12-year-old Kushagra Jain triumphs at 1st TMCA Rating Open 2022
12-year-old Kushagra Jain scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 1st TMCA Rating Open 2022. Three players including the top seed, IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni scored 7.5/9 each. Vikramaditya, and Viresh Sharnarthi were placed second and third respectively according to tie-breaks. 12-year-old Kalyani Sirin is the highest finisher among female participants. She finished fourth overall with a score of 7.5/9 and won the first prize in Rating Category 1301-1600. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹250000. The top three prizes were ₹40000, ₹25000 and ₹15000 along with a trophy each. The six-day Rating tournament was organized by Tactical Moves Chess Academy. It was their first Rating tournament and they did it without having any sponsor. Photo: Tactical Moves Chess Academy
Kushagra's first Rating tournament triumph
Kushagra Jain won the tournament at a tender age of 12, scoring an impressive 8/9 and remained undefeated. Four players were at 7/8 heading into the final round. They were - Arpan Das, Shrayan Majumder, Viresh Sharnarthi and Kushagra. Despite having the lowest tie-breaks and black pieces in the last round, Kushagra overcame all odds and beat Arpan to become champion. It was his only way to win the tournament and the remaining two results also worked out in his favor.
T V Subramanian scored an impressive 5/9 to secure third prize in the Best Veteran category.
The Chief Guest of the Inauguration Ceremony was Niranjan Godbole, Hon. Secretary, Maharashtra Chess Association. The tournament director FI Pratik Mulay, IA Nitin Shenvi, IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni were present. Shripad Joshi was the presenter.
Chief Arbiter IA Nitin Shenvi, FA Atharva Godbole, Deputy Chief Arbiter, FA Milind Naik, SNA Sarika Sable, Mrs. Gayatri Kulkarni, Mr Nitin Undale were also present for inaugural move.
This was the first ever rating tournament in PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation).
Sachin Chinchwade - Corporator and ex-Mayor of PCMC was Chief Guest of prize distribution ceremony. The Guest of honour were Khandushet Chinchwade - Owner of Chinchwade Lawns, Rajendra Gawade - Corporator and Yogesh Chinchwade - BJP town leader. FI Pratik Mulay, Organiser and Founder of Tactical Moves Chess Academy were present along with Shripad Joshi and IA Nitin Shenvi, Chief Arbiter. Shripad was the presenter at the closing ceremony too.
A special thanks to Tactical Moves Chess Academy for sharing the photos and information about the tournament.
A total of 218 players including an IM took part from various parts of India. The six-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Tactical Moves Chess Academy. It took place at Chinchwade Lawns in Pune, Maharashtra from 15th to 20th November 2022. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 11 | Jain Kushagra | U13 | PCMC | 1601 | 8 | 45,5 | 50 | 44,75 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 2 | 1 | IM | Kulkarni Vikramaditya | 2310 | 7,5 | 51 | 56 | 45,50 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Sharnarthi Viresh | U13 | 1742 | 7,5 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 44,00 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 15 | Kalyani Sirin | U13 | w | 1566 | 7,5 | 47 | 51,5 | 41,25 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Arpan Das | 2044 | 7 | 54 | 59 | 44,75 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 6 | 3 | Majumder Shrayan | 1799 | 7 | 53 | 57 | 41,75 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 7 | 5 | Gaikwad Manas | U13 | 1738 | 7 | 49 | 54 | 39,50 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 13 | Sachi Jain | U13 | w | 1581 | 7 | 49 | 52 | 37,00 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Roneet Das | PCMC | 1683 | 7 | 48,5 | 53,5 | 40,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 10 | 32 | Aditya Saxena | U13 | PCMC | 1385 | 7 | 43,5 | 47,5 | 33,00 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 42 | Anish Naik | 1328 | 7 | 41,5 | 45,5 | 35,75 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 12 | 51 | Salunke Siddhant | U11 | PCMC | 1300 | 7 | 41,5 | 43 | 31,50 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 13 | 14 | Sherla Prathamesh | U11 | 1577 | 6,5 | 50 | 53,5 | 35,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 14 | 22 | Khedkar Prasad | 1447 | 6,5 | 47 | 51 | 34,75 | 0 | 5 | ||||
| 15 | 17 | Vakcheri Mohitha | w | 1535 | 6,5 | 46 | 50,5 | 34,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 16 | 16 | Sharnarthi Shlok | U13 | 1547 | 6,5 | 46 | 50 | 34,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 17 | 31 | Avirat Chauhan | U09 | 1389 | 6,5 | 46 | 49,5 | 32,75 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 18 | 26 | Soni Atharv | U11 | 1427 | 6,5 | 44,5 | 48 | 31,75 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 19 | 52 | Shaashvat Gupta | U11 | 1299 | 6,5 | 43 | 45,5 | 29,00 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 20 | 36 | Nihira Koul | U11 | w | 1369 | 6,5 | 42 | 45 | 31,00 | 0 | 5 |
