Viani Antonio Dcunha victorious at 26th RCC Blitz Rated Champions Trophy 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/11/2025

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha and IM Sathvik Adiga scored 24.5/30 each at 26th RCC Blitz Rated Champions Trophy 2025. Viani became champion, Sathvik second. Mandar Pradip Lad scored sole 23/30 to finish third. Viani and Sathvik traded wins against each other in this double Round-Robin event. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹50000. The top three prizes were ₹20000, ₹15000 and ₹7500 along with a trophy each. The tournament was only meant for wall of fame winners. The one-day double Round-Robin Blitz Rating tournament was organized by and at Rao's Chess Corner in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 1st November 2025. This is Viani's second tournament triumph of the year. Both of them were Blitz Rating tournaments by RCC. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Viani's second tournament triumph of the year

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha had a relatively slow start. He scored only 4/7 in the first seven games. Then he had a five-game winning streak from round 8 to 12, after that two double hat-trick winning streaks from round 18 to 23 and 25 to 30. The fantastic finish of scoring 12.5/13 in the last 13 games helped him become the champion. IM Sathvik Adiga started his tournament with a double hat-trick of wins. Then he went on to have an eleven-game winning streak from round 10 to 20 which is the longest of the event and an impressive one. Karnataka's first WIM Isha Sharma, one of the head coaches with his better half IM Sharan Rao, became India's latest Woman Grandmaster 12 days after the conclusion of the event. It will be mentioned in detail in a separate report.

Champion - IM Viani Antonio Dcunha 24.5/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Runner-up - IM Sathvik Adiga 24.5/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Second Runner-up - Mandar Pradip Lad 23/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd IM Sathvik Adiga 24.5/30, 1st IM Viani Antonio Dcunha 24.5/30 and 3rd Mandar Pradip Lad 23/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Viani in action | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

After a Tough start, IM Viani Antonio Dcunha made a fantastic finish by scoring 12.5/13 in the last 13 rounds including two streaks of double hat-trick of wins

4th Dr. Prajwal P Shet 22.5/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

5th IM Ratnakaran K 21.5/30 | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Karnataka's strong chess couple and Rao's Chess Corner Head Coaches - IM Sharan Rao and WIM Isha Sharma who became Karnataka's latest WGM in less than a fortnight after this event | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

The tournament took place at Rao's Chess Corner in Mangaluru, Karnataka | Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

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A total of 16 players took part from the wall of fame winners. The one-day double Round-Robin Blitz Rating tournament was organized by and at Rao's Chess Corner in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 1st November 2025. The time control of the event was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	1	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	IND	2387	24,5	323,75	22
2	6	IM	Sathvik, Adiga	IND	2103	24,5	321,5	23
3	4		Lad, Mandar Pradip	IND	2285	23	279,75	22
4	7		Shet, Prajwal P	IND	2051	22,5	292,25	21
5	2	IM	Ratnakaran, K.	IND	2321	21,5	263,75	20
6	9		Siddhanth, Poonja	IND	1980	21	255,25	20
7	3	IM	Sharan, Rao	IND	2299	18,5	224,25	17
8	15	FM	Aarav, Sarbalia	IND	1715	18	198,25	15
9	8		Augustin, A	IND	2000	15	158,5	15
10	12		Dhanush, Ram M	IND	1773	11,5	85,25	11
11	5	WIM	Sharma, Isha	IND	2164	9	86,5	7
12	10	AGM	Lakshith, B Salian	IND	1905	7,5	59,25	7
13	11		Leelajai, Krishna N	IND	1802	6,5	66,5	5
14	13		Rudra, Rajeev	IND	1768	6	73	3
15	14		Anshul, Panicker	IND	1759	6	39,75	4
16	16		Angada, H P	IND	1683	5	48,5	4