Nitish Belurkar clear first at 24th RCC Rapid Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/10/2025

Nitish Belurkar scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 24th RCC Rapid Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. IM Sanket Chakravarty, IM Ratnakaran K, GM Laxman R R and Christy George scored 8/9 each. They secured second to fifth place respectively. The total cash prize fund of the tournament was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹30000, ₹20000 and ₹15000 along with a trophy each. The two-day nine round Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Sharada Vidyalaya Kodialbail in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 27th and 28th September 2025. This is Nitish's fourth overall, first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Nitish's fourth tournament triumph of the year

IM Nitish Belurkar made a blazing start by winning eight consecutive games. IM Sanket Chakravarty was the only player trailing him by a half point at 7.5/8. Nitish drew against Sanket to become the champion, Sanket finished second. IM Ratnkaran K defeated Aditya Savalkar to claim third place. The total participation in the entire festival was 1573 - 448 in Classical, 571 in Rapid and 554 in Blitz. Rao's Chess Corner is run by Karnataka's top chess couple - IM Sharan Rao (Founder) and WIM Isha Sharma.

Champion - IM Nitish Belurkar 8.5/9 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Runner-up - IM Sanket Chakravarty 8/9 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Second Runner-up - IM Ratnakaran K 8/9 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd IM Ratnakaran K 8/9, 1st IM Nitish Belurkar 8.5/9 and 2nd IM Sanket Chakravarty 8/9 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Nitish in action | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

IM Nitish Belurkar scored an unbeaten 8.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 22.6 Elo rating points

Inaugural first move | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Players in action | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Karnataka's strong chess couple and Rao's Chess Corner Head Coaches - WIM Isha Sharma and IM Sharan Rao | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Rao's Chess Corner team | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Total 330 trophies were up for grabs in the entire RCC Festival | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

The tournament hall at Sharada Vidyalaya Kodialbail in Mangaluru, Karnataka | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

For more photos, click here.

A total of 571 players including a GM and seven IMs took part from all over the country, one from Canada, Kenya and USA each, and four from Sri Lanka. The two-day nine round Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Sharada Vidyalaya Kodialbail in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 27th and 28th September 2025. The time control of the event was 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	IM	Nitish Belurkar,			IND	2251	Goa	8,5	53,5	58	54
2	2	IM	Sanket Chakravarty,			IND	2231	Wb	8	55	59	51,5
3	11	IM	Ratnakaran K.,			IND	2114	Kl	8	54,5	58	50
4	4	GM	Laxman R.R.,			IND	2219	Tn	8	53	58	50
5	28	AIM	Christy George,	U16		IND	1863	Kl	8	50,5	54,5	46,5
6	43		Gowrishankar Jayaraj,	U16		IND	1793	Kl	7,5	54,5	59,5	47,3
7	7	IM	Senthil Maran K,			IND	2168	Tn	7,5	52,5	56	44,3
8	3		Singh S. Vikramjit,			IND	2222	Mn	7,5	51,5	57	47,3
9	32		Sidharth Mohan,			IND	1837	Kl	7,5	51,5	57	46,3
10	21	AGM	Lakshith B Salian,			IND	1905	Kar-Dk	7,5	51,5	55,5	43,8
11	10	IM	Sai Agni Jeevitesh J,			IND	2126	Tg	7,5	51	55,5	46
12	15		Manigandan S S,			IND	1963	Tn	7,5	50	55,5	44,8
13	5		Lad Mandar Pradip,			IND	2176	Goa	7,5	49,5	53,5	43,3
14	16		Dhanush Ram M,			IND	1957	Kar	7,5	45	49,5	42
15	6		Tiwari Arjun,			IND	2172	RSPB	7	53	58	42,5
16	8		Nithin Babu,			IND	2168	Kl	7	52,5	57,5	42,3
17	18		Dinesh Kumar Jaganathan,			IND	1931	Tn	7	51,5	55,5	41,3
18	86		Inban R,	U16		IND	1681	Tn	7	51,5	55,5	40
19	46		Kambli Datta,			IND	1779	Goa	7	49,5	54,5	39,5
20	24		Abdallah M Nisthar,			IND	1881	Kl	7	49,5	53,5	38,8
21	22		Aditya Savalkar,			IND	1900	Mh	7	48,5	52,5	37,8
22	52		Akshay A R,	U16		IND	1753	Kl	7	47,5	51,5	38
23	36	WCM	Swara Lakshmi S Nair,		w	IND	1821	Kar	7	47	51	38,5
24	41		Darsh Shetty,			IND	1798	Mh	7	47	51	35,5
25	30	WCM	Shanmathi Sree S,	F16	w	IND	1847	Tn	7	46,5	50,5	39,8