Kaustuv Kundu wins 1st Chandrashekhar Azad Memorial All India Rapid Rating Open

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/03/2022

Kaustuv Kundu scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 to win 1st Chandrashekhar Azad Memorial All India Rapid Rating Open. Kaustuv was 6.5/7 heading into the final round. A draw would have sufficed to win the tournament, yet he went for a win to finish a half point ahead of the field. Sanjeev Mishra scored 7.0/8 to secure second place. Four players - Maulik Raval, Shantanu Bhambure, Prakash Yadavn and Mandar Mohan Sane scored 6.5/8 each. They were placed third to sixth according to tie-breaks. Kaustuv won ₹50000 cash, Sanjeev got ₹30000 and Maulik ₹20000. All three of them won a trophy each. Total cash prize ₹300000 was distributed among the prize winners. Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

Kaustuv finishes a half point ahead and remains unbeaten

Kaustuv Kundu won his first tournament of the year scoring 7.5/8. He gained 22.2 Rapid Elo rating in the process. 14-year-old Hriday Panchal was the youngest to finish in the top 10. He scored 6.0/8 to secure 7th place according to the tie-breaks.

Champion - Kaustuv Kundu 7.5/8 | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

2nd Sanjeev Mishra 7.0/8 | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

3rd Maulik Raval 6.5/8 | Photo: IA Sunil Soni

Kaustuv's only draw was against the top seed - Shantanu Bhambure

Inaugural first move is being made by IAS Somesh Mishra (left) and IPS Ashutosh Gupta (right) | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

The inauguration event was presided over by Chief Guest Mr. Ashutosh Gupta (Superintendent of Police, Jhabua), Program President Mr. Somesh Mishra (Collector, Jhabua), Distinguished Guest Mr. Rajesh Kumar (Lead District Manager, Bank of Baroda, Jhabua), in presence of Mr. Siddharth Jain (CEO, Zilla Panchayat, Jhabua ). Mr. Ashutosh Gupta and Mr. Somesh Mishra inaugurated the event by making the customary first move on the board.

Lighting of the lamp | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

Guests (L to R): IPS Ashutosh Gupta, IAS Somesh Mishra, IAS Siddharth Jain and Rajesh Kumar | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

Organizing team felicitating Mr. Siddharth Jain who was the backbone of the tournament | Photo: IA Sunil Soni

IAS Mr. Siddharth Jain was the lead person behind this tournament. Besides a highly reputed Government official, he is also an avid chess lover. He scored 4.0/8 in this event.

Siddharth Jain in action | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

The tournament hall | Photo: MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee and IA Sunil Soni

The Prize distribution function was presided over by Chief Guest Mr. Ambar Joshi (DRM, Bank of Baroda), Distinguished Guest Mr. Rajesh Kumar (Lead District Manager, Bank of Baroda, Jhabua), in presence of Mr. Siddharth Jain (CEO, Jila Panchayat, Jhabua).

The beautiful trophies | Photo:MP Chess Ad-hoc Committee

A special thanks to IA Sunil Soni for providing various information.

For more photos, please click here.

The tournament was organized by District Association Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh on 26th and 27th February 2022 at Amba Palace, Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 133 players took part in the eight-round Swiss league Rapid Rating tournament which had a time control of 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo	Name	Typ	sex	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2	Kaustuv Kundu			2085	WB	7,5	42,5	47,5	44,25	0,0	7
2	19	Mishra Sanjeev			1651	MAH	7,0	37,5	40,5	33,00	0,0	7
3	3	Maulik Raval			2027	GUJ	6,5	42,5	46,0	35,25	0,0	6
4	1	Bhambure Shantanu			2148	MAH	6,5	42,0	44,5	34,25	0,0	6
5	15	Prakash Yadav			1737	MP	6,5	40,5	43,5	32,75	0,0	6
6	10	Mandar Mohan Sane			1802	MAH	6,5	36,0	39,0	30,50	0,0	6
7	20	Hriday Panchal	U15		1590	DEL	6,0	36,5	39,5	26,50	0,0	6
8	23	Mishra Kamad	U17		1533	MP	6,0	35,5	37,5	25,50	0,0	6
9	27	Rohit Rahulkumar J			1507	GUJ	6,0	35,5	36,5	25,75	0,0	5
10	14	Shubham Kumar			1742	BIHAR	6,0	35,0	39,0	27,00	0,0	6
11	22	Awade Pradeep			1566	MAH	6,0	33,5	35,5	24,00	0,0	6
12	26	Manish Kumar			1517	BIHAR	6,0	32,0	34,5	24,50	0,0	6
13	32	Sushant Tiwari			1435	DEL	6,0	30,5	31,5	21,00	0,0	6
14	12	Kadav Omkar			1779	MAH	5,5	41,5	44,5	27,50	0,0	5
15	30	Vikas Saini			1464	DEL	5,5	38,0	41,0	25,25	0,0	5
16	5	Bhattacharya Niladri Shekhar			1911	WB	5,5	38,0	40,5	24,75	0,0	5
17	31	Chandwani Prateek			1435	MP	5,5	37,0	40,5	25,75	0,0	5
18	18	Shrivastav Hritik			1687	MP	5,5	35,5	37,5	21,75	0,0	5
19	36	Devendra Namdev			1379	MP	5,5	33,5	36,0	21,50	0,0	5
20	38	Shivam Yadav			1367	DEL	5,5	31,5	34,5	20,50	0,0	5