Aakash G wins 1st Friends Chess Club Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 23/06/2025

FM Aakash G, Balkishan A and Dhanush Ragav N S scored 7/8 each at 1st Friends Chess Club Rating Open 2025. Aakash won the tournament due to better tie-break score. Balkishan and Dhanush were placed second and third respectively. All three of them remained undefeated. Aakash drew against the remaining podium finishers. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹50000, ₹35000 and ₹25000 along with a trophy each. The four-day eight round Rating Open tournament was organized by Friends Chess Club at Kumaran Kottam Campus in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 27th to 30th May 2025. This was Aakash's second overall, first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Top three score 7/8

Half a dozen players - FM Aakash G, Dhanush Ragav N S, Balkishan A, Sa Kannan, Sailesh R and Vigneshwaran N were the leaders 6/7, heading into the final round. Aakash defeated Vigneshwaran to become the champion. Sailesh lost to Balkishan who secured second place. Dhanush won against Kannan to finish third.

Champion - Aakash G 7/8 | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Runner-up - Balkishan A 8/9 | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Second Runner-up - Dhanush Ragav N S 8/9 | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Top 3 (L to R): 1st Aakash G 7/8, 2nd Balkishan A 7/8 and 3rd Dhanush Ragav N S 7/8 | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Inaugural first move | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Round 7: Balkishan A - FM Aakash G: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Coimbatore District Chess Association

Aakash G scored an unbeaten 7/8, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 10.4 Elo rating points

A total of 272 players took part from all over the country and one from South Korea. The four-day eight round Rating Open tournament was organized by Friends Chess Club at Kumaran Kottam Campus in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 27th to 30th May 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	4	FM	Aakash, G	U15		3873CBE2025	IND	2114	TN_CBE	7	43,5	47,5	40,50	6
2	1		Balkishan, A.			NA	IND	2145	KA	7	41,5	45,5	38,75	6
3	7		Dhanush, Ragav N S			4365DGL2025	IND	2007	TN	7	41	45,5	39,00	6
4	8		Tarun, V			26301CBE2025	IND	1981	TN_CBE	6,5	40	44	33,75	6
5	15	AGM	Mani, Bharathy			4014CBE2025	IND	1872	TN_CBE	6,5	39	43	33,75	5
6	18		Gopinath, P			5810TRY2025	IND	1820	TN	6,5	39	42,5	32,75	5
7	9		Nigash, G			4416ERO2025	IND	1965	TN	6,5	38,5	43	34,00	6
8	5	CM	Lakshmi, Narayanan M V			26406DGL2025	IND	2113	TN	6,5	38	42	32,75	6
9	3		Sham, R			4872CHE2025	IND	2122	TN	6,5	37	40,5	31,75	6
10	14		Adharva, P T	U15		6582SLM2025	IND	1878	TN	6,5	37	38	28,25	6
11	2	AIM	Ravi, Krishna G			NA	IND	2143	AP	6	42	46	33,50	4
12	6		Sailesh, R			2615CHE2025	IND	2035	TN	6	40,5	44,5	31,75	5
13	12	AGM	Sa, Kannan			6778VNR2025	IND	1904	TN	6	40,5	43,5	30,75	5
14	25		Dhanasekar, K.			26403CBE2025	IND	1755	TN_CBE	6	37,5	41,5	29,25	5
15	43	AGM	Kannan, R.			4818CBE2025	IND	1602	TN_CBE	6	37	39,5	27,50	6
16	13	AFM	Meiyazhagan, Kaviinayan	U09		NA	KOR	1887	KOR	6	35,5	39	27,50	6
17	17		Nikhil, T L			7743TPR2025	IND	1826	TN	6	35	38,5	29,00	4
18	19		Vigneshwaran, N.			26565CBE2025	IND	1795	TN_CBE	6	35	38,5	27,00	6
19	29		Tejaswi, R		w	8652CBE2025	IND	1712	TN_CBE	6	34,5	36,5	25,50	5
20	11		Prawin, K			5800CBE2025	IND	1914	TN_CBE	6	34,5	36,5	24,00	6
21	21		Meiyappan, M	U15		3879CBE2025	IND	1783	TN_CBE	6	34	36,5	26,00	5
22	73		Thamizh, Amudhan Y	U11		11035CBE2025	IND	1532	TN_CBE	6	31,5	34	23,50	6
23	72		Poornachandar, J S	U13		4046CBE2025	IND	1532	TN_CBE	5,5	39	42	27,75	4
24	34		Kishan, Kumaar K V			6618SLM2025	IND	1679	TN	5,5	38,5	41,5	25,25	5
25	36		Gurupranav, P	U13		4815ERO2025	IND	1634	TN	5,5	37,5	40,5	25,00	5