Deep Sengupta wins MCT Rapid Rating Open 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/05/2024

Six players - GM Deep Sengupta, IM Kaustuv Kundu, GM Mitrabha Guha, IM Neelash Saha, IM Sanket Chakravarty and FM Sourath Biswas scored 9/11 at MCT Rapid Rating Open 2024. Deep won Mitra Charitable Trust Rapid Rating Open 2024 due to better tie-breaks. The remaining five were placed second to sixth respectively. Deep's sole loss was against the eventual runner-up, Kaustuv. Only Mitrabha remained undefeated among the six-pack. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹615000. The top three prizes were ₹125000 + trophy, ₹100000 + trophy and ₹65000 each. The three-day rapid rating tournament was organized by R S Chess Academy at Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Kolkata, West Bengal from 4th to 6th May 2024. This is Deep's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Top six score 9/11

Four players - GM Deep Sengupta, IM Kaustuv Kundu, GM Mitrabha Guha and IM Neelash Saha were the coleaders 8.5/10 going into the final round. Neelash and Mitrabha made a quick draw on the top board. GM Neelotpal Das had an exciting draw against Kaustuv. IM Aronyak Ghosh had a great opportunity to win against Deep. However, he missed it and the game ended in a draw. Thus, Deep became champion, Kaustuv second and Mitrabha third. This was the highest-ever prize fund for a rapid rating open tournament in West Bengal. It also had the highest-ever top two prizes for a rapid rating open tournament in India. This was the strongest-ever rapid rating open tournament in Kolkata and West Bengal in terms of GM, IM, WGM and WIM numbers and overall tournament average rating.

Champion - GM Deep Sengupta 9/11

"Miracles happen in Rapid chess" - GM Deep Sengupta after winning MCT Rapid Rating Open 2024 | Video: ChessBase India

Runner-up - IM Kaustuv Kundu 9/11

Second Runner-up - GM Mitrabha Guha 9/11

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd IM Kaustuv Kundu 9/11, 1st GM Deep Sengupta 9/11 and 3rd GM Mitrabha Guha 9/11

Sourath - Deep, Round 5

Position after 17...f4

GM Deep Sengupta's (2403) favorite game of the tournament is his win over FM Sourath Biswas (2139). 17...f4 18.Bxh5 gxh5 19.Ngf3 Qb6 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.e4 Be8 Deep played sublime chess to outplay his opponent in a queenless middlegame. No wonder, it is his favorite game of the event.

GM Deep Sengupta engrossed in the position against IM Aronyak Ghosh in the final round

GM Deep Sengupta scored 9/11, suffered his loss against the eventual runner-up - IM Kaustuv Kundu and maintained his rating

Photo Gallery

Total 5 GMs, 9 IMs, a WGM and a WIM took part in this tournament

4th IM Neelash Saha 9/11

5th IM Sanket Chakravarty 9/11

6th FM Sourath Biswas 9/11

7th IM Aronyak Ghosh 8.5/11

8th GM Neelotpal Das 8.5/11

9th Arpan Das 8.5/11

10th IM Sambit Panda 8.5/11

11th - 20th place

Best Female

Best Veteran

Rating category 1601-1800

Rating category 1401-1600

Unrated category

Top boards

Organizers made a nice touch of putting up photos of the world champions in the playing hall. Since ICCR often holds art/photography exhibition events, the provision was already there. They just made a good use of the already existing facilities.

Players in action at Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Kolkata, West Bengal

A giant chess board was kept on display in front of the playing arena

For more photos, please click here.

Video Gallery

GM escapes Jaws of Defeat, Blurs finish line in a Rare Endgame - IM Aronyak Ghosh v GM Deep Sengupta, Round 11 | Video: ChessBase India

Grandmaster does a Houdini escape in a Nail Biter - GM Deep Sengupta vs Soham Bhattacharyya, Round 10 | Video: ChessBase India

1796-rated teenager catches a GM on his off day - Ritabrata v GM Sayantan, Round 10 | Video: ChessBase India

Why did the GM Offer Draw to the WGM? WGM Mary Ann Gomes vs GM Laxman R R, Round 10 | Video: ChessBase India

Final moments: GM Deep Sengupta vs IM Kaustuv Kundu, Round 8 | Video: ChessBase India

Final moments: GM Sayantan Das vs Shourya Paul, Round 3 | Video: ChessBase India

Check out the Playlist here. More exciting games will be published over time, stay tuned.

A total of 447 players including 5 GMs, 9 IMs, a WGM and a WIM took part from all over the country in this three-day eleven round Rapid Rating Open tournament. It was organized by R S Chess Academy at Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Kolkata, West Bengal from 4th to 6th May 2024. The time control of the event was 25 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	GM	Sengupta, Deep			IND	2403	West Bengal	9	82	87	69,50
2	14	IM	Kaustuv, Kundu			IND	2216	West Bengal	9	79,5	85	67,25
3	1	GM	Mitrabha, Guha			IND	2458	Railway	9	79	85	67,50
4	5	IM	Neelash, Saha			IND	2371	Railway	9	74,5	79	62,75
5	10	IM	Sanket, Chakravarty			IND	2227	West Bengal	9	74	79,5	63,75
6	18	FM	Sourath, Biswas			IND	2139	West Bengal	9	72	77	61,00
7	2	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh			IND	2429	Railway	8,5	80,5	85,5	63,75
8	7	GM	Neelotpal, Das			IND	2283	West Bengal	8,5	79,5	84,5	63,75
9	23		Arpan, Das (Jr)			IND	1991	West Bengal	8,5	79,5	83,5	60,50
10	16	IM	Panda, Sambit			IND	2179	Odisha	8,5	77,5	82,5	60,75
11	20		Bhattacharyya, Soham			IND	2119	West Bengal	8,5	77	80,5	58,50
12	15	GM	Laxman, R.R.			IND	2203	Icf	8,5	76	82,5	62,50
13	11		Subhayan, Kundu			IND	2226	West Bengal	8,5	75	79	56,25
14	24		Arya, Bhakta			IND	1981	West Bengal	8,5	73,5	79	54,50
15	9	IM	Shahil, Dey			IND	2238	Assam	8,5	73	79	58,50
16	12	IM	Mohota, Nisha		w	IND	2217	West Bengal	8,5	71	77	59,25
17	27		Mrittika, Mallick		w	IND	1933	West Bengal	8,5	68,5	73	55,00
18	6	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		w	IND	2338	West Bengal	8	82,5	88	61,50
19	42		Ritabrata, Chakraborty			IND	1796	West Bengal	8	77,5	82	56,50
20	3	GM	Das, Sayantan			IND	2408	West Bengal	8	75	80,5	56,00
21	8	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee			IND	2243	West Bengal	8	73,5	79,5	53,50
22	13	IM	Suvrajit, Saha			IND	2217	West Bengal	8	73,5	79	53,75
23	29		Arpan, Das			IND	1923	West Bengal	8	73	78,5	52,00
24	128		Maitreyi, Mondal	F13	w	IND	1541	West Bengal	8	71,5	74,5	50,25
25	33		Niladri, Banerjee	U13		IND	1830	West Bengal	8	71	76	53,25
26	21	WIM	Arpita, Mukherjee		w	IND	2060	West Bengal	8	70,5	75	51,00
27	46		Agnivo, Chakraborty			IND	1754	West Bengal	8	69,5	75	53,50
28	43		Sneha, Halder		w	IND	1783	West Bengal	8	69	73,5	51,00
29	63		Shankhadeep, Maity			IND	1704	West Bengal	8	68,5	73,5	49,25
30	137		Agnim, Dutta			IND	1531	West Bengal	8	68	72	47,50