Kumar Gaurav superb at 1st Sakatam Rating Open 2024
Kumar Gaurav scored an unbeaten 9/10 to win 1st Sakatam Rating Open 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the field. IM Kaustuv Kundu, Kishan Kumar and Tanmay Rajbongshi scored 8.5/10 each. They secured second to fourth place according to tie-breaks. Kumar defeated Kaustuv in the penultimate round. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹550000. It is the highest ever for a tournament in Northeast India. The top three prizes were ₹100000, ₹70000 and ₹50000 along with a trophy each respectively. The six-day rating tournament was organized by HBM Society and Northeast Chess India from 23rd to 28th March 2024 at Royal Global School in Guwahati, Assam. This is Kumar's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: FA Ravi Kant Tiwari/Northeast Chess India
Kumar's first rating tournament victory in 2024
Kumar Gaurav and Y Dhanabir Singh were the coleaders 8/9 heading into the final round. Kumar defeated Dhanabir to become a clear champion. Top seed IM Kaustuv Kundu won against his statemate Srijon Saha and Kishan Kumar defeated local boy Mrinmoy Rajkhowa to secure second and third place respectively. WIM Chandreyee Hajra was having a fantastic tournament. She was at 7.5/9 when she faced Tanmay Rabongshi in the last round. Tanmay won the game, finished the event with an unbeaten 8.5/10 to finish fourth. He is the youngest finisher among top five and also the best finisher among Assam chess players. A last round loss pushed Chandreyee out of top ten. She secured 12th place and she is also the highest female finisher of the event.
"I won the 1st Sakatam Open International Chess Tournament held in Assam. Received Cash of ₹1 lac and a beautiful trophy. There were 350+ players who were participating in this tournament. I was unbeaten throughout the tournament and scored 9 points out of 10 rounds and increased 33 crucial elo points and my rating reaches up to 2082. And, I am telling you about the tournament game experience. I faced my crucial match that is the second last round against strong West Bengal IM Kaustuv Kundu and I am playing with the black pieces. After winning my crucial second last round then I was facing Y Dhanabir Singh with the white pieces and at some point he offered me a draw and at that moment I was thinking about taking his draw offer. But psychologically, the second last round win against an IM boosted my confidence. So, this time I thought, let's try playing a little more. The position is also good (not losing anyway). Then I won eventually, but I honestly had taken a lot of pressure to win the last round. So, it's like Risk Big, Win Big moment for me. And, finally special big thanks to the organisers and beloved staff members who made this possible via organising such a great tournament! It would be my honour to be part of such a great tournament hall, venue, city of Assam and beloved people. Looking forward to a more upcoming positive approach from the organisers!" - The tournament champion, Kumar Gaurav shared his experience of winning the event.
Krishna Hazarika Roy, DGM of Oil India Ltd. was the Chief Guest of the closing ceremony in presence of Dr. Dillip Kumar Panda, Principal, Royal Global School, Jitu Talukdar, Add. Director of Assam Petrochemical Ltd., Jayanta Sarma, Working President of Assam Chamber of Commerce, Ashok Talukdar, Coordinator of Sports, Royal Global School, Dhiraj Datta, Social Activist, Arup Kumar Nath, President of the Tournament and other guests.
Kumar - Kaustuv, Round 9
IM Kaustuv Kundu (2388) sacrificed a pawn in the opening, for which he did not get any compensation. He later managed to equalize and after a back and forth battle, the game arrived at an above position. Kumar Gaurav (2049) played 34.Ne5. Where should Black move his queen? 34...Qd5? which was played in the game is a blunder as 35.Nd7 drops an exchange for Black. Instead, 34...Qxe6 was the best way to proceed. 35.Nc6 Qxa2+ 36.Rc2 Qxc2+ 37.Qxc2 Rxe1 38.Kxe1 bxc6 and this is far better than what happened. Black can build a fortress by putting his rook on g6.
The tournament was inaugurated by. Dr Sanjive Narain CMD of Parag Network. Also present on the occasion were Mrinmoy Hazarika, Ananta Goswami and Sanjib Das, President, Secretary and Treasurer of HBM Society and host of players and guests.
For more photos, please click here.
Thanks to the Deputy Chief Arbiter - FA Ravi Kant Tiwari for sharing photos and information.
A total of 356 players including two IMs and a WIM took part from all over the country and one from Denmark in this six-day ten round Rating Open tournament. It was organized by HBM Society and Northeast Chess India at Royal Global School in Guwahati, Assam from 23rd to 28th March 2024. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
Replay all available games
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Kumar Gaurav | 2049 | BR | 9 | 64 | 69 | 61,25 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 33,4 | ||||
| 2 | 1 | Kaustuv Kundu | 2388 | WB | 8,5 | 66 | 71 | 57,00 | 0 | 8 | 10 | -5,9 | ||||
| 3 | 15 | Kishan Kumar | 1867 | BR | 8,5 | 66 | 68 | 55,00 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 66,6 | ||||
| 4 | 11 | Tanmay Rajbongshi | U13 | 1909 | AS | 8,5 | 60 | 65 | 55,75 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 52,4 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Subhayan Kundu | 2353 | WB | 8 | 66,5 | 71 | 55,00 | 0 | 7 | 20 | -18,6 | ||||
| 6 | 8 | Singh Y. Dhanabir | 1996 | MN | 8 | 66,5 | 71 | 54,00 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 26,8 | ||||
| 7 | 2 | Arpan Das (Jr) | 2374 | WB | 8 | 65 | 70 | 54,75 | 0 | 6 | 10 | -16 | ||||
| 8 | 5 | Balkishan A. | 2108 | KA | 8 | 65 | 69,5 | 53,00 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 12,2 | ||||
| 9 | 27 | Madkar Atharva | 1788 | MH | 8 | 59,5 | 65 | 49,00 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 41 | ||||
| 10 | 32 | Sagnik Halder | U13 | 1750 | WB | 8 | 57 | 60 | 46,00 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 66 | |||
| 11 | 4 | IM | Mishra Neeraj-Kumar | S50 | 2150 | JH | 7,5 | 62,5 | 68,5 | 49,00 | 0 | 6 | 10 | -17,4 | ||
| 12 | 10 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | S17 | w | 1912 | WB | 7,5 | 62,5 | 67,5 | 47,00 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 12 | |
| 13 | 21 | Mayukh Majumder | U13 | 1833 | WB | 7,5 | 62,5 | 66,5 | 45,50 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 23,6 | |||
| 14 | 24 | Srijon Saha | 1812 | WB | 7,5 | 62 | 66,5 | 46,75 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 79,6 | ||||
| 15 | 9 | Arpan Das | 1987 | WB | 7,5 | 61,5 | 67 | 47,00 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 1,4 | ||||
| 16 | 19 | Adhiraj Mitra | U13 | 1840 | JH | 7,5 | 61 | 65 | 47,50 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 52,4 | |||
| 17 | 37 | Snehaal Roy | 1738 | AS | 7,5 | 59,5 | 63,5 | 44,75 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 82 | ||||
| 18 | 31 | Nalinakhya Kashyap | 1755 | AS | 7,5 | 59 | 64,5 | 47,50 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 58,8 | ||||
| 19 | 56 | Ananga Harsha Borthakur | 1683 | AS | 7,5 | 53,5 | 58 | 41,00 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 28,4 | ||||
| 20 | 13 | Mrinmoy Rajkhowa | 1901 | AS | 7 | 64,5 | 69,5 | 44,50 | 0 | 6 | 40 | 42 | ||||
| 21 | 30 | AFM | Parambrata Sarkar | U13 | 1755 | WB | 7 | 61,5 | 65,5 | 40,00 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 62,8 | ||
| 22 | 18 | Abhrojyoty Nath | 1845 | AS | 7 | 61 | 65,5 | 41,50 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 13,2 | ||||
| 23 | 23 | Ashutosh Kumar | 1825 | BR | 7 | 60,5 | 63,5 | 40,50 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 10,8 | ||||
| 24 | 14 | Singh Soram Rahul | 1898 | AS | 7 | 59 | 64 | 36,00 | 0 | 6 | 20 | -25 | ||||
| 25 | 76 | Ankit Das | U11 | 1609 | WB | 7 | 58,5 | 63 | 41,50 | 0 | 6 | 40 | 85,2 | |||
| 26 | 33 | WCM | Arshiya Das | w | 1741 | TR | 7 | 57,5 | 62 | 40,00 | 0 | 6 | 40 | 50,4 | ||
| 27 | 12 | Sudharsan Krishnan | 1904 | DEN | 7 | 56,5 | 60,5 | 41,25 | 0 | 6 | 20 | -30,2 | ||||
| 28 | 25 | Rituraj Borgohain | 1798 | AS | 7 | 56,5 | 60,5 | 39,50 | 0 | 7 | 20 | -19,4 | ||||
| 29 | 46 | AFM | Abhigyan Goswami | 1711 | AS | 7 | 56 | 61,5 | 40,75 | 0 | 6 | 40 | 5,6 | |||
| 30 | 20 | Soumick Bandopadhyay | 1834 | WB | 7 | 56 | 60,5 | 38,75 | 0 | 6 | 40 | -3,2 |
Links
Northeast Chess India: Official site, fb page
