Nandan Buragohain wins 5th Kurukshetra Open 2018 in Dibrugarh, Assam
Nandan Buragohain of Assam became the champion of the 5th Kurukshetra Open FIDE Rated Tournament by scoring of 8.0/9 points. He remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and gained 40 Elo rating points. Souradib Deb of Tripura scored 7.5/9 points and took the 2nd position adding 73 elo rating points. For the third position there was a seven way tie with 7.0/9 points each which was secured by RK Bhogen Singh of Manipur with better tie-break score. We bring you a detailed report of the event along with some exciting games. Photo: Arun Singh and Biswajit Bharadwaj.
Nandan Buragohain, head coach of Gauhati Town Club Chess Foundation, started the tournament as the 7th seed and delivered one of the finest performances of his life to clinch the title with a score of 8.0/9 points and remained unbeaten by winning 7 games and 2 draws. Going into the last round Nandan was paired against Projit Phukan of Railways and he was already a point ahead of the pack which means even a loss would have placed him as the joint champion. Enjoying a superior position he decided to settle the game in peace when his opponent offered him a draw at move 27. He gained 40 Elo rating points and also went home richer by Rs.30,000.
Starting as the 8th seed Souradip Deb of Tripura also performed admirably by winning 7 games which included a win over the top seed Y. Dhanabir Singh and also the 3rd seed Shantanu Borpatra Gohain. Both of them have been former North-East Champions. His only loss was against the tournament champion and he drew one game against the current Assam champion Soram Rahul Singh. A very successful tourney for Souradip who won Rs. 22,000 and also pumped up his rating by 73 elo rating points.
RK Bhogen Singh of Manipur started the event as the 2nd seed and he was leading in the first half with 5.0/5 points, a draw in the 6th round against 3rd seed Shantanu Borpatra Gohain allowed Nandan to catch him in the race and the 7th round didn't go as per plan as he was outplayed by Nandan in a tactical battle which lasted for 26 moves. There was a 7 way tie for the 3rd place with 7.0/9 points each which was won by RK Bhogen Singh with better tie-break score and he went home with Rs.18,000.
Here is a game by the champion from the 7th round where he employed the Pirc Defense against the 2nd seed RK Bhogen Singh, a battle for the lead.
If you too would like to learn the Pirc Defence we have two highly powerful resources for you:
1. Viktor Bologan's ChessBase DVD on the Pirc
2. Mihail Marin's Quality Chess book on the Pirc
Also we have a game by Souradip Deb from the last round where he outplayed former North-East Champion and 3rd seed Shantanu Borpatra Gohain of Assam to take the 2nd position.
The tournament was organised by Guardians of Greater Dibrugarh Chess Players in collaboration with DHSK College, Dibrugarh and in support of DDCA, it took place in DHSK College, Dibrugarh, Assam from 25th to 30th April, 2018. A total of 163 players from 10 different states and 1 foreign player participated in this event out of which 104 were rated players. Director of the tournament was Dr. Intikabur Rahman and the Chief Arbiter was IA Asit Baran Choudhury who was assisted by M Arun Singh (Dy. Chief), NA Manik Dutta and NA Swaraj Buragohain. Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Aruna Rajoria was the chief guest at the closing ceremony along with Mr. Reep Hajarika, chief general manager of operation and management, BCPL.
Dibrugarh is an industrial city surrounded by sprawling tea estates in Assam, northeast India. It sits on the Brahmaputra River, and is home to the Radha Krishna Mandir, a Hindu temple constructed of marble. Hitendranath Barua Science and Culture Park features life-size animal sculptures and an open-air stage. Northeast of the city, Dibru Saikhowa National Park is an island reserve that attracts many migratory birds. | Source: Wikipidea
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
| 1 | 7 | Nandan Buragohain | IND | 1859 | ASM | 8,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 54,5 | 48,25 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5,97 | 2,03 | 20 | 40,6 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Souradip Deb | IND | 1829 | TRI | 7,5 | 0,0 | 51,5 | 56,5 | 45,00 | 7 | 9 | 7,5 | 5,66 | 1,84 | 40 | 73,6 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Singh Bhogen R K | IND | 2038 | MANI | 7,0 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 55,5 | 40,75 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7,24 | -0,24 | 20 | -4,8 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Projit Phukon | IND | 1906 | ASM | 7,0 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 55,0 | 41,50 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 6,95 | 0,05 | 20 | 1,0 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Ahmed Feroz | BAN | 1932 | BAN | 7,0 | 0,0 | 49,5 | 54,0 | 39,50 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7,35 | -0,35 | 20 | -7,0 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Singh Soram Rahul | IND | 1911 | ASM | 7,0 | 0,0 | 48,0 | 52,0 | 38,25 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 6,95 | 0,05 | 20 | 1,0 | |||
| 7 | 14 | Cheniram Pegu | IND | 1694 | ASM | 7,0 | 0,0 | 46,0 | 50,0 | 38,25 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7,88 | -0,88 | 20 | -17,6 | |||
| 8 | 78 | Jitabrata Nath | U13 | IND | 1208 | ASM | 7,0 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 48,0 | 37,00 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 1,58 | 4,42 | 40 | 176,8 | ||
| 9 | 1 | Singh Y. Dhanabir | IND | 2109 | MANI | 7,0 | 0,0 | 43,5 | 47,5 | 34,00 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8,16 | -1,16 | 20 | -23,2 | |||
| 10 | 11 | Mughaho Awomi | IND | 1749 | NAGA | 6,5 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 55,5 | 38,00 | 6 | 9 | 6,5 | 5,18 | 1,32 | 20 | 26,4 | |||
| 11 | 3 | Santanu Borpatra Gohain | IND | 1977 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 49,5 | 53,5 | 36,00 | 5 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,96 | -0,46 | 20 | -9,2 | |||
| 12 | 12 | Rintu Brahma | IND | 1748 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,5 | 34,00 | 6 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,81 | -0,31 | 20 | -6,2 | |||
| 13 | 9 | Subhajit Dhar | IND | 1786 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 50,5 | 34,75 | 5 | 9 | 6,5 | 7,04 | -0,54 | 20 | -10,8 | |||
| 14 | 24 | Tuhin Kashyap | IND | 1559 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 46,5 | 49,5 | 32,25 | 6 | 8 | 5,5 | 4,07 | 1,43 | 40 | 57,2 | |||
| 15 | 16 | Iftikar Alom Mazumdar | IND | 1693 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,5 | 47,0 | 31,00 | 6 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,46 | 0,04 | 20 | 0,8 | |||
| 16 | 30 | Gautam Chakravarty | IND | 1499 | MEG | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 45,5 | 30,75 | 5 | 8 | 5,5 | 5,00 | 0,50 | 20 | 10,0 | |||
| 17 | 17 | Manthan Kashyap Datta | U13 | IND | 1691 | ASM | 6,5 | 0,0 | 40,5 | 43,5 | 28,50 | 6 | 8 | 5,5 | 6,61 | -1,11 | 40 | -44,4 | ||
| 18 | 13 | Dhrupad Kashyap | U13 | IND | 1746 | ASM | 6,0 | 0,0 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 34,75 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5,42 | 0,58 | 40 | 23,2 | ||
| 19 | 37 | Mukesh Kumar | IND | 1411 | BIH | 6,0 | 0,0 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 31,50 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3,52 | 1,48 | 40 | 59,2 | |||
| 20 | 19 | Sukhavi Achumi | IND | 1672 | NAGA | 6,0 | 0,0 | 48,0 | 52,0 | 32,00 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7,26 | -1,26 | 20 | -25,2 |
About the author:
Nongsha Angom is an aspiring chess player who fell in love with the royal game only two years ago in 2015. When he is not playing chess, he loves playing the guitar and the flute. He also has a 2nd DAN black belt in Manchurian Kung Fu and a black belt in Taekwondo. His aim is to establish himself as a chess player and play chess for the rest of his life while simultaneously promoting chess in North East India. Currently, he is the editor and broadcast expert for ChessBase India.