Senthil Maran K wins 25th RCC Blitz Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/10/2025

IM Senthil Maran K and GM Laxman R R scored an unbeaten 11.5/13 each at 25th RCC Blitz Rating Open 2025. Senthil won the tournament on tie-breaks, Laxman secured second place. Their seventh round battle against each other ended in a draw. IM Nitish Belurkar and Sidharth Mohan scored 11/13 each. They were placed third and fourth respectively. The total cash prize fund of the tournament was ₹100000. The top three prizes were ₹15000, ₹10000 and ₹7000 along with a trophy each. The one-day 13-round Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Sharada Vidyalaya Kodialbail in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 28th September 2025. This is Senthil's third rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Senthil's third rating tournament victory of the year

IM Senthil Maran K, the two-time former National Blitz champion - GM Laxman R R and Mandar Pradip Lad were the three leaders at 10.5/12 each. Nithin Babu lost to Senthil and he became the champion. Laxman defeated Christy George to finish second. IM Nitish Belurkar won against IM Sanket Chakravarty 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 Senthil Maran K 11.5/13 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Runner-up - GM Laxman R R 11.5/13 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Second Runner-up - IM Nitish Belurkar 11/13 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd GM Laxman R R 11.5/13, 1st IM Senthil Maran K 11.5/13 and 3rd IM Nitish Belurkar 11/13 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Senthil Maran K during one of his games | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

IM Senthil Maran K scored an unbeaten 11.5/13, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 58.2 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 554 players including a GM and seven IMs took part from all over the country, one from Canada and Kenya each, and four from Sri Lanka. The one-day 13-round Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Sharada Vidyalaya Kodialbail in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 28th September 2025. The time control of the event was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	11	IM	Senthil Maran K,			IND	2139	11,5	115	121	105,3
2	2	GM	Laxman R.R.,			IND	2345	11,5	114	121,5	105
3	1	IM	Nitish Belurkar,			IND	2370	11	112	118,5	96
4	107		Sidharth Mohan,			IND	1651	11	107	113	95
5	4		Lad Mandar Pradip,			IND	2278	10,5	113,5	119,5	91,5
6	9		Singh S. Vikramjit,			IND	2156	10,5	104	109	84,8
7	12		Nithin Babu,			IND	2100	10	109	116	84,5
8	3	IM	Ratnakaran K.,			IND	2333	10	107,5	115	85
9	33		Aditya Savalkar,			IND	1832	10	104,5	109,5	78,5
10	37		Adhithya S,			IND	1818	10	104	110,5	82
11	137		Parab Rishikesh,			IND	1615	10	103,5	108,5	80
12	23		Manigandan S S,			IND	1917	10	103	110	83,3
13	13	IM	Murali Krishnan B T,			IND	2090	10	103	109,5	82,5
14	119		Shreyansh Das,	U09		IND	1631	10	102,5	108,5	81,5
15	83	WFM	Arya G Mallar,	F16	w	IND	1707	10	102	108	78
16	28	AIM	Christy George,	U16		IND	1871	10	101,5	107,5	79,5
17	15	FM	Anilkumar O.T.,	S60		IND	1981	10	101	106,5	80
18	29	AIM	Pankaj Bhat,			IND	1869	10	100,5	105,5	78
19	8		Arpith S Bijoy,			IND	2168	9,5	110,5	116,5	80,8
20	5	IM	Sanket Chakravarty,			IND	2269	9,5	109	115	79,3