Laxman R R wins 1st Vellore Rapid Rating Open 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/01/2022

Top seed of the tournament, GM Laxman R R of Integral Coach Factory, scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 along with IM Srihari L R at 1st Vellore Rapid Rating Open. Laxman won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Srihari secured second position. Five players - WIM Michelle Catherina, IM Praveen Kumar, CM Daakshin Arun, Sachin Sangamesh R and Dhanasekar M scored 7.5/9 each, They were placed third to seventh according to tie-breaks. The tournament had the total prize fund of ₹100000 with the first prize being ₹15000 cash and a trophy. This is Laxman's third consecutive tournament in 2021 which makes it a hat-trick of tournament wins for him. Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

IM Srihari L R scores an identical 8.0/9, Michelle Catherina third

One of the newly minted IM from Tamil Nadu, Srihari L R also remained undefeated. He drew with the eventual champion, GM Laxman R R in the final round to finish second on tie-breaks. WIM Michelle Catherina also made a great start, 5.0/5. Her only loss was against the eventual runner-up, IM Srihari in the sixth round. She scored an impressive 7.5/9 and broke out a pack of five players at the same score to claim the final podium place, third. Srihari earned ₹12000 and Michelle received ₹10000 cash as their second and third prize respectively. 12-year-old Daakshin Arun 7.5/9, was the youngest finisher among top 15 as he secured fifth place.

Champion - GM Laxman R R 8.0/9 | Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

L to R: Mr. T Selvarajan, Vice President, Raya Vellore District Chess Association, IA Soundaramurthy D, Chief Arbiter, Mr. P Manoharan, Secretary Raya Vellore District Chess Association, Mr. S Manikandaswamy, Tournament Director, Mr. V Ravichandran, FT & IA and GM Laxman.

Laxman scored an unbeaten 7.5/9

GM Laxman R R with the winner's trophy | Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

Runner-up IM Srihari L R 8.0/9 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Second Runner-up WIM Michelle Catherina 7.5/9 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

GM Laxman R R making the inaugural move | Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

Mr. Manikanda Swamy, Tournament Director and Vice President, TNSCA and GM R.R.Laxman inaugurated the tournament in presence of Mr. S Cholavandan, Arcot Chess Academy, Mr. T Selvarajan, Vice President, Raya Vellore District Chess Association, Mr. P Manoharan, Secretary, Raya Vellore District Chess Association and IA Soundaramurthy D, Chief Arbiter.

All prize winners | Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

Valedictory ceremony | Photo: IA Soundaramurthy D

L to R: Mr. S Cholavandan, Arcot Chess Academy, Mr. T.Selvarajan, Vice President, Raya Vellore District Chess Association, Mr. S Manikandaswamy, Tournament Director, Mr. V Ravichandran, FT & IA, GM Laxman, Mr. P Manoharan, Secretary, Raya Vellore District Chess Association, IA Soundaramurthy D, Chief Arbiter.

The tournament was organized by Star Chess Academy and Arcot Chess Academy on 25th and 26th December 2021 at D K M Kalyana Mandapam, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. A total of 294 players including a GM, an IM and a WIM took part in this nine-round Swiss league Rapid event which had a time control of 25 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Laxman R.R.			IND	2356	Icf	8,0	56,0	61,0	53,50
2	6	FM	Srihari L R	U16		IND	1944	Tn Chengalpattu	8,0	54,0	58,5	50,75
3	3	WIM	Michelle Catherina P		w	IND	2013	Tn Chennai	7,5	54,0	58,5	47,00
4	2	IM	Praveen Kumar C			IND	2198	Icf	7,5	53,0	57,0	45,00
5	17	CM	Daakshin Arun	U12		IND	1461	Tn Chennai	7,5	50,0	52,0	41,75
6	34		Sachin Sangamesh R			IND	1280	Tn Vellore	7,5	48,5	51,0	40,75
7	33		Dhanasekar M			IND	1281	Tn Vellore	7,5	48,0	52,5	42,00
8	5		Hirthickkesh Pr			IND	1966	Tn Cuddalore	7,0	51,0	54,0	39,25
9	256		Sridhar Prasath K			IND	0	Tn Vellore	7,0	51,0	53,0	39,00
10	7		Thiyagarajan Tamilselvi			IND	1821	Tn Thanjavur	7,0	49,5	54,5	40,25
11	28		Adharsh D P	U16		IND	1299	Tn Tiruvallur	7,0	48,0	51,5	37,00
12	4		Sridhar C S	S55		IND	1998	Tn Kanchipuram	7,0	47,0	51,5	38,00
13	248		Sharan Gopalan R	U14		IND	0	Tn Kanchipuram	7,0	46,5	51,0	38,50
14	14		Gandhi Durai E			IND	1538	Tn Chennai	7,0	45,5	49,5	35,50
15	196		Nikiilesh A U	U14		IND	0	Tn Coimbatore	7,0	45,0	48,0	35,00
16	8		Raghul Saro S			IND	1717	Tn Thanjavur	7,0	44,5	48,0	33,50
17	172		Logesh Kumar R	U12		IND	0	Tn Chennai	7,0	44,5	47,5	37,00
18	53		Rahul S			IND	1146	Tn Cuddalore	7,0	44,5	47,5	34,50
19	81		Abdul Kalam	U16		IND	1019	Tn Ranipet	6,5	51,0	55,0	37,00
20	41		Abhinav D P	U14		IND	1214	Tn Tiruvallur	6,5	51,0	54,0	36,25