Harshad wins Azure All India Rapid Rating Open 2022
FM S Harshad scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Azure All India Rapid Rating Open 2022. He finished a half point ahead of the field. FM Harsh Suresh and Gugan G scored 8/9 each. They secured second and third place according to tie-breaks. They all remained undefeated. Fourth place finisher Kanishk S K also remained unbeaten. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹30000, ₹20000 and ₹15000 along with a trophy each. This was Harshad's first-ever Rapid Rating Open tournament triumph. Back in June, Harshad won two Golds and a Bronze at Western Asia Under-18 Open 2022. Photo: Jayashree P K/Azure Chess Institute
Teenagers claim the podium
All top four finishers of this event were born in 2003 or after. WFM Jyothsna L was the top female finisher. She scored 7/9 to finish at 12th place overall.
The guests present at the inauguration ceremony were - M Tamil Vanan, Correspondent of AVB Matriculation Higher Secondary School, M Subbulakshmi, Principal of AVB Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Advocate P Kannan, Advisor of Azure, Dr. IA G G Sathiesh, Chief Arbiter and Joint Secretary of CDCA, Akshaya N, Azure Secretary and Jayashree P K, President of Azure Chess Institute.
The organizers felicitated FM S Harshad at the inauguration ceremony for qualifying to the recently concluded World Youth Under-16 Open held in Mamaia, Romania, World Youth Under-16 Olympiad at Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Asian Youth Under-16 Open starting tomorrow in Bali, Indonesia and also future World Youth events in which he has qualified.
The guests present at the closing ceremony were - S Intikhab Alam, CDCA Vice President, IA V Vijayaraghavan, TNSCA Joint Secretary and CDCA Vice President, K Dhanaasekar, CDCA Secretary, M Vinoth Kumar, CDCA Joint Secretary, Dr. IA G G Sathiesh, CDCA Joint Secretary, Santhosh S, CEO of Chess Era, V Mahesh Kumar, Owner of Zig Zag, Advocate P Kannan, Azure Advisor, Akshaya Nandhaakumar, Azure Chess Institute Secretary, Jayashhree P K, President of Azure Chess Institute.
A special thanks to Jayashree P K, President of Azure Chess Institute for sharing the photos and providing valuable information about the tournament.
A total of 399 players including an IM took part from various parts of the country in this two-day nine-round Swiss League Rapid Rating tournament. The event was organized by Azure Chess Institute at AVB Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu on 24th and 25th September 2022. The time control of the event was 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 18 | FM | Harshad S | IND | 1696 | Tn_c | 8,5 | 52 | 55,5 | 51,50 | 0 | 8 | |
| 2 | 8 | FM | Harsh Suresh | IND | 1862 | TN | 8 | 51,5 | 56,5 | 49,50 | 0 | 7 | |
| 3 | 22 | Gugan G | IND | 1573 | TN | 8 | 49 | 50,5 | 43,75 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 26 | Kanishk S K | IND | 1493 | TN | 7,5 | 50,5 | 55 | 44,50 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Prasannaa.S | IND | 2054 | TN | 7,5 | 50,5 | 54 | 44,00 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 9 | Mohamed Ibrahim U | IND | 1854 | TN | 7,5 | 50 | 54,5 | 44,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 17 | Dhanasekar K. | IND | 1749 | Tn_c | 7,5 | 49,5 | 52 | 41,75 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 40 | Satheesh Kumar G | IND | 1380 | TN | 7,5 | 49 | 54 | 43,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Joy Lazar M.A. | IND | 2005 | KL | 7 | 54,5 | 58,5 | 42,75 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 10 | 20 | Aakash G | IND | 1639 | TN | 7 | 54 | 58 | 42,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 16 | IM | Ramnathan Balasubramaniam | IND | 1780 | TN | 7 | 52,5 | 53,5 | 39,50 | 0 | 7 | |
| 12 | 11 | WFM | Jyothsna L | w | IND | 1850 | TN | 7 | 52 | 56 | 42,00 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 | 4 | Vigneshwaran N. | IND | 2023 | Tn_c | 7 | 52 | 56 | 41,00 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 14 | 2 | Anilkumar O.T. | IND | 2113 | KL | 7 | 51,5 | 56 | 39,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 15 | 10 | Barath Kalyan M | IND | 1853 | TN | 7 | 50 | 53,5 | 40,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 16 | 50 | Nirmal L | IND | 1304 | Tn_c | 7 | 50 | 53 | 38,50 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 14 | AGM | Sa Kannan | IND | 1833 | TN | 7 | 49 | 53 | 38,00 | 0 | 7 | |
| 18 | 29 | Srihari K R | IND | 1462 | TN | 7 | 48,5 | 53 | 39,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 19 | 24 | Lakshmi Raja Perumal K | IND | 1512 | TN | 7 | 48,5 | 50,5 | 37,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 28 | Subramanian V | IND | 1464 | TN | 7 | 48 | 52 | 37,00 | 0 | 7 |
