Nitish Belurkar clear first at 20th Shri Maheshwaranand Saraswati Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2024
IM Nitish Belurkar scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 20th Shri Maheshwaranand Saraswati Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the field. FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi, FM Suyog Wagh and Nameet Chavan scored 8/9 each. They secured second, third and fourth place according to tie-breaks. Nitish drew with the eventual runner-up, Aakash in Round 7. The total prize fund was ₹300000. The top three prizes were ₹75000 + trophy, ₹50000 + trophy and ₹25000 along with a trophy each. The one-day nine-round Swiss league rapid rating tournament was organized by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust at Ashwamedh hall and Shree Ganesh Sabhagruh, in Pune, Maharashtra on 1st December. This is Nitish's fourth tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Prakash Kunte
Nitish's fourth tournament triumph of the year
IM Nitish Belurkar, FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi and Viresh Sharnarthi were the three leaders 7.5/8 each, going into the final round. Nitish defeated Viresh to become a clear champion. IM Himal Gusain drew with Aakash. The latter secured second place. IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam lost to FM Suyog Wagh and Suyog finished third. Nitish won his fifth tournament in 2024, exactly a week after winning this event.
IM FT Chandrashekhar Gokhale was the Chief Guest for Prize distribution function. Vilas Mhatre, Treasurer, MCA and IA Rajendra Shidore were also present.
Ashish Desai, owner of Sujanil Chemicas was Chief Guest for opening function. Treasurer of MCA - Vilas Mhatre and GM Abhijit Kunte were on the dias.
Thanks to Mr. Prakash Kunte for sharing photographs and information about the tournament.
A total of 428 players including a GM and ten IMs took part from various parts of India, one from Germany, Netherlands and USA, three from Iceland. The tournament was organized by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust at Ashwamedh hall and Shree Ganesh Sabhagruh in Pune, Maharashtra on 1st December. The nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament had a time control of 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move no.1.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | Rp | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2257 | 8,5 | 55 | 59 | 55,00 | 0 | 8 | 2335 | ||||
| 2 | 9 | FM | Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi | IND | 2160 | 8 | 54 | 58,5 | 50,50 | 0 | 7 | 2189 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | FM | Wagh, Suyog | IND | 2277 | 8 | 50,5 | 55 | 49,00 | 0 | 8 | 2084 | ||||
| 4 | 30 | Chavan, Nameet | IND | 1859 | 8 | 50 | 54,5 | 47,50 | 0 | 8 | 2252 | |||||
| 5 | 1 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | IND | 2547 | 7,5 | 52 | 56,5 | 45,75 | 0 | 7 | 2052 | ||||
| 6 | 8 | IM | Gusain, Himal | IND | 2199 | 7,5 | 51 | 55 | 44,00 | 0 | 7 | 2122 | ||||
| 7 | 10 | IM | Kathmale, Sameer | IND | 2149 | 7,5 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 43,25 | 0 | 7 | 2134 | ||||
| 8 | 18 | Sharnarthi, Viresh | IND | 1996 | 7,5 | 49 | 53 | 41,75 | 0 | 7 | 2075 | |||||
| 9 | 6 | IM | Audi, Ameya | IND | 2241 | 7,5 | 47,5 | 50 | 40,75 | 0 | 7 | 1946 | ||||
| 10 | 5 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | IND | 2252 | 7 | 53,5 | 57,5 | 41,00 | 0 | 7 | 2071 | ||||
| 11 | 14 | Bakliwal, Gaurav | IND | 2106 | 7 | 52 | 57 | 42,50 | 0 | 6 | 2054 | |||||
| 12 | 20 | IM | Ramnathan, Balasubramaniam | IND | 1978 | 7 | 52 | 57 | 42,00 | 0 | 7 | 2000 | ||||
| 13 | 15 | WFM | Deodhar, Vrushali Umesh | w | IND | 2059 | 7 | 51,5 | 56 | 40,50 | 0 | 7 | 1965 | |||
| 14 | 12 | FM | Dixit, Nikhil | IND | 2121 | 7 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 41,00 | 0 | 7 | 1959 | ||||
| 15 | 7 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | IND | 2229 | 7 | 51 | 56 | 41,00 | 0 | 7 | 1921 |
