Vaibhav Suri victorious at 2nd RCMIC Rotachess Rapid Rating Open 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/07/2024

Four players - GM Vaibhav Suri, GM Pranesh M, IM Ilamparthi A R and FM Ram Aravind L N scored 8/9 each at 2nd RCMIC Rotachess Rapid Rating Open 2024. Vaibhav became champion due to better tie-break score. The remaining three were placed second to fourth according to tie-breaks. Top three remained undefeated. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹600000. The top three prizes were ₹80000, ₹50000 and ₹40000 along with a trophy each. The tournament was organized by YMCA Madras Physical Activities Committee, Rotary Club of Madras Industrial City and T Nagar Chess Academy at YMCA Royapettah in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 23rd June 2024. Check out a huge report of the tournament with lots of photos, games, videos and few interviews. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Top four score 8/9

Only three players - GM Vaibhav Suri, GM Pranesh M and GM Mitrabha Guha were the leaders 7.5/8, going into the final round. Vaibhav drew with Pranesh to become the champion, Pranesh finished second. IM Ilamparthi A R defeated Mitrabha to finish third. FM Ram Aravind L N scored an impressive 8/9 to finish fourth. Despite losing the second round, Ram won his next seven games in-a-row to finish fourth. To get an inkling about the strength of the tournament - the defending champion GM Sethuraman S P scored 6.5/9 to finish at 38th place. Six out of nine participating GMs finished in top 13. The remaining three finished outside of the top 25.

Champion - GM Vaibhav Suri 8/9

Runner-up - GM Pranesh M 8/9

Second Runner-up - IM Ilamparthi A R 8/9

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd GM Pranesh M 8/9, 1st GM Vaibhav Suri 8/9 and 3rd IM Ilamparthi A R

GM Vaibhav Suri scored an unbeaten 8/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 4.3 Elo rating points

Round 3: Midilesh defends against Ilamparthi

Midilesh Ms (1751) defended well against IM Ilamparthi A R (2280). Midilesh had a knight for his opponent's five pawns in the endgame.

1751 resists with a knight against IM's four pawns in Rook Endgame - Ilamparthi v Midilesh

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J was paired against his sister WFM Rajasurya J. Deepan won the game

Kanishka S (1750) was clearly better against IM Harikrishnan A Ra (2253). She missed a great opportunity to win and the game ended in a draw.

Final moments: Kanishka S vs IM Harikrishnan A Ra

T Nagar Chess Academy made a nice gesture of distributing pre-owned chess books to players who score an upset or play a good game against titled players.

Kanishka S receiving 'Simple Checkmates' by A J Gillam from the Chief Arbiter - FA Rajaram Balasubramanian

Round 4: Sai Vishwesh stuns Sethuraman

Sai Vishwesh C (1984) stunned the defending champion - GM Sethuraman S P (2536). Sai's rapid rating might be low but his classical rating shows his actual strength. He is a former National Under-17 Open champion. So him upsetting the GM is not a huge surprise. He launched a brutal attack and left the GM's king stranded at the center.

Final moments: Sai Vishwesh C vs GM Sethuraman S P

Sai Vishwesh C scored the first big upset of the tournament by defeating the defending champion - GM Sethuraman S P

Sai Vishwesh C received the book - My Olympic Journey for his stellar win

Vijay Shreeram P (1899) and Sailesh R (1889) held GM Mitrabha Guha (2461) and GM Pa Iniyan (2439) to solid draws respectively.

Vijay Shreeram P - GM Mitrabha Guha: 0.5-0.5

GM Pa Iniyan - Sailesh R: 0.5-0.5

Round 5: Arpith S Bijoy puts up a tough fight against Vaibhav Suri

Arpith S Bijoy (2110) quite possibly put up the toughest challenge for GM Vaibhav Suri (2543) at the event. The teenager decided not to repeat moves at a position which seemed to be better for him from a human perspective. However, the computer disagrees.

Final moments: Arpith S Bijoy vs GM Vaibhav Suri | Video: ChessBase India

Sasvatha - Muthaiah

Black to play

The above position should end in a draw with a correct play. However, in less time it is not easy to be accurate all the time. WCM Sasvatha A (1712) made one tiny mistake against IM Muthaiah Al (2231). However, it went unnoticed. She also missed an opportunity to secure the draw and finish things much earlier.

Find the Needle in a Haystack - WCM Sasvatha v IM Muthaiah

Round 6: Sham made Pranesh earn his point

Sham R (2025) put up a good fight against GM Pranesh M (2473) where the former could have lost on multiple counts. He also had several chances to save the game.

Pranesh - Sham

Position after Kh4

It might seem like it is over for Black as the queen is fixed due to b8Q looming large. Thanks to the white king's awkward placement at h4, Black has an opportunity to fight back. Find out what it was.

Making a GM work in Queen endgame - GM Pranesh v Sham

Round 7: Mitrabha swindles Deepan

GM Mitrabha Guha (2461) had a difficult position for the better part of the game against GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2335) for the better part of the game. However, he kept fighting and aimed for one last trick.

Mitrabha - Deepan

Position after Rh1

37.Rh1 is one last attempt by White to swindle. Is it really over or can Black continue the fight?

Grandmaster Swindles with One Final Trick - GM Mitrabha v GM Deepan

Round 8: Mitrabha stuns Aravindh

GM Mitrabha Guha (2461) had an exciting battle against GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2545). Both players were aiming for their opponent's king.

Mitrabha - Aravindh

Position after 19.Nf6+!

18...Bh3?? turned out to be the decisive mistake by Black 19.Nf6+! Bxf6 20.Qxd6 Qe6 21.Qf8+ Kd7 22.Rfd1+ Rd4 23.Rxd4+ exd4 24.Qd6+ Qxd6 25.Bxh3+ Kc6 26.Bg2+ Kd7 27.Bxd6 Kxd6 28.gxf6 and it's over.

GM Mitrabha Guha defeated the top GM Aravindh Chithambaram to get into the title fray

IM Ilamparthi A R (2280) surprised GM Sethuraman S P (2536) with a 3..g5 surprise in the Sicilian Defense. The thrilling battle ended in a draw.

3...g5 in the Sicilian!? GM Sethuraman v IM Ilamparthi

Round 9: Vaibhav draws with Pranesh, Ilamparthi spoils the title for Mitrabha

GM Pranesh M and GM Vaibhav Suri made a quick Grandmaster draw in 20 moves. GM Mitrabha Guha needed to win against IM Ilamparthi A R to become the champion. Mitrabha lost, finished tenth and Ilamparthi was placed third. GM Laxman R R (2181) won a nice endgame against GM Sethuraman S P. It pushed Sethuraman to 38th place in the final standings.

Final moments: GM Laxman R R - GM Sethuraman S P

Prize distribution ceremony photos

4th Ram Aravind L N 8/9

5th IM Srihari L R 7.5/9

6th GM Aravindh Chithambaram 7.5/9

7th GM Pa Iniyan 7.5/9

8th FM Md. Imran 7.5/9

9th IM Srihari L 7.5/9

13th GM Laxman R R 7.5/9

14th IM Muthaiah Al 7.5/9

15th CM Aakash G 7.5/9

16th IM S Rohith Krishna 7/9

17th Vignesh B 7/9

Best Women 1st - WFM Bala Kannamma P 7/9

Best Women 2nd - Divyabharathi Masanam 7/9

Best Women 1st - WIM Priyanka K 6.5/9

Closing Ceremony

Photo Gallery

The joy that chess brings us is universal - GM Karthikeyan P and Leela Maheswari B

The participating GMs, IMs, Arbiters with the organizing team

Trophies for the prize winners

Top 40 boards played in an enclosure

The tournament hall at YMCA Royapettah in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

For more photos, please check out the album here. More game videos will be published soon, stay tuned.

Video Gallery

Rollercoaster finish to a bizarre endgame - Ajay Harshiv v Ram Alagappan

Pawn Race in a Rook Endgame can be Challenging - WIM Sahajasri v Mridav

Unbelievable finish in a winning Queen vs Rook Endgame - Anish v Vijay

Rook and Pawn vs Split Passed Pawn Race - Sakthivel v WIM Sahajasri

The man who has won Indian Postal Championship for 24 years - A L Kasi

"Our motto is to make the player really enjoy the tournament" - Srinivasa Rangan

The Organizing team of 2nd RCMIC Rotachess Rapid Rating Open 2024

A total of 582 players including 9 GMs, 15 IMs and 3 WIMs took part from various places across the country in this one-day nine-round Swiss League Rapid Rating Open tournament. The event was organized by YMCA Madras Physical Activities Committee, Rotary Club of Madras Industrial City and T Nagar Chess Academy at YMCA Royapettah in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 23rd June 2024. The time control of the tournament was 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	2	GM	Vaibhav Suri	S18	2543	8	55,5	60,5	52,75	7
2	4	GM	Pranesh M	S18	2473	8	53	57	49,25	7
3	10	IM	Ilamparthi A R		2280	8	50	54	47,00	7
4	27	FM	Ram Aravind L N	S18	2121	8	48	52	46,00	8
5	9	IM	Srihari L R	S18	2319	7,5	54	58,5	46,50	7
6	1	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	S18	2545	7,5	54	58	46,50	7
7	6	GM	Iniyan Pa	S18	2439	7,5	53,5	57,5	46,25	7
8	30	FM	Md Imran		2094	7,5	52,5	56,5	45,25	7
9	26	IM	Srihari L	S18	2140	7,5	51,5	56	44,75	7
10	5	GM	Mitrabha Guha	S18	2461	7,5	51,5	55	43,00	7
11	29		Arpith S Bijoy		2110	7,5	51	56	44,25	7
12	33	FM	John Veny Akkarakaran		2063	7,5	49,5	53,5	43,00	6
13	21	GM	Laxman R.R.	S18	2181	7,5	49	54	43,75	7
14	18	IM	Muthaiah Al	S18	2231	7,5	48	52,5	44,25	7
15	35	CM	Aakash G	U14	2040	7,5	48	52,5	42,00	7
16	12	IM	Rohith Krishna S	S18	2275	7	52,5	57	42,50	5
17	36	AGM	Vignesh B	S18	2037	7	52,5	57	42,00	7
18	32		Dinesh Rajan M	S18	2067	7	52	56,5	41,00	7
19	19	IM	Nitin S.	S18	2220	7	51	54,5	40,50	6
20	192		Prasanna Karthick M		1585	7	51	54	40,00	7
21	14	IM	Harikrishnan A Ra	S18	2253	7	50,5	55	42,25	6
22	56		Vijay Shreeram P	S18	1899	7	50,5	55	39,75	6
23	15	IM	Raahul V S	S18	2249	7	50,5	54,5	39,00	7
24	37		Sham R	S18	2025	7	50	54	38,50	7
25	40		Arjun C Krishnamachari	S18	1994	7	50	53	38,00	6
26	13	IM	Ravi Teja S.	S18	2257	7	49,5	52,5	39,50	7
27	17	GM	Karthikeyan P.	S18	2232	7	48,5	52,5	38,75	6
28	111	AFM	Karthick Sai P	U14	1720	7	48,5	52,5	37,50	7
29	45		Madhesh Kumar S	U14	1951	7	48,5	52,5	37,00	7
30	24	IM	Ratnakaran K.	S18	2144	7	47,5	52,5	33,00	7