Kaustuv Kundu conquers 1st Siliguri SCGC Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/09/2025

IM Kaustuv Kundu scored an unbeaten 9/10 to win 1st Siliguri SCGC Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Soumick Bandopadhyay scored sole 8.5/10 to secure second place. Four players - Rahul Gurung, Sudhanshu Ranjan, Arpan Das and FM Kumar Gaurav scored 8/10 each. They were placed third to sixth according to tie-breaks. Kaustuv defeated both runners-up, Soumick and Rahul in Round 4 and 5 respectively. The total prize fund was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹70000, ₹50000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each. The six-day ten round Rating Open tournament was organized by Siliguri Chess Guardian's Club at Silpanchal Bhawan in Siliguri, West Bengal from 12th to 17th August 2025. This is Kaustuv's fifth rating tournament triumph of the year, second in the month of August in a fortnight. Photo: Abhijit Biswas

Kaustuv's fifth rating tournament victory of the year

Second seeded, IM Kaustuv Kundu was the sole leader 8/9, going into the last round. Five players - Rahul Gurung, Sagnik Halder, Soumick Bandopadhyay, FM Samyak Dharewa and Arpan Das were trailing by a half point at 7.5/9 each. Kaustuv defeated talented local boy, Samyak in the final round to become a clear champion. Sagnik lost to Soumick who secured second place. Rahul drew against Arpan and the former finished third. Kaustuv went on to win one more rating tournament in August. We will mention it in detail in a separate report.

Champion - IM Kaustuv Kundu 9/10 | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd Rahul Gurung 8/10, 1st IM Kaustuv Kundu 9/10 and 2nd Soumick Bandopadhyay 8.5/10 | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

IM Kaustuv Kundu scored an unbeaten 9/10, finished a half point ahead of the field and gained 1.2 Elo rating points

Siliguri's very own FM Samyak Dharewa scored 7.5/10 to finish seventh | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

One of the top trainers of the country - IM FT IA Neeraj Kumar Mishra sharing few words | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

Lighting of the lamp | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

The opening and closing ceremony was graced by esteemed guests such as Deputy Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation - Mr. Ranjan Sarkar, Arjuna Awardee and International sports person - Ms. Mantu Ghosh, renowned international Table Tennis coach - Mr.Subroto Roy, Vice President of Sara Bangla Daba Sangstha - Mr. IA Debasish Barua, President of DDCA - Ms. Shivika Mittal along with Secretary of DDCA - Mr. Bablu Talukdar. The Chief Arbiter of the Tournament was Mr. IA Asit Baran Choudhury.

Players in action | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

Players, parents and accompanying persons | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

The tournament was organized Siliguri Chess Guardian's Club | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

The tournament hall at Silpanchal Bhawan in Siliguri, West Bengal | Photo: Abhijit Biswas

Thanks to Mr. Abhijit Biswas, Secretary, Siliguri Chess Guardian's Club, for sharing the photographs and information.

A total of 284 players including three IMs took part from all over the country. The six-day ten round Rating Open tournament was organized by Siliguri Chess Guardian's Club at Silpanchal Bhawan in Siliguri, West Bengal from 12th to 17th August 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	2	IM	Kaustuv Kundu				IND	2386	West Bengal	9	66,5	71	63,3	8	2
2	17		Soumick Bandopadhyay	U15			IND	1942	West Bengal	8,5	60	64,5	52,3	8	5
3	15		Gurung Rahul				IND	1991	Sikkim	8	65	68,5	51,8	7	4
4	11		Sudhanshu Ranjan				IND	2020	Bihar	8	62,5	66	50	7	3
5	10		Arpan Das				IND	2035	West Bengal	8	60,5	63,5	49,8	6	1
6	6	FM	Kumar Gaurav				IND	2062	Bihar	8	54,5	58,5	45,5	7	3
7	3	FM	Samyak Dharewa			NB	IND	2305	Siliguri	7,5	64	68	48	7	2
8	13		Borkhetariya Devarsh M				IND	2004	Gujrat	7,5	63,5	66,5	46,5	7	2
9	12		Sagnik Halder	U15			IND	2006	West Bengal	7,5	63	66	46	7	3
10	24		Triparno Ghosh	U15		NB	IND	1887	Jalpaiguri	7,5	60,5	65,5	47	7	2
11	20		Ankit Das	U13		NB	IND	1910	Jalpaiguri	7,5	60,5	65,5	46,3	7	2
12	14	CM	Chatterjee K.K.	S60			IND	1999	West Bengal	7,5	59,5	65	47	7	4
13	4	IM	Mishra Neeraj-Kumar				IND	2096	West Bengal	7,5	59	63	46,3	5	2
14	16		Shankhodip De				IND	1964	West Bengal	7,5	57	61	43,8	7	3
15	30	AIM	Shankhadeep Maity				IND	1820	West Bengal	7,5	56	60	42	7	4
16	36		Suravi Bhattacharya		w		IND	1778	West Bengal	7,5	47,5	55	37,8	7	4
17	9		Rupam Mukherjee				IND	2044	West Bengal	7	63	68,5	45,3	6	2
18	25		Himanshu Ranjan				IND	1866	Bihar	7	62	66,5	44,3	5	2
19	29		Anushka Gupta		w		IND	1822	West Bengal	7	61,5	65	44	5	3
20	22		Kirthika B	U15	w		IND	1890	Telengana	7	61	66	43,5	7	4
21	21		Kishan Kumar				IND	1899	Bihar	7	60,5	65,5	43,5	5	2
22	32		Divyanshu Kumar Singh				IND	1814	Bihar	7	60	62	38,5	7	3
23	23		N. Tarun				IND	1889	Delhi	7	58,5	64	42	7	4
24	41	AFM	Shreyan Bag	U13			IND	1701	West Bengal	7	58,5	62	40,8	5	3
25	43		Amiyanshu Bhowal	U15		NB	IND	1667	Siliguri	7	58	63	40,3	6	2
26	35	AIM	Swapnabha Neogi	U15			IND	1781	West Bengal	7	58	61,5	40,5	6	3
27	28		Biswas Gopal Chandra				IND	1823	West Bengal	7	57,5	62,5	42	6	3
28	40		Shreyaskar Tanti	U13			IND	1714	West Bengal	7	56	59,5	37,5	7	3
29	42		Rohan Kumar				IND	1692	Bihar	7	56	58,5	37,5	6	3
30	7		Uttam Sarker				IND	2061	West Bengal	7	55,5	58,5	39,8	6	3