neelash drew with Venkatesh to become champion. Alekhya shared the point with Kaustuv. Kaustuv secured second place and Venkatesh third. Top seven finishers remained undefeated. It is quite rare. 12-year-old Siddhant is the youngest top ten finisher. He scored 7.5/9 to finish seventh.
Neelash - Saravana, Round 7
IM P Saravana Krishnan (2260) needed to play 31...Nxc4 32.Bxg7+ Rxg7 33.Qxc4 Qg5 34.R6b3 Qxg3 35.Qe2 and it would have been fine for Black. Instead, 31...Ref7? allowed his opponent, IM Neelash Saha (2467) to gain the upper hand. 32.Rxb7+- Rxb7 33.Rxb7 Qg5 34.Qe4 Qxg3 35.Bd3 Qf2+ 36.Kh1 and White won as Black has no defense towards the threats looming large on the kingside.
Chief Guests: Grandmaster Lalit Rohit and Vijayawada MLA - Mr. Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, made first move along with Mr. Parthasaradhi, Chairman, Icon Public School, Mr. Rajendra, Director, Icon Public School, Tournament Convenor, Mr. S K Kashim, Tournament Director, Mr. Vittanala Kumar, BNKU Foundation President, Mr. Bheemarao, FA, Treasurer, Mr. T Naresh, SNA, Vice President, Mr. Ammineni Uday Kumar Naidu, IA and Chief Arbiter - B H Vasanth, were present in the opening ceremony.
Closing ceremony: Chief Guest - Mr. Babu A, IAS, Chief Commissioner of State Taxes along with Mr. Rajendra, Director, Icon Public School, Tournament Convenor, Mr. S K Kashim, Tournament Director, Mr. Vittanala Kumar, BNKU Foundation Treasurer, Mr. T Naresh, SNA, Vice President, Mr. Ammineni Uday Kumar Naidu, IA, Mr. Akbar Pasha, Joint Secretary, Andhra Chess Association, Mr. K V Jwalamukhi, CEO, ACA, Mr. N M Phani Kumar, IA, Organising Secretary, ACA, Mr. Challa Ravindra Raju, President, Guntur District Chess Association, Mr. Muralikrishna, senior chess coach Guntur, and Chief Arbiter B H Vasanth were present in the Closing Ceremony.
Thanks to IA Ammineni Uday Kumar Naidu, Deputy Chief Arbiter and Vice-President of Bharatiya Naveena Kreeda Utsav Foundation (BNKU Foundation) for sharing the photographs and information about the tournament.
A total of 487 players including 2 GMs and 8 IMs took part from various parts of the country, one from Kenya and two from the USA in this five-day nine round Rating Open tournament. It was organized by BNKU Foundation at Icon Public School in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh from 22nd to 26th October 2024. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
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Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | IM | Neelash Saha | IND | 2467 | Rspb | 8 | 53 | 58 | 50,50 | ||
| 2 | 2 | IM | Kaustuv Kundu | IND | 2429 | Wb | 7,5 | 54 | 59 | 47,75 | ||
| 3 | 4 | GM | Venkatesh M.R. | IND | 2365 | Tn | 7,5 | 52,5 | 55,5 | 44,75 | ||
| 4 | 12 | Alekhya Mukhopadhyay | IND | 2179 | Wb | 7,5 | 51 | 55,5 | 45,75 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Lokesh N. | IND | 2232 | Tn | 7,5 | 48,5 | 53 | 43,75 | |||
| 6 | 6 | GM | Saptarshi Roy | IND | 2291 | Railway | 7,5 | 48 | 52,5 | 43,00 | ||
| 7 | 47 | Salunke Siddhant | U13 | IND | 1889 | Mah | 7,5 | 48 | 52 | 42,25 | ||
| 8 | 31 | FM | Ayushh Ravikumar | IND | 1942 | Tn | 7,5 | 48 | 51,5 | 41,50 | ||
| 9 | 7 | IM | Saravana Krishnan P. | IND | 2260 | Tn | 7 | 52 | 56,5 | 41,25 | ||
| 10 | 11 | IM | Abhishek Kelkar | IND | 2184 | Mah | 7 | 52 | 55,5 | 42,00 | ||
| 11 | 25 | Abhishek T M | IND | 1968 | Kl | 7 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 40,75 | |||
| 12 | 104 | Pranav A J | IND | 1781 | Ka | 7 | 51 | 55 | 40,75 | |||
| 13 | 15 | Gyana Sai Santhosh M | IND | 2078 | Ap | 7 | 49 | 54 | 40,50 | |||
| 14 | 75 | AIM | Saikat Nath | IND | 1829 | Dl | 7 | 48,5 | 53 | 38,00 | ||
| 15 | 40 | Kolla Bhaavan | U13 | IND | 1914 | Ap | 7 | 48 | 53 | 40,50 | ||
| 16 | 9 | AGM | Vignesh B | IND | 2209 | Tn | 7 | 48 | 52,5 | 39,75 | ||
| 17 | 46 | Pradeep Tiwari | IND | 1897 | Dascb | 7 | 48 | 52 | 39,50 | |||
| 18 | 43 | Druvesh Dondapati | U15 | IND | 1902 | Ap-Gvt | 7 | 48 | 52 | 38,50 | ||
| 19 | 36 | Aahil Patra | U13 | IND | 1919 | Wb | 7 | 47 | 51,5 | 39,50 | ||
| 20 | 19 | Siddhanth Poonja | U13 | IND | 2000 | Ka | 7 | 47 | 51 | 39,00 | ||
| 21 | 14 | IM | Murali Krishnan B T | IND | 2137 | Tn | 7 | 46,5 | 51,5 | 39,25 | ||
| 22 | 29 | Ahaz E U | U15 | IND | 1954 | Kl | 7 | 46 | 50 | 37,25 | ||
| 23 | 101 | Prajit Ravishankar | U15 | IND | 1786 | Tn | 7 | 45 | 48,5 | 35,75 | ||
| 24 | 32 | Avijit Das | IND | 1938 | Wb | 7 | 44 | 47 | 35,50 | |||
| 25 | 71 | Samuel Stephen Noble S | U13 | IND | 1833 | Ap | 7 | 42,5 | 46 | 37,00 | ||
| 26 | 26 | IM | Ramnathan Balasubramaniam | IND | 1964 | Tn | 6,5 | 50,5 | 55 | 37,25 | ||
| 27 | 3 | IM | Srihari L | IND | 2372 | Py | 6,5 | 50,5 | 55 | 36,00 | ||
| 28 | 10 | FM | Aditya Varun Gampa | IND | 2194 | Ap | 6,5 | 50 | 54 | 35,75 | ||
| 29 | 54 | Devnath Bijesh | U15 | IND | 1864 | Kl | 6,5 | 49,5 | 54 | 36,00 | ||
| 30 | 73 | Oishik Mondal | U15 | IND | 1831 | Wb | 6,5 | 49 | 53,5 | 37,00 |
