Neelash Saha clinches LBHM Chess Festival Rating Open for the third consecutive year
IM Neelash Saha won 14th LBHM Rating Open 2025 part of Late Bharatbai Halkude Memorial Chess Festival 2025. Neelash dominated the tournament with a perfect score 9/9 and finished a whopping 1.5 points ahead of the rest. Six players - IM Aaryan Varshney, Shrayan Majumder, Viresh Sharnarthi, Badrinath S, Arijit Ghosh and CM Prathamesh Sherla scored 7.5/9 each. They secured second to seventh place according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the entire festival was ₹3033000, for Classical Rating tournament it was ₹123300. The top three prizes were ₹135000, ₹100000 and ₹51000 along with a trophy each respectively. This is the third consecutive year Neelash has won this event. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Neelash dominates with a perfect score 9/9
Top seed of the tournament, IM Neelash Saha made a blazing start by winning eight games in-a-row. He had a full point lead going into the final round. Shaunak Badole was the only player trailing him at 7/8. Neelash defeated Shaunak in the final round to win the tournament with a 100% score. Atharv Soni lost to IM Aaryan Varshney who secured second place. Shrayan Majumder won against Maras Sahejveer Singh to finish third.
Neelash has won this event for the third consecutive time - 2023, 2024 and now in 2025. He bettered his last two years score by winning all nine games.
From L to R: Guest of Honor - Dr. A P Pandhare, Mr Vivek Bhagwat, Chairman, PCMCA, Guest of Honor - Mr. S D Lokhande, Mr Rajendra Konde, Joint Secretary, Maharashtra Chess Association, Chief Guest - Mr Aniket Chavan, Chairamn, Mrs. Vandana Halkude, Organizer and Chief Organizer - Mr. Nagnath Halkude.
From L to R: Mr. Rajendra Konde, Dr. S D Lokhande, Dr. Dinkar Hambarde, Mr. Vivek Bhagwat, Mr. Aniket Chavan, Mr. Nagnath Halkude and Mrs. Vandana Halkude.
Thanks to IA Nitin Shenvi, for sharing photographs and information about the tournament.
A total of 473 players including two IMs took part from various parts of the country, one from Sri Lanka and the USA each. The five-day nine round Rating Open tournament was organized by Aryan Enterprises at S K N Sinhgad School of Business Management in Pune, Maharashtra from 17th to 21st May 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
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Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | IM | Neelash Saha | LBHM | IND | 2445 | RSPB | 9 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 55,50 | 0 | 9 | 4 | |||
| 2 | 2 | IM | Aaryan Varshney | IND | 2395 | DL | 7,5 | 54 | 58,5 | 45,75 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 9 | Majumder Shrayan | IND | 2128 | MH | 7,5 | 51 | 55,5 | 44,75 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||||
| 4 | 5 | Sharnarthi Viresh | U15 | LBHM | IND | 2220 | MH-Pune | 7,5 | 51 | 54,5 | 43,25 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |||
| 5 | 10 | Badrinath S. | IND | 2050 | PY | 7,5 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 43,25 | 0 | 7 | 5 | |||||
| 6 | 65 | Arijit Ghosh | IND | 1773 | WB | 7,5 | 46,5 | 51 | 41,25 | 0 | 7 | 3 | |||||
| 7 | 4 | CM | Sherla Prathamesh | U15 | LBHM | IND | 2286 | MH-Pune | 7,5 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 42,25 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 8 | 8 | CM | Barath Kalyan M | IND | 2134 | TN | 7 | 52,5 | 57 | 41,25 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| 9 | 6 | Advik Amit Agrawal | U11 | IND | 2156 | MH-Pune | 7 | 51,5 | 56 | 40,50 | 0 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| 10 | 28 | Ramanuj Mishra | U13 | IND | 1870 | UP | 7 | 51 | 55,5 | 41,25 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| 11 | 15 | WCM | Pratitee Bordoloi | F13 | w | IND | 1961 | KA | 7 | 50 | 54,5 | 41,25 | 0 | 5 | 3 | ||
| 12 | 14 | Badole Shaunak | U13 | IND | 1968 | MH | 7 | 50 | 54,5 | 39,75 | 0 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| 13 | 16 | Chavan Nameet | IND | 1960 | MH-Pune | 7 | 49 | 53,5 | 40,75 | 0 | 6 | 3 | |||||
| 14 | 43 | Aayush Kabra | LBHM | IND | 1816 | MH | 7 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 38,75 | 0 | 6 | 2 | ||||
| 15 | 56 | Suresh Duvvala | LBHM | IND | 1790 | TG | 7 | 48 | 52 | 37,75 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| 16 | 29 | Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna | w | IND | 1852 | MH | 7 | 45 | 48,5 | 36,00 | 0 | 7 | 2 | ||||
| 17 | 96 | Ayaan Trikha | U13 | IND | 1725 | UP | 7 | 43,5 | 47,5 | 35,50 | 0 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| 18 | 26 | Bhanushali Neemay | U13 | IND | 1874 | MH | 7 | 40,5 | 43 | 33,75 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| 19 | 11 | Soni Atharv | U15 | LBHM | IND | 2032 | MH | 6,5 | 50,5 | 54 | 36,75 | 0 | 5 | 3 | |||
| 20 | 31 | Vikramaditya Abhijit Chavan | U15 | LBHM | IND | 1848 | MH | 6,5 | 50 | 53,5 | 36,25 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||
| 21 | 75 | AGM | Rishi R | IND | 1755 | TN | 6,5 | 48,5 | 51,5 | 34,25 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||||
| 22 | 7 | Sharnarthi Shlok | LBHM | IND | 2149 | MH-Pune | 6,5 | 48 | 52,5 | 36,25 | 0 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| 23 | 36 | Krishnasai Ramesh Vandanapu | U15 | LBHM | IND | 1833 | MH-Pune | 6,5 | 48 | 52,5 | 36,00 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |||
| 24 | 33 | Nihira Koul | F15 | w | LBHM | IND | 1840 | MH-Pune | 6,5 | 47,5 | 52,5 | 36,75 | 0 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 25 | 46 | Maras Sahejveer Singh | U13 | IND | 1810 | MH | 6,5 | 47,5 | 51,5 | 35,50 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
