Aaryan Varshney perfect at 16th Late Bharatbai Halkude Memorial Blitz Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/06/2025

IM Aaryan Varshney scored a perfect 9/9 to win 16th LBHM Blitz Rating Open part of Late Bharatbai Halkude Memorial Chess Festival 2025. Aaryan dominated the tournament with a perfect score 9/9 and finished a full point ahead of the rest. FM Nikhil Dixit, Sarbartho Mani and Ayaan Phutane scored 8/9 each. They secured second, third and fourth place according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the entire festival was ₹3033000, for Blitz it was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹21000, ₹15000 and ₹10000 along with a trophy each respectively. This is the Aaryan's eleventh overall, sixth rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Gaurav Varshney

Two eight-year-olds in top five

IM Aaryan Varshney made a fantastic start by winning eight games in-a-row. He was at a half point ahead of FM Suyog Wagh and Viresh Sharnarthi, going into the final round. Aaryan defeated Viresh Sharnarthi to become the champion with a 100% score. FM Nikhil Dixit won against Suyog to secure second place. CM Vedant Pimpalkhare lost to Sarbartho Mani who finished third. Ayaan Phutane scored a full point against IM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi to finish fourth. Sarbartho and Ayaan are two eight-year-olds who finished in top five with an impressive performance.

Champion - IM Aaryan Varshney 9/9 | Photo: Gaurav Varshney

Runner-up - FM Nikhil Dixit 8/9

Second Runner-up - Sarbartho Mani 8/9 | Photo: John Brezina

IM Aaryan Varshney with his Classical Runner-up and Blitz Champions' trophies | Photo: Gaurav Varshney

IM Aaryan Varshney scored a perfect 9/9 to win the tournament, finish a full point ahead of others and gained 28 Elo rating points

A total of 518 players including two IMs and a WIM took part from various parts of the country, one from Germany and Sri Lanka each, two from the USA. The one-day nine round Blitz Rating Open tournament was organized by Aryan Enterprises at S K N Sinhgad School of Business Management in Pune, Maharashtra on 21st May 2025. The time control of the event was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay all available games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	Gr	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	4	IM	Aaryan Varshney			IND	2297	DL	9	52,5	55,5	55,50	9	4
2	5	FM	Dixit Nikhil		LBHM	IND	2278	MH	8	51,5	56,5	49,50	8	4
3	19	AFM	Mani Sarbartho	U09		IND	1970	WB	8	49	53,5	46,50	8	5
4	40		Ayaan Phutane	U09	LBHM	IND	1846	KA	8	49	53	46,50	8	4
5	3	FM	Wagh Suyog		LBHM	IND	2310	MH	7,5	54	57	45,75	7	3
6	7	FM	Borgaonkar Akshay			IND	2250	MH	7,5	52,5	56,5	46,00	7	4
7	25		Sharnarthi Viresh	U15	LBHM	IND	1918	MH	7,5	51,5	56	44,75	7	3
8	43		Badole Shaunak	U13		IND	1833	MH	7,5	51,5	56	43,25	7	3
9	36		Lalitaditaayyanar Boominathan		LBHM	IND	1858	MH	7,5	50,5	55	44,25	7	2
10	76		Nirmal L			IND	1745	TN	7,5	49	53	42,00	7	3
11	12		Sharnarthi Shlok		LBHM	IND	2053	MH	7,5	48,5	53	43,50	6	2
12	22	CM	Sherla Prathamesh	U15	LBHM	IND	1955	MH	7,5	45	49	40,75	7	2
13	70		Wadke Suyog		LBHM	IND	1755	MH	7,5	44	48	39,75	7	3
14	9	CM	Pimpalkhare Vedant			IND	2169	MH	7	53,5	58,5	41,50	7	4
15	6	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi		LBHM	IND	2261	MH	7	53,5	56,5	39,50	7	3
16	21		Advik Amit Agrawal	U11	LBHM	IND	1956	MH	7	53	58	44,50	5	3
17	24		Gaikwad Manas	U15		IND	1934	MH	7	51,5	56	42,00	7	4
18	46		Nirgun Keval			IND	1826	MH	7	50,5	54,5	39,50	7	3
19	11	FM	Bagwe Gaurang		LBHM	IND	2071	MH	7	50,5	53	38,00	7	4
20	74		Ram Kumar R			IND	1750	AP	7	49	54	41,00	7	3
21	45		Nishant Abhijeet Jawalkar	U15	LBHM	IND	1830	MH	7	49	52,5	37,75	6	4
22	1	IM	Neelash Saha		LBHM	IND	2336	RSPB	7	48,5	52,5	39,00	7	4
23	121		Srihari K R		LBHM	IND	1663	TN	7	48	52	37,50	7	4
24	58		Kadam Arnav	U15	LBHM	IND	1777	MH	7	47,5	51,5	37,00	7	3
25	30	FM	Patil Priyanshu		LBHM	IND	1898	MH	7	46,5	50,5	37,25	6	3