Pranesh wins 1st ENS Rapid Rating Open 2023 and a brand new TVS Raider-125 Bike

by Shahid Ahmed - 31/01/2023

India's 79th GM Pranesh M scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 to win 1st ENS Rapid Rating Open 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the field. The first prize was not a conventional cash and trophy. The 16-year-old won a brand new TVS Raider-125 bike worth ₹100000. Eight players scored 8/9 each. Out of them, IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra and GM Arjun Kalyan secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹200000. The runner-ups received ₹10000 and ₹7000 each respectively. A total of 409 players including 4 GMs and 2 IMs took part in this one-day event organized by Avengers Chess Academy. Photo: Gowri Karthikeyan / Avengers Chess Academy

Pranesh wins two in-a-row

GM Pranesh M could not have asked for a better start to 2023. First, he became India's 79th GM and won the Rilton Cup 2022-23 on 5th January 2023. Next, he won this tournament - 1st ENS Rapid Rating Open 2023 which had a unique first prize as a brand new TVS Raider-125 bike. Apart from bike, DGT 2010 chess clock and bicycles were also given as the first prize in various age group categories and best Villupuram district player.

Champion - GM Pranesh M 7.5/8 | Photo: Gowri Karthikeyan / Avengers Chess Academy

If you are wondering when was the last time a unique first prize like a motor vehicle was give in an open rating tournament, it was in September 2019 when GM Laxmann R R won a brand new Maruti Alto 800. Bike was also given as a prize in that event.

Runner-up - IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra 7/8 | Photo: Gowri Karthikeyan / Avengers Chess Academy

Second Runner-up - GM Arjun Kalyan 7/8 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Rating 1651-1800 3rd - Sunyuktha C M N 6/8 | Photo: Gowri Karthikeyan / Avengers Chess Academy

Sunyuktha C M N made a fantastic start of 6/7, including a win over GM Pranav Venkatesh and a draw with IM Harikrishnan A Ra. A last round loss against GM Arjun Kalyan cost her dearly anad she finished at 19th place overall. Nevertheless, she gained 48 Elo rating points and third prize in rating category 1651-1800.

Pranesh drew with the eventual runner-up IM Harikrishnan in the final round and defeated the second runner-up, GM Arjun Kalyan in the previous

Thanks to Gowri Karthikeyan of Avengers Chess Academy for sharing the photos and information about the tournament.

A total of 409 players including 4 GMs and 2 IMs took part from all over India and one from Bangladesh and Mongolia each. The one-day eight-round Swiss league Rapid Rating tournament was organized by Avengers Chess Academy at Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu on 21st January 2023. The time control of the tournament was 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	3	IM	Pranesh M			IND	2342	TN	7,5	42,5	45,5	43,00	0	7
2	4	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra			IND	2312	TN	7	43	47	40,75	0	6
3	2	GM	Arjun Kalyan			IND	2415	TN	7	42,5	46	39,00	0	7
4	6	GM	Laxman R.R.			IND	2257	ICF	7	41	44,5	38,00	0	7
5	7	IM	Avinash Ramesh			IND	2221	TN	7	40	42	35,50	0	7
6	1	GM	Pranav V			IND	2457	TN	7	39,5	43,5	37,50	0	7
7	10		Surendran N			IND	2068	TN	7	38	42,5	36,75	0	6
8	5		Srihari L			IND	2263	PON	7	38	42	36,50	0	7
9	79		Yashwant B	U14		IND	1372	TN	7	37	39,5	34,00	0	7
10	9	FM	Syed Anwar Shazuli			IND	2079	ICF	6,5	40,5	44,5	35,50	0	5
11	11		Ram S. Krishnan			IND	2057	BSNL	6,5	39	43	33,75	0	6
12	12		Gugan G			IND	2022	TN	6,5	39	43	33,25	0	6
13	38		Pranav K P	U14		IND	1634	TN	6,5	39	42	31,75	0	6
14	16		Dinesh Rajan M			IND	1889	TN	6,5	39	40	29,25	0	6
15	28		Ram Alagappan S			IND	1779	TN	6,5	38	41,5	31,25	0	6