Harsha Bharathakoti wins Chessemy Blitz Open 2023, Diptayan second and Sayantan third
GM Harsha Bharathakoti defeated GM Diptayan Ghosh in Armageddon to win Chessemy Blitz Open 2023. Both of them along with India's latest GM Sayantan Das scored 7.5/9. Diptayan had beaten Harsha in the seventh round. As per the tournament regulations, top two with the best tie-breaks had to play tie-break games to determine the winner. Both Harsha and Diptayan traded wins in the tie-break games. Thus, Armageddon was enforced which was won by Harsha. The total prize fund was €1500. Top three prizes were €500, €250 and €150 each respectively. This is Harsha's first tournament triumph of the year. Photo: IM FI Jonathan Carlstedt/Chessemy
Incredibly close battle
On Friday 10th March 2023, two rounds before the completion of the Classical event, Chessemy Blitz Open took place. It was a closely fought battle where three players finished with the same score of 7.5/9 after nine rounds of Swiss league Blitz event. Thus, the winner had to be decided in Playoffs. The Classical event report will be published in a separate article.
GM Diptayan Ghosh (2539), GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2481) and GM Sayantan Das (2389), all three scored 7.5/9 each. Diptayan and Harsha played two blitz playoff games.
After Harsha won the first tie-break game, Diptayan scored the equalizer in the second game.
Armageddon was enforced as both Playoff games were won by each player, resulting in another tie 1-1. Diptayan having the white pieces, had to go for a win as his opponent Harsha had draw odds with the black pieces as per the usual Armageddon rules. Diptayan forced a win in a drawn endgame as a draw would not have been enough.
A special thanks to IM FI Jonathan Carlstedt of Chessemy for sharing the photos and videos.
A total of 73 players including 3 GMs, 9 IMs, 2 WGMs and a WIM took part from six countries all over the world. The one-day nine-round Swiss league Blitz Rating tournament was organized by Jonathan Carlstedt at Hotel Forellenhof in Walsrode. Germany on 10th March 2023. The time control of the tournament was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move no.1.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Ghosh,Diptayan, | IND | 2539 | 7,5 | 56,5 | 46,00 | 6 | |
| 2 | 5 | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti, | IND | 2481 | 7,5 | 54,5 | 43,25 | 7 | |
| 3 | 10 | IM | Das,Sayantan, | IND | 2389 | 7,5 | 53 | 42,00 | 6 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | Lampert,Jonas, | GER | 2482 | Hamburger SK von 1830 eV | 7 | 55,5 | 40,50 | 6 |
| 5 | 11 | FM | De Winter,Arthur, | NED | 2371 | SV Erkenschwick 1923 e | 6,5 | 52 | 34,00 | 6 |
| 6 | 15 | IM | Koellner,Ruben Gideon, | GER | 2303 | SF Deizisau | 6,5 | 49 | 32,25 | 6 |
| 7 | 6 | IM | Lubbe,Nikolas, | GER | 2447 | SF Neuberg | 6,5 | 48,5 | 33,50 | 6 |
| 8 | 16 | FM | Colbow,Collin, | GER | 2279 | SAbt SV Werder Bremen | 6,5 | 47 | 31,25 | 6 |
| 9 | 9 | FM | Petrovskyi,Vadym, | UKR | 2398 | Sfr. Bad Emstal/Wolfhagen | 6 | 55 | 33,00 | 6 |
| 10 | 2 | IM | Schneider,Ilja, | GER | 2519 | HSK Lister Turm | 6 | 53 | 31,50 | 6 |
| 11 | 14 | IM | Carlstedt,Jonathan, | GER | 2328 | SAbt SV Werder Bremen | 6 | 50,5 | 30,00 | 6 |
| 12 | 8 | IM | Berger,Steve, | GER | 2410 | SSV Rotation Berlin e.V. | 6 | 47 | 30,00 | 6 |
| 13 | 18 | WGM | Lubbe,Melanie, | GER | 2263 | SF Neuberg | 6 | 44 | 28,00 | 6 |
| 14 | 19 | WGM | Priyanka Nutakki, | IND | 2256 | 6 | 43,5 | 26,00 | 6 | |
| 15 | 27 | Koellner,Aaron Noah, | GER | 2148 | SF Deizisau | 6 | 43,5 | 24,00 | 6 |
