B Vignesh triumphs at 1st Star Chess Foundation Rating Open 2025

by R Anantharam - 17/02/2025

B Vignesh and M Mridav scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 each at 1st Star Chess Foundation Rating Open 2025. Top seed of the tournament, Vignesh became champion due to better tie-break score, Mridav had to be content with second place. Four players - IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam, B Selvamurugan, Saisarvesh Ar and FM Ayushh Ravikumar scored 7/8 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹400000, having 100 cash and 105 cups. The top three prizes were ₹40000, ₹30000 and ₹19000 along with a trophy each. The tournament was organized by Star Chess Foundation at JJ College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy, Tamil Nadu from 8th to 11th February 2025. This was Vignesh's first tournament triumph of the year. Photos: IA R Anantharam

Vignesh wins his first tournament of the year

B Vignesh of Chennai won the Star Chess Foundation 1st International Chess tournament held at J J College of Engineering, Trichy. He and M Mridav, also of Chennai scored 7.5 points each but Vignesh had a better tie-break score to win the title and a cash prize of ₹40000.

Vignesh B receives the trophy from Mr. Sriram, Regional Manager, Indian Overseas Bank and Mr. Annavi, a record holder in Indian high jump

M Mridav is the runner-up and collected ₹30000

International master R Balasubramaniam of ICF finished third with a tally of seven points. Three more players B Selvamurugan of Thoothukudi, Ar Saisharvesh, and FM Ayushh Ravikumar of Chennai also scored seven points and were placed from fourth to sixth respectively.

IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam receives the trophy for his third place finishing

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam 7/8, 1st Vignesh B 7.5/8 and 2nd Mridav M 7.5/8

Vignesh B scored an unbeaten 7.5/8, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 8.8 Elo rating points

Selvamurugan B, winner of the recent 4th SSS Rating Open in Pudukottai, secured fourth place by beating L Barath of Chennai.

Round 8: L Barath - B Selvamurugan : 0-1

11-year-old Ar Saisharvesh got the better of V Tarun of Salem in the final round to get the fifth place, with an increase in his rating by 65.2 points.

11-year-old Ar. Saisharvesh did well to finish fifth

After a loss in the second round, second seeded FM Ayushh Ravikumar could muster only the sixth place, in spite of six consecutive victories.

FM Ayushh Ravikumar (right) scored six consecutive wins to reach the sixth place

Third seeded NS Dhanush Ragav’s win over K Marimuthu of Sivakasi, a visually impaired player who has represented India in the tournaments for such handicapped players, helped him to attain the seventh place.

Dhanush (right) defeated Marimuthu to claim the seventh place

Christy George of Kerala was ranked eighth, in spite of his loss to the runner-up Mridav in the final round.

Christy George of Kerala (left) finished at eighth place. He lost to Mridav in the final round

Vignesh B had a crucial win over IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam in the penultimate, which helped him become the champion

IM R Balasubramaniam (right) defeated S Haaziq in a nice game

Rahul Bharadwaj had one draw and one loss to secure the ninth position. The draw was against J Sridhar and the loss against Vignesh, the eventual winner.

Rahul Bharadwaj B vs Sridhar J was a draw in the fifth round

Inauguration by Dr. P Mathiyalagan, Principal J J College of Engineering and Technology, and Sriram, Regional Manager, Indian Overseas Bank

A View of the tournament hall

The host J J College of Engineering and Technology, Trichy, run by Sowdambika Group of Institutions is a good supporter of sports, especially, chess. The huge air-conditioned hall can easily accommodate around 600 players in a chess tournament.

JJ College of Engineering and Technology

A total of 482 players including an IM took part from various states across the country, one from Canada and four from the USA. The tournament was organized by Star Chess Foundation at JJ College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy, Tamil Nadu from 8th to 11th February 2025. The eight-round Swiss league Rating tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	1		Vignesh, B			9624CGL2024	IND	2185	TN	7,5	43	46,5	43,25	0	7	8	7,5	7,06	0,44	20	8,8
2	13		Mridav, M	U14		2327CHE2024	IND	1927	TN	7,5	40,5	44	41,00	0	7	7	6,5	5,13	1,37	40	54,8
3	4	IM	Ramnathan, Balasubramaniam			48/CHE/LIFE	IND	1998	TN	7	40,5	43,5	36,00	0	7	8	7	5,75	1,25	10	12,5
4	7		Selvamurugan, B			9685MDU2024	IND	1972	TN	7	38	41,5	36,00	0	6	7	6	5,43	0,57	20	11,4
5	34		Ar, Saisharvesh	U12		1425CGL2024	IND	1789	TN	7	38	41	34,50	0	7	7	6	4,37	1,63	40	65,2
6	2	FM	Ayushh, Ravikumar			2397CHE2024	IND	2039	TN	7	36	39,5	34,50	0	7	7	6	6,10	-0,10	20	-2
7	3		Dhanush, Ragav N S			4365DGL2024	IND	2003	TN	6,5	42	46	35,50	0	6	8	6,5	6,31	0,19	20	3,8
8	30		Christy, George	U14		KL	IND	1814	KL	6,5	41,5	45,5	34,25	0	6	7	5,5	3,66	1,84	40	73,6
9	29		Rahul, Bharadwaj B			18090TLR2024	IND	1815	TN	6,5	41,5	45	34,25	0	6	7	5,5	3,45	2,05	20	41
10	16		Kanishkaraj, V			24553CHE2024	IND	1893	TN	6,5	39,5	43,5	34,00	0	6	7	5,5	5,22	0,28	40	11,2
11	6		Hiren, K G			2739CHE2024	IND	1985	TN	6,5	39	43	33,75	0	6	7	5,5	5,63	-0,13	20	-2,6
12	10		Sridhar, J			21795TRY2024	IND	1943	TN-T	6,5	39	41	31,00	0	5	7	5,5	4,99	0,51	20	10,2
13	20		Santhosh, V L	U16		3735CHE2024	IND	1873	TN	6,5	38,5	41	32,75	0	5	7	5,5	5,17	0,33	40	13,2
14	26		Saravanan,			2305CHE2024	IND	1839	TN	6,5	37	40	30,25	0	6	7	5,5	4,37	1,13	20	22,6
15	14		Ayyappan, P Santhana Prabu			2621CHE2024	IND	1902	TN	6,5	35,5	39	31,25	0	6	7	5,5	5,91	-0,41	20	-8,2
16	24		Unnikrishnan, M A			KL	IND	1842	KL	6,5	35	38,5	30,75	0	5	7	5,5	5,72	-0,22	20	-4,4
17	18		Barath, L			36983CHE2024	IND	1887	TN	6	42,5	44	29,50	0	6	7	5	4,47	0,53	20	10,6
18	46		Yogesh, Selvam			7242TNJ2024	IND	1722	TN	6	40,5	45	32,25	0	5	7	5	3,37	1,63	20	32,6
19	31		Adharva, P T	U14		6582SLM2024	IND	1813	TN	6	40	44,5	31,75	0	5	7	5	4,48	0,52	40	20,8
20	8	FM	Vinoth Kumar, M.			9709CHE2024	IND	1944	TN	6	40	44	31,00	0	6	7	5	5,51	-0,51	20	-10,2
21	15		Gokul, G	U14		9019VPM2024	IND	1900	TN	6	40	44	31,00	0	5	7	5	5,00	0,00	40	0,0
22	52		Manikandan, Tayalan			1755CGL2024	IND	1694	TN	6	39,5	43	29,50	0	5	7	5	3,13	1,87	20	37,4
23	5		Sivan, S Roshan			23673CHE2024	IND	1997	TN	6	39	43,5	31,75	0	4	7	5	6,03	-1,03	20	-20,6
24	22		Vakeesh, S			3122CGL2024	IND	1862	TN	6	39	42,5	29,50	0	5	7	5	4,64	0,36	20	7,2
25	12		Rutherford, S			1322KKI2024	IND	1932	TN	6	39	40,5	28,75	0	4	7	5	5,76	-0,76	20	-15,2

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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