Nihaan Pohane clear first at Late Ramesh Vinayakrao Kotwal Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/08/2025

Top seed, Nihaan Pohane scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Late Ramesh Vinayakrao Kotwal Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Sabir Adnan scored sole 8/9 to secure second place. Shubham Basone scored 7.5/9 to finish third. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹50000. The top three prizes were ₹21000, ₹11000 and ₹5000 along with a trophy each respectively. The two-day nine-round Swiss League Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by Gondia District Chess Association at Vinayakrao Kotwal Memorial Hall, Bhavbhuti Ranga Mandir in Gondia, Maharashtra on 12th and 13th July 2025. This is Nihaan's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

No tie-breaks needed for top three

The top seed of the tournament, Nihaan Pohane was the sole leader 7.5/8, heading into the final round. Three players - Vishwaditya Awasthi, Omkar Kadav and Sabir Adnan were trailing by a half point at 7/8 each. Nihaan defeated Omkar to become a clear champion. Sabir won against Vishwaditya to finish second. Yugant Ramteke lost to Sbhubham Basone who claimed third place.

Champion - Nihaan Pohane 8.5/9 | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Runner-up - Sabir Adnan 8/9 | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Second Runner-up - Shubham Basone 7.5/9 | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Nihaan Pohane in action during one of his games | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Nihaan Pohane scored an unbeaten 8.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and increased his Elo rating by 24 points

Inauguration ceremony | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Inaugural first move | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Guests paying respect to Late Ramesh Vinayakrao Kotwal | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Players, parents and accompanying persons | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Players in action | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Closing ceremony | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

Group photo of various prize winners | Photo: Gondia District Chess Association

A total of 176 players took part from various states across the country. The two-day nine-round Swiss League Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by Gondia District Chess Association at Vinayakrao Kotwal Memorial Hall, Bhavbhuti Ranga Mandir in Gondia, Maharashtra on 12th and 13th July 2025. The time control of the event was 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1		Nihaan, Pohane	IND	1983	Chandrapur	8,5	50	54,5	51,25
2	20		Sabir, Adnan	IND	1599	Nagpur	8	47	50,5	45,50
3	57	AFM	Shubham, Basone	IND	1460	CG	7,5	45,5	49,5	40,75
4	9		Vishwaditya, Awasthi	IND	1668	Nagpur	7	51,5	55	40,00
5	5	AIM	Hend, Pravin	IND	1750	Akola	7	50,5	55,5	40,75
6	3		Kadav, Omkar	IND	1848	Satara	7	50	52	38,00
7	41		Sapan, Kumar	IND	1519	CG	7	47	51	39,25
8	13		Khedkar, Prasad	IND	1653	Akola	7	47	50	37,00
9	32		Wadhwani, Kapil	IND	1558	Gondia	7	47	50	37,00
10	43		Nilesh, Dashrath Bande	IND	1516	Chandrapur	7	44	46	33,00