C R G Krishna wins 21st Chefchaouen Open 2025, Diptayan second and Bala Chandra Prasad third

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/08/2025

IM C R G Krishna, GM Diptayan Ghosh and IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 each at 21st Chefchaouen International Chess Festival Rating Open 2025. C R G Krishna won the tournament due to better tie-break scores, Diptayan and Bala Chandra secured second and third place respectively. The champion C R G drew with the eventual runner-up, Diptayan in the fourth round. Top three prizes were MAD 16000, 12000 and 10000 along with a trophy each. Fourth position was also claimed by an Indian, one of the latest GMs of India - Harikrishnan A Ra. He scored 7/9. Diptayan won the Blitz Open scoring an unbeaten 10/11. Bala Chandra scored sole 9.5/11 to finish second. This was C R G's second overall, first Classical rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Association Alwan Fannia

Indians claim top four in Classical; Diptayan dominates Blitz Open, Bala Chandra Prasad second

India's 87th Grandmaster - Harikrishnan A Ra was the sole leader 7/8, heading into the final round. Five players - IM C R G Krishna, GM Diptayan Ghosh, GM Aleksa Strikovic (SRB), IM Raul Claverie (ARG) and IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla were trailing by a half point at 6.5/8 each. C R G defeated Raul to win the tournament. Diptayan won against Aleksa to finish second. Bala Chandra scored a full point against Harikrishnan to claim third place. This was C R G's first visit to Morocco and Africa and he made it memorable by winning the tournament. An interview with him on this triumph will be published soon.

Champion - IM C R G Krishna 7.5/9 | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia

The former National Rapid and Blitz champion, GM Diptayan Ghosh scored 10/11, remained undefeated to win the Blitz Open event. IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla scored 9.5/11 to secure second place. GM Aleksa Strikovic (SRB) was third 8.5/11.

Runner-up - GM Diptayan Ghosh 7.5/9 | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia

Second Runner-up - IM Bala Chandra Prasad 7.5/9 | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia

The top four finishers in the Classical Open event | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia

C R G Krishna scored an unbeaten 7.5/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 7.2 Elo rating points

IM C R G Krishna explored the beautiful ''Blue Pearl of Morocco' - Chefchaouen | Photos: C R G Krishna

World class player GM Anish Giri (NED) played simultaneous games against various players | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia d'Échecs - Chefchaouen

Anish Giri signed the trophies for the festival team event | Photo: Association Alwan Fannia d'Échecs - Chefchaouen

A total of 160 players including 4 GMs and 7 IMs took part from 10 countries across the world in the Classical Rating event. The seven-day nine round Rating Open was organized by Association Alwan Fannia des Echecs de Chefchaouen at Youth Center – Chefchaouen in Chefchaouen, Morocco from 16th to 22nd July 2025. The time control was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Final standings in Classical Rating Open

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	4	IM	Krishna, C R G				IND	2450	7,5	59,5	33	48,8	6	0	10	7,2
2	1	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan				IND	2576	7,5	57	33	46	6	0	10	0,1
3	5	IM	Dhulipalla Bala, Chandra Prasad				IND	2403	7,5	56	31,5	45,8	6	0	10	8,7
4	3	IM	Harikrishnan, .A.Ra				IND	2465	7	58,5	33	43,5	6	0	10	6,3
5	2	GM	Larino Nieto, David				ESP	2472	7	53	30	40,8	5	0	10	-9
6	10	IM	Hernando Rodrigo, Jose Maria	S50			ESP	2239	7	48	26	35,5	6	0	10	5,8
7	8	IM	Claverie, Raul				ARG	2274	6,5	55,5	31,5	37,8	6	0	10	1,9
8	7	GM	Strikovic, Aleksa	S50			SRB	2375	6,5	55	31,5	37	6	0	10	3,2
9	9	GM	Djuric, Stefan	S65			SRB	2253	6,5	54,5	27,5	37,3	5	0	10	0,7
10	19		Hadj Kholti, Yasser				MAR	2128	6,5	52	29,5	37	4	0	20	16,2
11	13	FM	Bentefrit, Samir	S50			MAR	2196	6,5	51,5	29	34,3	6	0	20	10,4
12	21	CM	Becham, Khalid				MAR	2107	6,5	51	28,5	34,5	5	0	20	17
13	45		Roudi, Adnan				MAR	1926	6,5	47,5	24,5	31,8	6	0	40	26
14	22		Akhrof, Lissandine	S50			MAR	2099	6,5	47,5	22,5	31,3	6	0	20	9,8
15	20	CM	Benaddi, Mouhcine				MAR	2112	6,5	45	20,5	31,5	4	0	20	-3,6

Details

A total of 161 players including 5 GMs and 7 IMs took part from 10 countries across the world in the Blitz Open event. The one-day nine round Blitz Open was organized by Association Alwan Fannia des Echecs de Chefchaouen at Youth Center – Chefchaouen in Chefchaouen, Morocco on 17th July 2025. The time control was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.

Final standings in Blitz Open

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan		IND	2517	10	86	54,5	77,8	9
2	8	IM	Dhulipalla Bala, Chandra Prasad		IND	2360	9,5	84,5	55	70,3	9
3	4	GM	Strikovic, Aleksa	S50	SRB	2469	8,5	87,5	55	64,5	8
4	2	GM	Larino Nieto, David		ESP	2491	8,5	86	54	62,5	8
5	6	IM	Harikrishnan, .A.Ra		IND	2439	8,5	82,5	51	59,8	8
6	19	CM	Becham, Khalid		MAR	2059	8,5	77,5	49,5	57,3	8
7	9	IM	Buscara, Sevan		FRA	2342	8	82,5	51,5	55,3	7
8	5	IM	Claverie, Raul		ARG	2465	8	82	51	55	7
9	3	GM	Le Roux, Jean-Pierre		FRA	2476	8	79,5	51	54,5	7
10	10	GM	Djuric, Stefan	S65	SRB	2251	8	76	48,5	53	7

Details

Links

Alwan Fannia Chess Association: Official site, fb page and instagram

Tournament details