Himal Gusain wins Padma Shri Late Abhay Chhajlani Memorial 2nd UICC Rapid Rating Open 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/04/2024

IM Himal Gusain, Gourav Nigam and Arun Kataria scored 8/9 each at Padma Shri Late Abhay Chhajlani Memorial 2nd UICC Rapid Rating Open 2024. Himal won the tournament due to better tie-breaks, Gourav was placed second and Arun third. Himal defeated the eventual runner-up Gourav in the penultimate round and drew with the second runner-up, Arun in the final round. Both Himal and Arun remained undefeated. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹300000. The top three prizes were ₹30000, ₹25000 and ₹20000 along with a trophy each respectively. The two-day nine round Rapid Rating tournament was organized by Unite Indore Chess Club at Abhay Prashal Sports Club in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on 13th and 14th April 2024. This is Himal's second tournament triumph in 2024. Photos: IA NI Sunil Soni

Top three score 8/9

IM Himal Gusain and Arun Kataria were the coleaders 7.5/8 going into the final round. Arun drew against Himal, Aishwin Daniel lost to Gourav Nigam. Himal, Gourav and Arun all three ended up with the same score 8/9. They secured first, second and third place respectively. FM S K Rathore is the sole veteran to make top ten finish. He scored 7.5/9 to be placed eighth.

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd Arun Kataria 8/9, 1st IM Himal Gusain 8/9 and 2nd Gourav Nigam

IM Himal Gusain scored an unbeaten 8/9, defeated the eventual runner-up Gourav Nigam and drew with Arun Kataria

Group photograph of the prize winners

A total of 372 players including an IM took part from various states all over the country in this two-day nine round Rapid Rating tournament. It was organized by Unite Indore Chess Club at Abhay Prashal Sports Club in Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 13th and 14th April 2024. The time control of the event was 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	Gr	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	2	IM	Gusain Himal			IND	2212	WR	8	54,5	59,5	52,25	7
2	9		Gourav Nigam			IND	1920	MP	8	52,5	57	49,00	8
3	12		Arun Kataria		St. Anthony Sr.	IND	1897	Rajasthan	8	50	54	46,75	7
4	3		Dere Pushkar			IND	1986	Maharashtra	7,5	53,5	56,5	45,00	7
5	11		Sudarshan Malga			IND	1898	Indore-MP	7,5	51	54,5	43,75	7
6	17		Patil Priyanshu			IND	1849	Maharashtra	7,5	50,5	53,5	42,75	7
7	4	CM	Kant Rupesh			IND	1983	MP	7,5	50	54	44,50	7
8	10	FM	Rathore S.K.	S60		IND	1910	MP-PC	7,5	48	52	42,25	7
9	21		Mishra Kamad			IND	1755	MP	7	51,5	56,5	41,50	7
10	8		Aishwin Daniel			IND	1939	MP	7	51,5	52,5	37,00	7
11	16		Hitesh S. Jariya			IND	1852	Indore-MP	7	50,5	55,5	41,50	7
12	6		Singh Nishit			IND	1960	Indore-MP	7	50,5	54,5	41,50	5
13	13		Awadh Chaitanya			IND	1895	MP	7	50,5	52,5	38,50	6
14	19		Dishant Jain			IND	1819	Indore-MP	7	49,5	53,5	38,50	7
15	55		Meetansh Dixit	U13		IND	1552	MP	7	49,5	53	39,00	7
16	30		Harshit Dawar			IND	1663	Indore-MP	7	47	51	37,00	7
17	38		Gupta R K	S60		IND	1598	Chhattisgarh	7	46	49	35,00	7
18	5		Bhatt Jalpan			IND	1973	Gujarat	7	45,5	49,5	36,50	6
19	37		Joglekar Abhijit			IND	1604	Maharashtra	7	43,5	47,5	34,00	7
20	33		Saxena Kunal Kant	S60		IND	1644	Indore-MP	7	41,5	45,5	35,25	6