Nubairshah wins Late R B Sapre Memorial Open Rapid Rating 2020

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/01/2020

Top seed of the tournament, 1st SAARC Champion IM Nubairshah Shaikh of Maharashtra scored 8.5/9, remained undefeated to win Late R B Sapre Memorial Open Rapid Rating 2020. FM Nikhil Dixit finished at sole 8.0/9 to claim the second position. Three players finished at 7.5/9, IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam of Tamil Nadu secured third position due to a better tie-break score. Total 227 players including 3 IMs and 2 FMs participated in this two-day tournament, organized by Chessmen Ratnagiri on 18th and 19th January 2020. Total cash prizes worth ₹131000 were distributed among prize winners. Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Top seed dominates the field

1st SAARC Champion IM Nubairshah Shaikh of Maharashtra scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Late R B Sapre Memorial Open Rapid Rating 2020. It is rare in a Swiss league event that a champion has faced four out of top six finishers. His only draw was in the penultimate round against the eventual runner-up FM Nikhil Dixit of Maharashtra, who finished at sole 8.0/9. Three players finished at 7.5/9, IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam of Tamil Nadu finished at third place due to a better tie-break score.

Champion IM Nubairshah Shaikh 8.5/9 receives a beautiful trophy and ₹25000 cash prize for his efforts | Photo: Vivek Sohani

Nubairshah's unbeaten championship run also gained him 16 Elo rating points

The podium finishers (L to R) - Champion Nubairshah Shaikh, Second Runner-up Ramnathan Balasubramaniam and Runner-up Nikhil Dixit | Photo: Vivek Sohani

The Tournament was inaugurated on 18th January 2020 by Mr. Sachin Gabale from JSW Jaigarh Port who supported the event and Mr. Shriram Khare, President, Ratnagiri District Chess Association by Lighting of the lamp ceremony followed by moves over the board. Mr. Prasanna Ambulkar delivered President’s Address and vote of thanks at the end of Inaugural ceremony. The event was supported by JSW Foundation Jaigarh.

Total cash prizes worth ₹131000 were distributed by Captain Ravi Chander, Vice president and Unit head – JSW Jaigarh Port, Sudhir Tailong – JSW Jaigarh Port, Madhav Hirlekar KGN Saraswati Foundation, Chandrakant Halbe, KGN Saraswati foundation and Prasanna Ambulkar, President Chessmen Ratnagiri. As the tournament is consistently organized every year in the name of Mr. Sapre, this year the total prize money was sponsored by the family members of Mr. Sapre in his memory.

Total 227 players including 3 IMs and 2 FMs from five states across the country participated in this two-day Rapid rating event on 18th and 19th January 2020 at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. The tournament was organized by Chessmen Ratnagiri.

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh			IND	2255	MAH	8,5	0,0	52,0	56,5	52,50	8
2	5	FM	Dixit Nikhil			IND	2054	MAH	8,0	0,0	53,5	57,5	49,50	7
3	3	IM	Ramnathan Balasubramaniam			IND	2107	TN	7,5	0,0	55,5	60,5	48,00	7
4	11		Dere Pushkar			IND	1763	MAH	7,5	0,0	48,5	52,5	40,75	7
5	7		Gandhi Anish			IND	1933	MAH	7,5	0,0	45,0	49,0	40,50	7
6	4		Sammed Jaykumar Shete			IND	2086	MAH	7,0	0,0	55,5	60,5	44,00	7
7	2	FM	Deshpande Aniruddha			IND	2161	MAH	7,0	0,0	51,5	56,5	41,00	7
8	19		Mishra Sanjeev			IND	1620	MAH	7,0	0,0	48,5	51,0	37,75	6
9	28		Suthar Pradip			IND	1501	MAH	7,0	0,0	48,0	50,5	37,50	7
10	33	CM	Kadam Om Manish	U13		IND	1465	MAH	7,0	0,0	47,0	50,5	36,00	7
11	12		Patwardhan Avdhut S			IND	1763	MAH-R	7,0	0,0	47,0	50,0	36,50	7
12	34		Gengaje Pratik			IND	1464	MAH	7,0	0,0	46,0	50,0	36,25	6
13	26	WCM	Chopdekar Gunjal	F15	w	IND	1509	GOA	7,0	0,0	43,5	45,0	32,00	7
14	10		Gajanan Vijay Jayade			IND	1814	MAH	6,5	0,0	51,5	54,0	36,75	5
15	8		Boricha Ketan			IND	1905	MAH	6,5	0,0	50,0	53,0	35,00	6
16	6		Utkarsh Lomate			IND	1954	MAH	6,5	0,0	48,5	52,0	35,25	6
17	24		Aditya Savalkar	U15		IND	1540	MAH	6,5	0,0	47,5	50,0	34,00	6
18	20		Bhosale Shriraj			IND	1615	MAH	6,5	0,0	47,5	49,5	33,25	6
19	18		Om Nagnath Lamkane			IND	1625	MAH	6,5	0,0	47,0	50,0	34,25	6
20	44		Tanvi Vasudev Hadkonkar	F15	w	IND	1398	GOA	6,5	0,0	46,0	48,5	32,25	6
21	37		Mali Nilesh			IND	1441	MAH	6,5	0,0	45,0	49,0	31,75	6
22	58		Pednekar Ayush			IND	1311	GOA	6,5	0,0	45,0	49,0	31,25	6
23	50		Parab Rishikesh	U15		IND	1340	GOA	6,5	0,0	44,0	46,5	32,50	5
24	73		Halwai Aftab Hasan			IND	1191	MAH	6,5	0,0	43,0	46,0	31,00	6
25	15		Bhatkar Zaheer Abbas			IND	1658	GUJ	6,5	0,0	41,5	44,0	30,00	6