Sharan wins his second tournament in consecutive months
FM Sharan Rao headed into the final round with a half point lead 6.5/8. He defeated FM Nikolaos Koutlas (GRE) to make sure, tie-breaks do not come into play and he becomes a clear champion. He gained 40.2 Elo rating points at this event and he is storming towards 2400 to become an IM as rating is the only criteria left to fulfill his IM title requirements.
A total of 95 players including a GM and four IMs took part from eight countries across the world in this six-day nine-round Swiss League Below 2400 Rating tournament. The tournament was organized by Municipality of Kotel and Chess Club An Pasan at Sports facility of MS, "Georgi Stoykov Rakovski, in Kotel, Bulgaria from 1st to 6th July 2023. The time control of the event was 60 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
| 1 | 7 | FM | Sharan, Rao | IND | 2255 | 8 | 0 | 48,5 | 53 | 8 | 45,50 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | FM | Kanov, Nikola | U18 | BUL | 2347 | 7,5 | 0 | 50 | 54 | 7 | 43,75 | |||
| 3 | 2 | IM | Nikolovski, Nikola | MKD | 2356 | 7 | 0 | 52 | 57 | 6 | 42,50 | ||||
| 4 | 12 | Stoinev, Metodi | S60 | BUL | 2152 | 6,5 | 0 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 6 | 33,25 | ||||
| 5 | 10 | Stoyanov, Stoyan Or | BUL | 2211 | 6,5 | 0 | 47,5 | 52,5 | 5 | 36,50 | |||||
| 6 | 1 | IM | Kozhuharov, Spas | BUL | 2365 | 6,5 | 0 | 47 | 51 | 4 | 35,00 | ||||
| 7 | 6 | IM | Kukov, Velislav | BUL | 2340 | 6,5 | 0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 5 | 35,50 | ||||
| 8 | 14 | FM | Aliakbarov, Anar | TUR | 2128 | 6,5 | 0 | 43 | 47 | 5 | 33,50 | ||||
| 9 | 4 | GM | Drenchev, Petar | BUL | 2343 | 6,5 | 0 | 42,5 | 46,5 | 5 | 33,75 |
