Laxman clinches 2nd Athens of the East Blitz Rating Open 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/08/2023

GM Laxman R R scored 9/10 to win 2nd Athens of the East Blitz Rating Open 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the field. FM Ram Aravind L N and 12-year-old Aakash G scored 8.5/10 each. They secured second and third place respectively. Ram's only loss was against the eventual winner, Laxman. The total prize fund of the event was ₹300000. The top three prizes were ₹25000 + trophy, ₹20000 and ₹15000 each respectively. This is Laxman's fifth tournament triumph of the year. After this, he won a team Blitz event at Kavala, Greece. The one-day Blitz Rating tournament was organized by Ananthi Chess Academy on 16th July 2023 at Arunachalam Kamalabal Mahal in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Photos: IA Ganesh Babu S

Laxman wins his fifth tournament of 2023

Three players - IM Nitin S, GM Laxman R R and Shadhursshaan R were in the lead 8/9 heading into the final round. Laxman beat Nitin and Shadhursshaan lost to FM Ram Aravind L N. Thus, Laxman became clear champion, Ram edged past Aakash to secure second place.

Champion - GM Laxman R R 9/10

Runner-up - FM Ram Aravind L N 8.5/10

Second Runner-up - Aakash G 8.5/10

4th IM Nitin S 8/10

GM Laxman R R scored 9/10, won nine games, drew none, lost only one game and gained 3.4 Elo rating points

A total of 246 players including 2 GMs and an IM took part from various states across the country, one from England two from Nepal in this one-day Blitz Rating Open tournament. It was organized by Ananthi Chess Academy at Arunachalam Kamalambal Mahal in Madurai, Tamil Nadu on 16th July 2023. The time control of the event was 5 minutes + 3 seconds increment from no.1.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2	GM	Laxman, R.R.			IND	2379	ICF	9	64	69	61,50	0	9
2	5	FM	Ram, Aravind L N			IND	2212	TN	8,5	64,5	69,5	57,25	0	8
3	23		Aakash, G	U13		IND	1742	TN	8,5	60	62	51,75	0	8
4	1	IM	Nitin, S.			IND	2382	S.RLY	8	66,5	71,5	55,50	0	8
5	3	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2336	ICF	8	64	68,5	52,50	0	8
6	28		Shadhursshaan, R			IND	1682	TN	8	60	65	48,50	0	8
7	6	FM	Syed Anwar, Shazuli			IND	2212	ICF	8	59,5	64,5	50,00	0	7
8	4		Ram, S. Krishnan			IND	2303	BSNL	8	58,5	63	51,00	0	7
9	22		Gokulakrishna, S			IND	1744	TN	8	55	55,5	43,50	0	8
10	17		Vignesh, Kannan P	U13		IND	1786	TN	7,5	64	68	47,75	0	7
11	47		Nigash, G			IND	1472	TN	7,5	62,5	66	46,50	0	7
12	24		Dinesh, Rajan M			IND	1738	TN	7,5	60	64,5	45,00	0	7
13	36		Mohammed, Tharig S			IND	1591	TN-MDU	7,5	57,5	62	42,00	0	7
14	44	AGM	Rutherford, S			IND	1501	TN	7,5	57	60	41,50	0	7
15	16		Raju, S			IND	1853	TN	7,5	55,5	58	40,25	0	7
16	8		Dusthageer, Ibrahim M.			IND	2182	TN-MDU	7	65	69,5	41,50	0	6
17	11		Manigandan, S S			IND	1985	TN-MDU	7	63	67	43,00	0	7
18	9		Gugan, G			IND	2074	TN	7	60	65	43,75	0	6
19	7		Lokesh, N.			IND	2203	TN	7	59,5	65	42,50	0	6
20	39		Kalyani, Sirin	F13	w	IND	1573	KER	7	58	62	38,00	0	7
21	33		Nandish, V S	U15		IND	1602	TN	7	57,5	62	41,50	0	6
22	38	AIM	Arul, Prakash N	U15		IND	1581	TN-MDU	7	57	61,5	40,00	0	7
23	15		Adhithya, S			IND	1853	TN	7	55,5	60	40,00	0	7
24	40		Jack, Samuel	U13		IND	1541	TN	7	55,5	60	39,50	0	6
25	25		Alaguraja, M.A.			IND	1734	TN-MDU	7	55,5	59,5	39,50	0	7
26	14		Dhanasekar, K.			IND	1903	TN	7	55	58,5	39,25	0	6
27	83		Kirpesh, I	U15		IND	1260	TN	7	54,5	58	37,50	0	7
28	42		Vigneshwaran, K			IND	1513	TN	7	54,5	57,5	38,00	0	7
29	20		Anup, Shankar R			IND	1766	TN	7	54	57	37,00	0	6
30	18		Prathish, A			IND	1783	TN-MDU	7	53	55	35,00	0	7