A K Jagadeesh wins 2nd United Educational Institutions and CDCA Below 1800 Rating 2025

by R Anantharam - 01/09/2025

A K Jagadeesh and S Paresh scored 8/9 each at 2nd United Educational Institutions and Coimbatore District Chess Association Below 1800 Rating Tournament 2025. The veteran, Jagadeesh won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Paresh was placed second. Half a dozen players scored 7.5/9 each. Out of them, R Venkatakrishnan was adjudged third according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹50000, ₹35000 and ₹25000 along with a trophy each. The three-day nine round Below 1800 Rating Tournament was organized by United Educational Institutions and Coimbatore District Chess Association at United Educational Institutions in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 1st to 3rd August 2025. This is Jagadeesh's first rating tournament triumph in nearly 15 years. The last rating tournament he won was in August 2010. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Jagadeesh's first rating tournament triumph in nearly 15 years

58-year-old Kerala veteran A K Jagadeesh won the United Institutions Below 1800 Rating tournament at United Educational Institutions, Coimbatore by scoring eight points.

.A K Jagadeesh receives the trophy from Mr. Sivakumar, Director, United Institutions of Education | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Of the four lacs prize money, Jagadeesh had a share of fifty thousand rupees. Although 14-year-old S Paresh of Salem had an equal number of points, he had to be content with the runner-up position due to lower Buchholz data and collected ₹35000.

Runner-up - S Paresh 8/9 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

R Venkatakrishnan, brother of the recently elected grandmaster A Ra Harikrishnan topped the six 7.5-point group players to be declared as the second runner-up and won ₹25000.

R Venkatakrishnan was placed third. Also seen is his five-year-old son Srikrishna - a future GM in the offing? | Photo: IA R Anantharam

All the three prize winners with the Chief Guest, Chief Arbiter - IA V Vijayaraghavan, FI FA K Dhanasekar, Secretary, Coimbatore District Chess Association, Kannapiran, Tournament Director and Dr. Vijaya, Principal | Photo: IA R Anantharam

After a draw in the sixth round with Santhosh Selvam, Jagadeesh had two successive wins and a draw in the final round, which fetched him the title.

A K Jagadeesh during one of his games | Photo: IA R Anantharam

A K Jagadeesh scored an unbeaten 8/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 32.8 Elo rating points

FM Ayushh Ravikumar of Chennai drew with B Selvamurugan of Thoothukudi to be declared fourth. The latter finished ninth.

Jagadeesh defeated Thamil Amudhan in the seventh round to emerge joint leader | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Paresh’s only loss was against the third placed Venkatakrishnan in the fifth round. Otherwise, he had a blemish less record of eight wins.

Venkatakrishnan got the better of the eventual runner-up, Paresh in the fifth round | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The tournament was inaugurated by Dr. M Manickam, President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and the Tamil Nadu IM-norm tournament circuit is his brain child. Already, he has sponsored more than one crore rupees for the circuit and the third leg of tournaments from 31 to 40 commences from 5th October.

Inauguration by Dr. M. Manickam, President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and Er. Shanmugam, Founder & Chairman, United Educational Institutions | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Inauguration on a giant chess board | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The Organising team | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Players in action | Photo: IA R Anantharam

United Educational Institutions – A Staunch Supporter of Chess

The United Educational Institutions established in 1999 in sprawling campus of 35 acres, about 20 km from Coimbatore airport is a chess hub, organizing many tournaments regularly. It has eight institutions in the campus, which cater to the need of engineering, pharmacy, medical sciences, arts and science etc.

The college is situated in a serene atmosphere, far from the madding crowd | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Beautiful backdrop of the college | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The canteen under the tree shade | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Er. S Shanmugam, Founder and Chairman United Educational Institutions and Dr. S Mythili, Co-Chairman are staunch supporters of chess, having organized many rating, state and district level chess tournaments in the campus. They are also willing to conduct National championships, given a chance.

Er. S Shanmugam, Founder and Chairman United Educational Institutions

Dr. S Mythili, Co-Chairman, UEI

A total of 398 players took part from various states all over the country, one from Canada, two from Netherlands, four from the USA and one from Zimbabwe. The three-day nine round Below 1800 Rating Tournament was organized by United Educational Institutions and Coimbatore District Chess Association at United Educational Institutions in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 1st to 3rd August 2025. The time control was 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	7		Jagadeesh, A.K.	S56		NA	IND	1772	Kerala	8	52,5	56	48,8	7	4
2	35		Paresh, S	U15		6580SLM2025	IND	1661	Salem	8	48,5	53	45,5	8	4
3	14		Venkatakrishnan, R			8321TLR2025	IND	1730	Tiruvallur	7,5	52	56	45,3	7	5
4	19		Sriram, Pandi S P			3333CHE2025	IND	1704	Chennai	7,5	51,5	55,5	44,5	6	4
5	3		Kesavan, G			11353ERO2025	IND	1792	Erode	7,5	51	56	45	7	4
6	76		Thamizh, Amudhan Y	U12		11035CBE2025	IND	1565	Coimbatore	7,5	51	55	43,3	7	4
7	9		Nirmal, L			4033CBE2025	IND	1761	Coimbatore	7,5	49,5	54	43,8	6	4
8	33		Swetha, S	F18	w	4419ERO2025	IND	1666	Erode	7,5	46	49,5	39,3	7	4
9	65		Dheena, Dhayalan A			4403DGL2025	IND	1597	Dindigul	7	52,5	57	42,8	6	4
10	44	AFM	Ineyan, M R	U15		3983CBE2025	IND	1639	Coimbatore	7	49,5	50,5	36,3	6	5
11	5		Nihal, N Shetty			NA	IND	1778	Karnataka	7	48,5	52,5	38,5	7	4
12	52	AGM	Kannan, R.			4818CBE2025	IND	1619	Coimbatore	7	48	52	38,3	6	4
13	32		Santhosh, Selvam			3957CBE2025	IND	1668	Coimbatore	7	47,5	51,5	37,5	6	4
14	60		Shanmugasundaram, G.			5539MDU2025	IND	1604	Madurai	7	46	51	37,8	6	4
15	31	AFM	Dambamuromo, Tavonga			NA	ZIM	1669	Zimbabwe	7	46	50	36,8	6	4
16	70		Raghav, Budur			NA	IND	1578	Karnataka	7	45,5	49	36,8	6	4
17	1		Karthikeyan, G			2058CGL2025	IND	1798	Chengalpattu	7	45,5	49	36,3	6	4
18	28		Pranav, Varshan A S	U12		7615TPR2025	IND	1672	Tirupur	7	45	49	38,3	5	5
19	16		Gopinath, Parthasarathy			3035CHE2025	IND	1723	Chennai	7	42,5	46,5	35,5	6	5
20	51		Haris, N K			NA	IND	1620	Kerala	6,5	50,5	54,5	36,8	5	5

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.

The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed